Alright... I'm going to stop beating around this bush and talk about why I'm really no longer active on DeviantART.com. I usually just go with the passive excuse that I'm more well known on Furaffinity.net or that I don't have time for DA as much as I use to.

While parts of that are true it's not the whole picture.

I honestly can no longer stand DeviantART.

I won't throw around the 'ageview = popular' card, as everyone else has already pointed out that it's a HUGE issue in the hearts and minds of many deviants. It goes straight to people's heads right around the time they hit over 30,000 and about the time they hit 100,000 most of them are too far gone to be able to talk down off their high-horses it's embarrassing for us all.

NOT everyone is like that but it is an sad majority.

No, there are a lot of things like the above that other artists have noted and while it's sad to see/ hear it's not enough to make me gag when it comes to DA. I believed for the longest time that people's awareness of this issue was a step in the right direction.

The largest issues for me is the anthropomorphic community, the DD and so called 'Christian' clubs that use their forums to attack each other as well as other belief systems. It's like the parade of closed-mindedness over here...

The Anthro Community has become very closed out to furs. It's amazing that the largest supporting group of that art genre is shoved aside, pushed around and bullied to no end by people who are completely ignorant on the matter of WHAT A FURRY IS! The mis-information ring that feeds into DA is shocking, insulting and down right hard to shallow. The amount of people/ artists who THINK they known what 'furry' is but actually have no clue about it is in the 90% and there seems to be NO FIGHTING IT.

No one will listen when known 'furs' speak up in defense of themselves on DA. It was NOT always this way. When I first came to DA the community was accepting. 40,000 of my page-views and over 300 of my watchers on DA are FROM THAT TIME. It seemed like a different world and it has only been, what - five years or less???

WOW!

Moving on to the Daily Deviations, which use to be reserved for art of an amazing quality, that taught us something, moved us or just dropped our jaws. I KNOW how horrible this is going to sound, I'm aware of the feelings that might be hurt over what I have to say next, the fact that I risk being stripped of my DD as a result of it but I'm going to come out and say it like a woman...

I did NOT deserve a DD on the 'FOOD!' piece.

It was poorly scanned, did not show any skill above a normal level, did not 'move' the viewer to feel anything... it's NOT a piece of art. I feel it deserves its place in my gallery because of my personal fondness over it and the exceptional amount of attention it received on other art sites like FA but to have that be declared a DD, an outstanding piece on THIS website that is so full of talent, so rich in artists with a MUCH higher skill level, was silly.

It didn't make any sense and, frankly, it is KILLING me to think that of all my art pieces (true art pieces that showed what I can do) THAT is a piece that not only now represents MY ART as a whole on DA but for a whole day represented THE ANTHRO GENRE on DA just hurts my head. I'm not retarded, the description under the picture clearly state the only reason I got it was because of the poky and the lynx.

I makes me feel like crap, it makes me want to avoid this site now that I'm deemed 'that anthro artist that draws poky' and it makes me doubt the importance of the DD honor. It seems to literally be handed out to anyone.

The last one I will keep brief as I feel it can/ will speak for itself. The DA Christian communities make me sick and I truly feel sorry for them. Their forums are an attack ground against each other, other branches of Christianity and are not set up to encourage discussion so much as gossip, smack-talk and mindless ego stroking. I know it's not set up to be like an on-line church but it is suppose to be an online community created to celebrate the glory of our Lord. I have seen cut-throat attacks on people seeking advice on how to handle difficult situations, I have seen mindless cut-and-pasting of scriptures that have nothing to do with the topic at hand and forum after forum of straight out attacks against OTHER CHRISTIANS.

These are just my top three issues with DA. the list is a mile long, involving everything from ego-stroking artists who like to treat their fan bases like poo on to the incredible amount of point-less art theft done by people just to upset other people. Frankly, the drama that has come from ONE 50X50 AVATAR has ROCKED ME TO MY CORE.

It seems every time I leave a comment I'm on edge because the response can be nothing but drama back, so what's the point?

So, I will be leaving DA. I no longer have any reason personally to be here. Many artists thrive on DA and there are a LOT of reasons for OTHERS to remain on this website. It is, after all, one of the TOP 300 websites on the internet and that is nothing to joke about or deny the importance of.

If you want to remain in contact with me it can be done by following these links:
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MSN: farellemoon@gmail.com
AIM: farellemoon

Thank you for your time,
Jennifer Allen