7000 Pageviews is a strange number to be happy about, but at the same time its a good thing. While I havent been as active as I should have been its still cool to know that my artwork has been viewed as much as it has. There are people on this site with millions of hits, and I never expect that for myself as those who do are without exception thoroughly deserving and I still have a long way to go. But the fact my artwork has been viewed over 7000 times means a lot to me, as without this site my artwork would never have been seen by so many people.

so, this is a thank you. To all the people who've taken the time and viewed my stuff, added me to their watch lists or faved a pic or taken the time to comment, and to the people who'll take the time to read this, whether it ended up in their inbox or you've just stumbled across my page. Cheers for taking the time, its much appreciated

Maybe its just me, but the Daily Deviations used to seem important. They were up on the front page of DA for all to see and aspire to, representing many artists and many styles. Through DD's i discovered many many great and talented people on this site, but that seems to be less so these days.

For a start, the DD's are now tucked away at the very bottom of the page and worse still the standard of art that is selected for the honor has slipped horribly. I dont want to sound rude about anyones art, but on a site with so many millions of artworks, it seems like very little thought, effort or care is going into the selection process. A prime example would be this...

[link]


I know that art is a matter of taste, and so I do not have the right to say that such a piece of art is undeserving of a DD, but surely there is better? Infact some of the DD's i see getting suggested have no comments on them (from the suggester), surely if something is worthy of being suggested and given a DD, the person suggesting it should have something to say about it. Increasingly I see artwork being chosen that makes no sense (the artists work i linked to has a gallery with many brilliant works, so it just strikes me as weird that the one chosen was such a boring piece).
All too often many bland boring photos that would be more at home on a site like myspace or facebook are given the award and it just baffles me. I wanna see more great art, not browse peoples family photos, and I wanna see the makers of fantastic art get the credit and attention they deserve!

sorry for the rant, but todays selection of DD's with only one exception were just too abysmal for me to let go.

Last year as far as my art goes, really did suck. I used to be a prolific doodler, back when i was in school and college it was something i couldn't stop doing. at home too, it was something i devoted myself to. i would seal myself away from the world in my room back when i lived with my mum and sit for hours with an eighth, my mp3 player and a pad of paper. it was never an effort, stuff just exploded onto the page.

Back in college i would draw and always had an audience, i even had my own set of dry markers so i could work on the whiteboards. it became a regular thing for me after a sleepless night to head into college an hour or so early (as i was still running from the night before) and spend that time alone covering the whiteboards, sometimes by the time the lecturer arrived and the class began the lecturer would not even wipe my shit off the boards and write on the margins instead! on my 3 hour breaks i would head into random open classrooms and do the same to other classes who would never know who or why had drawn on their boards. I loved to leave behind art for people, i wouldnt even put my name on it, it just was what it was. everyone in my classes had my drawings on their books, their clothes, and sometimes their bodies. it was a great feeling.

Im annoyed with how last year was for my art, admittedly in a lot of areas i was doing good. I had bought a flat with the money left from my mums suicide, moved away from my old area, quit smoking weed everyday and for the first time in a long time found peace. part of me even wonders if this is the reason why my art has suffered. i lack an audience, and i no longer have any reason to vent silently as once i did through my art. also distraction is another factor, i have a laptop, a PSP, an Xbox (even as defunct as it is), and digital TV. at times in previous years ive had no internet, and for nearly 9 months i lived without a working TV in my house. which gave me a lot more time to devote to my drawing.

So this year Im gonna turn the TV off once in a while and work harder on my drawing, before i lose either the skills, or the patience. i want 2009 to be a good year, and im wishing all you guys a good year too!

V6 is just messy. Ive never written a journal entry before, but I feel the need to just voice my opinion. I hate the new deviantart. Its ugly, confusing, and it was fine the way it was before. I used to browse art all the time on this site, but i hate the new version so much. its so uneasy on the eye, all kinds of crap all jumbled together on the screen, the front page is ridiculously convoluted. i appreciate all the hard work and effort that has gone into it, but its just so awful on the eye. too busy. which is quite ironic considering the nature of the site. I'm sure in time I will get used to it. but right now I cant bear to even browse on here, gives me a headache.

moaning over.