Art Fight - General thread for Art Fight discussion, community-related or otherwise.

[Anonitolia]

Art Fight is an annual tradition where, for the entire month of July, online artists spend their days drawing furry porn to "attack" other artists in an attempt to help one of two teams win that year's event. It's been ongoing for an entire decade now, first beginning in 2015, and attracts exactly the kind of crowd you'd expect from a competition centered around spending your days spamming artists online.


A banner for this year's Crystals team, illustrating the type of crowd I mean.

Spoiler: a few (blurry) examples of some Art Fight characters and featured members

All of these are blurry and poorly-cropped due to actual character images needing accounts to be viewed. I am taking these from the "recent characters" section of the front page, specifically the thumbnails posted underneath it.

From left to right: Merkahbah, Midas, and Louis Erickson.


Just look at those trustworthy profile pictures!

It has apparently gotten big enough to warrant its own merch, albeit mostly just worthless trinkets themed to year-specific teams, but I still find that rather notable given that this is purely an "online art community" thing.



Given that today is July 1st, and I couldn't find another thread on this subject anywhere else in Art & Literature, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make one of my own. I've always been interested in the concept of Art Fight, but everything surrounding the "official" site's existence is so odious that it's honestly not worth the possible skill improvement it'd bring. It's like NaNoWriMo, just with more furries and less (non-furry) autists. The 33-rule long (not including sub-rules!) Rules page really just encapsulates the kinds of people running the show here, and I'm sure their antics are very fun to watch if you know anything about them.

Unfortunately, the only way you can know anything about the site itself is by signing up with an account, so unless you have a burner you can't dig into the absolute insanity this event seems to spawn every year. I remember there being some huge blowout last year, I think to do with a mod, that got big enough for even the Farms to start talking about it, but I have little recollection of that so I can't elaborate much in this OP. (I'll edit it into here if someone else remembers what it was; it seems important to the discussion but I'm seriously blanking on the details, sorry.)

Anyways, all that's something of a ramble just meant to explain what the site is. I don't care so much about the site; more so about the idea. What are your thoughts? Past experiences? Any fun anecdotes? The whole thing seems like an untapped goldmine for those willing to dig. I sometimes wish I could participate one year just to see what it's like, but my drawing device has been kaput for months now (with no working fix and not enough money for a replacement) so I guess I'll either have to wait until 2026 or drop the idea entirely. :/


Another banner for the rival Fossils team, just in case you didn't get it the first time.

 

[Stephanie Bustcakes]

From the rules page:

4. Art Fight aims to be a safe place for all users. Hateful or discriminatory content and behavior is prohibited site-wide and will be removed. This includes, but is not limited to:

• 
  
• Racist and xenophobic views
• Ableist views
• Sexist views
• Use of slurs

We gotta do a Kiwi Farms art fight, but this rule is reversed. Each entry must contain at least one example of transphobic or homophobic views, ableist views, sexist views, or the use of slurs.

 

[The Lawgiver]

Back in my day "art fighting" was drawing guys that you think could beat the last guy someone drew, not gay furry tumblr-ite porn...

 

[twinArmageddons]

kiwi farms new and improved art fight of beating the other guys character while saying nigger faggot
revolutionary in the art space truly rebel art

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

I actually still have my ArtFight account, so if you need me to look into anything for the thread, let me know.

I do wonder if this thread would be better suited for the Prospering Grounds, since it covers ArtFight as a community, rather than as a game like it advertises itself as.

 

[No.643172643]

I like the concept of art fight, but then you realize it's just full of fags and lunatics(fags).
Any decent character design is far and few between.
Idk, maybe draw an artist's character not fat or gay? Maybe that'd be funny.

 

[Anonitolia]

I do wonder if this thread would be better suited for the Prospering Grounds, since it covers ArtFight as a community, rather than as a game like it advertises itself as.

I don't think I'm qualified enough to make that thread, nor do I think it'd really be a good topic for a thread as a whole (since it only happens once a year, for a month, and is mostly about art instead of any kind of discussion... although, admittedly, it does have a Discord that I've heard is active year-round). Then again, it's not especially great as an A&L thread for the same reasons + any Kiwis can't talk about their participation there for obvious reasons, and I don't think anyone really has the energy/time to make their own Kiwi Art Fight (which would still require a separate thread), so... hm

I actually still have my ArtFight account, so if you need me to look into anything for the thread, let me know.

I'll honestly consider it. Not right now because it's very late and I'm quite tired, but I appreciate the offer. Thank you.

 

[Fishcat]

I'm participating somewhat, and I think it's a fun idea at core. For those who aren't familiar, the "fight" motif is really just flavor text and it isn't really a competitive game in the typical sense. All the competitive and limited time aspects are basically just flimsy but effective excuses to push people to make art for each other; you don't get anything out of "winning" and it seems that only a fringe subset of participants seriously care about grinding points. The real reward is in the hope that other people will make something cool for you to enjoy too. It's like attending a potluck.

That being said, the community drags down the experience for sure. It's the expected mix of pronoun people from Bluesky, tumblr, and toyhou.se. Tons of people won't even attempt to draw non-furries even if they're actually decent artists, so fewer people will engage with you when you don't have a gallery of sparklerainbowvomitmagicwolves. On the flip side, finding non-hideous characters to draw can be a bit of a slog too since other people's galleries  are filled with weird and/or ugly stuff. Now I don't think it's impossible to roll with unattractive or oddball designs—a fictional character doesn't need to be hot to be compelling or likeable—but you can tell that people are doing it in a performative way that lacks genuine soul behind it, like when a group of normies single out and celebrate the sped kid for scoring a prom date specifically because they all think he's a retard.

And of course there are plenty of kids and amateurs who don't have the sharpest skills, but that group's ok because everyone has to start somewhere.

This might just be me sperging but it irks me that so many people evidently hoard character designs without fleshing out the characters as beings with a personality and story at all. Stuff where you can tell that the they/fae/void enby (i.e., female) artist saw a collage on Pinterest captioned "dark galaxy circus aesthetic" so they drew an evil fruity clown wearing a spacesuit in a flurry of inspiration, tacked on 1 sentence of exposition, and then just stopped there and forgot about the whole ordeal forever. That's not a character—it's just a picture, and it leaves me with two questions: why should I care if even you don't, and how the hell is your character obese if it's supposed to be an all-powerful ageless god and an intrepid galactic adventurer? Is it eating the planets?

Would be really fun if online artists weren't, you know, like that. I'm just rummaging for a few inoffensive designs to practice on.

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

...the community drags down the experience for sure. It's the expected mix of pronoun people from Bluesky, tumblr, and toyhou.se. Tons of people won't even attempt to draw non-furries even if they're actually decent artists, so fewer people will engage with you when you don't have a gallery of sparklerainbowvomitmagicwolves. On the flip side, finding non-hideous characters to draw can be a bit of a slog too since other people's galleries  are filled with weird and/or ugly stuff. Now I don't think it's impossible to roll with unattractive or oddball designs—a fictional character doesn't need to be hot to be compelling or likeable—but you can tell that people are doing it in a performative way that lacks genuine soul behind it, like when a group of normies single out and celebrate the sped kid for scoring a prom date specifically because they all think he's a retard.

I'd give some suggestions for users/characters to check-out on the site, but then I'd be putting my opsec at risk. The best advice I can give is to keep going through the "random character" tab until you get a character you think looks good and not a sparkledog or Tumblr caricature.

 

[Ruined by the Rain]

I'm participating this year. It's looking grim so far. I didn't participate for the last year and I feel like the randomised character got uglier and gayer somehow. There's less designs I want to actually draw.

Tbh after seeing the characters selection I think I don't want to participate anymore

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

I'm participating this year. It's looking grim so far. I didn't participate for the last year and I feel like the randomised character got uglier and gayer somehow. There's less designs I want to actually draw.

Tbh after seeing the characters selection I think I don't want to participate anymore

If you want suggestions for characters to draw, DM me.

 

[Doktor Grimm]

more like fart shite.

I almost entered this year (would've been my second time participating), but the rot really seems to have set in. The furry stuff doesn't bother me so much as the idea that I might accidentally contribute to someone's goon stash, or validate a teenager's gendersona, or something. It's just not worth it when even my non-artist friends have more valuable ideas for things to draw.

The Art Fight format is too impersonal to be satisfying anyhow -- I think the real appeal of art trading is being able to conjure up a shared universe with a few like-minded people.

I don't think I'm qualified enough to make that thread, nor do I think it'd really be a good topic for a thread as a whole (since it only happens once a year, for a month, and is mostly about art instead of any kind of discussion... although, admittedly, it does have a Discord that I've heard is active year-round). Then again, it's not especially great as an A&L thread for the same reasons + any Kiwis can't talk about their participation there for obvious reasons, and I don't think anyone really has the energy/time to make their own Kiwi Art Fight (which would still require a separate thread), so... hm

Idk, maybe draw an artist's character not fat or gay? Maybe that'd be funny.

There doesn't need to be an organised Kiwi Art Fight thread in order for people to exchange art with each other; it's just a convenient excuse. Maybe it'd be fun to rip some weird OCs off the website and salvage them with our elite art skillz.

 

[No.643172643]

I'm participating this year. It's looking grim so far. I didn't participate for the last year and I feel like the randomised character got uglier and gayer somehow. There's less designs I want to actually draw.

Tbh after seeing the characters selection I think I don't want to participate anymore

Hey, buddy, I think I found one or two you might want to consider.

Spoiler: someone's dog

 

[In the Swamp]

While the idea seems like it'd be fun, the genderblobs at Artshite supported #DropKF so fuck em.

Lastly, we want to make a quick update about Cloudflare and some recent concerns about a website they previously supported. Luckily, Cloudflare did the right thing and has since dropped supporting the website in question, so it appears these concerns have now been resolved, but we still wanted to mention that we only use Cloudflare for DDOS / high traffic protection, and nothing else. Art Fight is not hosted on Cloudflare, nor are its images/etc.

(Archive)

 

[Justwandering02]

Hey, buddy, I think I found one or two you might want to consider.

Spoiler: someone's dog

Ver archivo adjunto 7595366Ver archivo adjunto 7595368Ver archivo adjunto 7595370Ver archivo adjunto 7595372

I always fell people posting their pet as fanart target kinda off...BTW I saw people post their own 'draw me a OC'.. if it a sign of lack of imagination..
I heard lot of drama happening but didn't experience it yet. To be honest I stayed aways from the discord server and kept playing with a small group of friend.. but I saw some people with long wall of text of do and don't so much so that I feared I may accidentally trigger them when I posted a attack for them
BTW if you want some drama video and complain just tap art fight drama on youtube and you will find plenty

 

[Big Fish]

I always fell people posting their pet as fanart target kinda off...BTW I saw people post their own 'draw me a OC'.. if it a sign of lack of imagination..
I heard lot of drama happening but didn't experience it yet. To be honest I stayed aways from the discord server and kept playing with a small group of friend.. but I saw some people with long wall of text of do and don't so much so that I feared I may accidentally trigger them when I posted a attack for them
BTW if you want some drama video and complain just tap art fight drama on youtube and you will find plenty
Ver archivo adjunto 7595540
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PrY4VUBPW3k

Funny how Nefelegy insists Art Fight users are only able to draw men while her own characters are sometimes so butch they look like men themselves, like this Temu Alexander the Great:

 

[leglegarmarm]

I always fell people posting their pet as fanart target kinda off...BTW I saw people post their own 'draw me a OC'.. if it a sign of lack of imagination..
I heard lot of drama happening but didn't experience it yet. To be honest I stayed aways from the discord server and kept playing with a small group of friend.. but I saw some people with long wall of text of do and don't so much so that I feared I may accidentally trigger them when I posted a attack for them
BTW if you want some drama video and complain just tap art fight drama on youtube and you will find plenty
Ver archivo adjunto 7595540
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PrY4VUBPW3k

Is it really a surprise that most art fight characters are male? Most of the site's user base are straight teen girls (regardless of what they want to call themselves).

 

[unholysedation777]

I've actually been having fun with Art Fight for the first time this year around. Last year I experienced what you guys were going through where I was only finding slop... I guess the trick is to avoid looking at the main page because I still think it's very rare to actually find anything appealing there. The way I find characters is by searching through random people's profiles. If someone has an art style that doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, I look more into that particular individual, the attacks they send out and their mutuals and see if any of these people from that particular group have anything worth my time. Typically the talented artists will be buddy-buddy with other talented artists. Really, in the end it all depends on your tolerance level to the genderqueer content. Personally, if I see a cool design with chest-scars then it's still a cool design in my eyes, sure it's annoying, but it's possible to put my biases aside if it's not too important to the OC. If anything, I've been using this as an excuse to sharpen my art skills by doing something to encourage me to draw a variety of different things every single day, regardless of whether or not the subjects are good looking or not. It's been helping quite a lot actually, and in the end I'd say I'm having a good time so far.

I've always heard of there being some kind of drama throughout the years but I have absolutely no clue what it could be. I'm one of the types who is hardly involved with the community itself and just sends out art to randos and friends, and all of this "drama" is very easy to ignore (I've been participating since 2023 and I don't even know what any of it is about, I just know it exists. Considering watching some of the videos above just out of curiosity).

 

[Juaco]

2 years ago I remember being hyped up for the 2023 ArtFight, and when I logged on to it I immediately saw a Gacha Life oc (and a few zippertit characters) that was straight from the app and nothing else drawn onto it. Seeing that the bar was genuinely that low I instantly lost morale and fuggetted about it. Part of me is screaming to try it again but I don’t want to have my oc’s troonified by gender specials so I’m sitting out.

There was a discord for it when I checked in 2022 but it’s even either deleted or I logged out due to nothing significant happening.

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

2 years ago I remember being hyped up for the 2023 ArtFight, and when I logged on to it I immediately saw a Gacha Life oc (and a few zippertit characters) that was straight from the app and nothing else drawn onto it. Seeing that the bar was genuinely that low I instantly lost morale and fuggetted about it. Part of me is screaming to try it again but I don’t want to have my oc’s troonified by gender specials so I’m sitting out.

There was a discord for it when I checked in 2022 but it’s even either deleted or I logged out due to nothing significant happening.

You can include in the permissions for your characters what people should and shouldn't do when drawing your OCs. Just make sure to use verbiage that won't get you banned.