Rules and etiquette

Site etiquette and our attitude to moderation:

We love illustration. It is a wonderful medium of expression and communication.

We believe in freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However there is freedom of speech and then there is being offensive and obnoxious, so we have a common sense stance when it comes to matters like this, remember you are not a citizen of Amateur Illustrator and we will use our discretion.

We have no bias towards any particular race, sex, nationality or sexual orientation; diversity in the community is fantastic and we think improves the overall quality of work as people can be influenced by so many different styles and cultures.

We have no bias towards any religion or religious group. Feel free to make your beliefs known but do not attempt to push them on anyone else please.

We will discipline members who show intolerance for reasons of race, religion, sex, nationality or sexual orientation.

Having said the above, this is an English speaking site and for the foreseeable future will remain so. We just don't have the resources (yet) to run multiple language versions. So you could say we do have a bias towards the English language, for now anyway.

Image moderation in the galleries and forum:

All images uploaded to the forums and galleries appear instantly without needing to wait for admin approval. We may remove images if they are offensive, in bad taste or are not a work of art or illustration. If you upload photographs they must be works of art or illustration. Holiday snaps or photos of your friends on a night out are the sort of images we don't class as art or illustration. Two sites that we are sure will welcome these pics are myspace and facebook.

Our stance on nudity and other 'taboo' subjects in art:

Nudity in art has been a part of many cultures for centuries and we think drawing the nude is an important part of any artistic training. However we have a duty to protect children from some kinds of art.

We have a system of 'tagging' images in the galleries as mature if we feel that they are unsuitable for everyone. Images tagged as mature will only be visible to members who are logged in and have not opted out of viewing them. If you think one of your images has been unfairly tagged as mature then please let us know by emailing admin@amateurillustrator.com providing a link.

You can also tag your own images as mature if you feel it is not suitable for persons under the age of 14. You can do this at the point of upload or by going into "edit file information".

Amateur Illustrator does not allow images that we consider to be overly offensive, vulgar or in bad taste to be uploaded. Just like a real art gallery, our virtual art gallery has the right to refuse work we deem undesirable.