As the sharp-minded would have guessed from the title, Today I have been here for three years now! with a lot of interesting events- both positive and negative lessons in life and the interwebz along the way in a relatively short time, things like:...
If someone tells you that a tornado killed their mother and uploaded a picture of the storm saying that one was the culprit - don't believe them, they are just using what turns out to be a googled image to score pity
If someone harrasses you online like the kind of shit we hoped would never leave MySpace or Youtube, don't whine about it too much since that only fans the flames, get professional help and deal with the problem quietly
Fan-art dosn't always guarantee floods of attention to your page, like all art forms, it has to actually be good to get attention, which is why my first year of fishing for pageviews with Fan-art as bait only led to dissapointment. When you do get attention for your fan-art, you'll notice just how many immature-minded idiots you'll also find in your net, the last of which I got only last week who felt the need to call me a moron in spite of tyPiNg liek Dis u reetArD
Making one long and in-depth comment on an unknown artists work will be a much more valuable use of your time than making a dozen "Wow" comments on a popular artist who gets an additional 50 of those daily (uuh, but I still don't get that much on a normal day, so don't stop commenting mine lol)
Being a Varied artist may mean less watchers, but that's just filtering out the shallow-minded and those you DO attract will have a much deeper understanding of what you do, even if they have to wait a few deviations between ones in the categories they are mainly interested in. More impoprtantly, it looks better for a portfolio. Just never neglect your strengths!
If a link looks suspicious, it probably is, actually roll over the link or right-click it first to see the address bar appear in your browser to see if it really is an oh-so funny youtube video or a case of your art being stolen
Don't get your hopes up when clicking "Random deviation" and just get ready in case its a pussy-shot without a Mature Content filter on
Being active is important - you could be the best artist on dA, but if you upload a measly one or two deviations a year and don't take the time to comment other's work, then don't complain about the fact your'e not getting enough attention
You can never win with pageviews. Too little and you feel neglected, too much and jealousy-fuelled drama finds its way to your page. Enjoy whatever number you have now, since you'll never have that much again
I could go on and on, maybe in another three years I can add even more deeper stuff. But that's where the question of
"Am I halfway through my dA life" comes in. I'm glad my art is finally getting more attention nowadays. Something tells me I could be getting much more being so prolific in the act of artmaking and commenting. But oh well, I'm still happy for now, nearing 100k pageviews ain't so bad even though some get way more for less work
But to me it seems that as an account here ages, it gains popularity and with that comes unwanted drama - something that nobody thinks of when they are new here and aspiring to beome popular. Could this be why so few accounts last more than 5 or 6 years? or maybe their passion for dA dies a bit every day. I think me lasting even 3 years with still nearly the amount of amazement for this site I had since day one is a milestone in itself. And though I can't see an ending for my time here in sight right now, I do wonder what future events will hold and see if I can live to the ripe old age of 6 years old and maybe longer
Speaking of age, I was 17 when I joined and now am 20, turning 21 in July...that's scary, but I just remind myself of how much I have benifitted from this community in the process, and Cringe at the thought that maybe I'd be the same as I was back then if I wasn't shown this site and
Forced to join by a high school chum
That's it for now, I'll probably come up with some more noble thoughts for the occasion later, but with my internet being unstable, I'm taking a gamble typing all this as is. All I can add is that more art is planned, so are those proposed stocks. But with contest entries and artpacks etc with deadlines to attend to first. It may be a while
Clubs/Groups:
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
Total prizes reach 1000 
!!!! 
But of course there are always the rules......
Please please please fave the journal!
Make another journal about this giveaway and provide a link of that journal in the comments (this will help spread the word about this giveaway)
this journal 
Rules
Should be about School Times!
, comment and watch!
Noble 
I've been here for about 2 years, I guess pretty much exactly, and over time I've found myself becoming more and more interested with what other people actually have to share and less with what I'm getting back from the things I post. Which is why I'm glad I find this place, not that you asked for my opinion or know anything about me
But that's a pretty mature outlook on the site already, some get so wrapped up in wanting to become popular that they end up missing out on a lot of great things along the way. But also, as nice as it is to view and support other artists, it's also good to get some for ourselves
Thanks for the fave too
You are very welcome. Your gallery is stunning.
Just for your positive and honest outlook I whole heartedly believe you should be featured, if not for your amazing works! It is so hard to come across an artist who is "popular" who is still willing to listen to another opinion if it differs from the opinions of a hundred others. I find that tons of artists who are really popular are incredibly intolerant and big headed, whichis why I really don't care about the number of pageviews so long as I get the helpful critique from now and then so I can improve my work.
So thanks for being so nice and hopefully I'll see you again sometime (I'm sure I will) ^_~
Though some things here bother me (the harassment I get sometimes, the ongoing popularity contest etc) overall it's still a good site, and I think many "popular" artists are bitching for no reason, Im sure they would be missing their status if they somehow reverted back to the "half a dozen pageviews a day" level that we all start at. Many popular artists have more power than they can handle, since many are just teenagers that got popular drawing anime and fan-art, you'll find the more mature popular deviants are generally older and draw more "serious" subjects with a higher degree of professionalism
For many reasons, I ormally avoid watching relaly popular artists, I think it's rude that I spend ages making comments on their work as long as yours here, and I never even get a simple "thanks". To think of all the time I wasted supporting popular artists who probably just assumed I was another generic ass-kisser with a crappy gallery...Eh, their loss I suppose
I dunno, I love DA and always have... but maybe it's just people in general that aren't kind-- especially to a different opinion. So if someone is posting their image on the internet, you have to hope that they would be willing to accept that not everyone is going to scream "great" "sweet" "awesome!"... etc.
Like I said, I like your attitude about it