What do you think of deviantArt?

[angelfire]

I've effectively avoided everything that dA has. I've been on the forums and as great as they are sometimes, they're the most toxic place to be. I've stuck to watching artists and posting my own art

I know its not the best way to use it but i find it to be alright. Its hard to get people to watch you this way, but I dont wwnt to get too involved with the wackos on the site cuz honestly their scary

[shazzbaa]

I was on DeviantArt back in the day when it was the art community, basically facebook for artists, and I had a following there when I started my comic, so I started uploading my comic there as well at the time. I was never big on the forums or anything on DA so I can't speak to that.

I haven't had any bad experiences, personally, but I have noticed a huge dropoff in terms of interaction. A few years ago, getting 0 comments on something meant it must be a thing that seriously nobody could relate to -- now, getting 0 comments on a piece of art isn't surprising. I tended to get more interaction before, whereas now, my art just gets a little burst of favs and occasionally a couple of comments, and my comic pages generally get one or two comments and 4-6 favs per page.

There are still new people following me though. Like every week or every other week there's another couple of people who discover and follow me. So it's weird, it feels like, there's probably still people here, it's not dead... but it's definitely not like it was back when it was a bustling hub. It feels very quiet.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

My only issue with DA is that I've become an adoptable slave. Once I think my roster is going to be complete there's a new customer and I just want a rest from it all, but they've paid their points and I gotta do it. I also feel really bad when it takes me so long to complete one, like I've kept people waiting for so long for art. It gets a bit stressful.

[69Michi]

I'm only in DA for the RP groups and Adoptable. I do have problem with the buyers on there though. If you are new, even if your art is sensational or super outstanding, you still have to under price yourself to get any business. It took me almost a year of under pricing myself to climb up on the commission and adoptable chain to actually selling things at the price that worth the effort I put in.

The place is definitely not dead. I know a lot of people are still active on there. It's just the matter of what side of DA you are dwelling in. Personally I'm in the RP groups and adoptable wise, as far as I can see, it's active everywhere. Even as shetty as DA is, it still holds a special place in my heart because that is where I met and made friend with some of the most wonderful artist and human being.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

Yeah, I know the whole under-pricing thing. I think that's part of the reason I don't get any rest. I'd like to raise my price, but I just don't know when to do it.

I don't think I've been to my main DA page in over a year. It's just been the adoptable account.

[indagold]

it's dead from what I know because most people I talk to can tell it's inactive. I use it rarely now that it's a ghost town mostly, the site has bugs that it's not fixing anymore so it glitches and it's hard to use. As for the perverts and artists with no talent it's still flooded with them but there has been a change I absolutely adore. The site is being flooded with troll accounts resembling these artists and integrating themselves into the debauchery. None of them attack anyone they just pretend they're really bad at drawing. It's a breath of fresh air honestly and gives me a few laughs.

I still like Da because the community is horrible but pales in comparison to the beast that is tumblr. Tumblr is turning into a reverse 4chan meanwhile the worst you might get on Da is someone stealing your art or being creepy.

[69Michi]

Yeah it's very sad to see a super awesome artist put hours into their art but only sell for so little, while some other artists that are a little more well known can just throw out a 5 minutes sketch and people will surely fight over it :/ DA's business wise is a weird place to dwell in. I have seen so many artists I commissioned underprice themselves, and despite I'm telling them they shouldn't, I know as of right now it's the only way for them to get any business. All I could offer at that time was to give them a large amount of tips add-on to the commission price to cover up the underpricing gap.

I'd like to raise my price, but I just don't know when to do it.

How are you doing your adopts? Personally I don't do roster. I create adopt on a whim and put them on sale. Most of the time I do a sort of auction adopt. I put down the starting bid and a little higher autobuy. If I see more people have a tendency to head straight for the autobuy price, I know that is when I can raise my price. It's a good way to gauge your customer's price range!

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

I do a random gacha. It's a pokemon adopt thing. So, I gotta draw the pokemon, then its evolution sheet. Sometimes I have to do a trainer sheet as well with six pokemon and do the evolutions for all of them. It's actually more like a commission than anything and typing it all down, I've realized just how much work it is. I gotta stop doing this to myself!

[insomniascrawl]

Long story short, I used to love it, it used to be a place I was actively on, now it feels messy and hectic and over complicated in comparison to other sites I use. I feel like despite it being a site for art, it doesn't feel like that anymore for me, I don't know how that changed for me, it just did.

[69Michi]

Oh yeah omg that definitely sounds like a lot of work! You should slowly ease out of it if it's stressing you out :C not good at all.

Long story short, I used to love it, it used to be a place I was actively on, now it feels messy and hectic and over complicated in comparison to other sites I use. I feel like despite it being a site for art, it doesn't feel like that anymore for me, I don't know how that changed for me, it just did.

I'm with you on this tbh I'm not as active on there as I used to be anymore. Well, mostly because I started my comic, but could also be because some of my RP friends moved to Twitter and Skype.. But honestly I don't think DA has ever been that much of a fan art place to me If I got asked about DA, I would say: commission/adopt, weird fetish art, RP groups.

[JessJackdaw]

Oh gosh... I haven't used DA in six or so years. I'll only browse it if an artist I like has a gallery, and I have no idea what the community is like there now.

Now I primarily use Artstation.com which is a community built for professional industry artists. You won't get much attention if you're an amateur like myself, but looking and following all the class-A talent is really inspiring. Plus, I like the interface a lot better than DA or Tumblr, so it just works better for me.

Here check it out:
https://www.artstation.com/

[scythe]

DeviantArt? You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

[Quinineer]

I use it...but to be honest, it is nothing like Tapastic. I mean, dA is huge in comparison, but it feels so much more disconnected than Tapastic...? Maybe I'll get a favorite or two on a piece, but it's very rare for someone to actually comment unless it's something specifically for them.

I like to do art trades there, I guess.

Browsing by new is like wading through a landmine-filled bog.

[heterodont]

I've been on dA for 9 years and it was definitely a lot more lively back then. I met a few friends on there whom I'm still friends with today, but as a whole the site's just. awful.

The thing that annoyed me the most was them changing premium to CORE membership and bumping the price up. Then taking features that were previously free (like the webcam widget) and changing it so that it was CORE only. I'm not even going to cover the point system.

not to mention back in the day, before i knew about the wonders of adblock, i'd ALWAYS get some kind of malware from that damn website's ads.

That being said I rarely upload to dA now. I get far less attention for work unless it's fandom related & I submit it into relevant groups - so it's frankly not worth the effort for me to build any kind of audience on that website. I have much better reception on tumblr & instagram, and I'm not obliged to give my submissions titles either.

[UrMom]

Huh, that site reminds me of Conceptart.org, but more intimidating depending on how much you know about the site. I never posted on CA that much since most of the artists there are pros, although I really like how it centers around helping artists improve and get work.
If you don't like critique, though, hoooooo boy! You'll be eaten alive.

Edit: Just looked though it for old times sake, it looks like the site has become more amateur friendly since I lasted posted there. Nice!

[Mecha]

I think it's a garbage website with a garbage community and I don't regret deactivating my account there one bit. I mean I've met some cool people there, but it's still mostly shit.

Y'know, if only the site had a tag filter feature of some kind I can use to block out garbage, then it'd be less bad. But it never will because I'm pretty sure the admins on there want you to suffer.

[JessJackdaw]

Oh yes! I love conceptart.org too! The forums there are super helpful! ;u; The artists there are just so skilled though. Sometimes I get intimidated too.

[WakaXO]

I don't mind DA, but the past few years it has felt really barren, I think a lot of people abandoned it for other sites like Tumblr and Instagram....
Other than that I still use it but I feel like my art does better on other sites, viewership wise. ^^;

[joannekwan]

I used to post there but never really hit it big nor did I get into the forums and groups and whatnot. Now I never post anything but I'll check up on it every so often to see if the artists I'm watching have added anything new. But I've noticed they've gone quieter as well.
It's all tumblr for me now, for posting and following.

[GesuGesu]

I use DA because it allows me to post large image files in .JPEG, .PNG, .GIF. whatever. Cool. I also like the sta.sh thing that came along. I can upload some art I want to show someone privately and they can download the file without me having to post it publicly in my DA gallery.

The bad:
- Severely underpriced commission economy. I see people selling on the forums for 50 pts (50 cents) because anything over 100 pts is unlikely to get any replies
- The kids on there are salty faggots about page views, CORE membership, being not good enough, no one wants to commission them, etc.
- I still find it difficult to make friends on there. Like, long-term friends despite joining a couple of RP groups.
- People on there make drama and big deal about tracing (sometimes false accusations with some forced overlays of common poses) and completely destroy an artist's reputation online
- Art thievery is real and easy

The Good
- I can upload/post a 10,000 x 10,000 px canvas on 350 dpi resolution without being told my "file is too large"
- I can upload gifs, png, flash, whatever file type
- Groups make it easier for art exposure or finding artists with common interests
- Sta.sh is great for passing your stuff to commissioners without having to publicize commission and leaving it open to art thieves
- The site has a large userbase so it's easy to get started and also find attention/watchers if you're good with social media, cross-platform sharing, and being a suck-up to anyone.