Fan Art Community News: Volume 5

Hey Fandom Community! Welcome to the 5th edition of the Fan Art Community Newsletter! Yes, yes, it's back!

From the Fan Art Gallery Director:

This is long overdue! 2008 had a way with me, and now that 2009 is here, it's back to business! There are a lot of things to cover in this newsletter, and I'm so excited to post it!

The Book Club

*FanArtBookClub is back again! If you aren't familiar with it, it is a fun group where you sign up for a book, read sections of it weekly, join in for a book discussion ( on #FanArtdA ) and then participate in fan art/fiction related activities!

The best thing about the book club is that you can participate as much or as little as you'd like! You can read the book and do some art assignments, or you can read the book and join in for the discussion. Or you can just read the book! It's all up to you! Though outdated and still a little behind closing off last years book club, *FanArtBookClub provides information and background as to the process.

You can sign up now for a book, just comment in this news article! Please understand that by signing up you are committing to participate as much as YOU want to. If you can participate in everything, amazing! If you can only participate a little, that's great too! If you have to drop out, I hope you join in again in a future book reading.

The Books
( To sign up for a book club, just comment on this news article with A or B. If you want to participate in more than one, put down all the letters!)

Book Club A: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Book Club B: Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami


The Orientation Meeting for the Book Club will be in #FanArtdA on April 26th (sunday) @ 4pm Eastern! The meeting is open to both people signed up and people who are still considering joining in! Final sign-up will be at orientation meeting!
What will be discussed:
- Activities
- Group Meeting times
- Chapter pace
- Personal Points Scale, aka, how to earn points for your participation, aka, prizes and rewards!

* All of these finalized items will be sent in a note to all members, so attendence is optional if you've signed up already!

Thank you to everyone who is participating, I am SO excited to get started!

Fan Art Department Contests

Since National Novel Writing Month and the Epic Fanfiction contest, we had a break to relax and prepare for the new season of Fan Art/Fiction Contests!

Keep your eyes open for:

Ultimate Fandom Contest 5
Ultimate Fan Fiction Contest: One shots!

These two contests are currently in the works, and once everything is finalized and approved, a news article will be out to give ALL of the information!

FanChat: Live!

The Fan Art Official Chatroom, #FanArtdA, has been privileged enough to host amazing live interviews with some pretty fantastic artists! Through these chats, I hope that deviants can connect with their favorite artists, discover NEW favorites and ask questions about technique, gain insight and tips, and see what makes these great artists tick!

Previous Honored Guests: *makani, *keiiii, =yumedust and `alexds1 -- Transcripts/Logs for the first two can be found at *FanArtdA

FanChat LIVE! will be resuming in May, and they will always be, unless otherwise mentioned, held on Saturday during various times. Keep your Saturdays free!


Fan Art Updates Archive:

CR20
CR19
CR18
CR17
_{CR16
CR15
AR14
AR13
AR12
AR11. Notable Fan Artists.
AR10. Book Club
AR9. Many Updates
AR8. Book Club Input
AR7. Fan Art Love
AR6. Valentine's Day
AR5. Supporting GD's
AR4. Contest Results
AR3. DDs
AR2. Holidays!
AR1. Who are you?}
Supplement: Tips when suggesting FAN ART Daily D's

Contests & Projects in the Community:

If you are running a Fan Art contest or project and would like to see it appear in this space, please send a note to ^ArtisticAunJuli with a link and the deadline for entries!

Obscuri-Jam 2009 - Celebrate your favorite characters who are NOT so well known! Deadline: Thursday, April 30th

Clubs and Chatrooms in the Community:

Have a Fan Art related club or chatroom? Send me a note with a description to see it featured here! I will also be searching around myself for some of the more exemplary Fan Art related clubs!

~ZeldaFanTards
Chat: #ZeldaFanTards
Fandom: Zelda
Genre: Games
Member Count: N/A
Special Features: Primarily a chatroom, join in for chats with likeminded Zelda fans, and there are a variety (I do mean variety) of privclasses to choose from!

Fan Art News Articles in the Community:

Have you posted a news article related to Fan Art and want it to have more exposure? Send a link to ^ArtisticAunJuli and I'll read it over and post it in the next edition of the Fan Art Community News Article!

Fan Art Feature
Escaflowne Villains: Zaibach Fanart
Fan Art Feature
Fan Art of the FAB and often Forgotten!
Hidden Gems of Fan Art: Invader Zim
Hidden Gems of Fan Art: Gundam
Gaming Features: Super Mario Bros
Legend of Zelda Art Features: Midna
A Deviant's Perspective on Fan Art

Show me Fan Art, Win A T-Shirt To Resume!

This was one of my favorite sections from last year. Up until financial difficulty hit, I was able to post a journal where people could comment with links to fan art and be randomly entered to win a T-Shirt and other such prizes! I definitely would like to continue, but it will have to wait until things straighten out financially. For now, some of my favorites!

Final Thoughts:

I can continually say that this is long overdue. I've missed it, despite how daunting it is to compile the information, and I hope that I can put a newsletter out once a month. So many of you supported these articles, and I definitely need your help to continue!

Just keep having fan art contests! Fan Art Clubs, collaborations! Fan Art Chatrooms! Put out a news article feature! And after you've done that, send me a note and say, "Hey Juli, can you put this in the next newsletter?"

I have so much love for you all, for Fan Art, and for the idea that we can continue to support each other, create wonderful artwork, and push ourselves to the boundaries in skill, helpfulness and anything else that makes this artsite so amazing.

Now get out there and make some amazing artwork!