A Guide to Daily Deviations

The point of this tutorial is to help clarify a few things about Daily Deviations and a detailed guide on how to suggest one. This is my contribution tutorial to the #AoAClub .

What is a Daily Deviation ?

I'll let this helpful FAQ tell you what a Daily Deviation is. FAQ #61: What is a Daily Deviation?

Who chooses Daily Deviations ?

The people who choose Daily Deviations are a special kind of member, named Gallery Moderators. These staff members are distinguishable by the sign beside their name (^).

Below is a complete list of the Gallery Moderators, updated regularly when needed. Beside their names, there's the gallery they feature Daily Deviations in.

---------------------------------------------
E.G : 3-Dimensional - ^artofkerem
---------------------------------------------

That means ^artofkerem can feature anything that's in the 3-D gallery. It's the same for everyone else except ^PurpelBlur ,who has no restrictions as far as featuring goes and features in any gallery,and the 4 users at the bottom of the list. These members have special DD privileges and ,as you can see, two of them can feature from any gallery and the other two help feature more specific galleries. You can either follow the link to the FAQ below or simply visit the *stafflist to find a complete list of Gallery Moderators and the rest of the staff on dA.

FAQ #18: Who selects the Daily Deviation and how is it chosen?

How can I suggest a Daily Deviation ?

You can suggest a Daily Deviation by simply sending a note to the correct Gallery Moderator with a link,thumb and description/reason as to why your suggestion should be chosen over the rest of the suggestions.

How not to suggest a Daily Deviation

-----------------------------------------
To : ^Katerina423

[link]

itz got purdy colers n shapes

-----------------------------------------

First of all, you absolutely have to suggest to the right Gallery Director. In this case, we wouldn't be suggesting to `Helewidis, we would be suggesting to `archanN or `JunkbyJen as they're Digital Art Gallery Moderators. Providing a link to the deviation is good but also providing a thumb can give the Gallery Moderator an idea of what kind of suggestion he/she'll be looking at. And last but not least, wording your description/reason right is very important. Use correct grammar and try to give a detailed description as to why they should pick your suggestion. Talk about what makes it beautiful,appealing,scary or just plain out good.

How to correctly suggest a Daily Deviation

-----------------------------------------
To : `JunkbyJen

[link]


Color and Shade</acronym> *XxMurderdollxX is simply an amazing piece with it's simple shapes and old-school coloring that come together to create a minimalistic masterpiece.
-----------------------------------------


How to write a great description/reason for your suggestion

Finding the perfect piece to suggest for a Daily Deviation can be easy but finding the perfect description for it can be hard and wording your description can be tricky as well.

When writing your description, you should consider the factors/points you'll use to convince the Gallery Director to choose your suggestion. Here's some examples of positive factors in pieces you could talk about :

[link]

- Diversity in coloring use
- Crisp detailing
- Great characterization (while respecting the human anatomy,but that's going a bit too specific )
- The smooth flowing background that gives a harmonious and simplistic flow to the piece as a whole

----------------

[link]

- Image is of great quality
- The concept is great
- The flawless execution of the idea
- The colorful eye with monotonous surroundings creates a unique look

----------------

[link]

- Not overly beautiful, but it's strange look is visually appealing
- The amount of thought put into it, as well as the perfect execution
- The depth,the perspective and the soft lighting
- The quality stock choice and stock integration (the blending of the multiple stocks)

As you can see, every piece has a positive factor. Now that we got some factors to write about, it's time to word them into a description. As mentioned earlier, be careful to use correct grammar (spelling is primarily the issue, if it's an understandable description, it's okay),word your description politely (no vulgarity) and just be polite,period. Because after all, the Gallery Moderators volunteer their time here at dA to take your suggestions,deal with miscats and (there's always some) pesky and mischievous members who make it their life's goal to complain.

Here's how I would word the descriptions for the pieces above :

To : `JunkbyJen

[link]
:thumb51259622:

Dark5</acronym> by ~BlackGrid is a crisply detailed masterpiece. It's smooth,flowing background and it's detailed character clash to create an harmonious and visually appealing bond together. The diversified color scheme only adds more beauty to this already beautiful piece.

----------------

To: ^PurpelBlur

[link]


Sometimes we come up with great ideas for pieces, so great we try our best to put it on canvas but it just don't look so good in Photoshop as it did in your head. But sometimes, it couldn't come out any better. <a href=[link]">Cry Me A River</acronym> by =psivamp is one of those pieces. The colorful eye on the desaturated face make for a unique experience for the viewer and you just can't beat the quality. This piece is just a small fraction of the beauty makes up =psivamp's gallery, so don't delay and check it out !

----------------

To: ^PurpelBlur

[link]


Timekeeper</acronym> is a timeless and masterful photo-manipulation. It possesses great stock quality,perfect stock integration and a masterful use of both depth and lighting that couldn't be any better.

----------------
Quick Tips

- The trick to wording your description is to look at the piece while writing it. That way, ideas will come easier to mind.

- Mentioning that the artist's gallery is just as impressive as your suggestion can also help give him/her more publicity and that's kind of what the Daily Deviations are for: to help discover artistic talent, in any medias.

- Be sure to always be gender specific. To make sure, check the artist's main page first before writing up your suggestion and check to see his/her gender. There's nothing more embarrassing for the artist and you.

- Don't be depressed if your suggestion isn't chosen, just tell yourself you tried your best and write up a new one ! Chances are one will get chosen, you just can't give up.

- It's always good to do a little ''research'' ! Try looking at different pieces and figure out what the standards are. Try to figure out what's good,bad,really bad and/or really good.

- Try to find pieces that have less favorites (in the low a hundreds is fine, Daily Deviations are to feature under-appreciated artists, aren't they ? ) and make sure the artists hasn't had a DD in the past half a year and that he/she don't have 3 or more DDs.

- You don't always have to write about the piece's physical qualities. Writing about it's moral,theme or psychological attributes is also a great way to suggest. It enables viewers to perceive the piece in a whole different manner.

Useful (kind of) Links

How to get a Daily Deviation</acronym> by `statichavoc
About DDs</acronym> by ^PurpelBlur
Quick Tutorial - Suggest a DD</acronym> by `manicho (in Spanish/Español</acronym>)
Project Educate : Daily Deviations</acronym> by `MistressWit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


I hope this tutorial helped you,answered some of your questions and solved some of your problems and thanks for viewing !


-Pat