Yep, today my account here turned 4, ahh I've learned a lot in this time but I've done recaps on past anniversary journals so I'll pass on that this time, maybe when I turn 5
Unfortunately there are various things that have put me in a bad mood recently, while none can be blamed on deviantART or its users which have been going good for me lately. They seems to stem from a result of being here instead
Firstly I was introduced to the artists best friend
TinEye by =
2753Productions which is used to trace instances you art has appeared elsewhere...I didn't even need to reverse-search every deviation in my gallery to notice that one of my works has been stolen and used on a
CD cover while another makes a delightful promotional banner for an
online store - I can't help but wonder how else my work is being whored out for illegal profits around the globe
Adding insult to injury, I have been waiting about half a year to receive a fairly large payment for a commission I did and which was used for already for profits and it seems the comissioner just has an endless array of excuses as to why he can't pay me
My God, this is such a waste of time, people keep stealing my works and cheating me on commissions. I really don't know why I bother anymore, after 4 years the amount of money I've spent on this digital art hobby - programs, upgrades, tablet etc - has still outweighed what I've made off it. So unless I earn at least thousand bucks more, I still would have been better off not having done any of it
It also kinda bothers me how some artists that I became friends with on here, ones that started out at the same time, age and skill-level as I did have now all gone off and are doing very well for themselves, making graphics for games, animations, movies or are close-to doing so thanks to the fact they have the money to go to
college or simply live in countries with plenty of jobs that cater for digital media (anyone who lives in Australia knows that this is a TERRIBLE country to try and get such jobs in!
).
I thought I would have gotten further than I have now, but honestly my only artistic successes ever still remain here on dA, a Daily Deviation is still the most high-end honour any of my work has ever received, and seeing the state of some DD's that are given out - it makes me wonder if that really is a big deal
I try as hard as anyone else but I suppose something about my "style" or choice subjects simply have almost no commercial use (or at least not good enough to actually
pay me for!
) I shouldn't be jealous or even hostile to these artists but it's really hard to be happy for someone elses success when you havn't tasted your own, in my mind I'm more like "hey, congrats for taking a potential opportunity from me even though you already
have a job somewhere else" - and yet I still continue to see graphics in various places that make me wonder "how did THEY get the job?"
Do I really need to conform to the "typical digital artist" style? is it mandatory for me to draw alien spaceship battles, pretty CG girls, dragons or other stereotypes that you always see featured in magazines for me to get anywhere? that ain't my style man, I don't care for that stuff
My real life is lacklustre too, every day I'm bored, lonely, hoping for a change, and opportunity that never comes as I get daily lectures about "get a job", "make real friends", "stop wasting time on that damn art site". But when you are feeling hopeless with no sense of direction or change, what else is there to do when you lack motivation to do anything else, repetitive rejections and failures will do that to ya, I was even diagnosed by a doctor after ansering some Q and A that I suffered depression too, seems I went from bright and full of optimism to not caring whether I lived to see another lame-ass day
But like I said, my problem is not with dA or the community, except that I havn't been able to upload for the past two days, which I need as I'm going to put custom watermarks on all my best works, so no complaints, they are subtle and placed in appropriate areas
Now I'm off to clean my brother's filthy Guinea pig cage because my Mum is making me - highlight of my month so far
Clubs/Groups:
`ChewedKandi has certainly gone out of her way to keep the vector community on the right path. Always making sure that her talents are infinitely scalable, Sharon has put her bezier curves to excellent use, and firmly anchored herself as an inspirational leader. We're absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for June 2013 to `ChewedKandi. Congratulations, Sharon! Read More
Sta.sh
You can enter as many times as you want.
You can not alter the shape.
Yea... and if you don't read the rules, you won't get anything out of this.
What you have to do
Advertise; you don't have to but is looked up upon
each ) on this giveaway.
It's easy to participate 
This journal.
3 x a 1 Month Premium-Membership
Shitty 
I don't think you should abandon the idea of working for a company so quickly. You love being your own boss, and that's totally the way to go. But imagine what you'd learn if you were working beside someone who has 10 years more time in the industry. I speak from experience here; surrounding yourself with talented folks is a huge benefit to your career.
As for the minimum requirements, that's pretty standard in any industry. Apply anyway. You'll achieve two things:
-You'll get a thicker skin (trust me, in any industry where you're producing things, you need it)
-You'll eventually catch someone's attention
But lets say you want to be an environment artist. What kind? Do you want to work in gaming? How about movies? Something else?
An industry job I would still take if it was offered. But for now I can't be bothered looking. If I get one, I'd prefer games though, since the standards for movie-quality art is still too high for me
But anyway, whatever happens happens, right? It's just to just keep moving forward and trying your best.
Oh! And I wanted to thank you for the Tineye link. Pretty interesting. Fortunately it didn't find any copies of my more popular images, which is half a relief, but it's not as if anyone would steal my work if they don't know me, eh?
Anyway, keep your chin up, stick on those watermarks, and put on some Hamster Dance. It'll be ok! ^^ I promise
Constant activity is important, up until this happened I have eternally been on a non-stop activity streak since coming here, uploading new art almost weekly and commenting and forumming a lot, I guess that's why I consider what I get to be "small" sinc esome here are fortunate enough to upload like - 5 deviations and suddenly everyone is throwing their cash at them
I'm too scared to use TinEye again, what I don't know can't hurt me
I know what you mean about the "special" people though. Usually what I find is that these sudden stars get the way they get because they happen to do tons of fanart of whatever's popular at the time... Which I guess makes sense. I myself start to fangirl when I see Sailor Moon illustrations
ANYWAY I'm just rambling now! *hides in the box with you*
and i think you shouldn't just "hope" for the opportunities to crop up. you don't deserve to be waiting. those big studios out there are the ones who are waiting for good artists like you to appear... so go on, appear.
it'll take me a few years, though, to do what you can. keep it up.
Anyway, good luck with yours