Curse

Espadon · Aug 03, 2009, 01:04 PM // 13:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nian

Gamers are out for BLOOD.

You speak verily.

It's definitely nice to have a professional here amongst us; any other advice from the pr0 world you'd like to share with some of us aspiring to go that way?

Nian · Aug 03, 2009, 01:42 PM // 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espadon

You speak verily.

It's definitely nice to have a professional here amongst us; any other advice from the pr0 world you'd like to share with some of us aspiring to go that way?

Uguu. I work for a small game company. I didn't plan on it to happen either but one day I was just sitting in the office drawing. It felt absurd tbh but has given me a lot more courage and drive to go on with this career.

In my (short) experience more important than being the best of the best and the cream of the crop(although that helps) is having networks and relations. Know someone who knows someone in company X. Companies will likely hire people that somebody in the firm knows about. My teachers used to go on about how networking is the most important thing and that we should take part in additional projects when we could. They weren't kidding. All my jobs so far I've gotten through relations. I did waste a good amount of time sending emails to random companies with little luck. They are busy people. They are likely to ignore your stuff unless your name rings a bell. Art teachers usually have lots of relations. Be on good terms with them and they will put out good word for you.

I worked in this shitty advertizing company for a bit and hated it but just bit my lip and acted as nice as I could. Turns out these people had relations elsewhere too so it was a good thing I didn't piss them off just because I hate advertizing.

I think being professional is about being able to work as part of a team. Understanding deadlines and obligations. Acting professional and not throwing tantrums when things go bad. There ARE people like this!

Being able to take criticism and adapt to changes i.e. redoing or suddenly completely scrapping projects you were working on. It's nothing personal anyway. Companies need to do only what benefits them. Also knowing your way around the programs and being independent (not needing someone to babysit you) will help a lot. Be someone they can trust to do a job in time.

That's what comes to mind. It all has very little to do with the art itself but naturally you must be decent.

I think people use the word 'professional' a lot to refer to those really talented pros out there but to me it just means anyone who has it as a profession.

Verene · Aug 03, 2009, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Quote:

DeviantArt is NOT the place to receive good crits or anything of the sort. It is pure crap place for that. On DA you are only good if you are drawing fanart from a popular series and get hundreds of faves.

Well, sometimes. I'm not saying that it's the best place, but, like, the sort of stuff I generally do? There really aren't many other large communities of digital artists that do photomanipulating. There's GFX Artist, which is much smaller (and frankly I can't be bothered to deal with their posting restrictions to post there much), and Neosynthesis, which really is just a big clique from dA, but other than that...really not much choice.

Unfortunately, since a lot of kids seem to think that desaturating a photo, turning it neon green, and blurring it is a photomanip, the galleries on dA are really clogged with garbage. Which kind of sucks for an artist like me, who isn't quite in the top tier there (though I do strive to get better) nor has tons and tons of friends.

My favorite, though, was still when a certain deviant (who appears to have emptied her gallery and now posts anime drawings) informed me that since her work got more favorites than mine did, she obviously must be the better artist and how dare I try and give C&C, even though she had been asking for it. And her manips were the typical "take a stock photo, blur it, desaturate it, and slap on some red". I was just like...no, dear. All it means is that you have a lot of friends who'll fave anything

BlueXIV · Aug 03, 2009, 04:38 PM // 16:38

@Morag, I agree with pretty much everything you just said. When I said compare, I meant comparing yourself. There is no reason you should let other people set the standard for you. And I hate offensive one liners as much as any other artist; "she looks like she got raped," WTF?? gtfo.

That said tho, it IS the internet, and trolls will be trolls

. No point in getting too offended, laugh it off, and go on with your life :\

@Nian, I'm not entirely in denial with art as a profession, it's just that I like what I'm doing in college as well. I'm so entirely sure what to make of art right now, but it relaxes me, so I consider it a hobby/stress relief (which kinda makes you wonder whats wrong when my stress relief is drawing really morbid thing D

@Verene, Hmm, I'm not entirely sure where to go for photomanip. I never got into it very much myself, and I hatehatehate taking photos XD. The only thing I ever do with photos is engage in some matte painting. I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but it's basically digitally (or non digitally) painting directly on top of a photo. You can get some really cool results from it. I know a lot of industry concept artists use it to do extremely realistic scenes fast.

Hmm I'll find an example... Hehe, this is one of my favorites, be sure to give his paintings justice by viewing the large versions

http://www.dusso.com/pages/EP3/EP3main.html

Verene · Aug 03, 2009, 05:07 PM // 17:07

STAR WARS! Coruscant and Theed, too. Shiny. I had a larger version of the painting on the very bottom (the Jedi Temple) as my wallpaper for half a year, back when ROTS came out.

I do know what matte painting is, I did a fair bit of it myself when I decided I wanted to learn how to paint digitally. It can definitely be rather neat, yes

And since you mentioned matte paintings and brought up SW, my boyfriend and I recently watched all six movies in order in a single day, snarking the hell out of them (as we are huge geeks), and for some reason we felt the need to point out all of the matte painting backgrounds, us being the art geeks we are. For some reason they were the most noticable in Return of the Jedi.

Anyway, I don't generally use my own photos much for photomanips; I do use them a bunch for making my own textures and the like, though. Finding stuff to photograph for stock is a pain, though. The stock galleries on dA are a lifesend for me

Espadon · Aug 03, 2009, 05:10 PM // 17:10

I just can't help but feel guilty when using photo stock. Even using publicly distributed custom brushes makes me feel guilty xD

There's really no reason to, though.

Chicken of the Seas · Aug 03, 2009, 08:23 PM // 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verene

Well, sometimes. I'm not saying that it's the best place, but, like, the sort of stuff I generally do? There really aren't many other large communities of digital artists that do photomanipulating. There's GFX Artist, which is much smaller (and frankly I can't be bothered to deal with their posting restrictions to post there much), and Neosynthesis, which really is just a big clique from dA, but other than that...really not much choice.

Unfortunately, since a lot of kids seem to think that desaturating a photo, turning it neon green, and blurring it is a photomanip, the galleries on dA are really clogged with garbage. Which kind of sucks for an artist like me, who isn't quite in the top tier there (though I do strive to get better) nor has tons and tons of friends.

THIS. QFT for sure. Its really hard to find photography/photo manipulation friendly communities besides DA and perhaps Flickr, but if anyone has any idea on other sites I'd really like to know of them. I'm working on my AS degree so I can transfer and major in zoology (or something similar) but art will always be a side hobby for me. While I won't be professional or anything, my dream has always been to be able to take photographs of exotic animals as well. Maybe I can make like, calendars or posters or something as a side thing. =P

BlueXIV · Aug 03, 2009, 08:46 PM // 20:46

I'm not sure about photomanip, but with general photography, there are a LOT of different options out there, usually better than dA in terms of critiques :\.

I think the problem with photomanips is that there isn't much of a professional niche for them, so there isn't as many communities.

Nian · Aug 03, 2009, 10:19 PM // 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verene

Well, sometimes. I'm not saying that it's the best place, but, like, the sort of stuff I generally do? There really aren't many other large communities of digital artists that do photomanipulating. There's GFX Artist, which is much smaller (and frankly I can't be bothered to deal with their posting restrictions to post there much), and Neosynthesis, which really is just a big clique from dA, but other than that...really not much choice.

Well those are things I have no clue about so mainly talking about drawing here. I get a headache just holding a SLR. I'm not saying DA wasn't fun and it's a nice gallery to use when you need to quickly show your artworks to someone. Ofcourse there are really great artists mixed in too so it's fun to browse if you can ignore all the annoying stuff.

Quote:

My favorite, though, was still when a certain deviant (who appears to have emptied her gallery and now posts anime drawings) informed me that since her work got more favorites than mine did, she obviously must be the better artist and how dare I try and give C&C, even though she had been asking for it. And her manips were the typical "take a stock photo, blur it, desaturate it, and slap on some red". I was just like...no, dear. All it means is that you have a lot of friends who'll fave anything

Must be awesome. This makes me want to post...

Behold my most faved deviation ever! It had 400+ faves being one of the oldest pieces in my gallery then so it had time to accummulate those faves. God knows why. It looks like something I puked out in 5minutes... It doesn't even have a nose for pete's sake!

Makes me shudder just thinking back hrrrgh. Watching it gain all those faves was part of the reason I wiped my gallery. There is still a lovely cancer awareness stamp available for faving lulz.

http://neesa.deviantart.com/

Verene · Aug 03, 2009, 10:47 PM // 22:47

Oh man, I wish I had an SLR. I've just got a normal point and shoot digital camera, cheapy one I bought earlier in the year when it became clear that my old one (which was 6 years old and 2 megapixels) just didn't cut it any longer, for anything.

And it's always amusing to me what attracts attention on dA. This is my second-most favorited deviation (it was my most favorited for a long time). Yes, it's four years old, but...it's probably one of the simplest things I've done. And yet it's still beaten out pieces of mine like this and this, which are better in just about every regard, and also are pieces that I like a lot better.

(and yes, I love butterflies

)

That is a cute drawing, though

People on there, when it comes to drawings, tend to go for "stupidly cute" a lot.

And I think that might be it, Blue - photomanipulation is really more of a hobby form of art more than anything else.

Chicken of the Seas · Aug 03, 2009, 11:02 PM // 23:02

@Nian
Haha, and I couldn't help but notice your breast cancer awareness stamp has 95 faves.

@Verne
I checked out some of your manipulations, and you're really great at what you do! I like you you manage to blend everything in so well...something I have yet to work on. My laziness usually takes over though (sadly!)

I'm not that popular on DA but my most favorited photo of course, was a picture of puppies. Teh Puppies! What baffles me is the fact that I have better pictures of puppies that aren't obstructed by the cage (this was more intended to be an aww shot rather then an attempt at being pro) yet this one has the most favorites. Ah well.

I have a Nikon D40 and while its not the top of the line, its simple enough for me to get the job done. I also own a 55-200mm zoom lens for it, which is AWESOME. It helps a lot when I can't get close to my subject because they might eat me. =)

Tzu · Aug 03, 2009, 11:36 PM // 23:36

haha, most favourited art ~ always fun...
Verene: you're really good at photo-manips! ^^
Chicken: hoho, seen that one before. I guess it's the eyes... you can't just leave them without faving them a little bit first!

Cute gets a lot of favs on dA alright. That, and Emo. Emo + Cute = Anime, so >3 of the deviations in the top 10 of every category is Anime of sorts.

My most favourited illustration of all time is "Ariel's New Dress"... Disney. That is all.

Chicken of the Seas · Aug 04, 2009, 12:05 AM // 00:05

Lmao, truly did not see that one coming. I mean seriously, out of all your cosplays and more recent work...wtf? =P I guess DA people are big on Disney too, that would make sense for the "cute" factor.

BlueXIV · Aug 04, 2009, 12:35 AM // 00:35

Like I told Tzu on msn, I pretty much fail at doing sexy or cute. The only other thing that gets faves on dA would be "epic," and that actually takes work D:

...Which might be why I avoided dA... Hmmmm...

UraLoo · Aug 04, 2009, 01:00 AM // 01:00

My most fav'ed pieces on DeviantArt are:

Nelson and Napoleon - It got into the Wacom Contest top 50.

Bathe (nudity) - Daily Deviation

The Sad Pirate - Well, let's face it, it's Jack Sparrow

Haha, DA is a strange place, but if you find yourself in a good crowd it can be a fantastic place to show and receive good critique. It can also be a popularity contest if you make it one. Like all things you just have to keep a level head about you; don't get drawn in by the hysteria. First and foremost you create art for yourself, not the strangers on the internet.

Widowmaker · Aug 04, 2009, 01:33 AM // 01:33

Thing about dA is people have to actively search for you work unless they see it on the front page when you first post it.

Which is about a 2 minute window of opportunity if you're lucky.

That is why things like Star Wars, FF, and so on get a lot of faves, people know to look for it.

Duranin · Aug 04, 2009, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Lol... on my old dA account, my most fav'd deviation was this piece of. With 69 favs.
I mean, it's not particularly BAD, but what offended me the most was that none of my original art got many favs, but instead I was getting a pile of favs on a small, poorly done vector of an anime screenshot of all things. It misrepresented me very much and led me to scrapping the deviation as well as hiding my stats (which happen to include which one of my uploads is the most popular, etc.) What Widowmaker said about fanart is probably correct in the case of my vector, which is even more depressing since the anime the vector came from is a relatively obscure, not-so-popular one. That just goes to say how obscure and unpopular the rest of my art is, eh? p:

This commission, this, and this are tied for most favs in my current gallery, at a mere 9 apiece. I'm not particularly bothered by dA popularity (if anything, it annoys me how much drama springs out of it and how much of a popularity contest it tends to become among certain fandoms) and I haven't made any attempt to advertise my account/art.

Verene · Aug 04, 2009, 02:58 AM // 02:58

On dA, you really need to push to make yourself known, or do what's popular right now.

On an unrelated note, I'm amused that you did a drawing of a character named Alanna, Araiia

Alana is my real name and I so rarely ever see anyone with or using any form of it, so I'm always amused by that. Also, one of my favorite characters from a book is named Alanna

Chicken of the Seas · Aug 04, 2009, 03:19 AM // 03:19

Ariia, I notice that I favorite most of your GW art when you put it up, sorry about that, I can't help myself =P.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Widowmaker

Thing about dA is people have to actively search for you work unless they see it on the front page when you first post it.

Which is about a 2 minute window of opportunity if you're lucky.

That is why things like Star Wars, FF, and so on get a lot of faves, people know to look for it.

Yeah, very true. That's why I've joined a few clubs and gotten to know a few people, as well as entering contests. It kinda spreads your art around a little bit faster and gives people a chance to look at it again.

I guess I had a Flickr account but never really used it, Its all kinda new to me but it seems ok so far. I joined a few groups that interested me and we'll see what happens!

Duranin · Aug 04, 2009, 04:19 AM // 04:19

@Verene - hehe, there's a fictional Alanna from a series of books I like. Could be thinking about the same one.

@Chicken - it's fine, and ty for the support (:
I tend to be really lazy when it comes to contests because I have a very negative mentality regarding my chances of winning/the prizes involved/the time and effort involved creating my contest entry. Oddly enough the higher the stakes/more recognition the contest is, the less likely I'll enter. If it's just a small contest then I'd enter.