Hello, you splendidly awesome deviantART people and artists out there ( ), and welcome to this second (2^nd) edition of the Featured Artist of the Month on dA, a special monthly news article series in which I will proudly give special awards on dA in which every month, I do present them indeed to such very deserving artist(s) here whose artworks are truly so awe-inspiring and/or just plain mind-blowing that they are TRULY never to be missed indeed!!!    Here, the field is open so far to these following categories:

        Anthro
        Digital Art
        Manga/Anime
        Cartoons & Comics
        Pixel Art
        Traditional Art

...and this is what this very special award stamp that I have already created looks like:

       

Alright.  Before I hand out some serious honors for this month of May 2008, I want to remind you from last month’s premiere issue ([link]) that you are *absolutely* welcome to send me a note on dA showing me which artist that you think deserves this Featured Artist of the Month award.  I will tell you more about that later on this new issue, so keep reading up!    Right now though, it is show-time!!!   !!



A   N   T   H   R   O
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For the Anthro category, there is just one artist here that I thought ESPECIALLY stood out head-and-shoulders this month on dA, and that quite magnificent person is none other than:

        *tracyjb

...whose artworks just burst out at you right from the seams with such amazingly excellent characters, stunningly el-superbo colors and details, and even a TRUEST vibrant sense of the fact that they actually harken you back to the stylishly clever Art Deco 1920’s days... only in an absolutely fascinating new light that you just do not want to even miss, guaranteed!!!   !!  And such first-rate quality like that is definitely the MAIN deciding factor as to how masterfully well-talented and mightily gifted such an artist becomes... whether he/she is popular or not.     Take a damn good look at a sample of all of this mind-blowing mastery that she has so gorgeously created right here:



...and be sure *never* to miss even more of her sheer impressiveness in her own phenomenal art gallery right here, too: [link]

Definitely be sure to pay *tracyjb a grand visit as our newest winner of my highly coveted Featured Artist of the Month award, as she is without a doubt such an amazing inspiration to all anthro artists everywhere to learn and study from for her top-flight quality that she presents in her works indeed... congratulations to her for such a hugely splendid win, because she SERIOUSLY deserves it for sure!!!   !!



D   I   G   I   T   A   L         A   R   T
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For the Digital Art category, there are just so many sub-categories within this main genre of art (which includes Drawings/Paintings, Vector Art, Fractal Art, Photomanipulations, 3d, and Mixed Media as well!), but to help you make things a lot easier for you in these monthly ceremonies, I have A WHOPPING SIX AWARDS to give this month to SIX (6) amazingly deserving and extremely well-gifted artists for this category alone, so hang on tight and brace yourselves, you wonderful people!!!   !

In the Drawings/Paintings arena from within the main Digital Art category, this artist is TOTALLY one that I so especially and rather gorgeously admired... one that I personally felt *really* deserves something so positively special due to such an utter richness in how amazingly brilliant one’s own art quality truly is, and here, I proudly give you:

        ~hiliuyun

...whose digital paintings will easily make you scream these four words *way* out loud: “OHHH MY #$@&*!% GOD!!!” and then plenty, your heart just racing and racing with such unbelievable awe-sensational excitement as you gasp at such indescribably breathtaking and monumentally awesome artworks that he takes such loving time to show us on deviantART, which honors and heavily embraces the spirit, essence, beauty, and sheer core of Chinese mythology in so many captivating, passionate, and even sensually and most hauntingly unforgettable ways, such as these:



...including his UTTER BEST artwork that has been rather successfully crowned with a Daily Deviation (DD) win most recently on April 27, 2008 which is so splendidly entitiled “I want us together”:

       

...and my many grand thanks personally to both ~debadyuti and ^PurpelBlur for bringing this one picture especially to the center of our main attention indeed ( ), which is just one of the very many reasons why ~hiliuyun is such a helluva most phenomenally spectactular artist that you MUST be on the lookout for and congratulate for his even bigger win of this Featured Artist of the Month award, the ultimate crowning jewel indeed to top it all off quite magnificently now... just consider him to be one of the newest digital art kings on deviantART, and *quite* deservedly so, too!!!  A BIGGEST ROUND OF APPLAUSE for our man ~hiliuyun!!!!   !!!





Next up in the Drawings/Paintings sub-category for Digital Art, I will present the next award to this excellent person right here:

        ~el-grimlock

...whose original fantasy works are absolutely nothing short of such PURE mind-blowing grit, power, might, and splendor... and I mean all of that in such a rather damn good way, too!!!   !  Just look at all the colors, the depth, and the sheer dramatic spectacles come alive in such tremendously and powerfully awesome works as these:



...and that is just a small hit-list of some of THE BEST kinds of artworks you will ever want to see!!  That said, you must check out his complete gallery on deviantART pronto ([link]), because each and every one of his artworks are such prized and well-polished sparkling trophies which represent quite an amazing epitome of pure rocking excellence in what he has successfully masterminded over the years since he first came to deviantART in 2004!!!  For these reasons, I am so deeply honored to present ~el-grimlock with this special Featured Artist of the Month award, so do not forget to check out his page on dA ([link]) and congratulate him splendidly on this most spectactular victory indeed!!! !!
_{_________________________________________________________
Suggested by ~Magolobo; many thanks for the help!!!}



Continuing on with the Digital Art category for the month of May 2008, we now turn to the sub-category of Mixed Media, which happens to be digital artworks that actually use 2 or more mediums, such as Drawings/Paintings, Photomanipulations, 3d, and many more!!  

To me, this artist is *certainly* one of my best recent picks for this Featured Artist of the Month award this month, and in this sub-category here, I am simply giving the win to:

        ~fstarno

...whose original artworks can only be described in just two words for you: INSURMOUNTABLY CAPTIVATING!!!   !!  Here is some proof of what I am talking about:



Wowwww, how are these for such intense eye-popping visuals, huh!?  Quite truly the most utterly and indescribably mind-blowing sights you will EVER want to see and be lost in in such a grand and epic way, and so is his own ravishingly impressive top-flight gallery as well ([link]).  These are just so many excellent reasons why ~fstarno is definitely the one for you to watch indeed!!! !

My most splendid congratulations to you for such a grandly outstanding feat well done, my MOST EXCELLENT man ~fstarno, and come and get your award... you have really earned it!!!   !!



Next sub-category... and this next sub-category for the main Digital Art arena is called 3-Dimensional Art, where I had quite a really *really* tough time choosing the winner of this fourth Featured Artist of the Month award in this one.  However, when the dust had entirely settled down and cleared, I finally came to a decision that I am gonna officially give this prestigious monthly award to:

        *WrenStormbringer

...who is such an ABSOLUTE magnifique wonder of the 3d Art world on dA with so many exceptionally outstanding artworks that actually captivate the hell out of you in a ton of mind-blowing ways — especially in the way she creates such utterly magnificent horses, from their amazing curves to the outstanding fur and even to their SPLENDIDLY-detailed manes... something that I think is most preciously sacred in this sub-category these days, let me just tell you right now!!!   !  Here are quite a few of her exquisitely stunning works:



...which all goes to show you just how awesomely spectactular a job she did on those magnificent creatures as well as some excellent fantasy women indeed, which I believe is why she is God’s great gift to the 3d portion of the main Digital Art category on dA for seriously such a reason.  She is such a phenomenal darling indeed, and I am so estatically delighted for her that she is finally our newest Featured Artist of the Month recipient... SMASHINGLY BRILLIANT, I will rather say!!!  And my personal congratulations to you on that big big win, *WrenStormbringer my most wonderful dearest one!!!   !!



Our next sub-category within the Digital Art field that we will move on to now is Fractal Art, and within it, there is ONLY one great person here whose fractals are just utterly remarkable in ways that absolutely blew our minds to the endless skies above, literally inspiring us all to broaden ourselves to explore such many brand-new and uncharted heights!!!  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

        `Lilyas

Her full name is Lily A. Seidel, and she continues to be such an unforgettable blessing and major support to this very art community with such bullseye-caliber work as these:



...as well as her own HUGE directory of her own selections for the best and most amazing artists on deviantART entitled *TOP-ArtistsDirectory, and right now, she has a total count of over 900 artists already so far, with even more brand-new and undiscovered outstanding art talents on the way!!!   !

And, DO NOT even dare miss her gallery period ([link]), as it is such an ultimate masterpiece showcase of showing off one’s own amazingly spectactular artistic talents and abilities while at the same time showing us some rather handy ideas of how CSS journals are *really* to be done on dA... extra credit big-time to Lily for that, too!!!  

Also, here is something of very important note about , so listen up now: be sure to catch this recent one-on-one interview with her that `DWALKER1047 has done quite an outstanding job on indeed right here: [link]

With a ton of support behind her, as well as such indescribably compelling fractal works and a WHOLE LOT more unforgettable art excitement that awaits you and I, one thing that we will *never* pass up on at all is the absolute truth that `Lilyas is one of our most successful recipients of my Featured Artist of the Month to date... and I mean “to date” indeed... WOW, she is just definitely so damn hot in such many creatively rocking ways to bless our whole community and then some... including yours truly, too!!!!   !!





Last up in the main Digital Art section this month is the Vector/Vexel Art sub-category.  As a young child, I used to love and enjoyed playing with toy cars a lot (you know, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, stuff like that!!   ! )... especially the new and shiny ones that I used to get plenty excited over, and this next artist AWESOMELY brings back such timeless awesome memories of that into our fond hearts for us!!!  And so, my next award goes to:

        ~yeahbutnobut

...who takes such excellent craftswork and time into creating such outstanding and jaw-droppingly shiny metallic cars, from the classic vintage vehicles to even some of the most sleekest sports cars you will ever want to see, just like these ones right here:



This is rather a stunningly superb example of how an artist can actually *and* unapologetically take such a fiery passion for cars and run with it successfully in a Vector Art format, which is QUITE a challenging thing to do, since it is definitely no easy feat to pull off!!  That is just why I am most tremendously for ~yeahbutnobut that he took on such a risky challenge indeed that resulted ultimately in an enormous win as our newest Featured Artist of the Month award recipient for May 2008!!!   !

Take a bow, ~yeahbutnobut my excellent man, and keep up the PHENOMENAL job on creating them vector cars indeed!!!   !!



M   A   N   G   A   /   A   N   I   M   E
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For the Manga/Anime category, this one OUTSTANDING person in this world-wide art community has deeply captured me completely with such unforgettably vibrant richness and flair that is *so* rather hard to find anywhere else, and that Manga/Anime artist is none other than:

        *maxwindy

...whose artworks are just an ASTONISHING sight to behold, and here is definitely plain why:



With such AMAZINGLY magnificent colors, unforgettable visuals, and even more compellingly stunning characters and charm, these top-notch pictures look and feel like actual animation cels for an excellent full-on anime motion-picture event... yep, it is THAT damn good!!!   !!

And, better not even dare miss the rest of this flat-out best example of what top-flight art quality entertainment this hottest Manga/Anime artist has to offer in maxwindy’s own spectactular gallery (right here: [link]), which serves as a most freaking awesome inspiration for anime artists on deviantART to learn from the VERY best indeed... take important note, people!!!   !

You are ONE superbly damn spectactular artist indeed, *maxwindy, and I must personally salute you by honoring you with this very special Featured Artist of the Month award as a sheer dedication to your outstanding work indeed... congratulations!!! !!



C   A   R   T   O   O   N   S         &         C   O   M   I   C   S
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For the Cartoons & Comics category on dA, this next award for May 2008 goes to a very special artist here whose talents are just so FLAWLESSLY amazing in this area, and that person is:

        =Bakanekonei

...who is quite a FIRST-RATE kick-ass woman indeed in the way that she flawlessly creates her stupendously magnificent and even amazingly damn sexier comic drawings that will just make your jaw drop all the way down to the floor... the colors, the magic, the anatomy, the passion, and the sheer sultriness are all captivatingly well-captured so phenomenally, all in such a truly grandest form the way it is MEANT to be done in the first place!!!   !!  Just take a damn good glimpse at these ones that she has successfully designed, for example:



...and you will sure find out why this artist is such an utterly and most grippingly amazing art talent in this category indeed!!!   !!  And, her quite WICKEDLY CAPTIVATING art gallery ([link]) is just full of epic drama, dark visions, and such playful sexiness in a most rousing and seductively sensual way that is without a doubt one of the rather best that has ever been placed into the Cartoons & Comics arena right here on deviantART, and so no artist’s creative vision in this area is even complete without it!!!  Period, end of the conversation, no exceptions... and so, you must check her out pronto... you will *not* be sorry at all, I promise you!!!  

That being said, on behalf of =Bakanekonei and all of deviantART as well, I am THRILLED to present her with my Featured Artist of the Month award for giving us such an amazing ride with such unbelievably spell-binding creativity that will totally capture anyone who looks at at her works... my biggest congratulations to her quite definitely, because she is such AN EXCELLENT MUST-SEE ARTIST indeed that you just *cannot* miss!!!!   !!!



P   I   X   E   L         A   R   T
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As we now go to the Pixel Art category for these awards, I must make one brief but vitally important concern here before I present the next winners in this category here: from all throughout the month of April 2008 on deviantART, not one Daily Deviation has even been awarded in the area of Pixel Art indeed at all, and it just plain saddens me to think that way too, you know?   !  HOWEVER, these Featured Artist of the Month awards are definitely the perfect start towards resolving that in this area alone, and for this month, I have two awards to give to two very amazing pixel artists on dA... so let us do this!!!   !!

First off, when this person does some amazing pixelling in the unforgettable style of the famous Metal Slug video game series, he means POWERHOUSE business!!!  As such, I am especially proud to present this next award to:

        ~4tochkin

...and to clearly show you what I mean here, take an amazing look at his phenomenal-quality pixel works that were done just one individually-laid-and-colored pixel at a time:



Every work you see here DEFINITELY captures your eye and inspiration in a “rock your world” kind of way with such gorgeous and richly captivating details in the way that he creates such many things as road cracks, clouds, mountains, water, shadows, the tank exteriors, the sun-parched sands, and *even* some blood spots on one of the planes, as well as a whole slew of such rather tasty pixel goodness to fill several big banquets at once... even in both the detailed markings and the way that ~4tochkin dithers certain areas!!!  How AWESOME is that!?   !!

Having said all of that, my man ~4tochkin most certainly has earned his wings right here in these special monthly awards, and that is just why he is one of our newest winners of the Featured Artist of the Month... go ahead to his page ([link]) and congratulate him on there on the double!!  HE DESERVES EVERY DAMN BIT OF PRAISE INDEED!!!   !!



This next recipient right here in the Pixel Art category is such a rather interesting one indeed because this artist sure knows how to put QUITE a lot of grand magic and such sheer whimsical magnificence into the table right here, and on that note, I give this next award to:

        *fool

...whose many pixel artworks and animations are as seductively dazzling as they are flawlessly beautiful to both watch and be so enchantingly captivated by!!!  Here is such a great example of his *superbly* top-notch work:



...and just wait until you get a load at his ABSOLUTE BEST pixel isometric artwork to date that you must see right now which is simply called “iso castle”:

       

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my TRUEST personal recommendation that you press the “Download” button on each of these pieces to get the maximum full-blown impact, and the pixel art of *fool is nowhere even damn close to being foolish at all when it comes to how phenomenally spectactular he most seriously conjures up such amazing works indeed, honestly speaking... HE HAS THE TRUE MAKINGS OF A HIGH KING HERE in developing and mastering the sheer craft of pixel art, I gotta purposely say to everyone on deviantART with all of my very deepest and most passionate heart!!!  Yep, no bull about that at all!!!   !!

So on behalf of this entire deviantART community, our excellent man *fool, I hereby crown you quite marvellously with this Featured Artist of the Month award... now show off your pride and excellence that you most definitely and rightfully deserve, complements of Adigun Azikiwe Polack (aka *AdigunPolack)!!!  

We most gratefully owe our deepest congratulations to *fool, and we are SURE looking forward to a lot more amazingly magnificent pixel artworks from him in the future, too... WOW, what a rather outstanding job indeed!!!   !!!



T   R   A   D   I   T   I   O   N   A   L         A   R   T
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And now we come down to a category known as Traditional Art, where this month, I would like to take the time to pay an even greater tribute to this unbelievably MIND-BLOWING artist who just deeply encapsulates and embraces the most purest and fiery spirit of modern classic dance as if it deserves to be treasured deeply in our hearts forever ( ), and it is quite such a perfect fit for the fact that I am actually handing this special award to:

        *ryoung

...and here is just an utterly gorgeous sample of his many artworks that I found to be just TOP-FLIGHT amazingly powerful indeed:



What raw passion... what gripping fire... what untamed beauty... what UTTERLY SCINTILLATING sexuality and chemistry that ultimately knows how to tell a tremendously epic story right after another!!!  All of them have personally left me in such heart-stopping awe when I first looked at them... that is just how unbelievably damn spontaneously combustible they totally are when it comes to all-out excellence here on deviantART... FLAT-OUT, NO COMPROMISES at