Ok first things, first. I decided to put up an image policy because of well the tracing/copy issue. Not going to comment too much on it other unless you've got an Art History degree behind you or you have at least taken 2 years worth of Art History classes. Anyway! I've slapped this on my front page too. >:E



1. You may not copy, trace, or replicate my work in any way by means of eyeballing, directly tracing with paper or digital mediums, vectoring, xeroxing or any other trace/copay means.

2. You may use my work as reference for poses, backgrounds, composition, color pallet, etc. You can link back to my original piece or site but it not necessary.

3. You may use my work for personal use such as icons, signature banners, desktop wallpaper, character references to your story, cosplay, etc. Do not use commissioned pieces or if I specifically request that you don't. If you do use my work you must link back to my site and credit to me as the original artist.

4. You may not use my works for commercial use or otherwise make profit off it in. It it's on an account that allows others to come and print the picture off the site for a small fee then either make the account private or locate other means to host it on a site that doesn't allow for it.

5. If you are unsure please ask me.



Alright people! I need 10 words to help inspire some art out of me. D: I'm kinda going round and round with creating some original pieces and keep repeating some themes... SO... 10 words! 8D And no lovely, dovey, mushy stuff. D:<

Moved this over to the next journal so I can track the words better.

Also a Meme! Tagged by ~Sparrow686
How to tell you're an internet nerd!
Rules:
1. Every time you do the meme, add as many ways you can think of to tell you're a nerd.
2. Tag at least three people, including the person who tagged you. >__> Not tagging anyone...
3. You can do the meme as many times as you want.

01. You make memes like this. ( D: I do not make meems. Meems make me! 8D )
02. You say "I lost" out loud whenever you think of The Game. No matter where the hell you are. ( =__= )
03. You use chatspeak in everyday life. You say "lol" out loud, for example.
04. You're on dA just for the journal memes.
05. You don't have a tablet but half of your favorites are memes.
06. You get really exited when you get just one comment. ( orz I am sorry for being so pathetic.)
07. You flip out when you get tagged.
08. You tend to mutter terms you learned on dA randomly, no matter where you are.
09. You try to sing along to anime theme songs when there is no chance you can.
10. If you log onto dA more than three times a day.
11. You research things/people through Wikipedia. (I accept no other source! D:< )
12. You research things/people through Encyclopedia Dramatica.
13. You search for the Boob Meme so that you can name yours. ( SHUT UP! >:E Gloria and Shenanae do not appreicate your comments!)
14. You freaked when Spongebob actually said "Chocolate Rain!" during one of his episdoes. (this did happen people).
15. You are youtubing #14 now.

Alright, I am on the side of the this new layout is really cool though I do wish that I could move the things around. >__> I also wish there was a way to remove comments from the front of the page. Not that I don't mind people commenting on my front page, but I was hoping to put my shout box out there instead and remove comments. :3 Makes it much more interesting that way... but I can't. :< You'll also notice that I am more of a minimalist layout person. The less the better I say, but that's just my opinion. >__>

Anyway.... Meme time!

When did you join DA and why?
March 9, 2003 because I was getting tired of submitting art to specific fan sites and hanging around fanfiction.net. As an artist more than a writer I was drawn immediately to this place.

What was the first deviation you uploaded?
I think it was a prisma piece of a grown up Himura Kenji. >__> You know that picture still looks good to me but not as good as some of my current stuff.

How many deviations have you submitted?
I don't know but I know it's over 100. XD Mass deletions have caused me to lose track.

Do you submit everything you create?
No way! I'm sorry but sometimes I don't even like what I do submit.

Do you read all the comments you get?
Yes, I do. Sometimes more than once. :3

Do you reply to all the comments you get?
I try to and lately I've been getting better. Sometimes I am not able to because of time restraints or that I can't think of a response at the time. I am a horribly slow person. Sorry. orz

Do you read all the favorites/watches you get?
Sort of. Since I do try to go and say thank you at least and take a look around. The only problem is that this process takes a hell of a lot of time so if they start going into 50+ I tend to do what I can and delete the older ones. T__T

Do you prefer comments or favs?
Comments. There is nothing wrong with just getting favs because that is an indication that someone liked it but I do like to read what people think about the specific piece. :3

How much time do you spend on Deviantart?
I dunno... maybe 4 to 6 hours a week?

Do you think that Deviantart is good for critique?
It can be when you are actively seeking it. :3

Do you think there's a lot of drama on DA?
Ha! Yes and it's fun to read sometimes! XD

Do you think DA would be better if it filtered out people who are not serious at artwork or causing too much drama?
It would be virtually impossible to do that. Firstly artists are egotists so there is always going to be drama regardless if it's one or more. It's been that way for centuries why is it going to change now?

Do you think the age limit should be higher than 13 for creating an account?
No. I do think that people need to understand what PG-13 is and isn't. Also that dA should try to reiterate what it really means to them.

Do you go on the DA forums?
Where now?

Would you buy a subscription? Why or why not?
Well I am currently sporting a subscription. I mean it's nice and all but there are only a few features that I am really interested in. Beta testing the new layout was a perk but I think I'm going to let my subscription expire and live without the pretty things I could do with it. :3

As part of my last journal entry I am going through and not only cleaning out my gallery (which I've already done btw) but my journals too. I had posts from 2004 in there and they really were of no real substance. *laughs* In any case, I came across this little list that had me laughing. They were my 2008 New Year resolutions. Let's see how I did, hm?



Yeah I did good last year. XD So for this year here are my top 10 goals!

NEW YEAR GOALS 2009 ed.
1o. I will draw more action poses and deal with backgrounds instead of ignoring them
o9. I will paint more and get my portfolio together instead of pretending to do so.
o8. I will look at more art tutorials so I can get better.
o7. I will not compare myself, my work, my style with others and depress myself.
o6. I will not procrastinate... as much so that I don't miss out on things or stress over stuff.
o5. I will clean my room dang it! DDD:<
o4. I will not let video games continue to suck up all my time and consume my sleeping moments. D:<
o3. I will start my comic Crimson Fang instead of talking into a tape recorder about it.
o2. I will live more taking risks instead of looking for the safer path.
o1. I will pray more and set aside time for me and God to talk more.

Maybe this year will be better! 8D

I have been noticing recently that a lot of artists are either deleting their galleries or moving to a new account in order to start over with a fresh new gallery. Part of me loves the idea of doing a mass deletion. It's almost euphoric having an empty gallery that is waiting to be filled. For those of us that seriously strive to improve each time we draw it's a great chance to start the new year with a clean slate.

I also know that people tend to move accounts, begin anew with a new face and name. Those that still follow their works will move over to the new account and see new and some old favorites. It's a sort of cross between the two, you lose your dead watchers, find out who your faithful are, and gain new ones. Perhaps it was a name that the artist was looking for, perhaps there is some animosity with that account... whatever the reason it can be a refreshing experience. A chance to become a new artist.

I like both and dislike both. While moving to a new account tends to be a compromise as the artist puts up old work that people are familiar with... I have an attachment to this particular name. The rule of thumb is that if you see a Ro-Chan/RoChan it's probably me. It's a name that I have had a hard time leaving.

Mass deletion is good but detrimental as well. deviantART doesn't really 'delete' work. It is always there and if someone favorites the drawing it can lead people astray. I have had the particular frustration of finding an artwork in a collection or favorite gallery and when I go to see more of the artist's work I find an empty gallery (sometimes the artist will be thoughtful enough to leave a small journal explanation). Not only that I like to be able to look back at my progression and see how far I've come.

In the past I have done a filtering method, where works I no longer like go into scraps and works that have been in scraps get deleted. It helps a little but the manner in which I filter is not exactly the most beneficial to me. I consider what is popular in my gallery along with what I generally like. I think it's important to have a balance on the two simply because you want to be able to draw people in and get them to look around. Granted even if the work is popular if it is really bad, it gets deleted/moved out regardless.

So currently I am debating on my choices.

I know I am not going to move or change accounts. This name is really synonymous with me and I have no reason to change it.

I am really leaning in favor of a mass deletion, after all I do have the files on my computer(s) and backed up on my external drive(s) as well as disk(s). (Leave me alone I have this fear of total wipe out ok?) I can personally look at them at any point in time.

I could strengthen my filter decisions and really be strict on things... it could potentially become a mass deletion though.

I'm going to be mulling it over for a while so don't be surprised if you suddenly come in and find an empty gallery. :]

Firstly, If you've recently looked to my gallery and seen pictures disappear... I'm sorry. I sat down today and tore apart my gallery. If it wasn't for my sister telling me to stop deleting everything and shove them into scraps if I am so irritated with them, there would be nothing here.

And now...PayPal.

PayPal is the easiest safest way to scam a person. Recently I've been involved with a scam and PayPal is claiming that I have full responsibility to it with little to no help at all on their end for fraud investigation. Because everyone I know just about uses PayPal exclusively, please listen up and BE CAREFUL! Don't become another horror story!

I sold a laptop via eBay and after receiving Paypal’s email that the auction was purchased, I receive an email from the person that bought the item asking me to ship the item to an alternate address in the Philippines. I thought that because Paypal verifies email addresses on their accounts prior to verifying payment account information, I checked the email twice before agreeing to ship the item there. 2 months later I received an email from Paypal stating that the owner of the credit card had stated they did not make the purchase of the sold item. On the same day I got the email, I gave them a screen shot of the eBay listing showing the purchase of the laptop, the Paypal transaction email and highlighted the email that was verified, the email where I was told to send the item elsewhere (also highlighting the email address) and copy of the scanned tracking information.

A few days ago I get the email that they found that it was decided by the credit card company that I was in the wrong and the Buyer was right. However when I log onto my PayPal account to look at the case status it says that "Paypal has determined after careful review, that it is unlikely to have the dispute overturned because of lack of information" and the case was closed due to lack of information. WTF? Which is it? Did they GO to the credit card company or didn't they? Also despite that I have been in contact with Paypal from the time that the dispute came up about the chargeback and the information I have provided, I still get that BS.

And forget talking to their "customer service" department because I was told over the phone that in order to even receive a correspondence address I would have to get a subpoena. Even for their Fraud department. When the hell did public knowledge information have to have a court order? It makes me even angrier to be in the same job category as the people I've "talked" to!

Now I am currently running a negative balance of $1890, missing a brand new Mac laptop, and am being turned into a debt collector company when I have NEVER in my life had a debt problem! I’ve been a loyal customer to them for years and am even verified plus I have 100% feedback since 2002!

I am royally pissed as Paypal said they would dispute with the buyer’s credit card company on my behalf but I get a “unlikely to overturn the dispute” response which makes me believe that they never even went that far and there is only a few days to dispute it with a credit card company that I have no access to! No one there is willing to answer my questions and they treat me like I am dirt.

Needless to say I have been running around in circles trying to file reports to Consumer Protection in FL and CA, as well as to the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center. I shouldn't have to be doing this but I am not going to take this without a fight. Don't be surprised if I take this to small claims court either because I can't stand that they are trying to ruin my credit and character based on some worthless buyer on a cheat that they KNOW about!

In any case, until this happened to me I had no idea the sheer number of complaints PayPal had against them, nor the number of lawsuits that they had lost due to issues of even putting up their contact number on their website! Forget their address information you have to look for PayPal hate sites to get that information.

Anyway, please please PLEASE for the love of all that is Holy! be careful when using PayPal not just to sell your items but also when purchasing items. Apparently PayPal doesn't just screw sellers exclusively it also butt rapes buyers too.

Some PayPal hate sites that are actually more helpful than their own site:
[link] [link] [link]