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

[Drtooth]

Well, said art work I submitted and was rejected was because the group doesn't accept "crossovers" when the thing was clearly a parody (and they came to me and asked for the submission of something that WAS!)... and I didn't get that answer right away, nor did I see any of those in Da Rules, but I kinda took it personally... not so much that it wasn't accepted as no one said "we can't because of ______" That said, the stuff that routinely goes through that one is very high quality... but it's definately done by people with better computer art studios than mine.

The problem is, I draw what I like. I've been drawing Dr. Robotnik since WAAAAAY before the internet had places to share such stuff. I draw it still because he's one of the funnest characters to draw. But I also draw a lot of stuff I stumble onto that no one has heard of. And that's when I do the best work.

Now, I'll spare you the "I was supposed to be an assistant to the assistant to the storyboard artist at a medium time cartoon company by now" speech, since there was just too much stopping me there. I have almost 400 pictures, and the only ones that aren't memes only get faved by watchers. Now I got REALLY lucky with my Invader Zim piece... but everything else falls to the bottom of the pile because it isn't a stolen screengrab (That's what PHOTOBUCKET is for) or doesn't have someone tied up, 900 pounds, or a closeup of their feet or something like that.

 

[D'Snowth]

One little problem I have with dA from time to time is, and please don't think I'm refering to you Drtooth, is the whole depression routine.

Whenever you least expect it, a random deviant, who does absolutely wonderful artwork, and almost always has a tremendous response (comments, favorites, etc), will go into this deep depression, saying that nobody likes their work, they've lost their desire to continue making their art, and decides to delete everything they've ever uploaded, and go into seclusion because nobody cares... then half of the time, they come back, and all their work is restored.

Now, I know depression is serious stuff, I've dealt with it myself in the past before, BUT, anytime this happens, I find myself questioning the deviant's motives... are they REALLY and TRULY suffering from depression, and are deleting their art and closing their accounts because they truly lost their desire and passion for their art... OR, is it some kind of apathetic cry for attention, so more people will comment and favorite their work?

To me, it seems like MOST of the time, it's actually the latter, because I've seen a few deviants go through this, and maybe only... one or two who actually never did return, nor restore their artwork.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OR, is it some kind of apathetic cry for attention, so more people will comment and favorite their work?

Well even that can be a sign of depression. Going through desperate, pathetic attempts to get noticed because you think it's the only way.

 

[Drtooth]

Whenever you least expect it, a random deviant, who does absolutely wonderful artwork, and almost always has a tremendous response (comments, favorites, etc), will go into this deep depression, saying that nobody likes their work, they've lost their desire to continue making their art, and decides to delete everything they've ever uploaded, and go into seclusion because nobody cares... then half of the time, they come back, and all their work is restored.

Speaking for myself, it's extremely frustrating when people only like you for certain things, and you get massive tumbleweeds when you do something obscure and time consuming. I mean, SERIOUSLY! Why do I do stuff that only 30 Year old Japanese and or Italian people would like or even remember? And why can't I get the audience OF nostalgic Japanese or Italians? Well, I'm never doing Muteking again... Dunno if I should bother keeping up with Osomatsu-kun either... But I did some Darkwing Duck stuff that got an electrifying response lately.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I mean, SERIOUSLY! Why do I do stuff that only 30 Year old Japanese and or Italian people would like or even remember? And why can't I get the audience OF nostalgic Japanese or Italians? Well, I'm never doing Muteking again... Dunno if I should bother keeping up with Osomatsu-kun either... But I did some Darkwing Duck stuff that got an electrifying response lately.

I think you just described the mind set of every artist through history, lol. Sometimes you just have to go where the attention is.

 

[D'Snowth]

Speaking for myself, it's extremely frustrating when people only like you for certain things, and you get massive tumbleweeds when you do something obscure and time consuming.

Like I said, it's been the same with me and people only liking my Chipmunk artwork... it took a little while but my Muppet art HAS caught on, and part of it is thanks to the two Henson groups I joined.

Last night, I SORT of broadened my audience, because I found a couple of new groups I could contribute to, one of which I didn't even have to join to contribute: one is for artwork that's "under-appreciated" (which again, is mostly anything that doesn't fall under Chipmunks, Muppets, or M*A*S*H, and this even includes gift art), and a really popular group called "FantasticFemales", and one pic I did of Gretchen and the Pale Kids from Recess turned out to be a little bit of a hit with people. Matter of fact, just about all I contributed to that group has already gotten a couple of more favorites and such.

Unfortunately... that's kind of the opposite of what you've been going through with groups, isn't it?

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Well...I finally bit the bullet and joined. Oddly, the thing that got the most reaction so far (I've only uploaded 5 things) was a drawing that was an exact copy of some video game cover art I dont get that

 

[Redsonga]

I've found that nothing is as easy to get favs because of number of fans as people often say it is. Drawing anime or any sort of fanart is no shortcut. To get noticed, truly noticed, even if it is fanart (which is all I draw because I like drawing it, not because others do) it has to be good...
True you have the oddball watchers who will fav anything (I have one of those) and the fetish followers (who will fav anything that shows a certain subject) but all and all viewers will come back to you if you draw at least halfway well...There is more than a sea of doodles on lined paper on DA after all

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I had someone fav a picture of a bonfire...which is a nice picture, but still XD

I'm not going to beat myself up over not getting fans. I just want the satisfaction that my art isnt sitting in a closet somewhere never seeing the light of day. And I know I'm...eh...ok at best. I'm nowhere near a good enough artist to get loads of fans.

Speaking of which I need to dig out my drawing of floyd. I made sure that picture lived. (I lost all my other muppet drawings)

 

[The Shoe Fairy]

I mainly go on DA now to look at street art, stickers and other such acts of vandalism, I also check drawing things that interest me every now and then. I don't think the site is stuck up at all, if anything I think that it's the opposite. I'm not going to rag on about what is and isn't "art" but the sheer volume of tacky, 2 minute fanart drawings which seem to involve as little cognitive processing as possible annoys me immensely. My other problem with the site is when people (generally people involved with manga style drawing and or furry fandom) post their art under the wrong category. I mean, 3/4 of the stuff under "Installation art" is not installation art at all, rather just pencil on paper drawings. Illustration - Storybook also seems rather clogged up with things that don't fit the criteria at all, fanart and anime/manga have their own categories on the site, the site is categorised for ease of use, but that ease of use is comprimised when people seem to put in submissions willy-nilly.

Rant over, phew.