Hi.

In this first interview of CC, we interview ^DigitalPhenom. He gives his opinion about his art, dA and critique.

Hi! Could you tell us something about yourself?

I'm a 35 year old kid... well kid at heart anyway from Illinois. I'm a single father of 3 awesome children. My day time job is in construction and remodeling. Outside of those 2 things I spend the rest of my time either designing or helping other design.

How were you first introduced to the style(s) of art you create?

Hmm Thats hard to say really...I have so many styles. I originally started making desktop enhancements, such as wallpapers and logons. After that I was inspired by many other deviants to create tee shirts designs and journals.

What made you come to dA? (and why did you stay?)

I was on a few other skinning sites and kept seeing people talk about deviantART so I searched it one day and to be honest I was overwhelmed and quickly realized how bad I was at what I did. The amount of great art on this site was unreal. Still is. I joined and became a "lurker" for about 3 months... never uploaded anything, just browsed. Finally one day I decided to upload something and see what happened. Needless to say after that I was hooked. I would say that the main reason for staying at dA is the community itself. Outside of the great talent here, the people are awesome. The other sites I was on don't even compare.

Do you often receive critique? Has it always been like that?

I would say that I have a few good friends that leave critique, not many, not as much I would like to see. Dont get me wrong I appreciate every comment I get but I would love to see more critique in them.

How do you handle the critique you get?

First I must say that if its "constructive critique", it is always welcome. This is how we learn, grow and become better artists. I would like to take this time to also stress how important it is to be "constructive" in your critique. There is nothing worse then a comment that says "boo I hate it!" take the time to explain why you hate it..... what I could do to make it better? Leaving un constructive critique is rather pointless. If you are interested in learning and understanding constructive critique, please read this awesome article on dA by `tangledweb found here.


Are you part of any community here on dA? Why (not)?

I am actually. Being a part of the community is rather important to me, Like I said before I think its one of the strongest assets to this site. I have recently been added to the *DA-Networking site which focuses on strong community involvement. Adding great artists to their list where others can go and seek help in the area that they specialize in. Membership allows you to work with other members and to draw on their unique assistance or resources to make your products better. Another club is *Le-Visage LE-VISAGE is a club that exists to celebrate the face in all its forms, whether it be beautiful, ugly, transcendent, resplendent, pained, joyful, melancholic, young or old.

Do you have any advice you could offer to those starting out?

Yes.... Don't ever give up on what your doing. If you get discouraged in what your doing seek out others to help you. dA is an extremely helpful community and you should have no problems finding someone to help or even motivate you. If another member stops by and leaves you some constructive critique.... take it! Learn from it! Don't get mad or discouraged in what your doing. These artists are only there to help you grow. And also don't be afraid to expand your styles. Search, study and try to even make something new...something out of the ordinary for you. You never know....you may be even better at something else. Trust me on this. I have an awesome friend this happened to and now.... whew... he is top notch on dA!! **cough** ^allhopeislost **cough**

Is the cake a lie?

The cake is a lie!!!!
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


^DigitalPhenom

CC's Goal
Our goal, as a group, is to offer eachother honest, constructive critiques instead of the typical compliments and 's, so that we may improve our skills as artists. The only way to improve is to know what you're doing wrong, as well as what you're doing right. Please keep in mind that everyone has a different opinion. This does not mean that anyone is right or wrong. For more information about critique you can go to on of our journals about critique!

If you want to get started right away, you can criticise the favorites of this club!