In reading a recent thread I felt the need to say a couple of things..Personally, I would like to say I agree with IR, I don't think the threads title reflected the exact motive of its contents and I would have posted but could not...so with that said..

As far as tips go, there isn't some book of hidden tips and tricks we keep to ourselves, as problems arise when skinning I try to attack them with vigor, with stubborness, hard work and amibition, part of skinning IS figuring these things out, SKinning is like anything else in life, the harder you work, the more pride you take, the less apt you are to ask for help... the better your chances of success are. Ive been skinning a LONG time and can , with pride and honestly say 98% of it I learned by myself.. through trial and error, long hours, lots of coffee and cigarettes and hundreds of sleepless nights.

I highly doubt Davinci became a Master at his trade by giving up and asking for help everytime he came across what he deemed an insurmountable road block. Know this.. If you try something enough times.. it will work.. If you have the tenacity to keep at it until it's figured out no matter what.. then your well on your way to becoming a master of whatever your heart desires.

I firmly believe that one should not even ask for help until one has thouroughly exhausted body and mind in defiance of a problem, then and only then, when you have tried your best.. explorered EVERY avenue, at your wits end, then.. put your pride aside.. no matter how much it hurts.. and finally buckle.

The sense that people should be entitled to help, to less than glowing praise of their work..to me.. is unacceptable, It seems to me a very liberal philosophy and one that again.. to me.. holds no water. Now obviously.. I have zero problems helping people further their skinning knowledge, I love to help, I imagine that over the last year or so or more, other than maybe Cavan1 that Myself, IR and NT have contributed to 95% of the WB skinning help that has been given on this site so again.. I am not oppsed to helping but I do, in no way, feel obligated to hand out help or critique more mildly ot untruly because of my status on this site.

I see no need for a special Channel, or thread, or round table to be instigated.. when help is asked for.. almost 100% of the time.. it is given..and usually by myself, NT or IR. I would like to think that this in some small part is appreciated but judging by a few comments in the other thread, sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.

To speak to what ignited the post I refer to I shall only say this.... NT said under no uncertain terms exactly what many amongst us were thinking.. was it harsh?.. yes.. but sometimes a blunt sword is better than a speeding bullet. I do not disagree with the main point he made, I completely agree with him. Could he have said it in a more compassionate manner? Sure, he could have, however, this wasn't the first time this had been brought to the attention of the skinner, I myself, had a couple of times mentioned almost exactly the same thing and I wasn't the only one. Point being, nicety was not working. If Craig had not said what was said.. someone else was going to.

 For me the main reason was this.. Its VERY hard to see someone skipping all the work, breaking all the cardinal rules and then bumping those offending skins constantly to the top of page one, knocking down work that some folks spend months on. Straight and simple. If it wrong to think that is wrong. Then 7 out of 7 so called community elders, Masters, Mods alike.. were also wrong. If someone can explain to me why it might have been acceptable then please feel free.

I support stronger critique, less tolerance of the above tactics and a more open dialog when it comes to these things, I think WC may be a better place because of it.

Hard work makes a great skinner\ person. Work hard, don't give up, get it done... be proud.