Trading Galleries: Being Resourceful

The Artist Relations Team was given an exciting project where we were paired up with someone from a different gallery, and we were challenged to teach eachother our galleries so we could better understand sections of deviantART that we may not be so familiar with. ^thespook and I were paired with eachother, and he was the one who got to do the teaching first to familiarize me with the Resources Gallery that he manages with ^bleedsopretty!

Step One: First Impressions-- Oh Man.

Admittedly, when I was assigned ^thespook as my partner, I went into the Resources section and found myself really overwhelmed. I had wandered in a few times before for a tutorial here or there, but I never really spent the time to check out what this gallery really has to offer. Go ahead and laugh, if you must, but I was intimidated at how many different types of resources there were and how boundless this gallery really seemed to be! Yeah, there were tutorials and textures... but Application Resources? Clip art? FONTS? I never knew.

Step Two: The Tip of the Iceberg

Before ^thespook actually sat down with me and let me penetrate his mind for hours to dig out every little Resource morsel he had to offer, he sent me an overview note to help me break the ice with a gallery that had, until now, been something I scrolled past. His opening statements in regards to his gallery were very inviting, and he put into perspective for me what Resources really meant to him:

"Resources has two sides to it, two dimensions. It is the place to go to when you need something to help you along in your latest creative endeavour, but it is also the place where artists can give back to the community. In other words, not only can you take from it, you can also give to it.

It's hard to talk about the Resources gallery as a whole, because all of it's parts are so different. It's something like an eclectic patchwork quilt, all it's parts are different to the other, yet the over all outcome leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy."

In those few sentences, I found exactly the sort of clarity I needed to approach this gallery.

Step Three: Getting into the Core

^thespook was candid when he explained to me that he found that textures were one of the most misunderstood categories.

Not by the people who use them, he says, "but every time I give one a Daily Deviation, I'm disappointed by people's reactions. Sometimes they are almost ignored altogether, other times people think that they're meant to be art alone." He does tell me that in some cases they ARE art on their own, but in terms of resources, textures are often used by photomanipulators and even illustrators who "can also be found using textures such as aged paper to give life to a drawing that would otherwise have been on a white canvas."

What I found most interesting, something I believe every person who wants to submit resources should take to heart, was what ^thespook said when I asked him what makes a resource a good or bad resource.

On Textures: "While I like to think that everything could be helpful to someone out there, sometimes people don't put much thought into what they're submitting into resources. I mean, their hearts might be in the right place, but a blurry out of focus photo of some granite is kinda useless to everyone."

On Tutorials: "... In tutorials for instance, people might just coble together a few screenshots and be done with it. As a Resource lover and GD, I appreciate the intention, but people should put some TLC into their resources just as they would their artwork. Without getting melodramatic, tutorials are a pretty important thing. It's passing knowledge on to the next person, the next generation. I mean, they should realise that perhaps someone has already written a tutorial about this before. So if they're going to make one, they should inject a bit of themselves into it... give it some soul."

Step Four: Wrapping it Up

After the hours we spent talking, I really understood what Resources were and why ^thespook was so passionate about the gallery. All of those sections under Resources were there for a reason, and each one of them are important to both the creation of artwork and the growth of an artist. The biggest thing I learned about the Resources gallery that is so different in respect to most of the other galleries, is that its all about sharing. What we put into resources as a community is what we are going to get out of it. If we upload a bunch of crappy textures or mundane tutorials, how are we really helping eachother?

Step Five: How to Participate in a Community Driven Gallery

Go through the gallery and check out gallery descriptions before submitting anything!
Make sure the resources you upload are something that you, as a seeker, would hope to find if you were searching for that particular item.
When writing tutorials, as ^thespook said "give it some soul." Don't just throw something together. Put some love into it. You're teaching now, make it effective.
USE the resources available!
Upon finding a brilliant resource, suggest it as a Daily Deviation!

Educating Yourself:

Newsworthy:
How to begin creating ART
Are you RESOURCEFUL?
Resourceful: Font Special
Resourceful: Photoshop Brushes Special
Vector Resources

Major Resource Breakdown:

Textures: Images of things like rust, peeling/cracked paint, wood grain, fabric, animal hair/skin etc that artists can use in their work in many different ways.

Application Resources: Things such as Brushes, Actions, Patterns and Custom Shapes for Photoshop and other graphics apps.

Tutorials: Here people share skills, techniques and other tips on improving your artwork.

Also included within the resources are Fonts, Film Resources, Fractal Resources, Literature Templates, Clip Art, 3-D Models, Vector Resources ( also included: Stock Images managed by ^Hanratty-Stock & ^LawrenceDeDark )


Included below are favorite resources from ^thespook who took the time to teach me about the gallery he and ^bleedsopretty manage.




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Resources are about giving and taking, sharing and learning... without that mutual exchange, it would not exist. To make it a strong healthy gallery, the participants really need to care about what they put into it so that the people who are taking and learning maximize their experience or grow as an artist.