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A Selection for (month) 2015
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Message
Posted
Does anyone understand how 'The Selection for...' works at the top of the Gallery? For example some of those included in the selection for August were there in the selection for July. They seem to be added to, and deleted from, on a daily basis rather than on monthly basis as the title would suggest. It's more like 'A Selection For Today'. And how are they chosen as there doesn't seem to be a lot of logic - randomly or by high authority within POL?
Edited
by Michael Edwards
Posted
Ah - good question and one which has perplexed me for quite a while.
I actually find that I can pretty accurately pick out which paintings will be chosen for both top galleries, but that is mainly because that whoever chooses the work seems to go for the same calibre of painting. If you are outside that band, then forget it. Some artists will post a painting and you can guarantee their work will fly immediately up to one of the two top galleries while other people's work, equally good in my humble opinion, is never chosen. In my view, there are too many 'regulars' appearing in the top galleries which means it doesn't represent a cross section of all the work posted.
Experimental work never features and rarely do sketches - are they not worthy perhaps? That seems strange as both mags are always full of articles telling us to try something new, experiment with styles, colours etc but when we do, they are not given any special airspace.
It is same with POL's FB page - some of the paintings come from our gallery but rather too many in my view come from Pinterest (dreadful site which I can't see the point of). It has baffled me why Painters Online FB page isn't just about Painters Online? Is what is posted on the site not always good enough and are they trying to create an image of the site which doesn't actually reflect the content?
I think we need a return of the Top Ten, when it was our comments which dictated which paintings appeared in that monthly gallery.
Edited
by thea
Posted
Well said Thea. I know nothing about Pinterest so can't comment about that but as for the choices I agree about the limited range and predictability of the content.There are many styles and mediums etc as well as a variety of abilities all represented in the gallery but which never appear in the selection. This should a representative site for us all but it doesn't always appear that way.
I would also welcome the return of something akin to the top 10 but even that had it's faults. The paintings with the most views/comments tend to belong to those who take an active role (eg commenting on the work of thers and in the forum ) to the detriment of the 'silent' posters. Not an easy one but there must be a better way of chosing pictures to feature in the gallery.
With so many pictures posted on a daily basis I have to ask: why have a selection in the first place - it only bungs up the page and we don't really need it - do we?
Posted
When I first joined POL in May this year I had six paintings on in that month. They reappeared again in June and then started dropping off one by one, and since then none. I can't work it out either. Thea refers to 'two rows' of paintings?, I just have one row appear on my laptop, saying 1 - 24...
I wasn't active when this 'Top Ten' was in use so I can't comment, but I agree that there must be a better way of selecting work, and I also, as Michael has pointed out, would not want any selection to be based on the volume of comments received.
Posted
I had noticed, not that I'm bitter you understand, that none of mine has ever featured in the display at the top of the gallery page since the new site came into being. I don't think therefore that the number of comments has anything to do with it, because I generally get quite a lot of comments (which fortunately mean rather more to me). What HAS got something to do with it I really don't know - is there conscious choice on someone's part? Or is there an automatic element?
There is certainly choice in what gets posted on Facebook, much of which I've not seen on the Gallery here. I have a Pinterest account, but I've never understood how it's supposed to work, or for that matter what on earth it's for; can you post directly to POL's Pinterest page? Don't know, never tried: perhaps I should, if that's the way Pinterest works.
I have no actual objection to anything that brings more paintings to our attention, but I don't pretend to understand how or why it all works: and half the time, I get the impression that those who feed material into the internet's gaping maw don't understand how it works either.
Posted
I also think the problem is that the two top galleries (one on the home page and one on the gallery home page) have an elitist feel to them. If your painting is chosen for either of these galleries it is an very public endorsement of the quality of painting and also one's skill as an artist. We are in effect being judged by some nameless person or computer system (although I don't really believe the selection is randomly done by a computer programme) to see if we pass muster, which is rather dispiriting to many of the artists on the site if their work never gets chosen.
As Michael rightly says, there are many styles, mediums and most of all - abilities on the site and they are not properly represented in these elite spaces. If it is supposed to be the 'best' of the month's postings or the site's postings, then don't be coy - say so. If it is supposed to be a 'selection of the month' or 'selection from the gallery' then in my view it should be a fair selection of what has been posted and not just cherry picked to showcase the ones that meet a certain criteria.
I agree that the problem with the Top Ten was that the more active members of the site were the ones more likely to feature in this list. However, it did encourage more people to comment on other's work, both to ensure that a particular work figured in the Top Ten, or to receive more comments on their own work (ok - so we agree that this isn't really the point of commenting, but we are all human after all!).
Nothing is perfect, but I think on balance I prefer the members to be more in charge of what is chosen to be featured in any elite spaces - after all, we are the ones who support the site, use the site and make the site what it is. Without the members, there would be no site.
Posted
Hi, the team make the choices to appear on the homepage of the site and the top of the gallery from a roll of the latest images added to the site. There is a fixed number for the gallery page and we take off the oldest selections as new ones are added. We try to make our selections as wide ranging as possible but, as is always the case with art, personal taste inevitably holds some sway. The editors choose selections from the magazines by browsing the whole gallery, not just the roll that appears within the content management system for creating the top banners.
The way we used to do the top tens was based on Google Analytics figures - the way these statistics are now shown prevents this from being an option.
Our Facebook page is a way of sharing as much art as possible - from the gallery, the magazines and worldwide. We find Pinterest is a great way of storing these images.
Hope this answers the questions,
Dawn
Posted
Thank you Dawn. You say ' the editors choose selections from the magazines by browsing the whole gallery' Presumably this refers to the Editors of LP and The Artist - should this read 'The editors choose selections FOR the magazines by browsing the whole gallery'?
I appreciate the problems with the way you used to to do the top tens and that the way it is now done is based on the team's choices. However I still feel the choices should reflect the full range of abilities, contributions, styles and mediums rather than the current rather limited range based on personal preference. Also I would repeat the point made earlier as to whether we need a selection in the first place (I for one rarely ever look at them and they do rather clog up the site).
Posted
Thanks for picking up on the typo - I did indeed mean FOR the magazines.
We would have to have the site redesigned to get rid of the top scroll bars - we feel it adds some interest to the site. We do try to reflect different styles in these banners with different images showing on the home page and the gallery page.
Posted
Well, can I make a plea for more varied work on the top galleries then so that it really does begin to reflect a more realistic cross section of what has been posted. This site says it welcomes all abilities etc but it would seem that when the chips are down, the only ones they want to showcase in a prominent position are the ones that are painted by more experienced and proficient artists or come over as 'proper paintings'. This totally cuts out experimental work, sketch work, challenge work (some are just for fun, but the single colour work was really interesting and inventive), plein air sketches.... the list could go on. In short, the top galleries are, in my view, too narrow and also give a false impression of the total of the gallery.
As for Facebook, I take POL's point about showcasing arts from all sources, but in the end it comes over to me that if they can't find enough good work to post on there from their own site, it doesn't say much about us all. I always find it a bit of a smack in the face when reams of art from Pinterest are posted with just the odd one from the gallery.
Posted
Mildly desolated to discover that the choice for the top gallery is now in the hands of actual human beings rather than Google Analytics. They hate me, they hate me....
But I shall be a brave little thing, and tossing my silvery locks in disdain will carry on doing what I do in the hope that something will one day creep through. I think that this is bound to depend on whether something catches the eye or not - I look at the Gallery every day, provided I have the time; there's a lot of work, some of which appeals to me, some that doesn't: I should not particularly relish the task of choosing from all the work that gets posted that which gets into the top gallery, and I doubt that it's got much to do with accomplishment or ability. There are obvious choices - Rupert Cordeux's magnificent painting of Coventry's old Cathedral for instance; if that hadn't been chosen, there'd be something wrong - but if the others reflect the tastes and passions of Dawn and her colleagues, well: I don't see why not. I shall just artfully consider what those tastes and passions are, and seek to tick the appropriate boxes.
Our new member up above asks if it actually matters, which is probably the most pertinent point in the thread - from a personal point of view, the short answer is "no"; it's always pleasant to be noticed (and promoted!) but it makes no difference at all in the great scheme of things - I think the point others are making, though, is that some categories of work are being overlooked; well, possibly Google Analytics was better at reflecting the tastes of forum members and to that extent was more democratic; but I'm not sure that's the point, is it? It depends rather on what you think the Gallery is for, and whether the "super gallery", as it were, is anything more than a digest of recent posts rather than some sort of accolade.
On Facebook and Pinterest - the latter just clutters up my inbox and I'm already fed up with it; I didn't see the point of it, and I still don't. Facebook though - well, I've noticed a few paintings there which I hadn't seen on the Gallery: quite a few, actually. Facebook itself can be a blithering nuisance, but that's a good reason to ensure you police it carefully - don't accept friend requests from people you don't know, be very careful about the people you do know, and then you'll see more of what you actually want to see. I should miss it if POL stopped contributing to that.
Just off now, then, to study Dawn's tastes with renewed care.
Posted
Overall I agree with Robert but just one point I would make. We all have our own favourite contributors. Robert champions Rupert Cordeux and whilst I have met him and admire his work I have favourites of my own whose work I do not see in the selection. However just because a particular work, no matter how good it it may be in some peoples eyes, does not appear does not cause me any concern - what I would like to see is a representative selection regardless of ability etc.
In her comments above Thea cites certain categories which do not feature in the selections and I could add cartoons to this. I know they are probably not highly regarded by some of our colleagues but they are a legitimate art form and do bring a bit of fun to the gallery witness the surrent swarm of bee cartoons. Hum - he said 'swarm'.
Edited
by Michael Edwards
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