Today I celebrate 10 years of being a DeviantArt memeber! This has been such a humbling and inspirational journey for me as an artist of both traditional and digital mediums. I've learned a lot and I don't plan on stopping now; there's so much more to see and do and I can't wait to show it to all of you.
It was a snowy November afternoon way back in 2009 here in southern Alberta where I found myself sitting in my junior high computer lab learning the basics of digital art and image manipulation using a software program called GIMP. It had been two months since I was first introduced to it, and now I was encouraged to explore this program's features because it was just so fun to create new things with it.
The previous day, I created an image called the Periodic Table of Transformers (which you can see and updated version of in my gallery) in GIMP. It was an endeavour that took me nearly two weeks to create. I printed it out, and the very next day I showed it to my friends in that computer lab.
"That looks awesome!" my friend said to me.
"Thanks," I replied, feeling excited. My teacher came around to see. "What's that," he said.
"He made it," my friend said, "using GIMP."
My teacher raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Wow. That's probably the coolest thing I've seen in this class," he said.
At this point, a small group was beginning to crowd around me and my binder. I felt like a celebrity, everyone eager to see my work. Class was about to begin, so we took our seats at the workstations.
"Hey, you should post that online," my workstation partner said. "Do you know a website called 'DeviantArt'?"
"DeviantArt?" I said. "I've heard of it."
"It looks like this," she said, pulling up a search engine. The screen turned green and a plethora of images adorned the page. "I have an account. You should make one."
"That's cool," I said. "I think I will."
"When you do, tell me, and I'll send you a friend request."
─ Friday, November 13, 2009.
I just want to take this extremely significant moment to thank all those who have ever visited my profile, commented on an image, favourited a couple of them, and just being a friendly, enthusiastic, creative source of encouragement and creativity. It's been a long way since I first started back in junior high, and all I see are the stars ahead. This website and this community has helped me fight my anxieties, climb obstacles, and accept my individuality as an amateur artist and art enthusiast. This past 10 years is a testament to perseverance and represents a will to accomplish anything you put your mind to. Your enthusiasm fuels my drive to learn and try new things, and it has made me into who I am today.
So from the bottom of my heart, Thank You all. Thank You for helping me. Thank You for being such kind and wonderful friends and followers.
Thank You for being Awesome! God bless you and everyone you meet. Take care and have fun.!
Yours truly,
Xagnel95