What are your thoughts on DeviantArt?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Even though I'm no artist myself (and I'm talking stick-figure level here), I made a DeviantArt account sometime in the early 2010s to support the work of a couple of friends who have since gone pro.

Neither of my friends has posted on that site in years, and both of them have told me, in their own words, that they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole these days.

I find that striking because that site used to be their main source of exposure when they were both starting out. And yeah, I remember seeing quite a few comments that were definitely less than civil while browsing their galleries, but neither of these gals was particularly thin-skinned (and one of them even had her account hacked at some point), so I doubt that was the reason.

I do know, however, that DA closed its forums when they were approaching Reddit levels of garbage, and that there were quite a few "donation/llama" scams, so perhaps that spilled over?

Anyway... do you still use the site, or have you abandoned it? If so, why?

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

I've been banned from DeviantArt lmao... might still have the email with the notice. Supposedly spamming the platform, by the time I had uploaded 2 completely different works and only that. I didn't try to appeal, tho, cus I got very unmotivated to continue there.

 

[Zeo]

Back then it was a place where you can put any kind of artwork and such. Then it become a toxic mess of a place, only made worse after the AI pictures spam that killed the whole point of the site

Then again, AI generated pictures are all over the place to the point artist are more worried about someone stealing their style

 

[Blueskunky Blueskunky]

The Deviant Art Wonder bread Incident...

That's all I'll say.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

The Deviant Art Wonder bread Incident...

That's all I'll say.

O.O!

I've been banned from DeviantArt lmao... might still have the email with the notice. Supposedly spamming the platform, by the time I had uploaded 2 completely different works and only that. I didn't try to appeal, tho, cus I got very unmotivated to continue there.

That's extremely unfair and I'm sorry that it happened to you.

I'm also not surprised in the slightest.

 

[VidiyaGaemer]

It's one of my resources these days that helps spark in my mind new sprite animation ideas. I follow many spriters whose work shows up on my home page, giving me fresh new ideas on how to use the sheets in new sprite animations I make. So I appreciate it, but wish the AI wasn't so heavily intergrated in it. I'd rather the AI not be there period, but still is a bastion of creativity for my purposes so I'm thankful for that.

 

[Far_Firmer_Peaches]

@Blueskunky

Spoiler: T.T sorry

Edit: felt inadequate even lurking there

 

[diet_orange]

Been using DA since my teens and still use it today out of necessity. Kind of sad that my seperate account for my fetish art has WAY views than my main vanilla one

 

[Mr. SyS]

Lives up to its name. I've seen some shit.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

Your average art posting site? Samantha, you have x20 more experience than me in everything. So it was more than a art posting site?

 

[Sheepy765]

I used to be a fan, though I'm not particularly fond of the AI direction they went in. Thankfully there're plenty of alternatives, including one that disallows AI generated images from being uploaded.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Your average art posting site? Samantha, you have x20 more experience than me in everything. So it was more than a art posting site?

Well, I never posted anything myself... but I know quite a few famous people (like legendary animator James Lee and cartoon maker JG Quintel) had accounts there — it was pretty cool coming across their stuff while browsing.

I'll say that I used to get angry Notes (that site's version of DMs) for supporting my friends and their artwork, but I'm not necessarily counting it as a strike against the site — that's standard online dumb fuck behavior as far as I'm concerned.

 

[bombatomba77]

I remember it being a fun place for fan art (if you were in a fan art mood), then coming back years later (maybe mid-2010s) and seeing... other things. I was just listening to the MagicMush video on my walk today, so this seems relevant.

 

[diet_orange]

I used to be a fan, though I'm not particularly fond of the AI direction they went in. Thankfully there're plenty of alternatives, including one that disallows AI generated images from being uploaded.

Same, I've even seen some assholes try and charge money for some of it

 

[ZeromusVX4]

It's a shell of its former self, it used to be a really cool site not just for art but to meet new people during its height, DA today is almost an entirely different entity than what it used to be, especially since they went all in on AI, it's pretty much unusable nowadays