Anyone else think that D A is a bit stuck up?

[Kiki]

(((BUMP)))

I know I've replied to this thread already (...a good 3 years ago, mind you), but I wouldn't mind extending my response. With a new(ish, 7 months) DA account, I've been far more active on the site, and I watch MANY deviants, who are all very different compared to eachother. Some are very established artists, the kind that get hundreds and thousands of favourites on a single deviation and who gain hundreds of new watchers a day. They are VERY good, mostly digital artists and photographers. Even when they -in most cases, the photographers- take a fairly average photo (in my opinion. ), such as something with a very basic concept, or maybe just a happy-snap, they will get hundreds of favourites regardless. However, I'd like to think that I also support the less-popular artists, most of which are immensely talented, but lack in recognition. I can relate to many of these artists (because I consider myself to be a fairly... er, unknown, as opposed to many artists on the site), many of which are traditional artists, really. Personally, I'm an illustrator (cartoonist) and photographer (not professional, but I work with failry professional gear in photography but I am still learning and willing to make mistakes. ), and I am fortunate to have a group of such supportive watchers myself.

Fanart is probably the most popular catagory on the site. I'd like to do more fantart, actually, such as Muppet stuff and the like (I'm still teaching myself though, I'm not very good *lol*), and I watch many young artists (as in, younger than myself) who draw some exceptional music fanart (of bands and whatnot). This is where joining groups are good, because they are so many different types, and someone's bound to find one that appeals to them. I'm a member of several groups (nine at present), and I genuinelly believe that it helps to get your name out there, though realistically speaking I only contribute to about 5 or 6 of them, while the remaining ones are ones I've joined purely based on the fact that I'm a fan (eg; joining a Led Zeppelin group, even though my work isn't all that Zeppelin-related). Faving stuff also helps the medicine go down, and is a good way to find people with the same interests, style, etc. Some groups *can* be intimidating (not deliberately, but sometimes I find that I'm the only non-professional member in some cases), for example: I contribute to a fashion-related group in which the artists are very professional compared to myself. I recommended this group to a friend but she told me she didn't like joining groups for this reason. I can undertand this, buuuut... you also have to get passed it. I'm not saying to create stuff exclusively to please others, but have a look at what's out there. I avoid following trends with my artwork because it's being very unfaithful to myself, but it's good to explore and even look at what people are "favouriting". You'd be surprised! My most popular deviation is a photo I took of my shoe. To be honest, it's not a... bad shot, but it's hardly amazing, it's average. Little over-exposed... the colours are a little flat, but there is a good use to depth of field. It got over 30 favourites: a fairly-average (to be frank) photo I took while sitting on a chair. It really surprised me, honestly (has anyone else had this experience?).

I'm not trying to sound like I know best, and secondly I'm not very well-known on DA, but I reckon communication helps, which goes back to aknowledging the less-popular artists. A young girl who did traditional art sent me a note to say thank you for the support, because I faved her stuff and commented, and she was very good despite the lack of attention. To me... DA is both inspiring and intimidating, to be frank. It isn't all about the pageviews, no, but it's nice to have a bit of recognition if you make the effort o show your art. I'm considering putting together a number of articles on DA to showcase some really good pieces done by some unknown artists, actually. Somtimes what I find is that it's not what you know, but WHO you know on DA... :/

 

[D'Snowth]

I only have three major quibbles with dA...

1. Ads
2. Glitches
3. Viruses

In detail...

Ever since I joined dA roughly two years ago, at the insistance of some of my fellow artist friends, I have noticed that from time to time (and usually around this time of year), dA goes through periods where the ads are pretty invasive; now I know that's why most people tend to fork over money to dA's staff for premium memberships so they won't be bothered with the ads, and personally, the ads aren't THAT bothersome to me... you're gonna find them everywhere you go (I still think the ads here on MC make the site look less professional, however)... the problem is the periods where they are invasive, and by that I mean either there's a resurgence in new-age pop-up ads called "rollover ads" that basically extend themselves to a larger view, even if you don't roll over them or click on them; secondly, another problem (especially right now) are the ads automatically refreshing themselves every thirty seconds or so, which sometimes can lead to a little bit of malicious material, which I'll get to in a minute. At times, like now, it really brings down the viewing pleasure of artwork on dA, because I have to be careful of the rogue ads... but I'm seriously actually considering getting a premium membership for myself, though I don't like paying for things over the internet unless I'm desperate for something (ala the fur for Bethany, and in this case, possibly more fabric of the tails of The Squirrely Squirrels).

dA has also been known for it's share of glitches through out the site, particularly after a major revamp/overhaul with the site's layout or features has been completed... and the sad thing is, this has a LARGE effect on watchers and watches... in the past year or so, there have been more than a few occasions where a friend/watcher of mine will apparently have been spontaneously going through my gallery, and seeing new art, because they will comment with "Huh, this didn't show up in my messages". I've actually noticed that happening with a few of my more regular watchers, because I haven't seen any evidence of some of them commenting or favoriting work as of late... but then again, when I first joined dA, I made the mistake of establishing myself as a mostly Chipmunks artist, because now, people tend to ignore my non-Chipmunk art... that's created a two-sided handicap, because on one side, my Chipmunk ship comes and goes, and right now, it's sailed... I'm not that interested in the franchise as I was, say months ago, so it's not like Chipmunk art is the ONLY art I can do... and on the other side, when I don't do Chipmunk art, then traffic and such slows down, because if most of my watchers don't see Chipmunks, they won't bother. Some of my Steve D'Monster art gets comments/favorite from fans, but other than that...

Over the years, there have been several occasions where Trojan Horses were successfully barred from trying to infultrate my computer from dA, HOWEVER, as I've said numerous times, since February, I have gotten hit FIVE TIMES by the exact same virus that has been lurking around dA recently (XP Security, it's a rogue anti-virus software that attacks your computer, and the only way to defeat it is to run Spybot - Search and Destroy to detect and remove it, because it's so sophisticated, it disables other programs like Malwarebytes' Antimalware)... and again, it seems to stem from the ads that refresh themselves every thirty seconds, because quite often, there's some questionable ads seen on dA... and there were two other times I was hit by the XP Security virus, one was on FanFiction.Net, and the other was, of all places, Google.

So, those are my only quibbles... other than that, I'm happy with dA... granted, I'm not as active as I used to be, but it's all well and good.

 

[frogboy4]

Personally, I don’t much care for Deviant Art. It takes very little money or time to secure a .com name, find a host for it and set it up. It looks so much more professional, but of course you don't have the database features of DA. Then again, you don't have all the virus problems and slooooow loading speeds.

As for traditional art...I do both. Art is created with the mind and whatever tool at hand. I must admit to being a snob about artists that can only draw digitally. I feel every artist should know the fundamentals. But there are some people out there with brilliant digi skills. One thing that digital artistry has done is make it difficult to understand that my pencil drawings are created by hand. That can only be authenticated by seeing the actual piece and not a printed copy these days.

Still, the best digital tools in the hands of a novice do little good. An artist produces by any means that speak to them. Still, I think twice before ever surfing over to DA.

 

[Kiki]

I'm fond of digital art, but so many traditional artists are left overlooked due to lack of recognition. As much as I love DA (even though it's a pain to run on my laptop, but that's my internet's fault) it's turned into a popularity contest. Members can give eachother llamas now, for goodness sake. I know it's all in good fun but obviously it's just another way to determine a member's popularity. I try not to overthink all of that though, lol, it doesn't bother me. What really cheeses me off (as I mentioned above) is the fact that you'll get "popular" artists uploading fairly average photos every now and then and they'll get thousands of favourites for it, and yet a really well-done shot won't get noticed at all. What is everyone's thoughts on premium membership? I had one for 4 or 5 months, because it was a gift from a friend on DA. They're kinda fun but hardly neccesary (unless you get the really good one in which you can make adverts, etc).

 

[Drtooth]

Personally, I don’t much care for Deviant Art. It takes very little money or time to secure a .com name, find a host for it and set it up. It looks so much more professional, but of course you don't have the database features of DA. Then again, you don't have all the virus problems and slooooow loading speeds.

I see what you mean and all, but the only real reason people even bother is because it's a social site. There, you're at least guaranteed some views somehow. A Website that's all your own? Sounds great, but you need to promote the heck out of it, especially since EVERYONE in this and the next generation are "artists" now. You have to stand out in a sea of everything that's exactly the same. And you're not guarenteed that people will even look at it.

Problem with me is the only artworks that I do that people even care about are the Robotnik internet meme stuff, and a lot of the stuff I kill myself making are just too obscure to really get any views or faves.

 

[frogboy4]

I see what you mean and all, but the only real reason people even bother is because it's a social site. There, you're at least guaranteed some views somehow. A Website that's all your own? Sounds great, but you need to promote the heck out of it, especially since EVERYONE in this and the next generation are "artists" now. You have to stand out in a sea of everything that's exactly the same. And you're not guarenteed that people will even look at it.

Problem with me is the only artworks that I do that people even care about are the Robotnik internet meme stuff, and a lot of the stuff I kill myself making are just too obscure to really get any views or faves.

I suppose it could be best used as a promotional tool to see higher res versions of pieces on one's site.

 

[Kiki]

Problem with me is the only artworks that I do that people even care about are the Robotnik internet meme stuff, and a lot of the stuff I kill myself making are just too obscure to really get any views or faves.

Rawr, I can so relate to that, I know exactly where you are coming from. Out of my DA gallery, I think the stuff that gets the least faves/comments are my watercolour pics, but we're not talking about my quick ones, I mean the ones that I put *a lot* of effort into a take forever to do. Though when I had a premium membership I made a poll asking people what they wanted to see more of in my gallery. I made this very specific, including fashion photography, conceptual, flora and fauna, watercolour, portraits, computer coloured-in... etc etc. I was shocked to find out that out of at least seven options people wanted to see more of my rough sketches! We're talking things that take me a matter of seconds to draw. I was somewhat flattered, because this was my most organic and spontaneous stuff, my own creations, but it really did surprise me. And yet the stuff that takes me the longest to do got maybe one or two votes. Huh. :/

 

[Vic Romano]

I have to strongly disagree with the idea that digital art is somehow inferior to traditional art. That's like saying Jackson Pollock doesn't really paint, he only throws stuff on a canvas. Trust me, if you can't draw with a pencil and paper, you can't draw with a Wacom tablet. If you're not familiar with the basic concept of light and shadow, a digital filter isn't going to work properly. It goes both ways too. Just because you have a copy of Photoshop CS4, doesn't mean you're a graphic designer either.

Digital art is its own medium. A watercolor painting is art just as a bronze sculpture is, but they're not the same medium. Does the computer "enhance" my art? That's like asking does an HB pencil enhance my sketch? It's a tool, a tool used to create, and not being able to afford digital tools is the same as not being able to afford painting supplies which are very expensive also.

Having said that, I'm on DA, I have a premium account, and I am in no way shape or form "popular". I've had my account for five years, and I can't tip the 10,000 views mark to save my life, and I've seen people with free accounts get double that in a year. That doesn't make me less of an artist, and while I certainly want the attention, DA is huge. People upload artwork every single second. It's easy to get lost, but it's an important site none the less. I've discovered some amazing artists that inspire me to no end. Some are very well known, others barely make a blip. The point is, just because they're barely seen, doesn't mean they're unappreciated.

 

[Drtooth]

Having said that, I'm on DA, I have a premium account, and I am in no way shape or form "popular". I've had my account for five years, and I can't tip the 10,000 views mark to save my life, and I've seen people with free accounts get double that in a year. That doesn't make me less of an artist, and while I certainly want the attention, DA is huge. People upload artwork every single second. It's easy to get lost, but it's an important site none the less. I've discovered some amazing artists that inspire me to no end. Some are very well known, others barely make a blip. The point is, just because they're barely seen, doesn't mean they're unappreciated.

And I even watch you. Great stuff.

Yeah, saying digital is better than/worse than traditional doesn't make sense. Some people do better with one or the other. me? I like the fact I can easily correct mistakes and change colors. I draw stuff by hand first and digitally color them. I don't know if that's gonna change when and if I get a Wacom, but I like the feel of a pencil to start.

Sadly, it seems like the only way to REALLY get hits is to do ...uh... fetish stuff. And I'm this close to saying "The Heck with it" and doing some. I always find the most...errr... interesting stuff by mistake.

But yeah... I think it's important for artists to have BOTH a DA account and an actual website. One can promote the other, and you can easily link both to each other, each helping both. I want to be a little more established, established enough so I can do my own stuff, before I get an independent web page.

 

[D'Snowth]

I think one's "popularity" and how many hits they get on DA depends on what kind of art they upload, and what kind of people they associate with before hand...

Again, as I said, my biggest mistake before getting a dA account was that establishing myself as strictly a Chipmunks artist... I was already a member of a Chipmunks commuity forum for fan artists and writers, and it was my friends there who urged me to get dA, so when I did, I already had a few watchers from that community, who spread the word of my work to other fans, so pretty soon, I had a steady following of other Chipmunk fans on dA... that's why now whenever I post non-Chipmunk art, nobody cares. I've had my account for almost two years (that'll happen early next month), I've always had a free account, and yes, I pasted the 10,000 views mark here recently, I'm afraid.

I would think with a combination of all of us, and with most of your art being Muppet-related, that you would be widely popular Davo, but then again, when I look on it... the Muppets haven't had any real because successes due to Disney in recent years, meanwhile the Chipmunks had these two flop movies... so I guess since there's more Chipmunks happening right now, more people would search for their artwork on dA during these times than they would Muppets.

But then again, you're also a varied artist, I've seen you've got a wide variety of different art in your gallery... and often times I'll see varied artists with a HUGE following... so I don't know...