Deviantart as a career jumping board for digital artists - success stories, tips, inspiration and risks

Deviantart is a huge online platform for publishing digital art and opens up a career path as well as the marketing of digital art.

What is deviant start and how does the platform work?

Deviantart is an online community for art lovers and creative people . The website originally started in 2000 has attracted millions of members to date.

Digital artists in particular can publish their works here, exchange ideas with other artists and obtain comments from the public.

Deviantart's offices are located in the sunny California metropolis of Los Angeles. The name of the platform came from the idea of ​​presenting unique works of art that oppose the common opinion.

Inspired by the English term "Deviant", the name Deviantart was created.

Artists originally added their own style and changed existing designs using computer tools.

Deviantart has now developed into a virtual environment that houses various art forms. From traditional paintings and digital images created drawing tray concept art , gaming design to animations and photography to complex 3D designs and AI-based works of art can be found here everything your creative heart desires.

Deviantart now offers tools for creating tutorials and offers its members opportunities for networking and exchange of ideas.

Digital artists can refine their talents, present their work and maybe find completely new employment opportunities .

Here you can be inspired and meet like -minded people. In any case, you should visit this page, regardless of whether you are or want to be a digital artist!

Business model and fee structure

You can get started at Deviantart for free . Most users start to create their own gallery, add works from other artists to the favorites and exchange ideas with the community.

For members with more ambitions, Deviantart also offers two subscription models that are divided into plus memberships. So you can get more out of your artistic side.

The core upgrade

With this subscription you will get access to 20 GB to storage space and can customize your profile according to your wishes. Your works of art are safely protected.

If you want to sell your designs and pictures at Deviantart, the fee is 12 % of the income. As a Core member, you can also create up to 50 pictures via Dreamup and design 3 variants each time.

The Core+subscription

This account grants its users generous 50 GB storage space and by using the image generator, up to 100 unique works of art can be created, supported by the latest artificial intelligence technology.

The pro-upgrade

Pro-users benefit from a reduced platform fee of only 5 % for every work of art sold. You can also offer your own premium gallery and downloads for up to $ 10,000.

With Dreamup you have the option of generating up to 200 images, each of which comes with 4 variations.

The Pro+subscription

With the acquisition of this subscription, artists secure a preferred status in which only 2.5 % of the income flow to deviantart. In return, you can create up to 300 AI generated works of art thanks to Dreamup.

Advantages and disadvantages

The online service acts in a way as a social media platform, but without the decisive components such as the development of a social media strategy and its evaluation.

Even individual support is not provided. Rather, artists can find inspiration and use their own gallery to build a fan base.

Whether Deviantart is the right choice for every artist depends on the respective needs and requirements. In order to get a better overview of the service, we have briefly summarized the advantages and disadvantages of the platform:

Successful stories of artists who became known for Deviantart

Would you like to be a successful digital artist? Then you should definitely read the Deviantart success stories for artists.

At Deviantart there are many examples of artists who have found recognition for their work and are now pursuing a fulfilling career in the field of digital art.

Robh Ruppel , an American illustrator and concept artist who can be found at Devilart, works for large companies such as Disney and Dreamworks .

The South Korean illustrator Loish , who was originally known for her painting at Deviantart, is now enjoying a large fan base.

These stories will show how successful as a digital artist you can be if you work hard, constantly develop your skills and exhibit your work on websites such as Deviantart.

Let yourself be inspired by these success stories and start your own career as a digital artist.

After the developments in recent years, it has become more difficult to get enough attention on the platform.

Tips for your success on Deviantart

Find communities (groups) and become part of them

Deviantart is a virtual environment that brings together artists and art lovers from all over the world. The nice thing is that each of the various artists present has unique skills and a unique style.

Entry to communities is a fantastic way to network if you want to meet like -minded people.

Discovering communities is simple. Simply visit the community website and search for communities via the search field that meet your interests. After discovering an interesting community, take some time and check whether it is helpful and active.

Simply click on the "Entering this community" to join a community. To be part of a community means that you regularly present your own work, leave comments and participate in conversations.

The more active you are, the more likely it is that others will see you and your work.

How to build your own community and market yourself

At Deviantart, the success depends on the fact that you can build a strong community and market yourself. These information could be useful:

First of all, you should regularly publish excellent work and actively communicate with other musicians. Comment and spread your work to draw attention to you and to establish you as a member of the community.

In order to make your works of art accessible to a larger audience, you can also found your own groups or connect to existing ones. Insert your fans into your creative efforts by also using the tools of deviantart such as surveys or journals.

Even if you market yourself, you should maximize your profile and create a strong brand identity. Make sure your biography is meaningful and use a uniform design for banner and profile photo.

To achieve more people, you can also publish your work on other platforms such as Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest and use targeted hashtags.

The 2024 Deviantart Guide for more FAVs, visitors, comments and popularity

Since the Deviantart Eclipse-Update, many users no longer know how to make their works of art visible. In this video tutorial you can find out how you can still maximize your reach The Art Mentor

This tutorial contains three basic steps to make your content better known with this online service and to increase your influence on this platform.

As a long -time user from Da, The Art Mentor very familiar with the mechanisms.

Which types of works of art are particularly successful on Deviantart?

If you want to be inspired as a digital artist, Deviantart is the perfect place for it.

Here you will find a variety of works of art that are not only aesthetically appealing, but also successfully arrived with other users.

digital illustrations , photomesipulations or 3D models are particularly popular . But abstract works of art or fanart are also very popular on the platform.

How can you earn money with deviant start? An overview

As a digital artist, you can transform your talent into bare coin here.

The platform offers various options to make money with your works of art .

One possibility is the sale of prints or other physical products via the Deviantart Shop .

Another option is commissions from customers who are willing to pay for your work.

Another lucrative option is to participate in competitions and winning awards .

Deviantart offers a number of ways that help make your skills to make money so to establish you as a digital artist.

Sale of digital content (art, videos)

At Deviantart, digital artists and video creators can sell their work to benefit from it.

You just have to create your own shop on Deviantart and upload your films or works of art. If everything is ready, you can sell your product to suitable buyers.

In order to sell digital content on Deviantart, you have to consider a few things. First think about which amounts you want to ask for your work. The price calculator in the Deviantart Store can help.

After that, you have to set up a payment system so that customers can pay for your services. The page accepts payments with stripe and PayPal.

It must also be determined how the buyer will then receive the content. You can send them a link to download or put the files directly in your account.

After you have done these tasks, you can apply and sell digital work on Deviltart.

Sale of original works of art

Another option is to set up a shop on your own domain and sell your works about it. You can also take part in competitions with cash prices or join clubs to market your original works of art.

To do this, you have to set up an online shop on your own website before you can sell your own works of art directly to Deviantart.

Simply click on the "My Shop" in your dashboard.

You can design your shop with the selected products and set the prices for each individual product. Interested people can visit your works of art and buy directly from you after everything is set up.

You can also choose to join clubs that support the sale of your works of art. Visit the group area and search for suitable keywords such as "artists", "sales" or "marketplace" to find suitable groups.

As soon as you have joined a group, you can post links to your works of art in the group forums and interact with other members by selling your works.

By the way, have you ever thought about participating in art competitions ? There are often reasonable financial compensation for the winners.

Most companies in the game or media industry meet such competitions and virtual meetings to find new talents and to set them for their projects. So try it out if you prove your skill and maybe want to be found by potential employers.

Importance of feedback and criticism on deviant start

The feedback from other users is of crucial importance for the success of every digital artist who wants to get out of a deviant.

Even if it can be difficult to take a step back and look at your work objectively, the feedback from other members can help you to recognize where there are deficits and give approaches to improvements.

You should make sure that comments are helpful and constructive, because of course not all comments are noteworthy. Nevertheless, you can improve your work quality and thus also your employment prospects by taking appropriate advice to heart.

It is just as important that you don't let yourself be discouraged; Instead, consider feedback as an opportunity to develop yourself further and further improve your skills.

Use the comment area to your advantage; Deviantart is the virtual home of a fantastic community of artists that encourages and inspires each other.

The benefits of Deviantart as a portfolio platform for prospective digital artists

If you are a prospective digital artist, it can be difficult to present your works to a wider audience.

For this objective, the platform offers a wealth of functions that enable you to present your works of art and get feedback from other artists and fans.

Many successful digital artists have started their career at Deviantart and still use the platform as an important part of its marketing strategy , even if there is no longer so much in the old glory of earlier times.

Critical voices: What are the limits and risks when using Deviantart as a career jumping board?

Of course there are also critical voices when it comes to using Deviantart as a career jumping board. We do not want to withhold this from you.

The power of the online community of Deviantart is undeniable. Since so many artists share so much information, the website is a great place to share its work and improve as an artist.

But there are just as many ways to get lost in the huge amount of functions on the platform. Some fear that the platform is too confusing and that it difficult to stand out from the crowd .

Others indicate the risk that users will publish works without permission or even with incorrect information on the platform and thus committed copyright infringement

Dreamup-Deviantart and the AI ​​controversy

At the end of 2022, Deviantart decided to penetrate the mining field of AI image generation and to bring Dreamup The Verge reported ).

It is part of a greater attempt by the platform to give human artists more control over the hybrid creation of digital art, but it also donated enough confusion - and for some users they also caused a trust pilot and reddit) .

What is the protests of the community about?

Dreamup is based on Stable diffusion , the open source image production program from Stability AI. Everyone can register with Deviantart and receive five input requests free of charge. With the website's core subscription plans, users can buy between 50 and 300 per month, plus more for a fee per command request.

In contrast to other generators, Dreamup has a special feature: it recognizes when you try to imitate another artist's style. And if the artist raises objections, it should stop the user. But instead of packing the problem with the roots, in practice it has probably not proven itself very effectively as a protective wall of copyrights.

Due to his stable diffusion roots, Dreamup learned how to generate pictures by analyzing hundreds of millions of pictures that were craped by websites such as Deviantart and were collected in Laion data sets without the permission of the artists. You recognize the irony, which some devio-type members rightly find problematic.

The online service operators have approached attempts to calm artists who may be upset that their work is used AI image generators

After an outcry of its community, the website offered a special "Noai" flag with which artists can deactivate the use of third-party image data records in their image settings. (However, it remains to be seen.

In addition, it was enabled to be able to log away from having your pictures train with Dreamup in the future, but every artist must first fill out a form that requires a human review. This guideline has led to considerable resistance among deviantart members, some of whom have threatened to delete all their works and deactivate their accounts.

As a result of this protest, Deviantart announced an update of his AI data record guideline, which has since stated that in response to the feedback from the community, all images hosted by Deviantart "automatically authorized as not authorized for use in AI data sets" .

At the moment, this only seems to be the automatic deregistration of AI data sets with the "Noai" flag-a policy that has to voluntarily recognize DataSet scraper in order to be effective. Artists who want to unsubscribe from the admission to Deviantart's own AI training for Dreamup must continue to fill out a form ( Arstechnica ).

The subsequent video of Studio Delo examines the devastating effects of AI, fraudsters and bad management on Deviantart. It deals with the history and the decline of the platform and shows how AI-generated pictures and bots flooded the website and undermine the rights and income of the artists.

However, despite these controversy, it should not be forgotten that Deviantart offers a promising platform to present yourself as a digital artist and be inspired by others.

With a good portion of commitment and the right strategy, you can be successful and drive your career forward. Ultimately, it is up to everyone how you use this virtual platform and what opportunities you draw from it.

Deviantart 2025 - is it still worth it for digital artists?

As we saw, wrong decisions were made by the operators and the community had to be made by challenging years. Even if Eclipse was an attempt to make amends, the AI ​​offensive in 2022 has again led to new challenges for digital artists on the platform.

So is it still worth investing time and energy in a presence on the platform? We think: Yes, even if the resistors have grown.

If we look at the figures from Similarweb , then Deviantart is still in 250th place on the world's most visited websites, with almost 100 million website visits last month. In the relevant category, Deviantart is even in first place and thus claims its status as a top dog.

Where do the users come from Deviantart?

Access numbers compared to the competition

Conclusion

Ultimately, Deviantart is still a great space for aspiring digital artists. The inspiring stories and success stories show that you can gain a foothold with commitment and use in the digital art scene.

If you want to become a digital artist yourself, use Deviantart to present your work and get feedback from other artists.

Posts frequently and take part in competitions to improve your skills and operate self -promotion.

You should also acquire knowledge of portfolio sharing via several platforms and online marketing.

One day you can also write a success story with the right attitude, a good dose of endurance and the love of digital art!

Frequent questions and discussions about Deviantart

What happened to Deviantart? What is Deviantart Eclipse? And why is the criticism of it so great?

Deviantart was once the central platform for artists of all categories, but over the years the audience has migrated to other websites such as Behance and ArtSation.

With Eclipse , Deviantart tried to return to his roots in 2019, while it also integrated modern elements of competing sites. This culminated in a bitter resistance from former veterans, who were skeptical about the said changes and no longer perceived as a deviant.

At the same time, the community then felt a nostalgia for the old platform and did not want to make any further adjustments to trends, but wanted to preserve the "classic website" .

However, this analysis is characterized by subjective reports and may not capture all aspects of the situation.

Why did many artists leave Deviantart?

If you analyze the Reddit discussions such as "Deviantart does not seal as near as popular as it used to been", you quickly come to the conclusion that in the once loyal and active community it is expressed a lot of regret how much device has changed in the past ten years.

In the golden times, the community spent a lot of time on the platform, but there are now signs of expiry. Despite the strong efforts of some Core users to upload new works of art and actively participate in clubs, they received only slight attention - many clubs are apparently inactive and the commitment was drastically returned.

The platform was flooded by problems such as masses and spam of AI images , which made it difficult to search for real art.

The complete disinterest of the operator of user feedback meant that many artists no longer received visibility; once celebrated works were hardly recognized today. This development makes many former deviant start fans sad, because Deviantart was once a huge, lively creative community.

On which alternative platforms can digital artists sell their works?

In addition to Deviantart, you can also upload your art on other websites made for the sale of digital files to reach more people.

Instagram or Tiktok offer good opportunities . Here you can present your projects, build a fan base and communicate directly with potential buyers.

Websites such as Etsy , Creative Market and Behage support the sale of digital art. On these websites, users who are looking for real works of art and want to support artists are primarily users.

Etsy has established itself as a popular place for handicraft and digital products, while creative market focuses on high -quality design resources. Behage enables you to present your portfolio and to contact potential customers directly.

Pixiv.net is one of the largest art communities in the world in which you can publish illustrations, mangas and novels. Community members organize projects, take part in official competitions and much more. Even if the sale is not yet possible, you can create a large reach for your own art pixiv.net

Internet sites such as Redbubble , Society6 or ArtSation are interesting for artists who are interested print-on-demand On this website you can have patterns, motifs and designs printed on different products, e.g. murals, posters or T-shirts.

But do you prefer to sell digital works of art via Stockfoto website? Then services such as Shutterstock a good point of contact. These websites are a proven approach to sell photographs, illustrations and graphics licensed.

Last but not least, you should also consider setting up your own online shop. With platforms such as Shopify , WooCommerce or Wix you can create a professional sales page and thus gain complete control over your works of art and its marketing. Your own shop also enables you to build long -term relationships with your customers.