I was rummaging through some of my old images last night and marveling at just how far everyone has come in so far as the quality of the stock provided on dA is concerned. Developments in digital camera technology and post processing applications have resulted in a tremendous increase in both the sheer quality of stock imagery provided here on dA and that's also true of the number of people providing stock imagery and opening second, dedicated stock accounts.

Increased accessibility to 'decent' free and cheap editing applications has granted many people entry into the world of photo manipulation, people who some years ago wouldn't have had that luxury. Of course, this hasn't just benefited those at the sharp end of digital art, it's also been of benefit to stockers who are increasingly producing beautiful combined pieces that are, in essence, ready to use for digital darkroom projects and subtle effects. Couple all that with that the availability of free, excellent quality stock resource centers such as deviantART (and let's face it, we are the best...) and you have a recipe for artistic advancement with few limitations.

With this in mind I decided this morning to take a good look back at 2007 and the fantastic textural resources we've been offered by people who continue to fly the community flag for dA. These guys take the time to provide you with stock for free whereas many of them could easily choose to make money from their talents elsewhere and for me, this surely epitomizes the community ethic that we all should be striving to uphold and advance.



The Best of 2007.



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July