Now you see her… now you don’t
Artemisia (above left), my drawing for Drawball, the online collaborative art space, which I drew on 23 Dec 2006, earned me the honour of infinite ink, but didn’t get into the Hall of Fame. No reason why it should, but that meant there would be no automatic protection by site admin. So I knew if I wanted Artemisia to stay, I would have to look after her myself.
For an insight into the kinds of battles and collaborations that go on, see my post – Drawball: from Chaos to Community.
If you want to draw in Drawball you’ve got to be prepared to defend your artwork – people don’t call it web graffiti for nothing. How much work that entails depends on where you choose to do your drawing. If you draw in a contentious area (e.g. the central plot), it can mean daily checks and repairs. If you choose a quieter spot, like I did for Artemisia, you usually don’t need to keep such a keen watch on it.
Well, Artemisia lasted for about one month, largely unmolested, which is not bad going. Then towards the end of Jan 2007 she disappeared. She was completely obliterated (see above right). I knew she wouldn’t last forever, but I didn’t expect her to be wiped out in one fell swoop.
But really, what did I expect?
The truth is, things were a little too peaceful and quiet around Artemisia – i.e. dull. So I decided to let some minor scribbles remain, to see what would happen. I knew if I stopped tending her she’d be drawn over eventually – and rightly so, this is a dynamic community, it’s all about keeping drawings alive. But to be killed outright… and not replaced by another drawing! That was a bit of a blow. Well, I was stunned for about a millisecond, then I realised, I only had myself to blame. In my earlier post I’d added a link from my screenshot of Artemisia directly to her location in Drawball. That’s like leaving your door wide open in a high crime area – Come right in, deface my drawing. What’s stopping you?
Hmmm… I’ll know better next time. I wonder what’s there now? ;-)
Check out this new feature: Drawball Playback to see how the whole drawing community has evolved since the beginning.
One Comment
It’s a shame that so many people come to drawball simply to destroy others’ work. I’m not a good artist myself, but I’ve recently started trying out a few things here an there in the more quiet parts of drawball.