@Curator@mastodon.art cover
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Curator

@Curator@mastodon.art

#Art‽🎨📸✏️🎥🕹️🖼️🎶💬

Your Curator of :mastoart:•ARTists 🎨. Supporting #MastoArt & creativity for the :fediverse: since April/2017. she/they/fae

dotART announcements blog: https://dotart.blog/dotart-blog/

CuratorPrompts: https://mastodon.art/@Curator/tagged/curatorprompts

Avatar is a rainbow coloured Enso circle. Header is top down photo of a black line art mandala with paintbrushes and watercolour pans resting on top.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

eawilsonca , to random
@eawilsonca@mastodon.art avatar

Question about alt text protocol. When I stumble across an image post in my feed from another account or another instance that I’d love to re-post, but it doesn’t have alt text, what’s the best way for me to add that extra value to the image before sharing, by adding my own alt text? cc: @Curator

Curator ,
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

@eawilsonca You can ask the person nicely if they'd edit the post to include alt text so that you can boost it, or what I sometimes also do, is just reply to the post with the alt text and saying something like 'providing alt text before I boost' - it's quite common for folks to check the replies to a post if there's no alt text with the original post :)

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Shout-out today to the masto.art folk who report problematic accounts they see elsewhere on fedi so that we can take action, limit or block them, and keep our instance safe from bigots showing up in our members' mentions.

<3

If you encounter someone being shitty, whether it's in a direct response to you or to someone else in another thread, please report them. If they're showing anti-Blackness, transmisia, ableism, or even trollish or harassing / unwelcome behaviour -

Curator OP ,
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar
  • chances are they'd do the same to someone on our instance too, so we'd rather block them (and nobody should be giving air time to bigots anyway; they should have their voice and reach taken away).

:artcapy4:

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

(What is Curator Prompts? https://mastodon.art/@Curator/108293755403439999)

Sketch, re-create, or find inspiration for some # SmallPoems MicroFiction PixelArt GlitchArt Music etc. or try a 2MinuteSketch / 5MinuteSketch

Join in from any instance!

Sources:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-building-store-front-2197079/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-group-of-birch-trees-in-a-forest-23247658/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/models-posing-at-the-camera-13317718/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-playing-ping-pong-in-a-park-by-the-water-16396596/

A stand of silver birch trees, repeating back in striated rows against a grey-blue sky.
Two black models posing for the camera. One has long hair tied up in loose buns then cascading down their back; they're wearing suede ankle boots and a kind of leotard made from beads. They're leaning into and partly embracing the other, who has short cropped hair and is wearing a bikini and short skirt in an open weave with tassles, and pink stilettos with ankle straps. The second figure is crouching down a little, arms loosely on the other's hips. The first is looking down at the second's face intently, while the second's face is turned away.
Two people playing table tennis on the banks of a calm, wide river. There are trees behind them, letting dappled warm sunlight through their branches that picks up the dust from the gravel.

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Further to this announcement back in Feb > https://mastodon.art/@Curator/111968363330522268 , we've lifted our limit of the instance universeodon.com .

For masto.art members, this means that you'll now be able to see replies to your posts, and DMs, from people on that instance if you aren't following them, and their posts will show up in the public feed.

:bob_ross:

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Server renewal time is coming up! If you enjoy your time on mastodon.art (or indeed if you enjoy seeing toots FROM mastodon.art) and want to help us keep it running, you can contribute here:

https://www.patreon.com/mastodonart

https://liberapay.com/Curator/

https://ko-fi.com/mastoart

Money goes towards server hosting costs, domain renewals, translation services, DEI/anti-racism consultancy, and tips for our volunteer mods. :bob_ross:

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

It's Juneteenth. Support Black-owned businesses and creators (always, not just today). There are loads right here on the fediverse.

Let me know if you want me to boost yours, whether you're a Black creator or just struggling and have some donation links. :artcapy4:

(Also, Black folk can always ask me to do this, Juneteenth or not. If you're struggling and need help to survive, link me your donation links post and I'll boost it. Whiteness is a death cult.)

katglyph , to random
@katglyph@weirder.earth avatar

@Curator

Curator ,
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

@katglyph very dapper!

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Have you seen ?

Join in by posting your photos or artwork of chonky froggos! :forg:

Curator , to random
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

Reasons for adding alt-text to your images on the fediverse:

  • the many blind and partially sighted members of our community will be not be excluded by your toot

  • people on poor internet connections, data-restricted mobile devices, or other technical limitations can still get the context of the image you shared

  • provide extra context and information perhaps not covered in the main body of your toot, making your toot more engaging

🧵

Next toot, how to write alt-text!

Curator OP ,
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

How To Write Alt-Text:

  • You don't need to write an essay, and for artists, you don't need to convey the 'meaning' of your work.

  • Is it a photo? Painting? Sketch?

  • What media did you use, and what colours are there? Is it a black and white photo, a bright colourful painting, a sketch with pastels?

  • What are the most important elements? Is it a photo of a horse, a painting of flower, a sketch of some people?

  • What's the tone; is it a moody photo, a calm scene?

🧵

Curator OP ,
@Curator@mastodon.art avatar

If it's a screenshot of text, write out the text as the alt-text. Mastodon has a feature where you can choose to 'detect text from picture' from the image after attaching it. You do often have to clean up the generated text, and it struggles especially with symbols. See attached, and also read the alt-text to see how I've described this attached image.

🧵

Screenshot of the Mastodon interface showing the 'edit' interface after clicking edit on an attached image. Text at the top reads 'Describe for people who are blind or have low vision', and then there's an empty box with a cursor ready for you to start typing. Beneath the box, in blue text, a 'detect text from picture' link. Next to it, an indicated character count of 1500. At the bottom, a blue 'Apply' button.
ALT
  • Reply
    • Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    You have 1500 characters to play with (on default Mastodon, at least), but you don't have to use all of them. If you're low on spoons or aren't sure what to write, just adding 'a photo of a dog' or 'a painting of some trees' is better than nothing.

    Once you start getting used to writing descriptive alt text that covers the core elements of the image and conveys the important bits, you can start expanding on that -

    🧵

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    For example, 'A colour photo of a dog from the neck up. It's a grey-black short hair dog with white patches that frame its eyes and nose. Its head is cocked slightly and its ears are sticking straight up, and it's looking towards the photographer with an eager expression.'

    Cover the most important things first, then you can play with more detail (but don't go wild; remember, people using screen readers have to listen to what you've written).

    🧵

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    Alt text for traditional art can feel more daunting, especially for abstract work. It's fine to describe your abstract piece as 'an abstract work of art', and if you piece is meant to symbolise or convey a particular concept you had in mind when creating it, feel free to say that. For example,

    'An abstract artwork in black and red ink on white paper, with lines that vary in thickness scrawled in a tangled mess. It's meant to represent how my thoughts feel when I have brain fog.'

    🧵

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    A lot of people on the fediverse won't boost toots with attached media that doesn't have alt-text, because it's not fair to the blind folk in our community and excludes them from the 'social' part of social media. So if you're here to build an audience around your work, it makes sense to make the extra effort to get into the habit of including alt text with your images; you'll get more interaction with your posts that way.

    However, if you're a spoonie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory) -

    🧵

    Curator OP , (edited )
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar
    • and don't have the spoons or are otherwise incapable of writing alt-text, there are options! (Also, please, for the rest of us, don't yell at people about not including alt-text. Be nice, be gentle, be informative.)

    You can use the :helpdescribe: emoji in your post to ask for others to help you write alt-text, you can use the hashtag which people keep an eye on to provide alt-text help, or tag the @ imagecaptionspls@a.gup.pe group, and someone will help you out.

    🧵

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    Ooh, one last thing: tips on encouraging use of alt-text!

    If you find a toot you'd really like to boost, but it doesn't have alt-text;

    • Ask the person if they'd be willing to add alt text so that you can boost their post. Be nice.

    • Write the alt-text yourself in a reply to their post, with something like 'adding alt-text here before I boost', then boost it - people often look at replies to see if someone else has added alt-text, and often the OP will add it to their image.

    :bob_ross:

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @wolf I don't mean things like copyright mentions. I mean providing extra detail that is specific to the image and important to the image being shared. For example, I might post a photo of some birds, and my toot might just say 'some birds in our garden', but in the alt text I'll list the species and describe the birds in more detail.

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @wolf I've had loads of converstions with users of screen-readers here on fedi about what kind of alt-text they prefer. Opinions vary, obviously, because different people like different things, but pretty much everyone I've spoken with prefers interesting and informative alt text, even if it's not particularly concise.

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @Ariane Oof yep, great point, and same XD

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    mastodon.art is a safe space instance that focuses on providing a safe environment for the most marginalised people in our community. This includes disabled people, which includes visual disabilities, so it's especially relevant to the culture of our instance that we foster an inclusive, accessible, community.

    https://mastodon.social/@AltTextHealthCheck/112606190351786464

    We're usually around 4-5in the list here with 70-75% alt-text use. For an instance our size, that's pretty great, but I'd still like it to be higher.

    :artcapy4:

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @SuperTaliaDX I kinda drill down in the same way; instruments, genre, tempo, mood; like it could be 'an ambient electronic track with soft swooshing synths and occasional echoey bass rhythms, that starts slowly and builds in intensity towards the middle, before fading out again'

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @sprakeloos yup!

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @Mikal that's a great idea! :D

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @rjmoerland Ooh that's cool!

    helenmclaughlinart , to random
    @helenmclaughlinart@mastodon.art avatar

    @Curator I just have a quick query about instance blocking from individual accounts: I know it can be done from individual posts in the ... menu, but is there also anywhere in our account settings where this can be done?

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @sindarina @helenmclaughlinart Aye, what Sindarina said - there's no simple, convenient way in the account settings where you can just enter an instance name and block it, as a user :(

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @helenmclaughlinart @sindarina Probably, yeah - our block list is public at https://mastodon.art/about (minimise the 'about' bit and expand the 'moderated servers' bit then you can do a text search to find them) - happy for you to let me know what they are though and I can check too :)

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @helenmclaughlinart No prob! They weren't federating fully anyway so you wouldn't have found them through the text search there even if we had blocked them; they needed to be blocked from the instance admin backend.

    JenJen , to random
    @JenJen@mastodon.art avatar

    Waking up to hear one of my friends has been "temporarily suspended" from twitch due to "sexual content" when they draw literal body horror.

    Trying to do anything "challenging" on the internet is a fucking joke :artsits:

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @JenJen :artsits:

    Curator , to random
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    Announcement for masto.art users!

    Re. https://social.growyourown.services/@homegrown/112604623541524800

    We have blocked associated domains, and after emailing requesting removal of all .art content, all content from our instance has been removed.

    :artcapy2:

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @smbsy ahh thank you! The info is on one of the pinned posts on my feed ^.^

    Curator , to random
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @jsecretan Owner of mastodon.art here. Please remove all of our members' content that you've scraped onto your service.

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @z428 https://bananachips.club/@nev/112604533813005335

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @CliftonR @z428 ah, in that case see https://social.growyourown.services/@homegrown/112604623541524800 :)

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @eishiya correct, also got an email back from the guy that all m.art's data has been removed

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @eishiya :minette:

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @eishiya Ah yeah, false alarm - https://hackers.town/@thegibson/112608665148939194

    Curator , to random
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    Welcome, new creators!

    Let's get you settled in:

    :bob_ross: Make an post, pin it to your profile, include that hashtag

    :dabart: Put your shop links in your bio

    :artcapy4: When you post art, include alt text with the images if you can - it's important for accessibility! https://mastodon.art/@Curator/109279035107793247

    :dali_persistance: Read through the pinned posts on my profile

    :artotter: Say hi to your neighbours on :mastoart: : https://mastodon.art/public/local

    Have fun! :meowybara:

    Curator , to random
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    Announcement for mastodon.art users:

    We are limiting social.tchncs.de following their failure to moderate a blatantly transmisic user after being made aware of several transmisic posts. When I contacted the admin linking the posts and asking if they uphold their own instance rules that prohibit transmisia, the admin responded by demonstrating sealioning behaviour instead of believing the many trans people who had spoken up, and then excused himself from the conversation.

    (1/2)

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    I was then blocked by one of their mods who had been tagged into the conversation by the admin, but the transmisic posts and the account are still up and active.

    See the full exchange at

    https://mastodon.art/@welshpixie/112596604402945679

    Archived at

    https://ghostarchive.org/archive/TbvkD

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @Snowshadow hah, comes to something when your instance is worse at moderating than mastodon.social!

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @ace_lucario :abunhdhappyhop:

    dana_cz , to random
    @dana_cz@mastodon.art avatar

    @Curator Hi, when I try to translate any toot, it says "503The server-wide usage quota for the translation service has been exceeded." Not sure if it's a known bug, I might have missed a memo lol.

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @dana_cz Aye, in the process of transferring payment for the translation service to a new bank account XD

    meganL , to random
    @meganL@mas.to avatar

    I'd block this bullshit right now, if I were you.

    You not having your follows on lock is not the same thing as "explicit consent".

    Note that they didn't even mention my handle on this - I went to check out who followed me and this was on their TL.

    Screenshot of toot from @awakari@activitypub.awakari.com "Hi Megan Lynch (she/her)! AwakariBot followed you because Awakari discovered your public posts matching a user query. The follow request has been accepted. Note this acceptance means your explicit consent to process your public (only) posts, like most of other Fediverse servers do. If you don't agree with the following, please remove the bot from your followers. Additionally, you can disable automatic follow request acceptance. About: Contact: awakari@awakari.com Donate: XSS Source: Terms: Awakari — Capture the most Reach everyone important interested Search In The Future awakari.com Awakari "
    ALT
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    • Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @venetiana Yup, it's suspended here :D But thank you!

    eloveart , to random
    @eloveart@mastodon.art avatar

    Hello!

    A question about content warnings. I've been putting content warnings on my art because I've heard that eye contact needs it. My art is basically cute, weird critters with goofy, endearing smiles.

    Do I need to do the content warning for the cute art that I make?

    Thanks in advance!

    Curator ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @eishiya @eloveart What eishiya said - if there's strong, direct, 'staring' kind of eye contact from prominent eyes, then yeah I'd stick it behind a CW. If the eyes aren't as noticeable, or aren't directly looking at the viewer, then it's not necessary. :)

    Curator , to random
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    As per https://twoot.site/@bean/112569356391928945 from @bean , please draw the most ridiculous thing with an ass.

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @Amimoregore @bean Yes XD

    Curator OP ,
    @Curator@mastodon.art avatar

    @doomofthedesert :valid:

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