Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ)
Julius Zimmerman Art
As
of March 18, 2005
Welcome seekers of knowledge and enlightenment! Herein you will find information about the history and operation of the Julius Zimmerman community. This document provides answers to the most frequent questions posed by fans of the artist Julius Zimmerman.
In order to reduce spam, this document will list all email addresses in the following format in blue.
name at domain dot com (instead of name@domain.com)
These will not be addresses you can click on, however.
This FAQ document will always reside in multiple locations to ensure you can find answers to your Julius Zimmerman questions.
The primary location is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZimmermanDrawings/files/JZFAQ.htm
If the group download limit has been reached, and you CAN'T access the FAQ file there, you can also view it at these alternate locations:
http://www.davesart.com/zimmfan/FAQ/
We will soon have a copy of this FAQ at the Google, Elistas, and Smartgroups
groups as well.
TIP: many people copy and paste this entire web page into a document (eg, Word) and save it on their local drive for easy referral. When it’s updated, get the latest copy (we’ll tell you when).
If you have further comments and/or corrections about this FAQ document, please contact Dave (one of the group moderators) at fiawol at aol dot com.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
VERIFYING
AUTHENTICITY &
COMPLETENESS
MESSAGE
POSTING BEST
PRACTICES
Groups
Containing Exclusively JZ
Art
Groups
Containing Fan Art (JZ work enhanced by
fans):
Groups
Containing Fiction Inspired by JZ
Art
Not
being able to join a
group.
Not
being able to complete the Word Verification
step
Not
being able to see a
group.
Not
being able to download a
file
Not
being able to access the database at
Rapidshare
What
does Membership Pending
mean?
Not
seeing the message that I
posted.
Why
do I get these Archives
Letters?
How
do I post an email to the group with an
attachment?
8.
COLLECTING ZIMMERMAN ART ON YOUR
COMPUTER
10.
CONTACTING JULIUS
ZIMMERMAN
APPENDIX
1: JULIUS ZIMMERMAN
MYTHS
APPENDIX
2: TOON URBAN
LEGENDS
Every update to this FAQ document will show a brief list here of what’s been added or significantly changed in the FAQ since the last update. Section numbers are listed in [brackets] to facilitate locating the topic. For brevity, we won’t list corrections of typos.
1.
JZ’s Biography &
Philosophy [3] has some additional insights from Zee Master on how to
draw.
2.
New series titles have
been added in Art Varieties [4].
3.
Some comments on the impact
of bidding in Purchasing Art [5].
4.
The Fans section [6] has
an updated fan count.
5.
The Online Groups &
Archives section [7] has:
·
Moved Zimmerman-Colored
group to the defunct pile,
·
Updated the database link
to Lee’s new database,
·
Added a tip on speeding
up the database download,
·
Added new answers on the
purpose of archive letters and how to post
attachments,
·
provided further information
on Copyright Laws,
·
and added comments about
Consensual Adults Laws.
6.
Added a new Duplicate Auction
ID in Collecting JZ Art [8].
7.
Provided a list of frequently
used coloring tools in Fan Art [9].
8.
The Glossary [11] has a
few new terms.
9.
Two new alternate approaches
to viewing 3D images have been added to Appendix
3.
Here is Julius Zimmerman’s
story in his own words:
“Most of my career has
been free-lance illustration for various clients in various types of business.
Out of my 30-year career prior to auctioning my artwork, perhaps only 2 of
them were spent on full-time employment. Because of this, I am very comfortable
with the nature of the auction business.
Aside from some small signs
or art jobs for local clients, my first job was at McDonalds at 16. The manager
liked my habit of drawing jokey cartoons about the various exploits of my
fellow employees, so I was removed from the chore of flipping burgers and
implanted instead at his desk during working hours in order to draw pretty
much what I'm doing today - minus the tits. This was an epiphany for me.
I liked doing this for a living. Had I known at the time it would take another
25 years to actually MAKE a living from it, I certainly would have re-thought
that inspiration.
I did not enroll in art classes at high school. I never thought of
it! Art was a keen interest of mine, of course, but my four older brothers
were more of a concern to my parents at that time because they were in
‘acceptable’ professions like architecture and computer science,
so they didn't think of it either. Only by chance bumping into a grade-school
friend and fellow artist did I suddenly realize they even HAD such things
as art classes. Because I had pursued art on my own, I was able to join Junior
& Senior art classes. In the end it didn't furnish me with that much
more than I had tried on my own.
College for one year was pretty
much the same. Mostly all I remember was the nude drawing classes, but even
for that I only showed up the first quarter. I used the experience of living
away from home in a nice, secure apartment / dorm as my studio in order to
submit drawings for underground comics. Then making their first appearance
were Robert Crumb ZAP comics and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers by Gilbert
Sheldon. No Zimmerman Comix were added to their illustrious ranks
=c(.
For the seven years after high
school, I did various free-lance assignments for local business - a drawing
of a tractor here, a sign or menu for a restaurant there. Most were one-shot
deals in a wide variety of drawing-styles and uses. I dabbled in signage
and calligraphy, portraits, cartoons and comic strips for clients and magazines,
top-to-bottom brochures (a few nice models in one job =c), logo design,
architectural floor plans and such. The one field I can say definitively
that I did NOT have any experience with is fashion design - perhaps because
I prefer my women UNclothed.”
By 1980, Julius began experimenting with computer-based
(ie, digital) art on his Amiga computer. That was the last time he manipulated
images electronically – his work ever since has been using traditional
methods.
In December 1998,
Julius published his first comic book entitled “Blind Squirrel”.
The planned sequel
to “Blind Squirrel” (you guessed it, “Blind Squirrel 2”)
never materialized, and thus his story “You Snooze, You Lose” ended
up being
published
in "Sizzle" magazine #6 (publisher NBM).
The success of
these propelled Julius’ career, and by 2000 he was working full-time
as an artist using the Internet to sell his works.
Julius draws
incessantly to please his ever-increasing fan base. He creates five to ten
pictures per day on average that he posts online for sale. Additionally,
he sends a digital reproduction of each image out to the online group moderators
for fans not lucky (or resourceful) enough to acquire his original
work.
Today, Julius lives
in the central United States. He regularly corresponds with his fans via
the primary online group (ZimmermanDrawings at Yahoo
groups).
Julius continues
to amaze and delight us with his creative parodies of famous (and infamous)
characters from present and past media.
Here are some of
his thoughts about how he decides what to draw:
“I have several criteria for deciding what to draw. The first is the number of bids a picture type receives. People vote for their favorites with their bidding. On NaughtyBids, it is the only type of feedback I get. Of course, I have to filter and refine the raw data to take into account each of my bidder’s particular habits and finances.
I do so many pictures that I am able to test over and over again to define those very small characteristics that make the difference between a very popular picture and a dud.
The second is all the comments and requests I get outside of bidding, such as ideas from this Yahoo group and from emails from bidders and fans.
The third deciding factor is how I personally feel. I've never done any of the banned-type pictures simply because none of these things particularly float my boat. I'm fortunate in my fans and bidders, also, in that I've never received a single request to draw any of these things.
To some extent I remain ignorant of a lot of comic, anime and game characters, as my background comes from more of an art nude illustration career.
Some characters I wish to remain ignorant of. My ‘problem’ with anime for example is that the extreme stylization of the faces in that style does not begin to take full advantage of my abilities or desires to render genuine human features and expressions. Even with a character such as Daphne, for example, I cannot restrict myself to just a cartoon version of her features.
The biggest reason why I draw what I draw has to do with the average age of my bidders, which I would estimate to be about 40. At that age, one is more enamored of older characters like Annie Fanny or Supergirl, say, than the newer characters.
That said, I do draw quite a lot of Dejah Thoris and I plan on doing more of her and Star Trek pix. I have only just barely heard of Tenchi Muyo and Ranma. The others you mention I have not a clue.
For my own personal growth and also to try to give all my fans a taste of their favorites, I periodically try out new characters, though. Those that ‘stick’ with the greatest audience, I will tend to draw more often. It may be a common misconception that I draw what I feel like drawing. That is only true in the sense that I feel like drawing nude women. All of the other parameters about WHAT TYPE of nude women I draw are up to those who support my endeavors.
I embrace digital art. I don't have linseed oil in my veins through
classical connections. I was doing digital art in 1980. I would love to sink
my teeth into the latest software. However, I don't see it challenging the
norm anytime soon.
The value of digital art suffers greatly from the fact that many elements
of beauty are achieved much more easily than in the technique that some artists
use. The game of golf would be much less interesting and the awards much
less if Tiger Woods had GPS-guided golf balls.
A machine-printed final product, in spite of how beautiful it may
look, can hardly be afforded the same worth in most peoples' minds as an
actual piece of art painted or drawn by hand. Even if the process were refined
to the point where it became virtually indistinguishable from original art,
the very fact that 1,000 clones could be made with 1,000 mouse clicks lessens
its' value tremendously. It's simply too easy to be much
valued.”
And to close, Julius Zimmerman’s
detailed instructions on how to draw as well as he does:
”Start with a stick-figure, depicting in general form
the skeleton. Add muscles. Add fat. Wrap it in skin.
Voilá!”
Julius’ original
comic book, Blind Squirrel, is the only published full comic. It was published
by Amerotica (ISBN 1561632201). It is out of print and is only available
for purchase from existing owners via online auctions, etc.
JZ has produced
over 8,000 drawings in the 10+ years he has been creating them, typically
averaging 5-10 per day since 2000. Some are pencil sketches, and other media
include fully detailed pencil, white pencil on black paper, colored pastels,
and oils.
Many fans ask if JZ will ever be
publishing a book of his collected work. A Zimmerman art book would likely
trigger legal issues with the companies whose characters he’s parodying
if they were included. It's
possible he may publish a book with his generic adult drawings, but a CD
collection would be the most probable release of a collection of Zimmerman
art.
Ever since he started auctioning,
Julius has had a number of possible ‘team-up’ discussions taking
place with other artists he has met online. Back in the past, a few
who have expressed such an interest included artists like Melanie Klegerman
and Deacon Black. Nothing ever really got past the talking stages,
as each of the artists were busy with their own creations already.
One such collaboration HAS come to take place. Artist Barbara Jensen
(www.eroticartistgallery.com)
has been doing painted art for many years. She has entered into an agreement
with Julius to do painted versions of previously done examples of Zimmerman
artwork, which Julius is then selling from his
account.
JZ’s scope
of characters includes humans, superheroes, vampires, monsters, and animals
from the following sources of inspiration.
Names of specific
producers and characters are intentionally left out to avoid potential legal
issues. Any resemblance of JZ’s characters to real people or copyrighted
characters is strictly coincidental.
JZ has created
a number of popular series of images. Some are complete, while many may always
be continued at the whim of the artist. Note that some image names (eg,
autoerotic) have been used in more than one image but it is not a series.
Images entitled ‘Draft’, ‘Figure Study’, ‘Figure
Studeez’, ‘Sketchbook’, ‘Studio’ and the like are
not a series, per se, but JZ’s sketches.
Note that some
series are stopped and picked up again later (ie, not all contiguous auction
ID numbers). And JZ may pick these up and continue them at any time --
don’t we wish! Jeannie, I need to talk with
you…
American Beauty (6 images)
Baby Shower (22 images)
Bad Example (4 images)
Bad Girlz (21 images)
Be My Valentine (33 images, titles begin with
valentine)
Best Offer (14 images, titles end with 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, …
7b)
Blind Squirrel (10 images)
Boob Music (5 images)
Book A (20 images)
Candy (9 images)
Catwalk (15 images)
Club Minerva (6 images)
Contestant (11 images)
Femlina (4 images)
Finery (4 images)
Flash (10 images)
Flaunt It (50 images)
Games (3 images)
Girlz (8 images)
Good N Bad (7 images)
Holiday Cheer (7 images)
I Love (8 images)
Juxtapose (5 images)
Kiss (16 images)
Learning Curve (18 images)
Linger (5 images)
Lingerie (10 images)
Liplock (34 images: note that there’s only 01-30, 50-52, and
100)
Liplox (10 images)
Mardi Bras (33 images)
Marvelosity (10 images)
Melissa (5 images)
Moorehead High (6 images, titles begin with mh)
Octopussy (7 images)
Page of Nights (40 images, numbers 5014-5053)
Paparazzi (8 images)
Photo Op (4 images)
Polecats (12 images)
Pool Party (3 images)
Prey (8 images)
Pre-Z (60 images)
Queens (7 images, does not include number 1699)
Skynn N Bones (11 images, titled snb00 through
snb10)
Sizzle (52 images)
St Patricks Day (7 images)
Strip (6 images)
Stripper (8 images)
Stuffit (2 images)
Take (20 images)
Taken (4 images)
Taste (3 images)
Toil and Trouble (3 images)
Toon (13 images)
Toy Story (10 images)
Undressup (7 images)
Vamp (5 images)
WW (5 images)
XXXmas (38 images)
JZ
DOES
NOT
DO COMMISSIONED WORK! You can purchase his original works
at:
As of March
2005, there are 7,400+ fans registered on Yahoo’s primary JZ group
(ZimmermanDrawings). This number is growing as JZ’s fame
spreads.
Our group was labeled the ‘Flaming Horde’ after many of us rose to Julius' defense in 2003. That incident followed the discovery that an inker was tracing Julius' art and auctioning it as his own. We got this appellation going after an image pilferer and site owner suddenly found his inbox full of complaints. Though the ‘Flaming Horde’ designation was intended as an insult, the group embraced the novel designation. When Julius e-mailed his image host asking who it was, the response was something like: "No one you or your horde of flaming fans need to worry about any more" and he ceased hosting the tracings. Julius even named a drawing after us and inserted the Flaming Horde as background characters in a Jessica / Frankenstein drawing (see flaminghorde-3894).
As a general rule,
one must have an account set up to access online groups. This is true for
Yahoo, Google, Elistas, and Smartgroups.
There is a small group of people who volunteer their time to moderate the various online archives and groups dedicated to JZ’s work. If groups disappear suddenly or access problems occur, they are the points of contact for the fans.
Dave (fiawol at aol dot
com)
Lee (madcow1962 at yahoo dot
com)
Richard (sargonparidius at sbcglobal
dot net)
There are
a few group member etiquette (‘netiquette’) best practices that
we’d like to share to make the community work
optimally:
Once you are a
member of Yahoo Groups (sign up at
http://groups.yahoo.com), you can
join any of the following groups.
Your profile’s
entered birth date must result in you being over 18 years of age to have
access to Adult Content groups. Your profile may need to show 18 or more,
specifically, depending upon current Yahoo rules. See the Legal & Moral
Values Issues section below for Yahoo’s current
policy.
If you want to
receive images via email, make sure your membership setting for Message Delivery
is set to ‘Individual emails’. Once in a group, you can post messages
from your browser using the group Post function, or you can send an email
to the group (pending moderator approval) using this email address:
groupname at yahoogroups dot com.
The ZimmermanDrawings group on Yahoo groups is found at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZimmermanDrawings
This is the most active and current home for Zimmerman fans. This is where announcements about the release of his new digital works will occur, as well as the storage of those images and message posts between fans.
· Jessicarabbitpresentsjzimmslesbians - Female images only
· LOD_VampibyZimmerman - Vampirella drawings only
· ZD00 - Archive for image thumbnails using PicturePedia
· ZD01 - Drafts (drawings with a circle around a number), no titles, titles that start with numbers, and titles that start with A.
· ZD01A - Titles that start with B or C.
· ZD02 - Titles that start with D, E, or F.
· ZD03 - Titles that start with G, H, or I.
· ZD04 - Titles that start with J, K, L, M, and some of the N titles.
· Zimmerman-N - Archive for images starting with the letter N (because the old ZD group was deleted)
· ZD05 - Titles that start with O, P, Q, or R.
· ZD06 - Titles that start with Sa through So.
· ZD06A - Titles that start with Sp through Sz.
· ZD07 - Titles that start with T or U.
· ZD07A - Titles that start with V, W, X, Y, or Z.
See the section entitled Fan Art below for details of submitting to the following groups.
· ZD08 - Animations of JZ’s art by others.
· ZD08-2 - More animations of JZ’s art by others.
· ZD10 - Puzzles using JZ’s art.
· ZimmermanColoredDisneyNToons - Colored images done by fans
· Zimms_Place_II - Images organized by character
· JessicaRabbitandFriends
· Zimmerman-QuicFics
· Colorsby_FF2KandFriends
· Dizney_Belle
· Dizney_Chicks
· Dizney_Jasmine
· Dizney_Snow_White
· Freunde_der_Currywurst
· jessicarabbitgroup
· jessicarabbitgroup2
· jessicarabbitgroup3
· Ms_Buxley
· SAMs-Hartcomics-group
Once you are a
member of Google Groups (sign up at
http://groups.google.com), you can
join the following group:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Zimmerman-Gallery
Once you are a member of Elistas Groups (sign up at www.elistas.com), you can join the following group:
www.elistas.com/list/zimmerman-gallery
After joining
www.smartgroups.com (like joining
yahoo or google groups) there are only two ways to become a member of these
groups. The preferred way is to email the subscribe address listed under
each group, and smartgroups will add you automatically.
www.smartgroups.com/groups/Frostys_Collection
You can also send an email to the following:
frostys_collection-subscribe at smartgroups dot
com
Frosty also maintains archives in groups Frostys_Collection01 through Frostys_Collection10.
Active
sites:
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/gabrielbros@sbcglobal.net
(Lee’s
rotating archive of 1000 individual images and the latest installment of
Lee’s database. You must be first be logged on to Yahoo groups or you
won’t see it)
http://rapidshare.de/files/1531131/Zimmerman_database_5-1-05.zip.html
(Lee’s alternative database source when the briefcase is down)
(the
full set of JZ images in ZIP format, 100 images per ZIP
file)
Less active
sites:
(1300+
of JZ’s images)
www.dreamerblue.info/Eek-sr/zim/zimmer_adult01.htm
(8
galleries of JZ’s images, NOT the entire collection as it
states)
www.firegirls.com/artgal/realism/zimm/index.html
(a small
gallery)
http://members.aol.com/nouveaucollector/XXXmas/
(high-resolution copies of some of the XXXmas series
images)
Lux’s site
Lux died in January 2004 from medical complications. After his death, his estate closed his Zimmerman site.
ZD04A Yahoo group
Killed by Yahoo in 2004 from lack of use. The images starting with ‘N’ are now in the Zimmerman-N group.
Zimmerman-Colored Yahoo group
Killed by Yahoo in March 2005.
Zimmerman-Gallery Yahoo group
Killed by Yahoo in January 2005 for an unknown violation of their terms of service.
ZimmermanCS Yahoo group
Killed by Yahoo in 2004 for lack of use. Contained image collector software.
Zimmerman archives
More than one archive at hentaiplanet dot net is no longer there.
You
may need to adjust your profile to allow adult content and/or establish your
age in your profile as at least 18 years old.
If
you cannot read the twisted text on screen to complete the Word Verification
step (eg, when joining a Yahoo group), try again and a new text image will
be displayed.
There are sometimes daily or monthly limits to download volumes on various groups. First, check recent messages for the group to see if others have found the limits to be reached. If too many people are downloading files from Yahoo at the same time, Yahoo will shut off access for a short period of time. If the download rate is exceeded again, it will shut off access to files for a longer time. Just wait and keep on trying, and you'll eventually be able to access the Files area. If you continue to have problems, try checking them out at non-peak times, usually anytime in the morning to early afternoon in the USA. If so, you may need to wait until the next day, week, or even month depending on the site. Typically, if it’s going to be for a long period, the Moderator will notify folks about it.
The following statements are from a Yahoo Groups employee on the daily download limits that are now imposed on all group archives:
"There are two limits. There is a per user limit, which is on a rolling 4 hour and 24 hour timeline. That is, you have a maximum you can download every four hours, and a daily maximum as well. The same applies to a group as well, with both rolling 4 hour and 24 hour limits, though the limits are much higher than for an individual user. Also, we don’t start counting on the per user limit until you download from a group that has reached 50% of its daily limit. There are various factors that weigh into the daily maximum for a group, but I’m not going to disclose them, for obvious reasons.”
Here is the procedure to download from Rapidshare. Click on this link:
http://rapidshare.de/files/744693/Zimmerman_database_2-28-05.zip.html
It will lead you to the ‘ad-financed download page’. Go down to the bottom of the page under all of the ads. Choose the ‘free’ download. Go down to the bottom of the page again. The file will either be available right away, or after a 30-60 second countdown to download. Click on the link, and download it. TIP: to shorten the download delay, type “javascript:c(countdown = 0)” without the quotes into the address bar and then press enter several times -- your delay time will be cut down to zero.
Some groups require the group moderator to approve your membership. Your status will be Pending until (a) you are accepted by the moderator, (b) you are rejected by the moderator, perhaps because your profile doesn’t show your age or birth date, or (c) the moderator does nothing and in 2-3 weeks, Yahoo will automatically reject your membership.
The group moderators send them out to members from time to time to ensure that the groups are not deleted for inactivity. You can also set your membership settings to NOT receive email in the archive groups since there is little-to-no chat in those.
This cannot be done from within Message Post function in Yahoo Groups. One must use his/her email software (web-based or local client software such as Outlook) to send a group email with an attachment.
Julius has made it very clear that he does
NOT want his drawings floating through bitstreams or via peer-to-peer
(P2P) networks. So, no matter how enthusiastic you feel about his art, please
do not place copies onto file-sharing networks. Please do not be mislead
into thinking ‘authorized’ use of RapidShare for the group's zips
opened the door into free-for-alls via file sharing networks.
On a frequent basis, Julius' drawings are found on unauthorized sites. They're
the identical files that are distributed here, including names and auction
numbers. Not surprisingly, some files are already modified from the
‘starter’ uploads. Distribution of Julius' art is far, far removed
from his desire for control using the honor system.
Group members are bound to the honor system to NEVER redistribute his drawings
via bitstreamed or P2P sources.
JZ's use policies do not allow the unauthorized sale and/or distribution
of:
·
CD
collections
·
posting to non-Zimmerman
websites / groups (pay or free)
·
creation of
websets
·
colorizations
·
animations and
puzzles
·
tubes (a digital art
component)
·
sigtags (signature tags
at the end of emails)
·
any new graphics format
that blazes into hobbyists' bags of tricks
In January 2005, JZ instituted a ‘cutout’ policy on his artwork to discourage piracy of his images (5264-strip1 through 5305-sketchbook15). The original art was unaffected. Beginning with 5306-sketchbook16, JZ eliminated the cutout and instead began relying on his last name that he’s cleverly inserted within the images. See Verifying Authenticity & Completeness above for details. FYI, some fans also refer to these as ‘boxed’ images.
There are limits
to what online groups are willing to support. For example, NaughtyBids will
not allow the sale of work that shows any of a variety of acts (eg, fisting).
NaughtyBids specific Terms Of Service (TOS) can be found here:
http://naughtybids.com/faq/agreement.html
Yahoo has occasionally
deleted a group because their TOS were violated. Unfortunately, they don’t
typically reveal which rule was violated. In January 2005, the primary Yahoo
group for JZ’s art storage was deleted without warning. At that time,
to ensure the group moderators could contact the fans, contingency groups
were established on Google and Elistas so that emails could be sent out to
fans in the event Yahoo does a complete purge.
The following is
Yahoo’s official policy on age requirements in February
2005.
-----Original
Message-----
From: Yahoo! Groups
[mailto:egroups-feedback@cc.yahoo-inc.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005
6:11 AM
To:
[group-moderator]
Subject: Re: Start - Other
(KMM28952074V17409L0KM)
Hello,
Thank you for writing to Yahoo!
Groups.
In order to join/create adult related
groups, Yahoo Groups does not require members to list their age on their
profile.
Please keep in mind that Group owners
have total control over their Group. Yahoo does not operate or maintain Groups.
We give Group owners the tools to create and run their own
communities.
To contact the Group owner, send
a message to:
[groupname]-owner@yahoogroups.com
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo!
Customer Care.
Regards,
Amber
Yahoo! Customer
Care
Visit our online help pages at:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/groups/
Copyright law allows
for ‘parody’ artwork of another’s art. This is the protection
under which JZ continues to produce his art. One cannot sell such art in
direct competition with the copyright holder, however JZ’s adult-oriented
parodies do not technically compete with children-oriented cartoons, films,
books, etc.
Sometimes the images
JZ draws of a particular character will not look exactly like the original.
This may occur because he doesn’t want to get too close to matching
the character he’s parodying for his own legal protection. Or, it may
be, as in the case of anime source material, because he’d prefer the
features to look more like a real human being.
Some characters
that Julius used to draw are not appearing anymore because the legal teams
for the companies owning the copyrights have become predatory. He may, at
his whim, draw characters that resemble said characters, but with enough
differences to preserve his rights to parody. Thus, fan criticism about his
deviance (get your mind out of the gutter!) from the original designs may
be counter-productive. Keep in mind, JZ’s legal staff (Tink) is a tad
bit smaller than all of the media companies’ shark
teams.
These don’t
apply to JZ’s art because they are drawings, not photographs. Just because
a character looks underage doesn’t mean that anything is inappropriate.
And besides, all of JZ’s subjects have signed consent forms prior to
making an appearance.
Some of JZ’s
fans have created tools and databases for managing their JZ art collections.
Name first (eg, doubleduty-1234.jpg)
Number first (eg, 1234-doubleduty.jpg)
doubleduty-1234 animated by Tiger.gif
doubleduty-1234 colored by Michelle.jpg
These are just suggestions based upon what some of the collectors currently do to set up their files on their hard drives.
If you have family members for whom JZ’s work should not be seen, store your collection on a CD, in a password-protected ZIP archive, or use encryption tools such as PGP.
You’ll need 200-250Mb to store all of the images in uncompressed JPG format. A ZIP archive of all images compresses down only slightly (less than 5% of the total). Either the ZIP archive or the original images will easily fit on a single CD if you have a CD burner.
If you keep your collection on your hard drive, back it up to a CD (or other media) from time to time.
Here is the range of auction IDs (and image names) by year:
1979 – 0000-screwcover1979
1995 – 0000-elizabeth
1998 – 0000-blindsquirrel133 through 0000-blindsquirrel70
1999 – none known at this time
2000 – 0000-10-23-82 through 0000-yesterday PLUS 0521-jessie PLUS 2186-doright through 2188-fightoverme
2001 – 0000-draft11 through 0000-draft29 PLUS 0000-acrowd through 0000-xanadu PLUS 0001-sweet through 0209-bigun PLUS 0501-audition through 0690-womderwomen
2002 – 0210-finally through 0500-animated PLUS 1000-animated through 2359-fashionshow
2003 – 2360-thanx through 3794-happy2004
2004 -- 3795–wetandwild through 5198-rockyhorror
2005 -- 5199-northpole and beyond…
There are a number of auction IDs that were never used. As an example, after doing a long series of non-numbered images, when he started numbering them again, he couldn't find the last number that he had used, so he just started over again at 1000. Here is a list so that you don’t have to wonder why you’re missing those:
495, 564, 565, 574-578, 583-589, 612-614, 646,
647, 655, 672, 688, and all numbers from 691 to
999.
There is also a standard ‘missing.jpg’ file in the ZimmermanDrawings files that you can download, copy, and rename so that an image exists for any missing auction ID you choose -- to help you ensure that YOU haven’t actually deleted or misplaced the file!
The Zip Archives also contain a missing file as a placeholder for each missed auction ID.
There are a few files with duplicate auction IDs. Note that many files may have an auction ID of 0000 (meaning no auction ID), 2000 (drawn that year), or 2001 (drawn that year) – these are not considered duplicates. Here’s a list of the IDs we believe were erroneously used twice. As Julius has said, “I’m an artist, not a secretary!”
· 0595 (Duchess and Goin’ Ape),
· 1235 (Premature and Share Alike),
· 2590 (Study 201 and Study FD),
· 2591 (Study 202 and Study NZ),
· 2592 (Study 203 and Study TD),
· 2593 (Study 204 and Study AM),
· 2594 (Study 205 and Study ML),
· 2595 (Study 206 and Study AC),
· 2596 (Study 207 and Study LM),
· 2597 (Study 208 and Study BC),
· 3141 (Tie Me Up Tie Me Down and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down 2).
· 5579 (Biggiput and St Patrick’s Day 7)
Here is a sample
of the type of folder structure you may want to employ.
\JZ
\Database
\Downloads
\Favorites
\Superman
\Lesbian
\Maids
\Gotham
\Whatever…
\ImagesByName
\ImagesByNumber
\ZipArchives
Some people only
keep a single copy of images in JPEG format, and use links (or shortcuts)
for all other references. As an example, one can keep the original files
in the ImagesByName folder, and then all the Favorites and ImagesaByNumber
can be link (or shortcut) files -- these take roughly 2 percent of the space
of the original JPEG files.
1.
Download the file from the website or your email InBox
or the web into the \Downloads directory.
2.
Adjust the filename(s) in the Download directory to your
preference (name first or number first). This can be done manually or with
the Bulk Rename Utility.
3.
If you are keeping a database or index of new images,
update the information for the files in the Download directory. Alternatively,
you can occasionally download Lee G’s database, which is updated roughly
once a month.
4.
Move the files in the Download directory to the ImagesByName
and/or ImageByNumber folder.
5.
Create copies of files or shortcuts to those files in
other directories, such as Favorites, ImagesByNumber,
etc.
6.
Enjoy!
The prolific nature
of Mr. Zimmerman makes for significant cataloguing work for those of us who
want to have everything he’s ever done in our collection. Having the
files in either name-first or number-first order (or both!) is prohibitively
time-consuming to do by hand. Fortunately, the Bulk Rename Utility makes
this a snap.
Renaming Image
Files in Bulk
Converts files
from the format ‘NNNN-name.jpg’ to
‘name-NNNN.jpg’
1. Enter this into
the Match field:
([0-9]*)-(.*)\.jpg
2. Enter this into
the Replace
field:
\2-\1
3. Check the Match
Case box
4. Select the files
in the window to rename (may use Edit->Select All).
5. Press the Rename
button.
6. Click YES when
it asks to confirm the rename.
Renaming Shortcut
(link) Files in Bulk
Converts files
from the format ‘Shortcut to name-NNNN.lnk’ to
‘NNNN-name.lnk’
1. Enter this into
the Match
field:
(Shortcut to )(.*)-([0-9]*)\.lnk
2. Enter this into
the Replace
field:
\3-\2
3. Check the Match
Case box.
4. Select the files
in the window to rename (may use Edit->Select All).
5. Press the Rename
button.
6. Click YES when
it asks to confirm the rename.
Some people like
to experiment with their own artistic talent by enhancing Julius
Zimmerman’s black and white images. You certainly can play to your
heart’s content as long as you do not commercially distribute any of
these images without JZ’s explicit agreement. You can, however, share
them with the group. See the various group descriptions above, and especially
Groups Containing Fan Art. These groups post and store enhanced images done
by fans of Julius.
Fan art falls into
one of these four categories:
· Colorization - black and white art digitally painted using graphics art tools. Stored in JPEG format.
· Animation - multiple still images knit together in a GIF format file to make an animated loop.
· Caption - a humorous (you hope!) caption appended below the image.
· 3D - a stereoscopic projection of the image into left and right views to enable the viewer to see the image in near three dimensions. See Appendix 3 for procedures for viewing 3D images.
Here’s what’s needed to submit your art to the fan art (not ZimmermanDrawings) group moderator:
1) Do not remove any Julius Zimmerman signature and/or initial(s).
2) If his name is embedded into the image, it may not be colored over or removed.
3) Do not color over or remove the image's title.
4) The original file name and auction number are to remain intact.
5) The file name must include the type of enhancement (‘colors by’, ‘animation by’, ‘caption by’, or ‘3D by’) and the fan's name (or nom de plume).
An example of an appropriate file name would be ‘5350-valentine3 colors by RF’ or ‘abreast-2879 animation by maddog’.
Typical tools include Microsoft Paint (comes with Windows), Jasc Software’s Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, or Macromedia Fireworks.
For sake of brevity and focus, this FAQ will not discuss artistic techniques.
His email address
is juliuszimmerman at earthlink dot net.
He also goes by ‘eyesinge’ which you may see in emails to groups
and on NaughtyBids.com.
· DO NOT CONTACT MR ZIMMERMAN ABOUT ONLINE GROUPS ISSUES – CONTACT THE MODERATORS!
· DO NOT CONTACT MR ZIMMERMAN ABOUT DOING COMMISSIONS!
You may suggest new characters for him to draw, or new situations for existing characters. If you suggest new characters, please include a web link to an image of the character(s) being suggested. Because Julius (and many of the fans in the
group) are still using a slow dialup connection, please do NOT include the actual image in your email.
Please note that
JZ is NOT doing custom work for commission,
but rather is working through the backlog of requests and his own imaginings
to create large amounts of work every week. All of his work will be posted
for sale on NaughtyBids.com.
3D: Three-dimensional
addy: Slang for ‘address’, as in an email or website address
animation: An image that has been modified into multiple images that show as an animated loop.
anime: Originally a Japanese animation style (with large eyes, etc), this has expanded in popularity worldwide.
AOHell Slang for AOL (America Online).
ART file A file format exclusive to AOL.
auction ID: The four digit number assigned to each piece of JZ art put up for auction on NaughtyBids. Files without an auction ID are given the number 0000 (which many have).
bitstream: A file sharing technology that uses multiple PCs on a network to distribute files
board: The online group message posting area (ie, the message board)
boxed image: See ‘cutout’ below.
BRU: Bulk Rename Utility by Jim Willshire, a tool to automatically rename many files at once.
caption: A textual addition to a drawing
colorization: An image that has been colored by a fan that was originally black and white
CSV: Comma Separated Values, a database exchange format that can be used to import and export data between Excel, Access, and other database management tools
cutout: A small white block with black border overlaying a portion of the original digital image made by JZ. He did this with 42 images in January 2005 as an experiment to reduce online piracy.
de-lurker: Someone who has been a silent member of the group that finally emerges with a comment.
draft: A sketch made by JZ that is not fully completed.
eyesinge: The name used by JZ for selling his art online and communicating with his fans.
Firefox: Mozilla’s free web browser (see www.mozilla.org) that inhibits pop-ups and spyware.
Flaming Horde: A nickname for the JZ fans when their emails are unleashed against anyone who unduly criticizes or rips-off JZ’s work
4th wall: The ‘wall’ between the viewer and the art itself. Typically stated as ‘breaking the 4th wall’ in which a portion of the artist is interacting with the character. See getback-2831 as an example, or search Lee’s database for ‘4thWall’.
GIF: An animated file format
group: An online community, such as those provided by Yahoo, in which fans can post messages, files, and images about a common topic.
hentai: Adult-oriented animation (see anime) from the japanese for ‘strange desires’.
IE: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, a web browser
JPEG or JPG: A digital image format typically used for web-page images and JZ art archives.
JZ: Julius Zimmerman
lurker: A person who is a member of a group (or bidder in an auction) but does not participate, until one day…
madcow: Lee G’s online ID, the provider of the database of JZ’s art
Maestro: Nickname by fans for JZ
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension, an text-only email solution for transporting non-text files (eg, images)
NaughtyBids: An adult-oriented online auction site that sells erotic art including that of Julius Zimmerman
netiquette Slang for ‘Internet etiquette’. See the section entitled Message Posting Best Practices.
newbie Slang for someone new to the internet and/or online groups.
nom de plume: French for ‘pen name’. An alternate identity (eg, a screen name) used by fans to protect their true identity.
OAV: Original Animation Video
OT: Off Topic, as in a subject we’re debating on the message board that’s not purely about Julius Zimmerman art (eg, ‘OT: Pebbles Flintstone’s Anniversary’).
P2P: Peer-to-peer, a technical method for file sharing between two PCs
PGP: A public domain encryption tool, stands for ‘pretty good privacy’
post: A message that has been posted for public view in a group, as in “see my post from yesterday”.
profile: Your online ID, such as the one you create in Yahoo Groups to access the various groups.
RPG: Role Playing Game
series: A sequence of images that either tells a story in sequence, or is the repetition of a theme (eg, Valentine’s Day).
sigtag: A signature tag that is attached at the end of an email
stereogram: An image that at first appears as random flecks, but viewed correctly, appears as a three-dimensional embedded image
The Master: Nickname by fans for JZ
thread: A chain of messages on the board that relate to a common topic, typically sharing the same subject line
thumbnail: A small version of an image allowing reduced download time to view it and more images per screen.
TOS: Terms of Service, typically used by online group websites such as Yahoo, to define and limit member rights and privileges.
tube: A digital animation object in which an item is removed from its background.
WinZip: A utility for compressing and uncompressing files
Yahell: Term of endearment for Yahoo
zimmerized: Slang for a character that has been enhanced by JZ.
zimmitator: Slang for someone who imitates (or rips off) JZ’s art / style.
ZIP: A compressed file format used by WinZip. May contain one or more files within it (a ZIP archive).
ZIP
archive:
A ZIP file containing multiple compressed files within it.
In 1999, Claudia
Mills published a children’s book entitled ‘You’re A Brave
Man, Julius Zimmerman’. This would be an extremely appropriate title
to describe Julius’ dedication to his craft despite societal controversy.
The story has no connection with this artist, however, and Claudia Mills
never knew anything about OUR Julius Zimmerman (at least as far as we
know).
A list of true, false, and unconfirmed film issues exists here:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films
Those that are true are listed here:
1. (a) Jessica Rabbit flashes in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, (b) Baby Herman fingers a woman, (c) sexy graffiti appears in the restroom
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/jessica.htm
2. Belle makes a cameo in Hunchback of Notre Dame:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/belle.htm
3. A topless woman appeared in The Rescuers:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/rescuers.htm
4. The word SEX appears in the clouds in The Lion King:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.htm
Although not a Toon, a Star Wars trading card shows C-3PO with a huge penis:
http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/c3po.htm
Some of our fan art is created to
replicate what the old stereoscopes from the turn of the last century
provided. Here are the instructions to help see it. Some people take
to this like a duck to water, for others, it may not be so
easy.
Here is one way to see 3D in five
steps (the ‘cross-eyed’ method):
1.
Look at
the image as you normally would from a comfortable
distance.
2.
Slowly cross
your eyes until the images come together and you see three
images.
3.
You will
begin to see the middle picture in three dimensions as it fuses
together.
4.
Slowly begin
to focus as you keep the central images overlapped.
5.
If you have
done everything right, the middle image will be in 3-D.
Here is another way (also
‘cross-eyed’):
1. Get a piece of paper, cardboard, etc ( the darker the better) about 6 inches (155 mm) square.
2. Cut a hole in the middle cut about 1.5 inches (40 mm) square.
3. Hold your viewer so that you left eye looks at the right picture and the right eye looks at the left.
4. Open both eyes let your eyes adjust.
5. Say "WOW".
And one final way (the
‘parallel’ method’):
1.
Open one
of the group’s 3D images in your favorite image
editor.
2.
Using copy
and paste functions, switch the left and right images.
3.
Look at
the right side with your right eye and the left side with your left
eye.
The size of the image on your screen
may need to be adjusted if you’re having trouble with the above
process:
The size of the image on my screen was about 6 by 10 inches. I opened it
up in my image editor (in this case Microsoft Paintbrush) and reduced it
by 50%, so it would display as 3 by 5 inches. Voilá -- now I can see
her in the center image. As the Wizard of Oz said, “I don't know how
it
works!”
For further description of techniques,
see
http://www.3dphoto.net/stereo/text/viewing/technique.html
And for stereograms, yet another
world entirely, see
http://www-ai.ijs.si/sirds/sirds.html
Anyone for a Zimmogram???