EarthGwee

Hi, so...yeah, I thought I'd come back to talk about a few things. It's been a long time so get ready for some brain spillage.

Over the three years? I think? I've been taking online classes at an art school, going towards a Masters in Visual Development, gradually developing my skills as an artist and storyteller. It's been a great way for me to learn about the industry, something I never got in community college or university. Despite the usual frustrations that come with school, I feel I've been truly learning about what I love to do in these classes. My hope is that I can publish a story project I am proud of with the characters I've created and friends I've made these past few years. Part of me right now is still wishy-washy on what I should be doing right now to get myself out there as an artist for hire, though. It's all a process to kind of figure myself out, which I've always been sort of slow at. Though, truthfully, it's all still kind of intimidating, but I think one day I will get myself figured out and decided how I will be taking my Masters Degree into the future. I'm loving what I'm learning and that's what matters.

Now about my gallery and my account in general...

It's pretty clear that DeviantArt is has been in an absolute state for years now, especially since Eclipse happened and AI was welcomed to the artistic sphere, attracting discourse about what counts as art, the legalities and ethics surrounding machine learning. More and more art websites seem to be hopping the band wagon and I don't know how to feel about it. I have said my piece about the presence of AI art and my mind has not changed on it. In fact, every time I come back to see the state of this site it just reminds me how far gone it is. People have left the site in droves for good fucking reason, but I won't get on my soap box on it again. This entry would be novel length if I did. Basically, I don't know how I feel about being here anymore.

Make no mistake, there is a part of me that remains attached to this place. I have had some great times here, some not so great, but they have all been learning experiences. With all the ups and downs, I have loved being here and have loved every piece of feedback I've gotten. I have loved connecting with people that share my interests here. I've made some amazing friends here that I hope to keep for a long time to come beyond DA.

However, I find myself coming here less and less. With how rampant AI has gotten and how objectively wrong the whole site feels just to navigate, I am constantly frustrated with coming across beautiful images only to look closer and see that it was not made with human effort that I can connect with. On top of that, combing through my notifications still feels like an absolute chore that I would rather not deal with. It's not fun, it hasn't been fun since Eclipse. The admins have completely lost the plot.

So, honestly, I am feeling more like this is all a sign that I should finally step away from DA completely, which is not an easy thing to say. I've been on this platform for 16 years. This was the first social gallery website I'd ever come across as a senior in high school. I thought it was the best thing ever! For such a long time it was, but it no longer feels that way. I've been back and forth about leaving for a long time, but maybe it's time that I finally do and find another place to call home for my art and still find success.

This doesn't mean I'll be deleting my account, haha GOD no, but I am thinking about going through my oldest posts and deleting them, especially the ones most vulnerable to being stolen. I've come across too many people who have reuploaded my old art as their own, partly because my younger, dumbass self didn't think to properly watermark them and was too lazy to go back and fix that. Well, now I will be. I'm going to be cleaning up my whole gallery, make it more attractive. After that I'm tempted to log off this site for good while leaving my account up as an archive of sorts. I realize there probably isn't much point to cleaning my gallery if I will ultimately be walking away from it, but I feel this would give me some form of closure once I make the final decision.

Thing is I'm sort of left with a dilemma, that being exactly where I'd go after this. I've been hearing about alternative social art websites, and I have tried a few, but I don't know if any of them are really for me. Many of them are still in beta and personally I'd rather go someplace that's fully finished, functional, and actively updated with constant communication from the admins. Like...ya know, the old days of DA when everything was simple. Obviously I can't have that, so I have to look pretty hard for something like it. I still have my Ko-fi account, I need to get back to updating that, but as far as a mainstay for my art, I have no idea. If I can't find an existing alternative that works for me, I may see about buying my own domain, but that's a last resort.

To make a long-winded story short, I need a new place where I can find success with my art with the new skills and knowledge I've been accumulating. I want to feel confident about where I'm going with it. So, if anyone has advice or suggestions on where I could go I am more than open to them.

Anyway, this journal is long enough and probably really boring to some, but to anyone who read it all the way through, I thank you as always. And I thank everyone who has given me the support you have in all the years we've been on this weird little platform of ours. I even thank those who have not stuck with me for one reason or another, whether you either moved on or had some kind of beef. You are the life lessons I carry with me. I hope you're doing well in your lives.

It's 3:30am over here as I write this, I should sleep. I'll be getting to my gallery revamp soon, maybe tomorrow or this weekend.

--Earth Gwee

Oh, P.S. I have a new dog. I rescued her almost a year ago. She is a one-and-a-half year old Siberian Husky/Chow Chow mutt. Her name is Ginger and I love her.

UPDATE: They have backpedaled and opted all deviations out of AI datasets site wide, both for third-parties and for their DreamUp system. Unfortunately, it's too little too late as already many people have either purged their galleries or have deleted their accounts entirely. I don't blame them. I won't be leaving. I have way too much attachment to this place, I quickly realized. But I will be using other sites to spread my art to, including my Tumblr page.

-- So, it's come to my attention that AI generated art is going to become a feature on this site, called DreamUp. It's been a while since I've made a journal, so I might as well write one up to say I am pretty livid.

Firstly, however, I will say that as an exclusive tool, AI art can be fairly useful especially for young artists or artists who may need a little bit of help visualizing something, but I simply cannot accept AI art as a legitimate form of art. I won't go into a super long rant about it simply because I don't have all the knowhow to do it. What I will say is that I am sick and tired of people pushing this tool as the way of the future.

Well, no, I'm sorry, it's not. I do not want to live in a world where humans need not apply when it comes to art. And I'm sure I'm far from the only one who feels this way.

I will not ever support a system with the potential to work off the backs of ACTUAL artists. To me, this tool in the wrong hands can be used as a way to cheat their way to success. To me, this can be used as another way to launder money, similar to the way NFTs have been used, and the art world is already rife with that. Lest we forget the justifiable outrage that resulted when a guy submitted an AI generated piece to an art contest and won. Like, cool flex, but you cheated.

The very fact that DA seems to be in full support of AI generated art now is making me consider leaving the site for good and moving somewhere else. Basically the way it seems to work is that it will take your art and use it to train the AI program. Unless you were to opt out of it, your artwork will be used. As this was being announced, DA was planning on making it so that you had to go to each individual piece and opt it out. They backpedaled right away and are implementing a button that'll opt out your entire gallery, so much less tedious. And they're clearly labeling what's AI and what's not. But that is still not enough.

I've been on this site for over 15 years. Ever since Eclipse I've seen DA go through huge downs and a few ups, but it's taken a huge backslide in how it handles its whole system. The lack of real customization, the way all the deviations are clawing for your attention with the way they take up the screen, the way notifications have now been overburdened with tedium just to manage, and now this. You can protect your art from theft which is nice, but if you want that added layer of protection with DeviantArt Protect, you have to pay for it. If I'm wrong about that please correct me.

I'm still very reluctant to leave the site for good. I've built the majority of my base here. I've made a lot of friends here, met super supportive people whose opinions I value, artists whose works I admire. I've grown so much from my time here. Even when I don't visit as often as I used to, I still come back here to see how things are. To leave it for greener pastures feels very wrong to me, but I just cannot abide anymore by these new additions. It's redundant, overburdening, and I'm tired of it. I might be getting old, but I'm seriously just sick of it.

I'm not very keen on starting over because of all of that and because I don't like to dump a whole ton of art in one go, but if this is where DA is going, maybe it's time. I'm still considering where my main stay would be after this, but I have a couple of places in mind. I've decided to give Tumblr another go since it's chilled out. I've already deleted my old account and started fresh. Rather would not remind myself of the shit show it used to be. If you're interested, it's here: https://earth-gwee.tumblr.com/ I don't have much there yet and the new start was a bit rocky. For some daft reason Tumblr terminated my fresh account so I had to make another new one. Hopefully, this one stays.

I'm also thinking about going full time on Ko-fi, it's been way too long since I've touched that one. For a refresher: https://ko-fi.com/earthgweearts

Anyway, I still need to think long and hard about this. I wouldn't delete my whole account, but I would private all of my work and opt out of the program when it comes to be sure everything's protected. Because honestly, I do not see the point in AI art existing.

Tell me your thoughts.

-EarthGwee

Okay, so some people have been asking where I've been the past year. Very basically, since the big Eclipse update I have felt less and less incentive to post anything at all here, plus I've been dealing with a few personal anxieties and have been wrapped up in writing and coming with story ideas with my friends. I haven't truly left, but I have been wanting a long break from posting overall.

I'm not going to be here regularly, but I think I will finally get back to posting every now and again. I'll probably start with the most recent things I've drawn this past year and a half, mostly to do with what my friends and I have been writing with our roleplays. Some might know it, as I've posted art for it before, but I think it's time I started sharing again. I'm also thinking more seriously about taking these ideas somewhere outside of just roleplaying. Truly I feel like we have something special that deserves to be developed and eventually seen for real.

Also, because of what DA has become, I might begin searching for a more regular place to post my art, though rest assured that I will never get rid of this gallery despite the shitty changes made. My main audience is here and I know I'd seriously regret moving completely on from here, even if this site has quieted a lot.

--Earth Gwee

UPDATE: Commissions are now closed! Thank you so much!

--

After what feels like years since taking commissions, I'm finally comfortable enough to accept them once again. My financial situation may have something to with it as well, but yes! I'll be using Ko-fi's new commission system to give this a try, so I'm curious to see how it will work. If you're interested, you can find all my commission info and processes on my Ko-fi page!

http://ko-fi.com/earthgweearts/commissions

--EarthGwee