I had rather in depth DD guidelines posted for when I looked after Pixel Art and Digital Dolls, and after reading some comments on this journal DDs: Behind the Magic, I decided I should probably post more in depth guidelines for Fan Art, since there appears to be a lot of call for detail.
Admittedly, I am still trying to find my stride with Fan Art. Pixel Art and Digital Dolls are a bit more technique based galleries (by which I mean there were certain technical aspects, hard-fast rules (hand-laid pixels and no computer generated effects for pixel art and a hard pixel outline for digital dolls, as examples) that had to be present to qualify art for the category) than Fan Art is. And there are a wider array of styles present within Fan Art, some of which I am not very familiar with. So it's a bit more trial and error, I'm afraid. And I am finding it hard to have any hard guidelines aside from what is on my profile page:
1. I only take Fanart suggestions, I cannot feature anything else (like scraps).
2. Make sure that the deviant hasn't already received a Daily Deviation within the past 6 months. FAQ #313: How can I find out if someone already has a Daily Deviation?
3. I prefer to feature people that have never had a DD or have smaller audiences, but I will still accept more popular suggestions.
4. That being said, I will rarely feature anyone who already has 5 DDs or more.
5. I have to stress technical skill in suggestions. Quality over quantity.
6. Please let me know if you want to be named suggester; if you do not specify I will assume that you do.
7. I will not feature anything that has been traced. DD descriptions must list any stock references or brushes used.
8. Self suggestions are more than encouraged. I will only give feed back if asked though, as I am awkward at best with critiques
9. Send your suggestions to only ONE Community Volunteer!
To elaborate a bit on technical skill (since I don't really think the rest need elaboration), the community wants to see the best of the best in the DD channel and I try to show the best art I can find. I'm looking for a great concept that is well executed. I'm looking for lightsources that make sense and are consistent. I want to see a use of colour that is breathtaking or just unique. A message or symbolism is always a plus and so is emotion; if something can move me to laugh or cry, it has been more than well done. I've already had a journal about why "it's cute does not cut it", here and that still stands. I guess it comes down to 3 things in the end: Is it unique? Is it memorable? Would I hang it on my wall? So nothing traced, nothing that doesn't list references (if they were used) would meet the "yes" criteria for those questions.
I guess the other thing is, is that I get that no piece of art is perfect. And no 2 pieces are the same. I'm not always looking for the same things for a DD feature because different styles/medias/genres have different points to be considered. And if the same thing got DDed a lot, it'd be dull
So while in general I will not compromise on basic knowledge of light sources, not every piece has to be emotional or symbolic. Not every piece has to even be in colour. Not every piece has to be realistic; I am open to stylization! So it's largely case by case and deciding if they would look out of place alongside past DDs such as:
To elaborate on the category thing, everything I feature needs to be in the Fanart Category. However, sometimes people place things in the wrong category (what we call a miscategorization or a miscat) that should be in the fanart category. If you find a piece in digital art, traditional art, manga/anime or comics/cartoons that is fanart (contains copyrighted characters or concepts/characters or concepts not created by the artist) and you want to suggest it for a daily deviation, please tell me that this is the case when you note me. Otherwise mistakes can happen, since I may not recognize the fandom. Also, if you sent this sort of piece to another CV and they said "no it's fanart, please send it to Lyricanna or KasumiCR" please tell me that this is the case so I don't accidentally send you back to the person who sent you to me
This will help cut down the confusion a lot! (And get more work featured )To finish up really, if you have any questions about the whys and why nots, ask! I am happy to answer questions to the best of my ability
