Dear members of the KA community, we’re writing to ask for your understanding on a change we feel is necessary.
What is the change about?
Since this forum’s inception, NSFW images have been allowed. It has been a struggle to balance freedom of artistic expression with our goal of maintaining an environment that is welcoming to the widest audience, including children as young as 13 – all within the time constraints of a small moderation team. This work takes an inordinate amount of moderator time as a result of having to make and defend subjective decisions.
This change is not about censorship or the imposition of our definition of social correctness. We recognize the importance and beauty of anatomical studies. It’s simply a matter of making the best use of limited moderator time. We hope that our members understand our predicament.
We still think anatomical studies are an important part of art. So if your posts contain nude studies please hide them behind a spoiler tag and assign a safe thumbnail for the post. The nude studies despite being behind a spoiler tag should also not show any genitals or depict anything sexual in nature. Bear in mind this is just a compromise we did to allow the studies. If it seems difficult to moderate we might change the policy to not allow nude studies in future.
What is going to be the result of this change?
As a result of this change all the posts in the NSFW category will be archived for about a month. They will be read only, so if any member wants to back up the images they can do so. After one month the posts will be deleted. The NSFW tag will be replaced with artistic-nudity which should serve to guide members who may not have seen this message or who have not read the forum guidelines.
Please feel free to provide advice or share your opinions on this matter.
EDIT: Changed the the text to reflect new policy based on the discussion.
This decision is undoubtedly painful for you too, but it is essential in order to avoid risks. That’s the way the world is, and we have no choice but to adapt. You deserve credit for not imposing total censorship, which would stifle one of the oldest and most noble artistic practices. Thank you!
También apoyo esta decisión, me parece acertada y entiendo de donde viene, ya dos veces he cometido el error de no a catalogar adecuadamente mi trabajo (que no es erótico pero si contiene desnudos )bajo la categoria NSFW y muy amablemente me han enseñado como hacerlo de la manera correcta, mi expresión artística cabe perfectamente en esta nueva categoría. Si queremos esta comunidad crecer, y que nuestros moderadores puedan descansar, sabiendo que este es un espacio seguro, debemos acetar este tipo de normas comunes.
I also support this decision, I think it is right and I understand where it comes from, I have already twice made the mistake of not properly cataloging my work (which is not erotic but if it contains nudes) under the category NSFW and very kindly I have been taught how to do it in the right way, my artistic expression fits perfectly in this new category. If we want this community to grow, and that our moderators can rest knowing that this is a safe space, we must accede this type of common rules.
Honestly, if you allow some nude studies then it will also be a burden on moderators because there will surely be some nude studies that will clash with the subjective taste of some moderators or they will feel its too suggestive or something arbitrary like that.
It would be easier to just retire the NSFW section entirely so you can fully focus elsewhere. There are many other places where you can post NSFW after all.
It seems from your post that these are the changes:
The NSFW section is being retired.
NSFW content (“nude studies”, at least) are now permissible in the main “Finished Artworks” section, provided the thumbnail is SFW and the main image is behind a spoiler tag.
Is my summary correct?
If so, this seems like a more permissible policy than the previous one. This will allow people with an interest in figure drawing/painting (like myself) to actually discover (artistic) nudes in the “main” feed instead of having to specifically go to a separate section, which makes them feel “hidden away”.
So yeah… I’m in favor of the change! And a little confused by the responses here, and the way this is worded, which makes it seem like an increased level of censorship and a lessened moderation burden. Neither of those things seem to be true… right?
You posted a nude study recently that requires a couple of adjustments: hide it behind a spoiler tag and assign a safe thumbnail for the post (safe meaning no nudity, such as cropping the nude study to display head and shoulders).
I’m taking these instructions from this section of the announcement.
We’re in a transition phase so there are bound to me more questions and suggestions to help us with this in the weeks to come.
I’m pretty sure I used the spoiler tag correctly. The image appears blurred, at least in my browser. Is that not what you mean? Here’s a screenshot of how it appears for me:
safe meaning no nudity, such as cropping the nude study to display head and shoulders
I’m a bit confused by this still. Are you saying that censoring the image isn’t enough to… censor it? I’ve never come across a rule like that, even on the most strict of all-ages platforms. Solid black bars cover nudity a lot more effectively than clothing, I’d say
Each of the above images directly shows or suggests a lot more of the “naughty bits” than a black bar… right?
Not trying to argue with the rules, but… assuming I’m understanding you correctly, I truly just don’t understand this rule.
EDIT: To clarify, I’m saying that all the linked images above are most definitively “safe for work”. And furthermore, that fully-censored images show as much (or as little) skin as images of clothed models, and therefore are also safe for work
I started to click the links for the other posts you asked about in your reply but I think it’s better to first answer the questions on your post.
Perhaps other mods or admins can comment on the image with black bars added whether that constitutes a safe thumbnail or not. It’s my viewpoint that we don’t want that image to show up in the image gallery which pulls from thumbnails.
Thank you for discussing this. I’m sure others (and the mod/admin team) will benefit.
I certainly don’t want to stir up controversy, but I would really like to understand what the “naughty bits” are in my sketches, whose references are taken from common fashion photos. raghukamath’s message mentions anatomical nudes, but in my nude drawing, only part of the model’s back and shoulder are visible.
I’d love to see the actual (or proposed) wording for this policy. I think there are two parts that I am confused about:
What triggers the requirement that something our of the ordinary be done (alternative thumbnail, spoiler tag). Is it uncovered hair, faces, shoulders, nipples, genitals, buttocks,…?
It it just genitals and “sexual nature” that shouldn’t be posted no matter what? And does sexual nature apply only to nudes (as defined by 1), or are non-nude works of a “sexual nature” banned as well?
Are there other sites that have policies that we could just adopt as is, rather than reinventing the wheel?
Apologies for the confusion @sognidigitali – my point with your images is that they are most definitively “safe for work”. (As are all the others I linked to.) And furthermore, that fully-censored images show as much (or as little) skin as images of clothed models, and therefore are also safe for work. It was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek example
(I love your sketchbook by the way, @sognidigitali !) Super inspiring.
I went through your posts to locate one that is NSFW, the first one is Autumn Fairy. This one would not be allowed as it appears to be a female character with fully exposed breasts and is not an anatomical study.
I’ll leave it up to you to review your other NSFW works and compare them to the wording in the announcement post.
Re 1 - nudity is only allowed for anatomical studies; it will not be allowed if the artwork is not an anatomical study (example: characters that the artist chooses to display unclothed).
Re 2 - Artwork depicting or implying sex acts have always been against the forum rules. If the artwork is an anatomical study (again, not a character that the artist has decided to depict without clothing) then the study is allowed as long as genitals are not shown.
Let us know if you have suggestions or examples that you feel represent the announcement at the top of this thread.
Okay. I guess that is not allowed Pardon me, but I just don’t see nudity as necessarily sexual. Never the less, I understand. It would be impossible for just a few people to review every single drawing/painting on this website. Luckily for myself, I have few artworks with nudity, as it is not primary focus of my work.
P.S. What about those nude Greek statues in museums and in city squares?
P.P.S. No matter how hard people try to hide it, every one of us is still nude under our clothes
Pardon me, but I just don’t see nudity as necessarily sexual. Never the less, I understand. It would be impossible for just a few people to review every single drawing/painting on this website. Luckily for myself, I have few artworks with nudity, as it is not primary focus of my work.