Artist Relations Newsletter - Edition #16

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Director of Artist Relations
moonbeam13

Hello!

The purpose of Artist Relations is to strengthen the community spirit as well as network with fellow artists so that we may bring outside opportunities to you, and help you to hone your skills. The Gallery Directors are the first people you should go to regarding your galleries. They are the people you need to make gallery suggestions to, and ask questions about your specific genre, or seek knowledge from. They also act as your lifeline to the administration. They are here to support and listen, and I can tell you we've got incredibly talented, devoted and passionate people on this team, so get to know them!

The Key System
As you can see at the very bottom there is now a Key System. The way this will work is simple. If you have a specific inquiry or suggestion for a specific department, begin your comment with the appropriate Key Code, that way we can search the page and compile them and address them. Neat, huh?


Please DO NOT send me daily deviation suggestions.  I don’t post DD’s except for a rare occasion and that’s almost never a suggested piece.  Please send them to the gallery directors. If you are still confused, please consult FAQ #18: Who selects Daily Deviations and how are they chosen?

Just a quick moment to give thanks for the deviousness award. I was on all night, through to the morning working on v5 stuff and couldn't figure out why my message count was jumping like a slot machine on crack until someone sent me an MSN.  I'm very honored to be acknowledged this way and I have to thank my incredible team in Artist Relations for making my job easier and enjoyable.  I'm very lucky to work with the people I do here and I'd never get through without many of them. fourteenthstar,  MidnightExigent, lolly, ArsenicAddiction and of couse my awesome team have saved me tons on therapy at one point or another over the last year.  

Formatting and editing of news is a bit wonky, which is why you may see multiple news posts on the same topic, such as the barenaked ladies contest.  Please bear with us, we are doing the best we can and if you have questions concerning a posting, please contact the person responsible.

New sub-categories still have an issue with browsing We are aware, and it is being looked into.  There is nothing wrong with the categories themselves and they do right themselves after a few days but it does cause some confusion in the beginning.  Bear with us, and don't panic, everything is working it just doesn't look perfect yet.

The resources category will be undergoing some plastic surgery over the next two to three weeks, so please no panic there either.  After that, Street Art categories will be added to Traditional Art. Estimated time to complete is a month. Yes really this time.  I apologize for the delay but I’m one little human.. and v5 took a lot out of me J

The Current Events gallery is a mess and poorly designed.  I will be taking well thought out suggestions about how it should be laid out and then I will go about fixing it. I look forward to hearing from you guys Please note me or email me at moonbeam13@deviantart.com

I see several people getting very upset, almost abusive, when this newsletter comes out and their gallery director hasn’t posted anything.  We need to address this.  Firstly, your gallery directors are volunteers and despite that seem to tirelessly put effort into maintaining the galleries.  Secondly, there isn’t always something for them to report on.  Everyone may not update every single time, but relax with the attitude please.  For those that do, or those that have something that came up once and log in to see themselves being berated for not posting.. it’s simply uncalled for and not something I’m willing to let you do to a fabulous group of volunteer staff.

New contests are popping up all over the place and I know it’s hard to find them.  To solve this, I have added a page to my journal to ease your pain and frustration. Please note this is only for Artist Relations sponsored contests and not “every” contest posted on deviantART


Curious who your gallery director is? Check out the list of team members here



Photography
superkev
It's summer in at least one half of the world! That means it's time for a summer photography contest. Check out the Fruits of the Summer Photography Contest. It's your sweet chance to win a dA membership. You've got until the end ofAugust to enter!



Artisan Crafts
ohnojaylo
Hi guys! It's been brought to my attention that concerns with Artisan
Crafts might not be brought to my attention in an effective manner, so I
have posted some guidelines on how to best get a hold of me and get your
concerns addressed: dedredhed.deviantart.com/journ…

Also please note that the next Artisan Crafts Community Meeting is on
September 9 at 12 PM Pacific time, 3 PM Eastern time, and 8 PM London time
(which means it is August 13 for all Australians). Please check your time
zones to make sure you get the time right. The meeting will of course be
held in #artisancrafts.

PLEASE ATTEND! We will go over contest ideas and the new changes to dA!

In case anyone missed it, please check out by
IIDenator in regards to bettering your photography presentation in
Artisan Crafts. Unfortunately, in real life as much as in deviantart, a
lot of worth is placed on the presentation of a work of art as much as the
work of art itself. As an artist who is willing to not only better
themselves but also promote their work in a professional manner, it is up
to the artist to make sure their work is seen in the best way it can be.
This tutorial shows you how to do this without hiring a professional
photographer or even having an expensive camera. If you do not have
Photoshop, there are other alternatives like the cheaper PaintShop Pro and
the free Gimp.

You will find traffic to your deviations and gallery improve as you
improve your presentation, and these sort of shots are awesome for
portfolio and prints.




Photomanipulation
kuschelirmel
The photomanips gallery is running smoothly, however I noticed that there are lots of miscategorisations and copyright violations.

Most deviations that are misplaced in the photomanipulation section really belong to photography: When submitting, please keep in mind that altering the colours of the original photo, cropping and framing it, running a filter over the image (including blur and sharpen) and the likes are not considered photomanipulation. Therefore they still belong in the photography gallery. If you have for instance altered the colours severely (meaning anyone would tell you that it’s not natural for the picture to look the way it does) it belongs into photography>darkroom.

As for the other miscategorisations: most of those can be avoided by reading the gallery descriptions during the submission process. If you’ve got a manipulation of a scene with a wide forest at sundown and a centaur (half human half horse) for example, there are a number of subcategories it can go into, depending where you as the artist see its focus. It could belong to fantasy (if the centaur is the focus) or to landscapes and scenery for example. But it certainly cannot go into abstract…

The most common copyright violations include using pictures of celebrities (Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet,…) or movie and game screenshots and promo pictures (LotR, PotC, WoW,…). I would like to remind you that these pictures are not yours to manipulate, because you don’t have permission to use them. Deviations including such material will be deleted once we find them. We’ve got such a great stock art gallery here at dA with tons of pictures you can use, you really don’t need those movies and celebrities to make your deviations interesting. Just keep in mind to credit the stock artist and keep to their respective rules!

For more information, please visit these faq links:

FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?

FAQ #60: Do you allow "Adult," explicit sexual or pornographic content on DeviantArt? How about linking off site?

FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work?

FAQ #302: How does the staff decide to take action? Why does it seem inconsistent?

FAQ #306: Does "Crediting" let me use whatever I want?


Also, there’s a new news article series coming soon which will be dealing with the subcategories of the photomanip gallery.

Photomanips Weekly will continue to be posted as well.


Gallery Highlights:

Theodosia ~ www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…

It Felt Like Electricity ~ www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…

Only The Strongest Survive ~ www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…




Designs & Interfaces
depthskins
Well, I'm a bit off on updates because of dav5. I'm not sure what's to be said and what's already said.

To just put this out there, those interested in design should check out articles such as:
A day in the life: Ryan Ford - news.deviantart.com/article/21…
A day in the life: Kwaku - news.deviantart.com/article/21…
Featured Chat: Ryan Ford - designerscouch.deviantart.com/…
Designers' Block: Edition 1 - news.deviantart.com/article/21…

They are really good articles and very interesting read. Hope you enjoy.

Now like I said, a lot got mixed up or forgotten with dav5 so those who made suggestions for the DI gallery, kindly forward them to me once again so I can take them into considertion.

I'm also gathering some feed-back and data for what "might" be a promising idea but as always, I would love the community's input whether you're designer or not.
Please go here: designerscouch.deviantart.com/…
and cast your vote and post your comment. I would certainly appreciate that.

Really and truly, that's all I can come up with especially since I'm pressed for time on this update. I assure you the next update I'll try to be more detailed on whatever is going down. Until then, enjoy




Digital Art
Aeires
You asked for it, we looked at it, it was created.  What is it(?)....an animations gallery just for digital artwork.  While browsing through the digital galleries every week I noticed many digital animations that never really had their own place to exist.  Someone suggested we create one and now you can post them in the Misc. > Animations gallery.  Please note this gallery is not for Flash, avatars, or emoticons.  Those images already have their own galleries.

When I first set to make this a reality, I looked at all types of animations and had a difficult time narrowing down a specific breakdown of all the types and styles.  It was for this reason the gallery is placed in
the Misc. galleries.  If the animations section continues to grow and show
a specific subculture, so to speak, we can move it to its own main gallery
and give it enough sub galleries to identify all the various themes.
Right now it's a mixed bag, but I'm watching it almost every single day.

There is one thing I would like to clarify here, by animations, we mean
images that have elements of movement to them.  We do not mean images
created about or from actual animation cartoons, movies, and the like.
Still images should be posted in either the drawings, paintings, or other
appropriate gallery depending on the techniques used to create them.

As far as news goes, the news is new.  All of the regular features that
nighty and myself were working on getting established will most
likely continue.  We are also looking at creating some new features that
will get the community involved, stay tuned as we do our best to help out
those artists that don't get the credit they deserved.


Gallery Highlights:

Photographing Faeries  www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…
Major Work Layout  www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…
Leo  www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…
Mama Izabella  www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…
David vs. Goliath  www.deviantart.com/deviation/3…



Skins & Themes
abhimanyughoshal
Well, its been a while since you've heard from me, owing to real life bogging me down. Anyhow, even after v5 has kicked in, we're still seeing a huge influx of Vista themes. I really think we've all had enough. However, I'm also seeing a lot of great original work, and even some neat Open Source skins that anyone can modify! I hope people will begin to support these skinners and also contribute to this resource. There are plans to start an open-source gallery, as well as move Deviantart.com site skins (the CSS variety) to a new category as well. Do let me know what you think - abe-x.deviantart.com/journal/p… . Lastly, a new contest for slim Winamp Classic skins will begin shortly. I'd love to see some new artists give this a shot. Cheers!

Gallery Highlights:
www.deviantart.com/deviation/3… - Cup of tea pack by Veroka
www.deviantart.com/deviation/3… - Desert Machine by eqadromos-dxp



Flash Art
Age2003
Hey Flashers,

Not much to report on in this update except the obvious change in the
Flash gallery since the launch of dAv5.

Flash uploaded before the v5 launch work fine but aren't centered.

Flash uploaded after the v5 launch show the preview image (andenlarge it when you click to view full view) but require you to click "download" to view them. This of course is a problem because it can cause some Flash pieces to become distorted.

This should be fixed as soon as possible so just be patient as the IT dept are very busy at the moment. I suggest we ride it out and carry on as normal as possible.  

I got a few tricks up my sleave for you all soon.





Visualizations
yathosho
If I didn't know better, I'd say everybody from the visualizations gallery is still on summer holiday. Not that the quality is missing, it's the quantity that could be higher. Anyway, there's some worthwhile stuff to check out.

Gallery Highlights:
www.deviantart.com/deviation/3… - sight/difference by framesofreality
www.deviantart.com/deviation/3… - spilling liquids into the AVS by mykaLreborn
www.deviantart.com/deviation/3… - New People Selection Vol 4 by visbot



Stock Photography
radioPooh
Change is Good and golly lolly we have all had some changes

You may have noticed by now that Stock is now under Resources

What does that mean?

Pretty much Stock is now under Resources

We are the same Stock Gallery we always have been and nothing has really
changed except we can be found under the category of Resources.

My good friend bleedsopretty is still in charge of the great things
she does as Resource Galley Director – and I (and WAIT A NEW ANNOUCEMENT)
continue to lead Stock to the promise land.

deviantART is trying to streamline the category structure and as you know
if you are a Stock Artist... we are all about making things easier to find
in our gallery. And stock is a resource.

I trust peeps will find the change positive

.........................

A NEW ANNOUCEMENT

OMG - is that my co-captain oibyrd at the helm along beside me flying
our Stock Space Ship boldly going where no man has gone before ..

you bet your .. (searches for the correct word)

We are family in the Stock Gallery and I hope you welcome her with the
same love you have shown me

Stock Art is unique in the fact we allow ourself to be used by community

.........................

A movement has begun – to educate people what the standards of stock art
should be. We in stock are tired (so very tired) of people dumping their
trash in our galley.

With that said let me say (in my best Captain Kirk Voice) – “Need – More –
Stamps”

Let’s spread the awareness of what we want (and don’t want) in stock with
those adorable cute very lick-able stamps – if you have a stock stamp or
make one that (spreads our message), please send to me and I will
feature in a future A/R newsletter.

Example: :thumb37086598:

Parody by me / stamp by LawrenceDeDark

Sung to Another Brick in the Wall

We don’t need your low resolution (at least 600 x 600)
We done need your webcam shot
No stupid teen bopper in our gallery
Please, You leave our stock alone
Hey, You, Leave out stock alone
All in All it’s just another deviation in the wall
All in all you’re just another deviation in the wall

We think You need some education
We think You need some thought control
No bad anime artist in our gallery
Hey, You, Leave our gallery alone
All in All, you’re another bad stock in the wall
All in all you’re just another bad stock in our wall

And I quote empty-phantom-stock

“All we are sayin’ give Stock a chance”






Thanks for reading this update. We look forward to reading your feedback and to answering your comments and suggestions in our next update.



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To direct your comments towards the right gallery director, optionally prefix your comments with the following acronyms:

PREFIX LEGEND

AR: for Artist Relations
PH: for Photography
AN: for Photography > Artistic Nudes
FP: for Photography > Fetish
SP: for Stock Photos
DA: for Digital Art
3D: for Digital Art -> 3 Dimensional Art
AA: for Digital Art > Anthro
DF: for Digital Art > Digital Fantasy
PM: for Digital Art -> Photomanipulation
PA: for Digital Art > Pixel Art
ANI: for Anime
AC: for Artisan Crafts
COM: for Comics and Cartooons
CON: for Contests
DI: for Designs & Interfaces
FL: for Flash
ICN: for Icons
POE: for Poetry
PRS: for Prose
ST: for Skins & Themes
TA: for Traditional Art
VP: for Visualization Presets
WP: for Wallpaper
RES: for Resources
FR: for Fractal Art