Director of Artist Relations


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!


Important things first! I take a size small.. my favorite colors are green and pink and I like oatmeal cookies HINTHINTNUDGENUDGE ..<cough>  Alright ...alright.. but do have a safe and happy holiday season everyone

Due to personal time constraints, `smashmethod has opted to leave the AR team for now.  We thank him for his dedication and wish him the best in the future

While I will be filling positions for gallery directors in areas like Anthro, 3-D and wherever else I find a hole, I am not doing it until after the new year.  I appreciate the enthusiasm of the community but I require time to assess the current team and decide what is needed.  Thank you

I have completed the task of selecting all of the artists for the BT/Thomas Dolby tour.  I appreciated this project because I literally spent hundreds of hours in thousands and thousands of galleries over the course of two months.  I found artists I’d never known about and it really renewed my love for deviantART.  Congratulations to those artists that were selected, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

As the end of the year draws near, I am spending time summarizing the year in terms of Artist Relations in order to make a plan for the upcoming year.  To this end I ask for your input.  I would like to hear your thoughts on improving the galleries and Artist Relations.  I’d also like to know what is working for you and what isn’t.  If you would like to contribute to this, please send me a note with the subject Suggestions for 2007.  

  I would like to draw your attention to Editorial: v5 News by `bananaprincess as a perfect example of a brilliantly executed editorial.

  Please check out the project ~Word-worth-1000-pics

We now have a category called devWEAR portraits under the dA related gallery.  This is where you can model your new devWEAR swag J

  I have to clean up the categories in Resources -> Tutorials.  There are hundreds of thousands of miscategorized deviations now that the new category structure has been created.  With that being said, this is the new main category structure:

Resources -> Tutorials ->

- traditional art
- digital art
- web design
- application reference
- non-art


The following categories on the main list (if you browse) are set to be removed.  If you have deviations in this category they must be relocated to the correct category or they will be moved to scraps for you to relocate later prior to the category being deleted so as not to delete your work  

- 3d studio max
- Blender
- Bryce
- Dreamweaver
- Flash
- Lightwave
- Maya


I thank you for your cooperation, I will begin relocating things to scraps toward the end of next week.




If you contact the help desk about something to do with a deviation please link said deviation.  It certainly helps me to respond faster to your issue

  Looking for contests? Find a list of all AR sponsored contests here




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?



Photojournalism

There are a couple of things I'd like to touch on. The first is a congratulations to ~emilymartian on her being featured in "New Mini" magazine and you can read about her experience here.

Second, with the introduction of the way back feature I've begun a massive cleansing of the Photojournalism Gallery. So far I've cleaned up to August 2001, this is proving a task as in the beginning there was only Photojournalism misc. followed by events, people, and then military...so you can see there's a great deal that's changed and deviations were never moved accordingly. By the time I'm done, the sub par stuff will be out and the gallery should look top notch.

Next I want to touch on something that is related to the above. When a gallery director moves something, it's moved because it's in the wrong category..now it may be in the right gallery for instance a photo of a public protest should be placed in Political, or Public Gatherings..not concert and musicians...get my point. When a piece can fit in more than one category, or doesn't belong in the gallery outright, a gd will move your deviation to Scraps...this is not to say your image isn't worthy of your gallery, it's just placed there, so that YOU can move it to a more fitting place in your gallery. So what I'm getting at here is before flipping out and writing a scathing journal about the big bad gallery directors take a step back and send in a help desk ticket and get a proper reason as to why your image was moved. The Gallery Directors are here to work with you, not against you. And please remember the Photojournalism gallery is about "newsworthy" images, so leave out the pics of you and you friends goofing off at school etc. or of your new kitty Max..they can be the greatest deviations ever, but they just don't belong in Photojournalism.

Lastly, after a great  many requests I'd like to introduce the  newest addition to the Photojournalism Gallery:

Documentary/Editorial
Images or series of images taken to accompany an editorial piece or photographed in a documentary style. Photo essay's would also be submitted to this category. A series of random snapshots DO NOT belong in Documentary/Editorial, but may be uploaded to your scraps. Images containing date and time stamps will automatically be moved to your scraps.

I guess that's all for now..oh one more thing. Time stamps..please people, PUH-LEASE read the manual on your camera, turn off time stamps!!!! They do nothing for your image what so ever othe than make it seem like a cheap snapshot..and we all know where snapshots belong don't we? Let's hear it..all together now... SCRAPS!! and that's where I will be placing anything with a time stamp on it. Can't figure out how to remove it? Then please crop it out.

And on a completely unrelated matter...please check out the 12 dAys of Christmas contest on now and win yourselves some fancy swag! read the news here [link]


Artistic Nude Photography

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a large amount of work submitted to the Artistic Nude gallery that does not adhere to the “deviantART nudity policy”.  These guidelines are in place to ensure that we have a high quality website and galleries that conform to their own standards. So PLEASE read this document FAQ #23: What are deviantART's policies on nudity? before submitting you work.

I can’t believe how many times I’ve seen deleted deviations resubmitted over and over again sometimes up to three times.

If your deviation has been deleted because it was in breach of the deviantART nudity policy this does not mean you can resubmit it again under a different name, change the colour, rotate it or submit it in a different gallery.

I’d like to say a big thanks to all the people out there helping to report such deviations as this you’ve all been a wonderful help!


DD Suggestions

Is everyone on holidays already? I miss getting my inbox full of DD suggestions everyday. If you see a wicked piece of  Artistic Nude work you would like to see featured feel free to drop over to or myself and send us a note with your suggestion. All you need to do is…..

1. Title your note as “DD Suggestion”
2. Send us a “Link” with a brief description
3. Make sure the image doesn’t have 100’s of favs

It’s great to choose unknown artists where possible so we can bring those hidden talents out into the open



Nature Photography

The first changes in the Animals, Plants & Nature category are done. You can see below that a lot of things are completely new and that some stuff has changed. It's a big step for the Animals, Plants & Nature community into the future.

I got so much feedback during the last few months and tried to include all your suggestions into the new category structure. It was a long process to reach that point but you see that it's really a massive change and in the right direction. Thanks again for your massive feedback and response.

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New Animals, Plants & Nature Category:

   * Astrophotography
   Birds
   Closeup -> Animals | Nature
   Dogs & Cats
   * Elements
   * Flowers & Plants
   * Geology
   Human & Nature
   Insects & Arachnids *renamed*
   * Landscapes
   Mammals -> Domesticated Animals | Wild Animals  
   * Miscellaneous
    Reptiles & Amphibians
    Underwater
   * Waterscapes
   Weather & Sky *combined*

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Ok, you can see that the new system is separated into:

Animals: Birds, Closeup (Animals (Macro shot from a butterfly for example), Dogs & Cats, Insects & Arachnids, Mammals (Domesticated Animals, Wild Animals), Reptiles & Amphibians, Underwater (fish for example)

Nature: Astrophotography, Closeup (Nature (Macro shot from a leaf for example), Elements, Flowers & Plants, Geology, Human & Nature (A girl with a butterfly in her hand for example), Landscapes, Underwater (reef for example), Waterscapes, Weather & Sky

Plants: Flowers & Plants, Closeup (Nature (Macro shot from a flower for example)

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Most stuff is already active, but some big changes will come the next days like Mammals, etc.  If you have misscats in your category -> please move it to the right category otherwise nobody will find it. You have new categories, begin to use it. Contact me if you need help.


Important:

Your help is needed. The categories are fine, but they need fitting descriptions that everybody can understand. Confusing Descriptions are a pain and we can avoid that. I want to involve you in that process, you must work with that category system and the best way to secure that everyone understand and respect the descriptions & guidelines is to offer you the chance to suggest descriptions for it.

Descriptions means -> a good explanation for the category -> 1 - 3 sentences long.

An example: Photojournalism Sports -> Photographs of sporting events, locations, equipment, or athletes taken to document the wide world of sports.

We need descriptions for:

- Birds
- Closeup ( Sub Categories: Animals, Nature)
- Dogs & Cats
- Mammals (Sub Categories: Domesticated Animals, Wild Animals)
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Underwater

Good Descriptions are really important. Use your chance and get involved.


Prizes:
1 x 1 Year Subscription to dA + 2 x 3 Months + 2 x 1 Month Subscription are waiting for the people as little thank you for the best suggestions.

Get started! I


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Topic: What is a Close Up (Macro) and should I upload my shot into this category?
Let's see the Gallery Desc on dA:

Closeup definition: Photography in which the image on film or electronic sensor is as large or larger than the subject. Otherwise it's not a Closeup-Shot and not the right category.

Additional Info:
For example, suppose a photographer wants to take a macro photograph of a coin on film. With the lens set for a magnification of 1:1, he or she moves the camera to and fro until the coin is in focus, then takes the picture. After having the film developed, the photographer can place the coin on the film, and the coin will be exactly the same size as the picture of the coin on the negative or slide.

In recent years, the term macro has come to mean being able to focus on a subject close enough so that when a standard 102×152 mm (4×6 inch) print is made, the image is life-size or larger.

Next, the photographer photographs it from farther away, this time, setting the lens to a magnification of 1:4, again moving to and fro until the coin is in focus, and taking the picture. The real coin is now four times as big across as the image; that is, the image and the coin are in a 1:4 relationship. If a 4× enlargement print (about 100×150 mm) is made, the size of the coin will match the size of the photo of the coin. That is, the image is life-size, or 1:1, in the print.

Technical requirements:

Shots in this category are done:
by reversing the lens using a "reversing ring" or
by using a special-purpose lens called a macro lens or
placing an extension tube between the camera body and the lens or
by using a bellows attachment between the camera body and the lens to extend the lens to film plane distance or
by attaching a telephoto extender between the camera body and the lens or
by reversing a lens of lesser focal length in front of a normally mounted lens using a "macro coupler," which uses two male filter threads to join lenses.

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Some examples:

:thumb44809626: that isn't a Close Up

that is a Close Up

that isn't a Close Up

that is a Close Up

that isn't a Close Up

that is a Close Up

:thumb17888102: that isn't a Close Up

:thumb25715193: that is a Close Up

:thumb32636165: that isn't a Close Up

that is a Close Up

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Please consider that if you upload shots to the Close Up-Section. The Close Up category is one of the most suggested category additions and a good addition for the nature & animal photographers on dA, but if the gallery ends full of misscats nobody will be happy in the end.

It would be nice if you would tell your friends about it (if they do nature photography on dA).




Stock Art

And the Stock Art was hung from the Chimney with care In hope that Saint Nicolas would soon be there

Greetings from Sandi .. `oibyrd and David !radioPooh

Your prince and princess of stock art , Your Mac Daddy and Mac Momma, Your Samson and Delilah , Your Archie and Veronica of the Stock world

Etiquette and being constructive

There is a difference in slamming a piece of art and being constructive. A few feel that it is there right to really slam art ( especially stock art)

I think we need to build a new world order in the art world where we try to help fellow artist to make their art better  .. if you don’t like a piece of art .. then let them know . but let them know why and how they could make it better ..

the comment “your picture sucks” makes me want to reply “your comment sucks but with a few more insightful words it could have been constructive”

We just want people to play nice ..  If you come under attack . don’t attack back .. travel the high road .. one technique I do when some one slams me  is to make a positive comment on their art ..my way of balancing the scales and taking the high road

Stock Art is planning a get together at Stonehenge in 2008 where we will form a big ring during the summer solstice by holding hands and singing we are stock art. Okay just kidding . but it could happen if we believe


Comics and Cartoons

Hiya guys and gals!  There's only a couple of things I need to rattle on about this week.  First things first, the Day in the Life of a Deviant contest is officially over and closed to entries!  I've contacted the other five judges and the results should be ready to unveil sometime within the next week.  I am VERY pleased with the outcome and for those who entered.  Good luck, guys!

I'm currently going through the Comics and Cartoons gallery in its entirety and moving things around or deleting violations.  I've begun work in the 2001 submissions so if you see any of your really old work getting moved or deleted please don't panic.  If you have any questions about it please contact the +helpdesk and your ticket will be forwarded to the appropriate admins.  Just to add a bit to this... I've had to move a large amount of recent deviations from C&C to Manga/Anime.  If your work is obviously anime please place it in the correct category.  If you refer to your comics as manga or Doujinshi then i'm goin' to move it there! Manga/Anime was given it's own category so please take advantage of it! Copyright violations will be removed regardless of your credit to the original source.  Do not use dA as a dumping ground for "pretty pictures you found on Google".  That goes for any edits of artwork that isn't originally yours as well... unless, of course, you have valid permission from the original copyright owner.  That doesn't mean from the site that offers ripped sprites from Sonic games.  That means you need to contact Nintendo and ask their permission before your sprite comics or edits can be posted on dA.  Furthermore, please don't use other folks posting artwork like this as an excuse.  If you see others getting away with copyright violations that doesn't mean it's okay.  That just means they either haven't been reported or the administration hasn't seen the violations yet.

For the record, I love how festive Comics and Cartoons is lookin' right now.  So I will close this with a heap of holiday cheer thrown your way! Oh, and `noseSHARK is starting a clothing line made of fruitcake.  I'm wearing the boots right now.  Sturdy suckers, they are!

Gallery Features:
News and Thumbnail Smorgasbord

Anime/Manga

Not much news for us, We really still need newsletter content and DD suggestions especially. We want to also press a point. if you have a problem with a DD thats been posted, don't be a complete idiot about it. Suck it up and move on. not everyone will share the tastes of the artist or the person choosing the DD. Thats because everyone is different. that doesn't discredit the work that goes into a piece of art, or make it not DD worthy. So be a grown up, you don't share the opinion, oh well get over it. Maybe next time you will suggest something you like better. but really, insulting the deviation makes you look like the biggest most jealous geek in the universe. Also remember a critique has to sound like a critique, not an insult. any old whining cant be written off as a critique just because you say it is... be constructive, and also point out some positive aspects to the piece. if you don't have the skills, or open mindedness to analyze a piece objectively, you should really consider your capability of giving a critique before possibly making a fool of yourself, or hurting someones feelings.

Digital Art

Not a lot to point to this time but things are happening.  The Digital Vexel gallery is under construction and will be sent in before the ending of the year.  The goal is to give the vexel artists a Christmas present all their own.  I will  continue to read through the comments and notes sent to me so a more unified description can be written.  Hopefully both vector and vexel artists will be happy with the results.

Keep the daily deviation suggestions coming, I'm excited at what has been suggested so far this month.  I tend to feature more sci-fi and fantasy work, as well as fractal but the goal is to highlight all the digital galleries.  If you don't see areas represented, please send me some suggestions.

On a similar note, `smashmethod will be greatly missed from the digital directors ranks.  I tended to stear clear of featuring 3D work because he covered those bases with excellence.  Now that he has stepped down for personal reasons, please continue to suggest 3D works for daily deviations.  Both `nighty and myself are general digital directors and we both have a passion to help the digital galleries get exposure.  I showcase 3D work in some of my news articles so I'd be more than happy to help out the 3D areas by featuring them for daily deviations, please send your suggestions my way.

Until next time, have a happy holiday season.

Photomanipulation

I would like to remind you that I follow certain rules when choosing DDs and if you want to suggest any to me, it might avoid disappointment if you read them first.

• photomanipulations ONLY
• last DD must be longer than 6 months ago, preferrably no previous DDs awarded
• Stock sources have to be listed
• Don't suggest yourself!
• Please send me a note with the link to the piece you want to see featured

An explanation to each of the items listed above can be found in my journal


If you haven't read them yet, here are the first four issues of "Manip Tips & Tricks":

• #1 Aegis-Strife
• #2 Tsheva
• #3 YagaK
• #4 MelGama

Next up: $fourteenthstar


Designs and Interfaces

Hi, just a few things I'd like to cover so here goes:

Firstly, I've moved quite a few deviations from the tattoos gallery into scraps lately and the reason for that is that I don't believe photographs of tattoos should be placed in this gallery. However, I stand corrected by $Moonbeam13 that I should allow such deviations to remain within the category. As a result, those that submitted help desk ticket, I'll have your deviations moved back. My apologies.  But before I wrap this up, I would appreciate that you clearly state in the comment area that the tattoo was inked by yourself. Failure to do so would result in your deviation being forwarded to scraps for being in the wrong category. This doesn't only go for the tattoo artists but for every designer that submits within the DI gallery. If it's not obvious that your deviation is of a particular nature, it's wise you give a brief comment.

Secondly, a new category has been created for Mascot designs. Mascots are not logos although their function is similar. So I'm asking that you move any such deviation you have into the Mascot category. If you have a lot of deviations that is of this nature, note me and I can do a mass move for you.

Another thing I would like to point out is to check if a deviant has already received a DD feature before recommending them. I say this because as of late, a lot of recommendation are for deviants whose work I recently featured. So when I don't feature your suggestion that's probably the reason.

That's it for now.
Thanks.



Visualizations

It's an unwritten law, that beside summer holidays, christmas time see a large amount of AVS releases. Trust me, this year won't be any different, new compilations from ~Winamp-Forums, #visbot and :devavsociet: are imminent.

Those who think, that the Winamp plugin scene or more specifically the AVS scene is dominated by a few guys will be proven wrong when looking at the fifth installment of the New People Selection series. This compilation features some of the hottest upcomers and some extremely rare presets.

Second feature in this newsletter would be minipack 3 by ~WotL. Long time no see, mister.. good to see him back.

Wallpaper

Firstly as this is the last newsletter before christmas, I hope you all have a great holiday and all get what you want and not necessarily what you need

the wallpaper gallery is definately the place to be this winter as we currently have two great competitions being run! Be sure to check out the following:

Exotika II - Environment Creation Challenge

Check out the link here: [link] for the full beef on this awesome competition being run by =Suirebit in collaboration with the Wallpaper Gallery.

In a nut shell, Exotika 2 is for digital landscapers and features ice as it's main theme. It encourages all you landscapers and spacescapers to create cold, exotic worlds all in neat little wallpaper packages.

Closing Date in 31st December 2006.

And as if that wasn't enough!!

Winter Wallpaper Contest.

For everyone else who wants to do a winter themed wallpaper with no holds bared then this is the one for you!

Sadly however, this competition is limited to members of #europeans so if you aren't currently a member, get your ass over to the page and sign up!!

To find out more about it, check it out here: [link] or the journal here: [link]

Happy holidays guys!

z.


Skins & Themes

Hullo! I'd like to begin by drawing your kind attention to the 2 new galleries, for Windows Media Player 11 and for Fan Skins. Fan Skins will include skins and themes for various applications, that depict artwork/images of products, television shows, movies and so on. Generated skins, however, will not be allowed. Please read this [link] for more information on our policy on such skins.
         
Nothing much else to report. I'd love to see some nice holiday-themed skins before this year is out, and might also be giving out goodies to those who humour my request! Lastly, please show some love here: ~Skinning #StealThisCSS



Resources

After the tutorials are done we will be fixing up the texture categories!

We want to create new categories so searching for the perfect texture will be fast and easy. We would love to hear any ideas or suggestions you guys may have.

The resources newsletter will be coming soon! There has been a delay due to stuff going on in my personal life but in the near future we will have this up and running. We still need a name! A few months back I was offering a 6 month sub to anyone who can come up with a fun catchy title. We didn't get many suggestions so the offer still stands. Anyone who can come up with a cool name for the article will get a 6 month sub! So send me any ideas you come up with.

+

__DA Related

We have a cool new zine category!


Traditional Art

Please check out the first of a set of written features that hopefully will become semi-regular Traditional Art Topics: Pop Art.


Literature

With the holidays approaching, you would do well to keep your eyes on the Literature News and on the Literature Forum for some projects that are coming along. You can bet there will be some gifts for writers ready to get involved, as well.

The Literature Forum itself is now seeing a bit of a change. Previously, we have had our workshops within threads in the forum as sticky topics. This was meant to be a temporary solution, and the more permanent addition has now come to fruition. The Literature Workshop Forum allows you to post your own threads for your poem/prose piece. It will allow the forums to be much more organized, and give you more control over how your poem is shown. Normal rules apply, and you can read the rules at the forum or by clicking here

Make sure to check out the latest LGU for more info, as well.




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