Maybe I'm paranoid, but damn are there a ton of "F U DeviantArt" journals out there. Maybe it's because the people I watch are as opinionated as I am. Looking outward though, I've seen a good deal of civil unrest in real life also. It seems to be everywhere.

I did once believe that deviantArt was about art, which was my mistake. Anyone that genuinely cares about art and it's wellbeing cannot seriously consider dA as a forum for the art scene, no matter what shiny new features are added. Imagine it like a flowering tree; if the roots are bad the whole thing will come down. What's more, if you do care and express it, you'll be browbeaten into surrendering your standards to the Greater Good. For example, if Unrestricted Stock becomes a fad, MORE people will expect that stock is completely consequence free, forcing the community to come up with a decision on just how important contributing resources is. You are no longer on your terms, you are on dA's terms. And if someone decides to disobey your terms of use, the Greater Good will decide what is best for you; your stock terms do not matter. No one gives a flying fuck about your stock terms. If you're upset to any degree by the unfairness of being lied to, you earn yourself a llama, both in title and in little pixels at the top of your screen.

This is the condition by which I upload resources; I know all of this and I accept that I'm not worth a damn in the big picture. I don't make money for the site directly, and that's precisely what our worth is based on. If dA would like to create the illusion of a free for all (and let's face it, with the amount of art theft going on that is unchecked), they have done so and it is their prerogative to do so. If that's how a site wishes to view it's supporters and contributors, that's up to them and up to you to decide if you still want to be a part of that.

I still like my friends here, and I still think I have something to contribute to them, so here I am. I still enjoy creating art and sharing it with people, though I have to say that I've had better luck promoting my work far away from this site. In fact, I owe most of my own success as an artist to a couple of people who believed in me, NONE of which I have dA to thank for. That's also my advice to you; if you care about your work and you want to be seen, then YOU Have to be your biggest promoter. You must believe in what you are doing and carve your own place in the world; dA isn't going to do that for you. They're a bigass corporation concerned with making money through art, and they're allowed to be because they're following their vision too.

I suggest that you investigate local art shows and craft shows, and invest a little bit in yourself. Make print runs, number them, sign them. Frame them. Make art that YOU are proud of, and nothing else matters. You don't have to be on deviantART to get yourself noticed. With members even in the thousands, getting noticed would be difficult. With the number of members they have today?---don't even try, LOL.

I stopped referring clients to my art page because of the sheer amount of questionable content they would be subject to on the way to my page (you know, like the shit that becomes WILDLY popular in just a few hours because of it's questionable content, so it makes it to the front page. Some dudes screwing a panda or something that hasn't been removed because actual penetration isn't visible, or some crap). I recommend using the portfolio feature for the sheer purpose of sharing your art gallery, but should your clients accidentally wander elsewhere, there be dragons. In this world, your art speaks for itself, but ONLY if there's someone to listen. Be aware of what you reference, and who is giving you references. A good one can make you, a bad one can break you. Remember the screwing pandas.

I also recommend getting a good website going for yourself; your very own. If you expect other people to take you seriously, you're going to have to get serious. There, you can set your own parameters, like disabling a right-click save of your work. I've heard argument here that you can always take a screen cap instead of saving the image, but the print quality of a screen shot is laughable. Anything, no matter how small I can do to make life harder for art thieves, I would do. If you care about your art, you should too.

That's another reason I've been so absent; I've been working very hard on my own business in between the hospital runs. I will never be the world's greatest photographer or painter; I don't think such a thing exists anyway. Life is subjective, as they say. I'd just like to be happy, and I want you to be happy too.

Once again, NO ONE is going to White Knight for you in the real world. Don't expect dA to do it for you on the internet, subscribed or not.

-L

( I wonder how many llamas I will earn for this. Hmm. )
(Also, what kind of stock do you want to see ~Zulias do on Friday? )