Visitors' poll

I am a registered member, but prefer to lurk around rather than be logged. The reason is that I am uncomfortable to talk about my art developing for the "whole world". The first year I participated a lot and enjoyed it very much, it is wonderful to be able to share and communicate with other artists. but I find it can be a strain to display your full identity at all times. Maybe I was not ready for this forum, I am a semi-professional portraitist, student, and have a job in another field too.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am a registered member, but prefer to lurk around rather than be logged. The reason is that I am uncomfortable to talk about my art developing for the "whole world". The first year I participated a lot and enjoyed it very much, it is wonderful to be able to share and communicate with other artists. but I find it can be a strain to display your full identity at all times. Maybe I was not ready for this forum, I am a semi-professional portraitist, student, and have a job in another field too.

That's exactly the reason why I am not joining--well, certainly not using my full name. I think this public forum may work well for some people, but for others, especially for those with another job in another field, putting one's artistic persona on the world wide web may not be desirable.

Another lurking member here. I wish part of this forum had more password protected areas for members only. there is probably not a forum better than this one , for the portraitist who has reached a higher level.
Big thanks to those who have courage to participate after running a search for their own name in Google.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Another lurking member here. I wish part of this forum had more password protected areas for members only. there is probably not a forum better than this one , for the portraitist who has reached a higher level.
Big thanks to those who have courage to participate after running a search for their own name in Google.

Personally, I don't agree with this point of view. The SOG forum provides a great service to the portrait painters community and is an invaluable research tool for all wanting to learn in the field. There are already private websites out there, only available via password to members. Moreover, this forum does have a protected section for work in progress.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Personally, I don't agree with this point of view. The SOG forum provides a great service to the portrait painters community and is an invaluable research tool for all wanting to learn in the field. There are already private websites out there, only available via password to members. Moreover, this forum does have a protected section for work in progress.

Actually, what I am trying to say is that I hope SOG forum won't go private!

This is forum is - and should be, a place to encourage and inspire the working portraitist and figurative artist. and a place to find good information. On the other hand I agree to a certain point that our privacy is not very well taken care of. Quite a dilemma.

Regards from a juried member.

[Sharon Knettell]

Privacy is a difficult area to address.

There are sites that use pseudonyms. I dislike this because it is a good idea to know who you are addressing. Many people say things, especially critical, cruel or scatological under false identities that they would be too craven to do otherwise.

I do not know why someone who is a 'big important artist' would be afraid to post here. If they are secure in their abilities, what would be the problem?

In the past, it seems, that major artists had no qualms about bashing about, especially when it came to art and artists they disliked or disagreed with. Thank heavens they did ,as there would be a paucity of information about their life and times.