HOME | DD

Description
After some contemplation, I've made the decision to leave deviantArt completely. I originally joined DA in May of 2010 so that I could look at drawings of Pokemon. I was 11, about to turn 12. I have always enjoyed drawing, but after I joined deviantArt my interest grew greatly. I have met so many amazing people here. Several of which, I met just that long ago, closer to the time I'd joined, are STILL my friends to this day. One of which being my boyfriend that I have LIVED WITH for going on 2 years now. All of my most meaningful, lasting friendships were made here. During my time with deviantArt, During my time on deviantArt, I solidified not only my style and artwork, but also many of the most critical aspects of my identity. DeviantArt was my most frequently and used website from 2010 - 2018. I spent hours on this site as a child waiting for my friends to note me back and interacting within the community. I posted art and journals constantly, for a solid 3 years I did exactly that everyday, often multiple times a day. My social circle was very important to me and I was very active within my little communities. I'm so very thankful for everything I've learned and gained during my time here. I've seen many people here come and go, friends and strangers alike. Recently, I realized that I really don't have much of a purpose for being here anymore. ALL of my closest friends and many of my mutuals FROM HERE are not only active on other platforms, but most are MORE active there than they are here. I've reached the point in my life where a little bit of extra money goes a long way. I haven't ever really had much luck making money here. Someone had suggested to me that I try to post my art on twitter, and that it's a better place to get commission work. And... well, they were right. In the last 3 months of using twitter, I have over 300 more followers, I get interactions and feedback on almost everything I post and people are able, interested and willing to support me on a regular enough basis to help with my financial stability. I have grown on Twitter as an artist more in the last 4 months than I have here in the last 4 years. I know that I have many watchers here (over 1,300 as of writing this) and, while I get plenty of favourites, that's pretty much the only interaction I have on here anymore. Something about deviantart can make it difficult to comment on things. Feedback of any sort is so important for an artist. Posting your art and being greeted with a void every time leaves you with no real rhyme or reason for continuing to return to the platform to post art in the first place. I have many faults with this website, many of which are not new problems. I don't draw for the purpose of wanting interactions/reactions, this is far from the biggest or most prevalent issue. With the new layout being rather forcefully implemented site-wide, I've decided it's time to close this book for good. There simply isn't enough of a reason for me to remain active here and bother figuring out how to navigate an entirely different website. I considered leaving for probably over a year, and I probably would be leaving anyway. But, honestly, from the BETA testing phase of "Eclipse", most users were not very fond of it and many others REALLY DISLIKED it. The website's communities buzzed on about it forever, criticism and feedback was offered, suggestions were made, even a petition (probably more than one) was made asking for deviantArt to AT LEAST allow the OPTION to use the old layout. But all was ignored. And the staff is like that. They don't listen to their community. They don't improve upon criticism and when they do, it's pretty much irrelevant when all of other, less tasteful decisions they've made are considered. I have communicated with staff members a number of times during my time here as well, personally, usually through their customer support email. I have, in the past, gone through with reporting subjects that were genuine problems (usually within communities) only to be met with no response at all. They are also fairly inconsistent with the enforcement of their policies. In short, I don't really feel good here anymore. It's a bit of a wasteland. All of my friends and commissioners are over on Twitter now. My account will remain open and my gallery will remain as it is. My username is not leaving my possession and my page will likely remain customized to some extent. For a few months, or on and off very, very sporadically, I will check my notifications. I still have some matters to deal with, as I'm able to, before I don't have any reason to come here. I also utilize the sta.sh system for personal use. This is my last "deviation", the original version of this art can be found on my Twitter. If you would like to continue following me, you can follow me on Twitter where I post all of my artwork now. Thank you for everything.

Austin
twitter.com/deaddsouth

Description
After some contemplation, I've made the decision to leave deviantArt completely. I originally joined DA in May of 2010 so that I could look at drawings of Pokemon. I was 11, about to turn 12. I have always enjoyed drawing, but after I joined deviantArt my interest grew greatly. I have met so many amazing people here. Several of which, I met just that long ago, closer to the time I'd joined, are STILL my friends to this day. One of which being my boyfriend that I have LIVED WITH for going on 2 years now. All of my most meaningful, lasting friendships were made here. During my time with deviantArt, During my time on deviantArt, I solidified not only my style and artwork, but also many of the most critical aspects of my identity. DeviantArt was my most frequently and used website from 2010 - 2018. I spent hours on this site as a child waiting for my friends to note me back and interacting within the community. I posted art and journals constantly, for a solid 3 years I did exactly that everyday, often multiple times a day. My social circle was very important to me and I was very active within my little communities. I'm so very thankful for everything I've learned and gained during my time here. I've seen many people here come and go, friends and strangers alike. Recently, I realized that I really don't have much of a purpose for being here anymore. ALL of my closest friends and many of my mutuals FROM HERE are not only active on other platforms, but most are MORE active there than they are here. I've reached the point in my life where a little bit of extra money goes a long way. I haven't ever really had much luck making money here. Someone had suggested to me that I try to post my art on twitter, and that it's a better place to get commission work. And... well, they were right. In the last 3 months of using twitter, I have over 300 more followers, I get interactions and feedback on almost everything I post and people are able, interested and willing to support me on a regular enough basis to help with my financial stability. I have grown on Twitter as an artist more in the last 4 months than I have here in the last 4 years. I know that I have many watchers here (over 1,300 as of writing this) and, while I get plenty of favourites, that's pretty much the only interaction I have on here anymore. Something about deviantart can make it difficult to comment on things. Feedback of any sort is so important for an artist. Posting your art and being greeted with a void every time leaves you with no real rhyme or reason for continuing to return to the platform to post art in the first place. I have many faults with this website, many of which are not new problems. I don't draw for the purpose of wanting interactions/reactions, this is far from the biggest or most prevalent issue. With the new layout being rather forcefully implemented site-wide, I've decided it's time to close this book for good. There simply isn't enough of a reason for me to remain active here and bother figuring out how to navigate an entirely different website. I considered leaving for probably over a year, and I probably would be leaving anyway. But, honestly, from the BETA testing phase of "Eclipse", most users were not very fond of it and many others REALLY DISLIKED it. The website's communities buzzed on about it forever, criticism and feedback was offered, suggestions were made, even a petition (probably more than one) was made asking for deviantArt to AT LEAST allow the OPTION to use the old layout. But all was ignored. And the staff is like that. They don't listen to their community. They don't improve upon criticism and when they do, it's pretty much irrelevant when all of other, less tasteful decisions they've made are considered. I have communicated with staff members a number of times during my time here as well, personally, usually through their customer support email. I have, in the past, gone through with reporting subjects that were genuine problems (usually within communities) only to be met with no response at all. They are also fairly inconsistent with the enforcement of their policies. In short, I don't really feel good here anymore. It's a bit of a wasteland. All of my friends and commissioners are over on Twitter now. My account will remain open and my gallery will remain as it is. My username is not leaving my possession and my page will likely remain customized to some extent. For a few months, or on and off very, very sporadically, I will check my notifications. I still have some matters to deal with, as I'm able to, before I don't have any reason to come here. I also utilize the sta.sh system for personal use. This is my last "deviation", the original version of this art can be found on my Twitter. If you would like to continue following me, you can follow me on Twitter where I post all of my artwork now. Thank you for everything.

Austin
twitter.com/deaddsouth