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Jonathan Duncan
Male/United States
I don't care about pageviews!
Last Visit: 4 hours ago
pronounced "wuh-HAY"
Art Zone
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Jonathan Vair Duncan
Artist | Professional | Digital Art
United States
Hello, all! I am a Cincinnati artist, a primarily digital illustrator getting his hands dirty in traditional stuff, and I moonlight as an art-director on an indie-game startup.
When I'm not diving into commissions I'm suffering from the overflow of cool thoughts percolating in my brain, just waiting to surface.
Please feel free to email me at jonathanvair(at)gmail(dotcom) for general inquiries. You may also google "Jonathanvair" to see everywhere I've been so far!
Favorite visual artistZdzisław BeksińskiFavorite moviesThe Fall, The FountainFavorite TV showsAnything from Joss WhedonFavorite bands / musical artistsThe Decemberists, B. Dolan, Favorite writersKurt VonnegutFavorite gamesJourney, Mother 3, Yoshi's Island, Dark Souls, Connect 4Favorite gaming platformSuper Nintendo, Tools of the TradeMix of 2d Analog/VirtualOther InterestsSound and Rhythm, Storytelling
My last journal entry was debating whether or not deviantArt was "worth my time". I had several arguments in favour of leaving, all of which seemed valid to me:
-I received virtually no feedback for the majority of my time here. -Less than a percentage of my commissioned work was received on dA -My old and more immature work received more feedback than my newest work. -My tastes had changed, and managing a pile of irrelevant messages became a pain. -Almost nobody seemed to care about or view my work. -I felt like plenty of my old friends hadn't updated in a long time, or flat-out left. -The ads and user interface don't seem to be in favour of the artist's best interests. -While appreciative, I wasn't proud of the image in my gallery that was picked for a Daily Deviation. It wasn't nearly my best, and I received only a few comments from thousands of views.
Did some of those have merit? Perhaps. I will now type a parallel list from my current point of view:
-When was the last time I left a comment on somebody's work? How few comments have I made in the last four years? -I am thankful for the commission I received a year ago. It was for a dear friend I would not have met outside of dA. -I do less fanart than I used to. This is neither all good nor all bad. -I can delete my messages and use this time to start fresh. -Some people do value my work. Those people are a gift. But I am not creating to make everyone like me more. -I am grateful that I discovered artists on dA that challenge me to be my best. -dA is bigger than when I first joined, and needs ad revenue to run. Their staff care about making a site that caters to artists, which is a difficult goal. -Somebody featured my work for everyone on deviantArt to see. Thank you.
In short: I needed to put more effort into an art community before I can expect to more, and was a spoiled weenie to think otherwise.
It can be really discouraging to look on the front page, see all the most popular images, and not relate your tastes to the biggest demographics on a website. The truth I had to confront is that my desired subject matter and technique will—as far as I can see—never be popular. My art isn't for everybody, and that's perfectly fine. My tastes have changed dramatically since my joining dA eight years ago. I used to be excited at the idea of receiving a Daily Deviation, yet when I received one I was thankful, but nonplussed at the decision. I'm a college graduate now. I'm getting married in two weeks. deviantArt plays a different role in my life than when I was worrying about getting accepted into undergrad.
I received a few features on my newest images. Thank you to all the people that cared enough to comment or watch me. You are sincerely appreciated. To all my friends that encouraged me to stay, thank you as well.
deviantArt, thank you for fostering artistic growth in me for years. Although I am not a paying member, I appreciate the service you provide to millions, and I look forward to putting my best foot forward in our interactions from here on out.
I was reading through your journal (and I almost commented there before seeing it was from last year) and I've though the same things. Managing a social network -which is in my opinion a very important thing to do for artists this days- can be difficult and time consuming, but it can pay off well. I'm doing my best but I still haven't gotten the results I would like yet.
It would have been sad loosing your from this community, your art is unique to the whole I see here. It's an inspiration!
I've also been seeing closely, watching intently, paying my utmost attention to your paintings and I still can't decipher how you do it! It's almost entrancing how you make your paintings.
So glad to hear that! The awesome stuff in your gallery is a very diverse set, so I imagine getting the feedback you'd like would probably be difficult. I certainly feel that way with how weird my art is.
Thanks for the encouraging words on my art, too! You may like to know that I stream my work almost every day, so following me on Twitter or Facebook (Jonathanvair for both) will allow you to see exactly how I do my work.
Ofcourse I remember you! Not much is going on, just pottering about really! How are things with you? I love how your work is evolving ALL the time! Youre so talented it makes me a little bit sick! (in a good way!)
Let's see here… move to Cincinnati, am now married, freelancing more than ever, and now I do the con-hopping game. My life is just one gigantic adventure! Thank you for asking, and thank you for the compliment! Glad I can inspire nausea in a positive way!
i love your style! is very expressive and (clearly) skilled and, like someone said in another comment, unique. good thing you didnt leave cause otherwise i wouldnt have been able to see it