loish

Can't believe DeviantArt is 20 years old today! Honestly that makes me feel so old haha. This place is where it all started for me personally, and that's truly no exaggeration. I really think my life would have looked totally different if I hadn't signed up to dA as a 17 year old, even though I had no idea what that impact would be at the time. This is the first place I started working on my 'social media' presence (that word didn't exist at the time), frequently updating my gallery with new art and interacting with an online art community - an approach that is now foundational to how I make a living from my art. It's also the first place I started finding new inspiration and connecting with other artists (some of whom I still talk to today!). It's where I started developing my style and artistic indentity. Even today, when I give talks and workshops, I always talk about joining deviantArt and the huge impact it had on me! So this birthday has a lot of meaning to me - It's bringing back warm memories and giving me the chance to reflect on what this site has meant to me as an artist.

I remember first joining the site and having no idea how it worked, so I uploaded like 50 drawings in one day and wrote this awkward journal entry:

I remember my first daily top favorite, when my art was featured on the front page, and just sitting on the couch and staring at the ceiling, my mind whirring with excitement, not believing that a drawing I had made was being seen by people! I had no idea it would be so popular so I called the image "yarr, matey" - I was into pirates of the carribbean at the time, haha. Here is the drawing in question so you can see that it had NOTHING to do with pirates:

I remember spending hours and hours custom-designing my deviantart journal designs with CSS. DeviantArt is not just about posting art but about making your own special landing page that you design your own way, and I put so much time and effort into making it as impactful as I could! Some of the designs don't work anymore but you can still browse through them here, which just comes to show that in many ways, DeviantArt is an archive of my online presence for almost two decades now.

I also remember being super invested in how this site would grow and change, with things like groups being introduced, and logging in to see that the shade of deviantart green had slightly changed, causing site-wide controversy. I remember that when one of the founding members of DeviantArt left the site, everyone was concerned and wanted to know what had happened. We all made yellow art to show support, and the moderators didn't try to shut us up, but instead chose to feature yellow art as daily deviations that day. My yellow version of my OC No Girl was my first daily deviation! This has always been a site where people were invested, they cared, and there was a close bond between the site's creators and its users.

My love for this site goes deep. It's a part of my identity! What's your fondest memory of DeviantArt?

To celebrate this birthday, we've launched a "create this in your own style" challenge featuring my art! Basically you can recreate this drawing in any medium / style you like and then you can get a special 20th birthday badge. Here is the art, I would love to see her in your style and using your personal favorite creative tool ~

Also, I'll be on the Deviantart Podcast over on instagram later today, at 11AM pacific time! Join us and say hi! Here's the link to the deviantart instagram page where the podcast will be hosted: https://bit.ly/39YUxmI.

More info about the challenge and podcast here:

Hey guys! Just a heads up to let you guys know that I finally launched a Patreon page! You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/loish

In the last ten years of being a freelancer, I’ve found more and more of my personal time swallowed up by work and obligations. This year, I’m finally taking the step to change things. I’ve decided to make the time to paint freely, explore new things, sketch mindlessly, and let my creative mind wander. By supporting me on Patreon, you can help me to priortize my own artistic growth this year. As a patron, you’ll get a glimpse behind the scenes: WIPs, process shots, and a once monthly sketchbook tour video! So please consider supporting me there if you like seeing my work and want some extra behind-the-scenes stuff.

P.S - I have no idea how this site works anymore! I'm so bummed that others can see my art on a dark layout, I feel like that's a terrible fit for my work haha. Has anyone figured this eclipse stuff out yet??