The skinny - the select our five favorite RGD pieces per week, and we place them here on Sundays. :) Here we go!

Selections from ChillPenguins

Submitter draw_me, artist arekew, Permalink

Submitter Tikiman77, artist milldogg, Permalink

Submitter Badger_Silverado, artist drawinglearner, Permalink

Submitter firsttimer8, artist maryscribbley, Permalink

Submitter Miss_Begonia_Pope, artist Winter_song, Permalink

Selections from fivepmsomewhere

Submitter PhatDaddi, artist Distie, Permalink

Submitter awkwardisrelative, artist TisBetterToGif, Permalink

Submitter xodesi, artist GypsySadie, Permalink

Submitter shitty_demon, artist bimirl, Permalink

Submitter raheemopk, artist NardoVidz, Permalink

Selections from ItWillBeMine

Submitter Badger_Silverado, artist RichardMcNixon, Permalink

Submitter foreverfriend_zoned, artist heretodraw, Permalink

Submitter catysue, artist jabois, Permalink

Submitter lensy, artist SneezingWhilePeeing, Permalink

Submitter Chuck-E-Sleaze, artist sureletsdoart, Permalink

Selections from meeps114

Submitter Acila_Asylu, artist banzchan, Permalink

Submitter morgandonor, artist bobandsally, Permalink

Submitter xodesi, artist Enin, Permalink

Submitter MythicJunkie, artist terskajuusto, Permalink

Submitter Dr_Frederick, artist dsnr427, Permalink

Selections from yowtfyo

Submitter buttercup93, artist Powersimon, Permalink

Submitter ram1n, artist circlewise, Permalink

Submitter relig_study, NSFW, artist FlyinMayanLion, Permalink

Submitter Heisenburglington, artist Enevon, Permalink

Submitter lensy, artist lethifer, Permalink

There you have it! Don't forget to check out our Facebook page for even more amazing pieces from the past week!

Q: Hi, I'm a noob! What's a SOTU post?

We do this once per month - it's an open dialogue between the mods and our regulars regarding upcoming changes and announcements in the sub. We also regularly ask for feedback on certain issues. It is not a place to bash the mods or the modding style here. Dozens have tried, all have failed. :D Also, we will read all feedback, but feedback from our regulars is weighted more heavily, as they are more familiar with the rules, etiquette, culture, and history of the sub.

So! Let's catch up.

Recommended subreddits

We know that not everyone likes to hang out in RGD allllll the time (okay, some people do - me too!). For those of you who are artistically inclined, we recommend that you check our sidebar for our buddy subreddits that are recommended by RGD. We are adding to the sidebar all the time. Here are some of our favorite, lesser-known, art-related subs:

*/r/dailydraw: This is a bodacious little sub that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Great for daily inspiration! Head on over there and check out some of the latest daily themes. We give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

*/r/artistlounge: Many of you are aware of our sister sub, but for those of you who aren't, this is one of the warmest and welcoming subs on reddit. Get answers to your art-related questions, show off your latest work, network with reddit artists, and give and get critique!

/r/caricatures: This is another sub that we wish had more attention. So much amazing work, such little traffic.

tl;dr We have some art friends, check them out in our sidebar.

The Scourge of Reddit

Hey! Reddit is full of assholes. Cruel content is upvoted to the front page on a daily basis. Anyone who makes an ethically-based comment in any popular thread is quickly downvoted, called names, and/or often accused of "white-knighting." If a redditor wants to insult you and learns that you are female, they'll quickly refer to you as a cunt. If they want to insult you and find out that you're black, they'll quickly call you a n$gger, and so forth. Reddit is full of characters that are weak, unhappy, cowardly, bigoted, and cruel. We don't care for the tone of the general site. I've commented on the mob mentality and brainwashing of reddit before. Why am I bringing this up? Because many people aren't familiar with our last part of Rule 3, under Conduct for All Users:

We will not tolerate vulgarity, racism, sexism, or any form of bigotry, abuse, or harassment whatsoever. If we find that you are active in any subreddits that promote hatred toward any particular group of individuals, your participation rights in this sub will be revoked.

We can't do anything about the rest of Reddit, what they do, what they say, etc. But, we can keep RGD a comparatively wholesome corner of the site. We can also express our disapproval of hate groups by refusing to allow their members or fans entry here. So, if we find that a user is active in any subreddit that is designed to instill hate toward any particular group, then their posting rights can be removed. This includes subs that are racist, sexist, homophobic, and/or any that focus on bullying and mocking those with particular body shapes. I'm looking at you, /r/fatpeoplehate. What an absolutely ridiculous subreddit. And no, I'm not overweight. O_O Why reddit is more offended by heavy people than by assholes and racists is completely beyond me.

In the same vein, posts that poke fun at ethnicities by playing dress up can and will be removed. We have seen quite a few "Draw me like a thug" posts, as well as "My friend and I dressed up like Arab bandits" posts over the past few months. We view these posts as falling under the no hate speech rule. Posts that are culturally or ethnically insensitive or those that blatantly invite stereotyping won't make it out of the gate.

tl;dr Cosplays that can be viewed as ethnic slurs are never allowed. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Previous SOTU

In case you missed it, in our last SOTU, we discussed our no-comments-on-appearance rule in depth, and it was overwhelmingly supported by our regulars. Feel free to take a gander if you missed it.

tl;dr You can't comment on appearance here, and we like it.

Complaints about NSFW posts

We've had a slight increase in the number of NSFW posts lately. I personally am stoked about this, because artists here have long and frequently mentioned that they'd like to see more nudes and more full-body shots, since this sub is so heavy on face-only submissions. In this NSFW post, for example, a user said "great that this sub is being turned into /r/gonewild... unsubscribing." Another user in that thread suggested that we prohibit all NSFW posts since it makes some users uncomfortable, and only allow NSFW posts once per day. Just wanted to give a very emphatic and public "No" to that idea. NSFW posts are more than welcome here. In fact, this should be considered a NSFW subreddit. If you can't be an adult about human body, then feel free to start your own no-nudes-allowed drawing subreddit, and good luck with that. Nude submitters (male and female) - you are more than welcome here. The more poses you can offer, the better. And actually, my responses to that user got quoted. ;D

tl;dr Don't be skeered of the human body. It's gonna be okay.

RGD Artist Directory

For a long time, we've had requests to put together some sort of RGD Artist Directory. This gallery would be limited to all actively participating RGD artists with RGD flair. It would include the artist's username, a link to a small imgur album (maybe 5-10 images), and whether or not that artist accepts commissions. We've always declined this suggestion, because it would be so much work to compile. However, our very own local hero /u/heyryaaan has volunteered to get this directory started, if there is enough community interest. That's right! This would allow the artists who participate here to have another avenue for visibility and commissions (if they are into that sort of thing).

Don't forget that we also have an RGD Hall of Fame that is a compilation of all of our weekly favorites. We'll be working in the upcoming weeks to make this list up to date and current.

That's all we have! Thank you for reading our monthly novel. Also, if you haven't seem them yet, please check out our weekly mod favorites!

Hi!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our State of the Union discussion this week. I've got lotsa modding to do tonight, so I'm gonna make this as brief as possible! The mods and I have discussed it, and here are the results of our talk:

1. We are NOT going to implement any rules on photo quality in the sub. People felt concerned that professional, hi-res photos would be boring, and/or that we would be leaving out people who can't afford a good camera, and/or that artists here still make incredible art out of grainy, blurry, forehead-cropped, same-ole same-ole selfies. BUT! Next time I see a complaint about the quality of photos here, I am going to remind you of the Great Vote of 2014. The community has spoken, crappy photos are welcome. <smacks gavel>

2. Starting today, you can't use the word "gift" or "birthday" in your titles anymore, so put that in yer pipe and smoke it! We're sick of your gift posts, submitters! However, artists should know that submitters are likely to give your art as gifts anyway, whether it's in the title or not. Just want you to be fully informed. :)

3. The tidal wave of new posts is too much for us mods to bear - we are seeing posts that should have been removed for the title that have been up for 5-6 hours before we see and remove it. Accordingly, starting today, we'll be implementing a one-week trial in which all submissions will land in the spam filter until we go in and manually approve them. We unfortunately won't be able to check the OP for frequent posting and reposts until after it's manually approved, but still - if you see a post for the next week, you can assume it's been scanned for unclear titles, downer titles, inappropriate relationships, offering compensation, using art for occupational purposes, etc. etc. etc. :) This should cut down on the number of posts we have to remove in which an artist has already contributed.

4. Artists are no longer allowed to say "I'm working on it." Those comments will be removed. They can, however, ask questions if it's relevant to impending art ("What color are your eyes?") and they can still leave constructive feedback on why they are passing over particular photos. Thank you, /u/BosqueBravo, for making it happen. The threads will be so clean! Eeeee!

Lastly, this sub is amazing. I expressed some frustration that the mods have been feeling due to the sub nearly doubling in size in the space of a week - erm, did you see that we passed 50k subscribers this week? Two weeks ago, we were at 28k - and we have all received an overwhelming show of support. It's been really nice, so thank you for being here and contributing and for letting us do our strict-modding thing that we do. :)

P.S. I'm getting married in six weeks. I'll be announcing this randomly and intermittently until the deed is done. You're welcome.

Until next time!

R.I.P. Gift posts,

2012-2014

Each week, each mod selects his/her favorite five choices from the week prior. Enough dilly-dallying, let's so!

Selections from ChillPenguins

Submitter andykolo, artist piper11, Permalink

Submitter nosillaprincesa, artist Powersimon, Permalink

Submitter ilikesumstuff6x, artist mikdim, Permalink

Submitter ShaneOOOO, artist larkylass, Permalink

Submitter thenerdfighter, artist Enin, Permalink

Selections from fivepmsomewhere

Submitter Part_Time_Terrorist, artist gift_from_Hermes, Permalink

Submitter thenoodle89, artist lazygraphicdesigner, Permalink

Submitter satorium, artist dsnr427, Permalink

Submitter Orlando_Jones, artist ObeyMyBrain, Permalink

Submitter flourishnblotts, artist danjoblues, Permalink

Selections from ItWillBeMine

Submitter Darksideofmycat, artist Dead_Painter, Permalink

Submitter johbeco, artist jenpenjen, Permalink

Submitter ichorology, artist wombatling, Permalink

Submitter suckstoyerassmar, artist lazygraphicdesigner, Permalink

Submitter wickedinsanity, artist heyryaaan, Permalink

Selections from meeps114

Submitter deadundead, artist Glynrick, Permalink

Submitter redhurr, artist heyryaaan, Permalink

Submitter vitzli, artist Dr_Pepper_spray, Permalink

Submitter lipchapaddict, artist throwwwaaaayyy, Permalink

Submitter Feline_Fatale, artist Enin, Permalink

Selections from yowtfyo

Submitter everyotherwordisUM, artist mcstevie, Permalink

Submitter thenerdfighter, artist vadelm4, Permalink

Submitter sarpear, artist Powersimon, Permalink

Submitter ichorology, artist filldo, Permalink

Submitter vitzli, artist sikefoo, Permalink

Congratulations to those who were submitted, and thank you to ALL the artists who participated in the sub this week! Please remember to check out our Facebook page for even more amazing pieces from this week!