Locating an Artist
Since adding Pixiv IDs as child tags to artist tags, locating artists for images has been somewhat easier on E-Shuushuu. However, not every artist has their Pixiv ID as a child, and not every artist even uses Pixiv. This is an updated guide on how to locate artists, for all members. For team members wanting to add an artist, see Creating Artist Tags.
Contents
The Basics
Image Search Tools
- Google Image Search: Broad Image Search
- Saucenao: Searches Pixiv and Deviantart
- iqdb: Searches other image boards (excluding a few, like Minitokyo)
- Saucenao Extension: Quick search Google, iqdb, Saucenao or TinEye
The fastest way to search if an image was originally posted on Pixiv, is to run the image through Saucenao. This can be done from Saucenao, or by using the Saucenao extension, which allows you to right click the image and search much faster.
Alternatively, you can search using iqdb, which searches E-Shuushuu and other image boards, to see if the image has been tagged with an artist elsewhere; this can also be done faster using the Saucenao extension. BE CAREFUl, as other image boards tag their artists differently to E-Shuushuu, so use their Pixiv IDs to locate the artist when possible. Images are tagged by users on other image boards so the information is not always correct, when possible, try to ensure that the image has been posted by the linked artist.
Common Artist Platforms
- Pixiv
- DeviantART
- Piapro
- Tinami
- Tommy Walker game profiles (See Tommy Walker Artists)
Other Credible Sources
Artist Names
Real names and names that artists publish their main work under, take priority over other names that the artist uses, as the primary tag name. The Pixiv nickname comes secondary to these, but still takes priority over other platforms to create some consistency on the board. So searching for these names will more likely lead you to the correct artist.
We DO NOT copy artist names from other image boards; we use names on their personal websites.
Artists of the Same Name
Many artists have the same name, so be careful not just just add the artist name and leave it. Check that this is truly the correct artist of that name. Having Pixiv IDs as child tags has helped us to reduce this, though there are still a lot of mistagged images.
Duplicate Artist Tags
Give these a report using the Report Function; the team will get the information checked and merge the tags as needed.
Personal Websites/Blogs
On informational pages, the name usually comes after either "PN", "HN", "管理人", "名前", etc. Things like "サイト名" or "HP" are generally the name of the website. These are never the artist's name.
Aside from it being pre-romanized, names may also be found in other manners. Artists will often list their names like this:
管理人: 主水 (シュミズ)
Translated, that is 'Name: Shumizu (Shumizu)'. This shows the Kanji and, in the brackets, how the Kanji is read. Just give it a check in case it says something else, such as 'Temporary'.
Of course, the artist's name would be "Shumizu". Not "Shumizu (Shumizu)".
Piapro Artists
If the original filename looks like one of these:
then it is most likely from Piapro. Piapro is a site dedicated to Vocaloid media (illustrations, music, song lyrics, etc.) Their filenames are in this format: "PictureTitle_ArtistLogin_SomeNumbers.jpg"
It's easy to find the artist from this filename.
Copy the middle part, as circled here:
Then paste it in your address bar after "piapro.jp/". In this example you would get http://piapro.jp/akaiya3. This is the artist's page.
To see the artist's full profile, paste their login after "http://piapro.jp/my_page/?view=profile&pid=". For example: http://piapro.jp/my_page/?view=profile&pid=akaiya3
Be aware that Piapro automatically appends "さん" to all of its user's names; it's a suffix, not part of their name.
Booru Images
Some of the art of Shuu comes from a booru, be it Danbooru, Gelbooru, moe.imouto, etc. Of all the boorus, only moe.imouto and Danbooru have any sort of a reliable system for finding artist websites. While many of the names at these places are wrong, the links don't lie. A typical moe.imouto sidebar for an image from pixiv looks like this:
The source section will link you right to the image on Pixiv, and if you click the question mark next to the artist's name (yellow on moe.imouto, red on Danbooru), you may be linked to a page with the artist's websites on it. Double check this information before using it, as it can be edited by almost anyone.
Tommy Walker Artists
There are currently six Tommy Walker games, that allow users to commission artwork of characters.
Finding the artist of Tommy Walker images can be quite a challenge, as the images often share backgrounds that stop then being so easily searchable on Similar Image Searches, and we don't currently alias Tommy Walker IDs to Artist tags.
Artist IDs
Each artist on Tommy Walker has the same user ID across all games. However, across different games, some IDs are used as they are, while others will need zeros added to the front of the ID to make the number up to five digits.
If all you can find is an ID number, use the starting links here to put before an artist ID to locate their profile.
Searching TW Images
Run the image through iqbd
This will try to locate if the image has been posted on other image boards. Be cautious even if you find an artist from this; the images can be tagged by anyone so you should follow the artist links back to their gallery to check (See Navigating Artist Profiles).
OR Google Image Search
Google will sometimes pick up the image from the original Tommy Walker site, either in the results or sometimes if you look under 'Find other sizes of this image'. You are looking for a Tommy Walker game URL, beginning with http://t-walker.jp/ or something similar to http://tw4.jp/ (number changing depending on the game).
You have found the Artist profile that you THINK it might be, but you want to check their gallery for the image?
The games are all in Japanese, so it can seem a little difficult to know how to navigate to their galleries. This can be done in different ways, depending on the game.
Mugen no Fantasia / Silver Rain
Below the artist's banner, on the right hand side is a button. This button should take you to all of their uploaded works.
< Mugen no Fantasia
< Silver Rain
End Breaker
The gallery can be access from the dropdown menu and clicking the button by it, here:
File:All works on the dropdown.png
OR
< This button should take you to all of their uploaded works.
Psychic Hearts/Kerberos Blade
Their gallery is accessible, through the second tab on their profile, and the artist's information from the third:
Jaeger Sixth
Just scroll down; it should be at the bottom of their page!
Artist Does Not Have a Tag
Leave a link to the artist's personal profile in the Misc. Metadata section, and our Moderators or Tagging Team will add the artist to our database!
Artists tags are not created without a link to a personal website, social media platform, or other credible source such as AnimeNewsNetwork's Encyclopedia.
Still Can't Locate the Artist
Our Tagging Team is here to help, no worries. Any additional information that you can offer about the image may be useful.
