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Introducing PE week: Getting the Most out of dAThis week marks the first ever Project Educate week on the topic of "Getting the most out of dA"! For this week I collected a small group of experts on the deviantART community and positive contribution. Together we will present you with articles and happenings, to inspire you and give you an overview of how you can contribute to the deviantART community.
From Monday to Saturday, each day will focus on a different topic. Topics will be introduced in an informative article. Then we'll go into it more in depth with you through interviews with gurus on the subject or through events where you get to experience the fun of contributing.
Then on Sunday we'll recap the entire week not only in a summary of articles but also in a chat event! :party:
Please make sure you're watching #projecteducate to see all our articles and events :eager:
Topics to be covered
Commenting
Monday 4th
^3wyl
Running Groups
Tuesday 5th
:dev3wyl
Famous Photographs: The Afghan GirlIf you run a google search on what are the top famous Photographs of all time, The Afghan Girl is sure to appear. She is truly a face from History and one that many across the globe have tried to capture within others time and time again. But what exactly has made this image and its photographer so captivating?
Source: Daily Mail/National Geographic/Steve McCurry
Eyes, they say, are the window to the soul. And capturing such a piercing and expressive look in a photograph is a highly sought after skill. The Afghan Girl exhibits suspense, suspicion and a sense of distrust at the person behind the lens, she gives off an air of maturity, a foreboding feeling - a vulnerability behind years of strength. That, is what makes her so captivating.
Sharbat Gula is her name, although few even know this rather important detail. Sh
Getting the Most out of dA: GroupsGroups are a platform on deviantART which allow you to share your art - what it is primarily used for. Immediately, once your art is accepted into the Gallery, your art is sent to the message centres of many members of that particular group, gaining you instant and wider exposure. However, to really enhance your deviantART experience, and to get the most out of deviantART, +Groups shouldn't, and aren't, simply used for that.
There are many roles you can play within a group. By taking up a role, you immediately get more out of deviantART than if you had not done so.
Let's start with being a...
          Member
Not only do you get the chance to submit your art to the group, as a Member, you also :+devwatch: the many happenings within the group too. This means you can read about the immediate happenings as soon as they are launched through the group, such as contests, projects and more in between. As a member, seizing the
PE DD Week: A DD is not an award, but a feature.
A DD is not an award but an art feature.
There. I said it. A DD is not a prestigious award that will change your life drastically, it's just a 24h feature. 
But why is it so important to make this distinction? 
It's just a way of naming something and therefore should not be of great importance, yet it makes all the difference in how people perceive a DD.


On the importance of terminology
As mentioned in the intro, the biggest problem when it comes to Daily Deviations arises with the choice of words used to describe what a Daily Deviaton is. When you call it an award, people will automatically assume that the Daily Deviation is the cream of the crop of every deviation posted ever on this site and that no art featured after it should be able to be perceived as "worse". However, when you call it a feature, most people are fine with the picked deviations and don't even hold them to the high standards of living up and
Getting the Most out of dA: CommentingUsually, when you read something involving 'Commenting', you think of deviations and the commenting platform that allows other members of the community to voice their thoughts and opinions on the art shown. However, what is pretty evident, and something that most of us may forget, is that deviantART runs on the ability to give and get comments, be it on pieces of artwork, our profile pages, +forums, and everywhere else in between.
In a sense, without the ability to give and get comments, deviantART wouldn't be much of a website, much less #1 of online art communities around. Comments are not solely the cause of what makes deviantART what it is, but it has a huge impact on a lot of things. By giving and getting comments, not only do we interact with other members to really make this a community, we also have the ability to get our voices heard.
It's quite an odd concept with us all facing screens, typing out our thoughts and opinions, but one thing we shouldn't forget is that commen
PE: Daily Deviations - The Myth and the LegendDaily Deviations, or DDs . . . for some deviants, receiving one is the epitome of awesomesauce in the deviantART world. For others, they are a nice way to show off the work of lesser-known artists. Still others treat them as a special way to bring attention to great art that exemplifies works being done by a particular gallery or community.
Perhaps because there are so many different ways of conceptualizing DDs, there are also many myths and misconceptions. I would like to address some of those myths by responding to the ones most frequently heard. Please note that these opinions are mine and reflect my experiences with the photomanipulation community, but perhaps they will be informative nevertheless.
Myth 1: DDs should always be perfect.
To many of us, the ideal Daily Deviation goes to an artist with amazing talent whose work draws you in and makes you think, "Wow, everyone needs to see this!" A DD should move you, inspire you, and provoke you to think, b
PE: Stock, Resources and deviantART RelatedStock & Resources
I see Stock & Resources as a category of art on deviantART where the entire focus is on helping others and providing them with what they need. This helps artists of any medium! Photomanipulators for example rely heavily on the stock photos they find here. If you draw or paint, digitally or traditionally, many stock photos can be hugely helpful as reference, as can line art and textures. There's literature templates, fonts, fractal and vector resources, designs & patterns for artisans and crafters.. and then there's tutorials for any kind of art, and about deviantART itself.
So one great way to contribute something to the community and your fellow artists is to provide such resources!
We will not go into this in depth as it has its own Community Volunteers and Project Educate weeks that should help you get started! :)
Informative articles:
An
PE: Self Suggesting Daily DeviationsSelf Suggesting
Members are more than welcome to self suggest their own art work for a Daily Deviation, in fact many CVs highly encourage self suggestions.  While self suggesting may have been something people frowned upon in the past, this is thankfully no longer the case as we all recognize the need for self promotion in the competitive world of art.
But suggesting my own work is embarassing
There is no shame in trying to get yourself and your work seen.  By self suggesting you are merely looking to gain more exposure from a broader audience. Look at it this way, if you're not willing to advertise your own work and get more clients and exposure, who will?
When we CVs receive self suggestions we treat them the same as we would any other suggestion so you can easily treat a self suggestion the same as you would a submission of your art to a group so more users can see the piece.  While we do not guarantee that we
PE Daily Deviations: What if...? 
Hello everyone! :wave:
After news articles explaining 'The Myth and the Legend' of the Daily Deviations, how to suggest them, tolerance towards Daily Deviations, the negativity, the focus on the notes and what it actually is, this article tackle the 'What if...?' scenarios t
PE: Getting the Most out of dA: Chat and ForumsThe Forums and the Chatrooms, collectively known as the dAmn (deviantART Message Network), are home to many kinds of discussion. In this article we'll briefly go over the different forums and chatrooms there are, with some specific attention to those that are helpful for you as deviant who wants to contribute to the community. :dummy:
+forum
First, the forum are not the place to go ask for help or report a problem with deviantART - but they do have the handy Need HELP? thread which tells you exactly where to go with your question.
So if not that, then what are the forums for? Let's break it down down down :sing: to the subcategories!
:idea: Tip: before making a thread, always have a look not only at the Forum Posting Guidelines to the top, but also at other recent threads to see what the forum is for and what response you can expect.
<strong>
Photography Weekly: Edition FortyPhotography Weekly Header created by ~TouchedD
"Replace Fear of the Unknown with Curiosity..."
As the year crawls into the final quarter - lots of challenges and daily photo tasks and so on begin to conclude. I have personally been challenging myself with the 365 Photography challenge - a photo a day for a whole year. It has been tricky to say the least, especially as I set myself a high standard of capturing more than one Photo a day - but also rewarding. Setting yourself a challenge, whether it's following the 52 week photography challenges that are out there, or doing a themed challenge such as 365 breakfasts - is a great way of expanding on your portfolio. Whilst it sometimes means that you struggle to find anything interesting to photograph or share, on the days that you do, you're one step closer to building another aspect of your portfolio.
Next week in Photography Troubleshooting - we will be looking at Money Matters and so
Nom Nom #15














Apples
Chicken
Strawberries
Cinnamon
Chocolate
Sprouts
Cocktails
Photography Troubleshooting: Dull Images on dA?After a long pause in which nobody seemed to have very many questions, we've got a very intriguing one which came up during the People & Portraits #projecteducate week and it's something that has always played on my mind, and no doubt on yours too. Once again `sine-out has provided a fantastic answer, so hopefully that will help somewhat in clearing this issue up. Have a question? Drop it on this article and we'll work on an answer!

"It seems like colorful pictures made in adobe look good, then after
they have been uploaded on deviantART... the color is more dead.. not so
alive..is this an issue?" ~ *kayjensen
"Hi *kayjensen, the issue your describing is most likely a colour profile issue. Colour profiles essentially describe how each colour is represented and there are different profiles for different purpose but mostly for getting accurate colour out of a printer or a screen.
By default the internet works with and assumes that every
PE DDs: When It's Not Always PositiveWhen DDs Go Awry
Daily Deviations, or “DDs,” are frequently held in very high esteem on deviantART. After all, what artist does not want his or her work displayed for more than 20 million viewers to see and admire? The benefits of receiving a DD feature include increased exposure for your work and a day in the spotlight for you as an artist. Many people therefore view DDs as badges of honor, awards that make them proud and validate the time they spend in our community.
Be careful what you wish for!
Don’t get us wrong-- DDs are wonderful for the purposes listed above. But, they can also bring a lot of drama upon the artist, especially if they are controversial.
Let’s talk about some of the sources of this drama.
The Critic
Some people feel that people who post art-- and especially those whose art is worthy of a Daily Deviation-- should have thick enough skin to accept criticism as well as praise. They argue that criticism is part
PE: Getting Noticed in dAGetting noticed within dA
Everyday, millions of users from all over the world use deviantART, and  it is really hard for new users to get themselves noticed. Oh yes, it is HARD. It can actually be a really disappointing experience for some of us. But, if you show some patience and work for it, you may just be able to crack through that wall standing between you and exposure to the community. Remember, all it take is patience. Lots and lots of patience. Oh, and you also need to trust yourself. Just because you couldn't get a huge fan base in several weeks or months doesn't mean that you will never get them. But, there are some really important stuff you need to follow first before getting there.
dA is also a community, just like any other community in the world. The only difference is dA is and online community and the others, well they are totally offline :nana:.  So, this means there will be some standards to be held in there, or else it
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PE Getting the Most out of dA: Summary

Sun Feb 10, 2013, 7:06 PM



dA Related :iconnamenotrequired:


Getting the Most out of dA - Summary

This week we set out to find the answer to the question; How to contribute to the community? 
Here's what we learnt about:







We also learnt yet again that the community is wonderful and you guys were luckily eager 
to learn from our articles and to participate in all the events we set up for you :love: 
Thank you once more! :happybounce:

The "Getting the Most out of dA" Project Educate team:




41 Comments
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:iconjane-beata:
Mood: dA Love =jane-beata Feb 13, 2013  Professional Traditional Artist
Your article has been FEATURED in my 8th Diary of Jane journal, thank you for sharing it with all of us :heart:

:frail:
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:iconnamenotrequired:
$namenotrequired Feb 13, 2013  Student Interface Designer
Thank you :love:
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:iconconniekidd:
=conniekidd Feb 12, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Awesome week! :love:
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:iconnamenotrequired:
$namenotrequired Feb 12, 2013  Student Interface Designer
Glad you think so :happybounce:
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:iconjane-beata:
Mood: dA Love =jane-beata Feb 12, 2013  Professional Traditional Artist
Thank you for every helpful information, wonderful work (:
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:iconnamenotrequired:
$namenotrequired Feb 12, 2013  Student Interface Designer
You're welcome and thanks! :aww: :hug:
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:icontitanium-alex:
~Titanium-Alex Feb 11, 2013
Oooh...I'll need to check all of these out at some time!
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:iconnamenotrequired:
$namenotrequired Feb 12, 2013  Student Interface Designer
Have fun :D
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:icontitanium-alex:
~Titanium-Alex Feb 13, 2013
I'm sure I will!
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:iconbubbles21500:
*Bubbles21500 Feb 11, 2013  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Absolutely loved this week! :clap:
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