This is going to basically be my honest opinions and a bit of a rant, so if you don't like these kinds of things kindly ignore it
This is what DeviantART taught me in the 8 Years since I joined.
First and foremost, DeviantART was my first art website that I joined and in the beginning I was only submitting photographs of my animals, as that seemed to be the only way to get any sort of commenting or feedback.
It didn't matter to me whether or not it was one person commenting or even a few favorites, I was happy and appreciative. I started sharing my artwork, my stories, and my original characters, and quickly became enveloped in commissions. I ordered my first ever commission back in 2010 and was so grateful for the two artists that took upon my requests with such poorly drawn references.
It was these people who inspired me to do better, to provide better references for my characters who deserved to have nice reference sheets and images.
Thank you to those people who helped me along this process in the beginning and were very kind and helpful in assuring me along in the process of creating and receiving artwork. The joy that was provided was something I never experienced and looking at my collection now, I can't believe how vast it is.
Thank you to these people who made ordering artwork so incredible and such an enjoyable experience. And to those of you that have wronged me, I hope that you learn your lesson in life and I hope that Karma will come back around and bite you in the ass as you deserve what's coming to you.
From these commissions blossomed relationships.
It was from these commissioned based relationships that I took the plunge and became friends with many people here and we spoke often online.
It was the first time I had ever flown to meet an online friend at a convention in Baltimore Maryland at Otakon, an anime convention.
Thank you Newsha, Tifany, Amanda, Lavata, Luis, and Anna for meeting me and showing me that the life behind the screen was exactly the same person, and thank you for giving me the courage to meet you in person and experience and share your life and your art journey. (And the kick in the ass to attend conventions and welcome this hobby into my life as I had been nervous to try.)
From these friends I have established life long friends who are very dear and important to me and I would never replace any of you for the world. We went through ups and downs and drama and unexpected surprises together which have etched its way into my life and have solidified my existence in their life as much as they are in mine.
Perhaps it was from these amazing and reciprocated relationships that perhaps I was blind to the few toxic relationships that developed.
There were a few who would use me for my money or for the multitude of gifts that I would buy and mail their way out of kindness and willingness on my part. The constant asking for money that was promised to be repaid, or the "art trades" that would be completed with the things I sent as compensation were never met and it was really frustrating and depressing on my part.
Thank you to you greedy souls for showing me that not every one of you is kind, ingratiating, and appreciative of my friendship and what I had to offer.
You showed me that my trust needs to be more reserved and I shouldn't always believe that the friends you make online are genuine and want the best for both parties involved.
Everyone is human and no one is perfect, least of all me. But the way they treated their "friends" or even "customers" was unacceptable and it made me exceedingly bitter.
I really hope to the people that have wronged me that you regret it one day and realize what you have done. I don't care for an apology, I just want the realization that you lost a good friend and you lost my trust. I am a loyal faithful person, but I won't be fooled time and time again by people who only want to use me and abuse my kindness.
On that note, I notice far too often people begging for free artwork,
And even WORSE are the people who initiate friendships with other artists just to get free artwork.
That is the most vile and disgusting thing you could ever do to another person, friend or not! How can you begin a friendship solely based on greed?
Oh we are friends now so you should give me free commissions or art trades because I can't afford you normally? How does that sound ok to anyone?
I have many friends who have had this situation occur to them, and you can ask ANYONE that I am friends with if I still pay my dues. The answer will be 100% yes.
I don't ask for anything free, I am your friend first and foremost, but I will always support your trade and pay you for your work as that is your profession and how you make a living and I will never take that from you. I don't believe in using people just because we are friends and I think I deserve free shit.
Aaaaand with that comes under pricing and overpricing (and then people who don't pay for their commission altogether)
I know many people haggle for lower prices, I even know of people here by name that will haggle and barter for the lowest possible price to pay artists and that makes me disgusted.
Why would you demean an artist that way? Coming up with prices to sell your craft, art, whatever is really hard and frustrating! You never know if you are overcharing or undercharging and then someone you don't even know comes asking for a discount because "they can't afford it" or "I really REALLY like your work, please" that's just disgusting and pathetic to me.
If you can't afford someone, save up or move along. Pay the artist what they are worth. And pay your dues. I have seen far too many of my friends and fellow artists quit commissions because the clients either A) Didn't pay them. or B) were so rude and difficult to work with.
It breaks my heart to see people just quitting them altogether because people are so unjust or cheat them out of their hard earned time. And people that get offended when the artist expects payment upfront? It's called security. If they don't get half or at least all of the money they are running the risk of doing all this hard work for nothing.
I hope no one has this experience but unfortunately it could happen to anyone on any website, anywhere. It's a sad reality that there are people out there wanting something for nothing and they aren't willing to pay the price of that "something". Support your artists. Support your friends. Support fair business. You wouldn't want to be cheated so why is it fair to cheat someone else?
In the last few years I have contemplated leaving DA for an abundance of reasons and in my last journal I expressed that this website was depressing.
Everything that I once really enjoyed about this website seems to be really dead.
Now tons of people have their own reason for leaving DA (Bullies, Art Thieves finally getting to them, Lack of Popularity, etc.)
For me I saw a decline in the quality of people that were joining DA and more or less the amount of trolls and rude thieving individuals who run rampant. Not to mention the large majority of untrustworthy artists opening commissions and scamming clients.
I never cared about getting a Daily Deviation, nor do I care about it to this day, but I hate the mentality that if you aren't popular on this website you aren't going anywhere. DeviantART really isn't ANYTHING.
DeviantART doesn't care about helping you grow as an individual or help your artwork blossom. All they care about is the growth of their absurd "Core" program and shoving as much money down their greedy throats with merchandise, and overpriced premiums that the standard person could not afford. When did this hobby website become such a money driven fool that you care nothing for your community and what others are asking for?
Why did I take my OC's down from DA?
Simple.
I was tired of the "OMG your OC looks like (insert any random character from anything ever created here" or "Your OC looks like mine LOL"
It's the most DISRESPECTFUL thing you can say to someone who has spent YEARS developing stories and original characters to be unique and special to you.
I was tired of the comparisons in the commissions that I ordered and I just felt like DeviantART was not a great place to store my children any longer.
And what made me even more upset were the people who flammed others for having an "all white cast" of characters. I was never called racist or anything but a friend of mine was called that for having all of her characters "pale white skin". I don't think there is anything wrong with having all white characters. You see your babies in one way, and you don't have to bend to other people's wishes so that your characters suit other peoples tastes or societies as a whole.
Original Characters are my children and they deserve to be in a place that focus's on original characters and creativity more than it does high quality artwork and people with over 100,000K views on their page.
That's why I moved all of my original characters to Toyhou.se and why you can no longer find my stories here on DA. I never felt completely comfortable sharing my stories on DA because anyone could just copy and paste that and I was terrified of being plagiarized.
What I take away from this website is a lot of lessons learned,
Improve your artwork for you only, don't do artwork because of what you expect others to love and praise.
Be diligent in the work you owe others. If you are going to do something for someone, do it for the love of god and be honest and have good follow through.
Realize that people behind the screen aren't always as sweet and nice as they appear and watch for those that only wish to hurt and extract all that they can from you.
Be grateful and down to earth. I don't care how popular you may be on social media but you are still a human being, you aren't gods gift to earth and treating your supports like dirt isn't going to get you anywhere in life and it causes so much unnecessary drama.
Ignore trolls and those who seek to stir up shit for no reason. They aren't worth the time it takes you to reply to them or the breath you hold in anger.
Don't let anyone use you for whatever reason, whether it be from sympathy or the yearning to have more friends. Don't.
And always remember, everyone is human. Treat them as you wish to be treated yourself....
RaisloverSakura~
Whitney~