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Actual Photo vs Hand Drawn Character


Lusitano
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Ok so I've been debating with myself over this for a while. Some sites are ok with a hand drawn picture of your character, but most require actual photo of a real person. My question is, which do you guys prefer seeing?

 

Personally, I like hand drawn characters better than actual photo. A photo isn't hard to snag off of Google or Bing images. When someone has a hand drawn picture instead, there was someone who put some time and effort into perfecting that picture to make it look just right. I like knowing there was more effort going into the character than just copy and paste. Recently I tried joining someone's role play with a character that was hand drawn and was rejected because it wasn't "a picture of a real wolf" and told me I could join it when I "got a picture of a real wolf."

 

There are a lot of details in my main character that no photo of a real wolf will ever be able to show. Which is the other reason I like hand drawn characters, because you can add a lot more fine grained details in your picture than an actual photo.

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I prefer hand drawn (or modified hand drawn stuff. I can't draw, but I can shoop). 

 

I don't mind real life photos. But sites that restrict me to them are often not one you'll find me on. On my site I allow either or. Whichever the member prefers. I have one guy who exclusively uses K-Pop Stars as his characters while most everyone else uses anime/video game stuff.

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I want photos as avatars. I am a visual person. When I read a book, in my mind it is a living movie anyway. I cast actors for my characters like in a movie too.

 

The drawing is ok as an extra on the character journal, or in the signature, but at least the avatar to look like a person, not like a drawing. And yes, cartoon face claims are drawings too, they don't look like real people.

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56 minutes ago, Elena said:

I want photos as avatars. I am a visual person. When I read a book, in my mind it is a living movie anyway. I cast actors for my characters like in a movie too.

 

The drawing is ok as an extra on the character journal, or in the signature, but at least the avatar to look like a person, not like a drawing. And yes, cartoon face claims are drawings too, they don't look like real people.

I have to agree, unless the race is something fantasy like a gnoll, I'd rather those actually look like the race and not a human. But for humans, vampires, elves, whatever else, if it can pass as human, I prefer the avatar be a real person.

 

Part of my reasoning is atmosphere. A cartoon avatar breaks my immersion from certain settings such as historical, realistic or dark in general. Whereas likewise on the opposite end of the spectrum, pokemon or other anime fandom sites have their 'feel' ruined by real avatars. Just my opinion on the matter. :D

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I like both but I don't necessarily like them both on the same site. I used to allow both on my old FE forum but we literally had one person using a real life photo and nobody else was. :P I don't like mixing the two though. I want to imagine either a movie or an animation, not both together. 

 

That being said, my only open site right now is all artwork and we have one member who draws most of her own characters. It's so cool! I can draw too but I haven't in a while. I should use some of my originals someday but I'm just too lazy. 

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I love both. I allow both as well, so long as there's permission to use the artwork. I commission pieces of all of my characters and am also practicing so that my digital drawings are on par with my pencil sketches and can be used instead. It's never broken my immersion though I understand why it might for others.

 

To me it's just a representation of the character and while I am visual, even a sketch can give me a good idea of what the person visualizes for their character. To each their own though. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I love realistic/semi-realistic artwork for fantasy settings, but then again I'm an art freak in general and adore drawing my characters whenever I'm in the mood. I don't like using celebrity faceclaims that much, and I don't do it too often. I'm more likely to look for a nice/unusual model photograph. There's so many awesome fantasy-themed photoshoots and they're really pretty.

 

When you have orcs, centaurs, elves, merfolk and a handful more on your site, artwork is generally the best option. We do allow both though. After all, there's only a limited number of actors in period clothing that can be used for these kinds of roleplays, and a lot of the time they don't suit the vision I've got of my characters.

 

So, basically, I prefer to have a choice between photography/celebrities/art.

 

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Guest Archaic Cyborg

I enviaion photos as a general idea of the character. No photo would be perfect, if you paid attention to every little detail like a mirror image of your mental.. er, image of the character. 

 

I only use artwork, and my own, for non-human characters: and fantasy made-up races, at that! When it comes to animals, I find the picture first; whatever strikes me. For races like centaurs, I'd be fine with just using a waist-up photo of the human, for avatars- and include a horse photo in the app as an extra (not to replace written descriptions) to represent te rest of them. Imagination matters; it's not hard picturing celeb X with a centaur bosy of a black clydesdale or whathaveyou. 

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Then again, I picture everything by the writer's description rather than the picture they use, even if I see the picture beforehand. I think some roleplayers are way too dependant on images now. Not that much description goes into the character's appearances or the character themselves, often, but rather into dialogue and action only. D:

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I personally do not have a preference. If I'm running a game, I like to see art stuff. Even real photos can be PS'ed into something crazy and people skilled with filters can make a real photo look like something cool. Especially when you get some of those people offering free graphics. 

 

I personally only use art. I draw a lot so I either draw my own stuff, use illustrations that were drawn for me, or things that I can get permission from. Lately, since I've been hitting pretty hard core into art, I've been able to draw everything for myself and offer a few people drawn icons, too. I love it. 

 

The only reason I have this preference is because I am able to truly customize my character. I draw semi-realistically as it is, so I personally do not have a lot of trouble "fitting in." But yeah, for me, it's just the ability to actually create a new person rather than using someone else's photo. Plus it gives my character a certain dynamic that can't be otherwise achieved with using real photographs, unless you're a photographer and can get people to cosplay your OC. xD

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  • 9 months later...

I like both, and in fact draw my own characters quite often! Portraits and photorealism are something I really enjoy and have the most practice in, so what I draw comes out looking like a person and less like a cartoon.

 

It doesn't bother me to have both art and actual photos on a site, and on my forums I allow both.

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