Welcome to my world
here you'll find...well let's face it you won't find much of anything, not many people pay attention to these places do they? lol
anyways, what you might find here are various thought from myself on random stuff...and also maybe some notices when I intend to change something, etc.

...yep that's about it, it's you'd still like to lurk look about, feel free.

Dead and Unfair...

Dude...I just noticed something...this site seems pretty dead for the last month or so, I also noticed that they're "fanart" section is kind of unfair.

click on it, and it shows you automatically, a category of submissions from the past 24 hours - however, it is the category the show that I think is unfair.
They you pictures not in order of submission so EVERYONE, no matter their ability or choice of character or whatnot, has a chance at some decent exposure, but only the most "Active" in other words, the most "popular". I wouldn't have a problem if it was from really good artists, and yes a lot of them are, that's good, perhaps they're actually popular for the right reasons, not simply because they're from a popular series.
but I noticed when I did sort them to freshness, there's a whole ton of submissions that don't show up, and therefore never get any exposure hardly at all. My own latest submissions were among these, so because they aren't popular or I myself am not popular, I don't get feedback, the same story for a lot of people in that sorting. it pisses me off. yes, they have the little drop box that you can click to sort to freshness and see them, but my experience is that people skim pages, and generally, I really am not confident that most will BOTHER to do this, and still worse, is that those drop boxes aren't very obvious I think, they're pretty easy to pass up.

also, on the front page, when they show fanart, once again, only the most popular shows up, this is too much, and I don't know about you, but I think there need to be some changes.
My suggestion would be that, fine, the most popular can stay on the front page, I understand that a lot of those are really, truly good pieces of art, and therefore, make a good first impression to visitors and prospective members - BUT, I think that the default should be reversed on the Fanart main page, I think that initially, you should automatically be shown the submissions in the order of submission. then if you want to see most popular, let them then go to the drop boxes and resort them to "most active". I think this would give a more fair balance of activity and less people would get passed up.

What is "Sky Gate Creations"?

Okay, so some of you may have noticed that all my originals here have been updated and now have a stamp-like logo over them that says "Sky Gate Creations"

so, you may be wondering -

What is Sky Gate Creations? it is the name I have given my universal collection of original creations and works. in other words, if it "belongs" (i.e. bares the logo) to Sky Gate, it belongs to me - I claim it as property of KuboRocks a.k.a MarthsTrainer @ deviantART a.k.a SkyGateCreations @ DeviantART a.k.a Marth_Master @ Fanart Central.

Why did I do this? Becuase I wanted to take that much ,ore precaution against any individuals that may seek to use my work or designs without my promission, and for now, a visual watermark is the best way to do it.

How do I get around that watermark if I wish to recolor, etc. one of your (my) images?

You will wither have to print out a copy and re-trace it, or, you can even try to copy it by observation (i.e. looking at the original and drawing it as you see it - Note - this - done manually OR digitally - does NOT make it yours, it's merely another way to copy the image)

and if you're REALLY good (better than me, lol) you could even save a copy of the image and trace over it digitally using a drawing tablet (wacom, or whatever you may have) and work with the image that way.

hope that explains it all. later

Need to do Fanart...

Well, it's been about a bit over a week now, and I'm actually rather happy with the outcome of my return here...but it is a bit slow as far as climbing the ladder and receiving efficient feedback. I think because I'm doing a lot of original work and people mostly search fanart of various types here.

so I suppose it may be time to whip out some fanart for gallery publicity, perhaps that could help bring in viewers and hopefully, feedback. only thing is, prettymuch the most popular series out there is Naruto, and I'm not that into that series anymore...then again perhaps the principle of my doing fanart essentially as a means of drawing attention to my originals could be an interesting point to incorperate into said fanart...hmmm...

I do want to try my hand at Bleach fanart, but I am unconfident still as to how well I can mimic Kubo-Sensei's style - or vice-versa, how well his charas tranlate into my style...the latter sounds an interesting prospect...perhaps worth exploreing...we'll see...

later, non-existant readers *waves at imaginary readers/viewers*

Requests Policy

the following is my universal requet policy and goes for any the sites I am a member of, please read thoroughly before making a request or request inquiry -

Please Note:

Your request may not come at light-speed - though I will give 110% on requests and try my best to get them done, please keep in mind that I may get busy with more pressing things, or that my skills may be in a rut at the moment, causeing me to take longer to get the request done in proper condition. I don't rush - if you need it fast, I suggest finding another artist.

Content: What I Do NOT Do

- Yaoi or Yuri (Homosexual/bisexual artwork)
- Incest (romantic or sexual situations between relatives)
- Explicit Sexual Material (a.k.a. "Hentai") - due to the wide interpretation of this bracket, I will use personal judgement on wether the requested content is appropriate or not.
- ANY remotely romantic or sexual situtation between and adult and a minor (character under 18)
- Any Remotely Sexual situation or otherwise erotic or provocative material involveing a minor (Character under 18) - I don't care if they're cartoons, they have a term for this content - it's called Child Pornography, and it's WRONG.
- Any content glorifying the occult or demons/devils - example: portraying them as the "good guys", etc. - I'm sorry, but this is against my personal beliefs, please find another artist if your character is a "demon", "half-demon", or has pentagrams etc. stuck all over him/her.
- Hate art - any artwork or situation or image of a malicious nature towards any particular individual, race, religion, orientation, or "label" (goth, emo, bro, etc.) - don't get me involved in your personal rage, I have my views and opinions, but I don't hate.
- Excessive Blood/gore - true, violence, bloodshed, and death are realistic, and even natural aspects of life, but we don't need to glorify it, and while in some ways there may be a time for the "shock-factor" there are some places where it is simply not appropriate, theOtaku, I feel, is one of them.
- Use of Drugs/Tabacco or glorifying portrail of drunkeness or other intoxication - These conditions are NOT funny, and should not be portrayed as such
- Excessive profanity, explicit language, or rude gestures. - this content is unnecessary, enough said.

I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY ABUSE, VERBAL OR OTHERWISE. We all have the ability to be polite and constructively critique - this means I will not tolerate language or communication such as, but not limited to "You suck", "this *particular artistic element* sucks", "You're a Jerk, idiot, Etc." and the like - I am a Human being, and I do not have to, nor will I stand for it.

All requests are one shots, sorry, no do-overs - as I said, I give my all, and that's all I can give at any given time, so if you are dissatisfied with your request once it's finished, I suggest you go to another artist.

- Thank you for reading this, basically, keep it reasonably clean, and depening on availability I will try to work with you.

Last updated Feb. 28, 2009

Original Work Re-use/Re-posting Policy

The following policy applies to any and all of my original characters posted to this and any other site I am on, please read thoroughly before reposting my work in any form. -

ALWAYS REQUEST MY PERMISSION REGARDING ANY AND ALL USAGE OF MY ORIGINAL DESIGNS - THANK YOU

My Original Characters, Line art or otherwise, are:

- Available for: With REQUESTED permission, coloring/recoloring/tracing and any combination of these three mentioned actions, for practice, personal enjoyment or curiosity. - If asked, I am not stingy, I'll more than likely give the okay, just say the word.

- NOT Available for: Portrail (recolored, altered or not) in Manga, fan Manga, Wallpapers, cards, or any other usage other than that specifically stated above. this applies to usage on any sites, and anywhere NOT JUST THEOTAKU - I do not want to see my design(s), recolored or otherwise, on a wallpaper, in a manga, etc. that I did not create or specifically authorize anywhere, period, I don't care how "good" you make it look, or how long you spend making it, that is not an excuse, it's the principle of the thing.

When reposting AFTER asking please do NOT -

- Re-post BEFORE I give my permission and respond to your request. I don't care how impatient you are, wait for an answer.

When reposting AFTER asking please DO -

- remember to credit me for the original design, doesn't have to be long, just something simple like "Original design by KuboRocks", or "KuboRocks drew/created this character, and I colored it"

If any part of this policy is violated, I Will -

- Step 1 - Request that the repost in question has it's description altered to give proper credit

- Step 2 - I will give the member in question 1 month (four weeks from the day of the first alteration request) to make above mentioned changes, and I will ask a maximum of three times within that period to assure that the requests are heard. - I understand that some people are less active here than others, or get a lot of messages and could lose mine, hence I will give some time for response.

- Step 3 - after the above mentioned alteration period, I WILL consult the proper authorities of this site to have the repost removed completely - I'm stop being nice after the third try, go past the third strike, and I Will raise Hell until it comes down.

Kay, so that's it, thanks for reading and being honest and considerate of the work of others, so long as you have read and understand this, request away!

- last modified Feb 27th, 2009