Recently, I have received a lot of notes from confused deviants, surprised to know they can, in fact, suggest themselves to get a Daily Deviation (DD), when not so long ago, that was something that was discouraged. I felt some kind of explanation could be useful, and help you to understand why that's something you should not feel afraid to do, and also how to do it. Inspired by $Moonbeam13's words (after all, she's the Director of deviantART Artist Relations department), because I could not say it better than her, here you have some reasons to encourage you to promote your own art applying to get a DD.

We have millions of people on this site, most of which will never be noticed because it's so easy to fall into the pit. It would be really unfair if you're an unknown artist and you can never suggest yourself for a DD, because the chances are you will never get one unless you know someone that can suggest you. Then, if you're not able to suggest yourself, it would mean the system is not going to give you an opportunity to get your art known or seen at all.

deviantART was created to support the artists, and to spread their art all around the world. We want to give everybody a chance to get exposed and show your talent to the biggest audience possible! If the Daily Deviations were created, it was not to rate your art, but to select some featured pieces and this way encourage the general public to find those artists and enjoy their galleries. With the Daily Deviations, a lot of watches have been able to appreciate pieces they would have never seen browsing the place in a random way, and with the Daily Deviations, many artists have had more chances to be found and known by people from every edge of the world. Bear in mind this applies to the "popular" artist too. We don't rate artists on pageviews or popularity. Daily deviations are selected because of the artwork itself with no bearing on who the artist is.

That means you may see Daily Deviations that showcase unknown artists, staff/voluteers, and even those "popular" artists. This is not the "Unknown Deviant" Daily deviation, and Artist Relations is not "Unknown Artist Relations". We are here to support all artists of all calibers and popularity, we are all-inclusive (sadly without the benefit of free drinks!)

We think it's about time we give the community an even better chance to actually get their work featured. We now encourage you to suggest your own art if you feel it may be worth a Daily Deviation. It's not a call to "just send your local Gallery Director a link to your WHOLE gallery to then cross your fingers and see if some piece gets the feature with a bit of luck", but to let us know if you feel specially proud of a deviation you have uploaded to your deviantART gallery, the kind of piece you have spent a lot of time an effort with, and think you did your best.... The kind of deviation you create once in a while, and you feel honoured to share with the world: If you have something like that, please, check who is your Gallery Director (FAQ #18: Who selects the Daily Deviation and how is it chosen?), send them a note, and give it a try.... you may be on deviantART's main page sooner than you expect!


^skifi