five

Almost all of my recent pictures were voted down in a row. Not the first time it's happened. Everyone is entitled to his/her point of view, but when pictures are voted down by the group, it just makes me sad and annoyed. I don't understand what someone thinks he/she gains from it.

Qsilv

....sigh.... ((hugs)), five.

Doesn't matter if it's real kids or grown-ups who haven't grown well, a few people just get off on that tiny tinge of power... vandalism... bullying... getting a reaction. Pathetic, really, how easy it is for them to feel good for a moment from it.

You know --or should, so it's worth just saying it clearly right now -- your work is as pleasurable for me to come across as a sudden sight of flowers in a park. Some are whimsical characters, some strong masses.... all are a gift to us. I suppose that you do each one for your own reasons, but you put them out here for us to see. Thanks for keeping on keeping on.

pinklady

What does it mean to vote it down? I have enjoyed your pictures! You have a unique style that I couldn't even attempt to duplicate. Don't let it get you down. I'm sure the majority of think drawers appreciate your work!

mum23

So sorry, five!!

For what it's worth, the same happens to me on a regular basis! My better pics will cruise along on five stars, then when the votes start to mount up, down they go, anonymously, and all in one hit!

Somebody obviously takes this whole voting thing way too seriously and forgets that this is about enjoying creating art and appreciating what others have to offer.

Your work.... all of it.... is a gift! Thank you for sharing your talent and inspiring us!

polenta

Really sorry for what's happened. Rachel should remove the 1 to 5 vote once and for all. I would only agree with at most 4 and 5.
Sorry again five

ferretkiss

How about non-anonymous voting? By this I mean that usernames are visible with the votes. Can somebody think of a way? For example, on a board I am on, we have thread with polls, and the poll starter can make the poll public. First click you see the poll results. But click on any poll option and you see who voted for that option.

For the record, I either vote 5 or don't vote at all. But that's my choice.... not saying it is the "right" way.

five

Thanks for the support. I'm over the down-voting, which usually is "4" votes, not "1" votes, enough to push the pic out of "5" stars and further back in the gallery pages; it's been a while since I've been "1" voted. I was having a bad day today; so, i guess I was oversensitive and the negative voting all at once bothered me more than it should have. I appreciate that people enjoy my pictures, and I receive plenty of positive comments and votes -- thanks for that. I draw here because it's fun; I just have to remember that

Truly, it's seems pointless for someone to vote pictures down in the hopes that it helps his/her own pictures rank higher because with the algorithm TD uses now, his/her own pics are going to have to do well on their own merit.

Again, I appreciate the positive support!

Hazer

There doesn't seem to be an easy answer to this ongoing problem, does there? I think we've all experienced the phantom low voter. Perhaps it would help to make it non-anonymous as ferrit suggests.

clorophilla

Hi five,
this happens to all the pics of a certan value, on a systematic basis. When the votes rise, someone feels the need to downscore them.
there was a similar topic on the matter just few weeks ago, started by Brigsis: http://www.thinkdraw.com/forumPosts.php?topicId=938

what can we say? The great pics still achieve the top five position; there ia a slip down in the "hightest rated" position, but who cares?

Anyway, I just express before my opinion, the votes should be just one score, without a range 1-5, a sort of "I like it"; this should settle down the competitivity, the squabbles and the coward and envy persons with their finger on the "1" score.

hanging

I agree with clorophilla. A friend of mine has a blog, putting pictures, each pic has a 'applause' button, and it shows how many claps it has. How cute is it?
Anyway, it would be nice if one can vote up to three or five or something like that.
No rating. Yep!

Doug

After being around for "awhile" I think you'll find there more than a few threads on this topic. In the past I do feel it was one or two spoilsports who took things a bit too seriously. With the grand influx of "newbies" from the BBC coverage I think it is more possible that some people don't understand how the ratings work. I also agree that when you vote you should not be able to remain a nameless faceless judge. we all would like our work appreciated and for me a kind comment is worth more than a vote. I'm not talented enough to be a TOP 5 artist. I enjoy the community and the chance it gives me to clear my head before I go to sleep. Five, your stuff is great!

Shanley

I totally disapprove with this lack of fairplay...Five, Mum23, you have all my sympathy for the down-voted pics, Five. This is not an isolated case..Ocasionally mine get downvoted too, except for...I don't care much anymore. As long as there are still people who enjoy them or find them something worthy to look at/study, I believe it should be enough for me...at this point. (Not that I would mind more 5* votes, lol). I can perfectly understand why sometimes, older TD-ers get so oversensitive about their work being underrated. Maybe I should put this more explicitely, (for the newer TD-ers) just in case, the person(s) who downvote pics get to read this: some pics are study cases...they don't aim at being eye-catching. They might be valuable for the tehnique used by the artist (especially since TD has a 'thinking constraint'), they might be valuable for the details or simply for capturing things like: light, attitude, movement, details, harmony, coloring, etc, etc,etc. People tend to believe that if an artist is gifted enough to make it to Top5, then each single of his/her pics must be breath-taking, comprehensive, eye-catching. That is not so...the more you draw, the more fascinated you get with 'the process'. Building it up from the mind is challenging. Blending colors is more than a 'child's play'. Volumes, shapes, distance, space, attitude, atmosphere...they all come down to what real artists STUDY. Not everybody on this site has a background in art, so for most of us, it's a try-mistake-keep trying thing. Not knowing much about art, shouldnt be an excuse for downvoting though...
Well...I probably got too stuck here trying to make a point, not sure it will help. Nevertheless, I thought it's worth trying.

Qsilv

I like Shanley's points VERY much.

And I'll add that this place really functions best as an artists' workshop.
We've each got our own easel and paints....
...two or three "themes for the week" to stir our imaginations...
and we can walk around, looking at each other's experiments...
discussing them... leaving notes to be seen and savored by the others....
and going off to try for ourselves some of the techniques we've observed.

There's a lot of banter back and forth between us.... but it's meant to be as good natured as it would be in a "real world" studio or atelier.

At a "real" physical workshop, people would NOT be anonymous, nor of course could they manage to be rude without everyone else absolutely staring at them!

There might be mini-contests, but the only "prizes" are little gold stars plus a little record of our sessions kept in the workshop's archives.

All in all, a well-run workshop offers a marvelously rich and safe environment, with quite minor disappointments in ourselves now and then, and lots of support from the folks around us.

matthew

Never noticed this issue before... is this something new???

bhughes

I would think that the 1-5 ratings would sum to a total at the end adding up every time instead of detracting. If not I have sabotaged my own work after finding that I could vote on myself. Is there a way to categorize like the voting process on "Iron chef" 1. imagination/creativity 2. visual aspects... 3. use of tools... etc. (whatever is needed). Just a thought.

Shanley

Lol, that sounds like fun. Interesting suggestion Bhughes.
The goal of the current voting system is to help TD chose the pics that should be in Top5 and to discourage the downvoting (1* votes do not count...not very sure if I'm being accurate here though).
A new type of voting system would complicate the process.Still, I find it very useful for the artist to receive a feedback on the votes there. Knowing what exactly was appreciated counts. We do have the comment option for this though. :|

clorophilla

the low-rater striked just few times ago, between 11 and 13 TD time... if it wasn't riddiculous, it shoud be annoying...