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Dolling and DeviantArt

Dolling and dA

Many of you probably have heard of DeviantArt and its newest Doll Gallery Moderator, Pyrochan. For those who have yet joined and have been curious about the site, here are some things you should know. The dolling category is located under Customization > Dolls. After that there are three subcategories that define the shading technique that was used on the deviation, Pixel, Tool and Misc.

Pixel Shaded
Dolls in this section should be made entirely pixel by pixel, with the exception of the flood fill tool. Backgrounds, if any, should also be created pixel by pixel or should be a flat color. Gradient, Photo and Texture backgrounds are not created pixel by pixel therefore rendering your doll not entirely pixel art. Pixel is also often created with a limited color count.

Tool Shaded
Dolls created in programs such as Gimp or Photoshop using automated anti alias techniques such as brushes from Photoshop and the smudge or blur tool. Dodge and Burn tools may also feature. Color count is not an issue and often these dolls are saved in .png format to preserve all the colors. Tool dolls can often look like miniature CG paintings.

Misc
This is a somewhat hard section to define as it falls somewhere between pixelling and tooling.
This is where dolls/bases with no shading at all or limited cell type shading where no pixel technique have been used should be placed. Also pixel dolls placed on gradient/photo/texture background belong here and dolls with computer generated text as part of the piece itself. Dolls with perhaps pixelled clothing and tooled hair may also belong here as they are neither entirely tooling nor entirely pixelled.

Cell Shading is shading in the style of what would be found in an animated movie. Typically there are only two shades, the flat color and one shadow color. It is often created by sectioning off the shadow and flood filling. It is different from pixelling because it emulates the animation style as opposed to following pixel techniques such as dithering, anti-aliasing and using a range of shades.

In terms of dolls, pixel dolls created with computer generated text as part of the piece belong in the misc section as the text was computer generated not hand pixelled. This includes adding the name of a character, a note to someone, or a Happy Holiday text.

After deciding which shading category your doll goes in, there is another set of categories that define what type of base was used; Adopted Base and Original Base.

Adopted base is for a doll you have made using a base that someone else made. You must link back to the basemaker so that people know where you got the base from. The majority of dolls are made on adopted bases because it’s just too much fun to use bases in other people’s styles of working.

Original base is for a doll you made on a base that you created yourself, i.e. the doll is entirely created by you. In this case there is no credit required as you made everything yourself. Baseless dolls are also included in this category.

There is one last category, simply called Bases. Basically this is the category where you submit any bases that you have created yourself. There is one in both the Pixel and Tool shaded categories respectfully.

Stock Referencing
On dA there are artists who make stock or references for drawing and photo manipulation. You can easily reference a piece of stock on dA but referencing is NOT tracing! It is very different and should not be confused between the two. Referencing is having a picture visual of what you wish to do and drawing it yourself from a blank canvas. It is not exact and in your own style.

Another fun thing about dA are the many original contests and challenges going on in the community. Project Originality is a base making challenge for those who want to make a an original base without tracing. The Big Head Challenge is more of a challenge for yourself to see how many colors you can cram into a pixelated big head, all of which is baseless. Plus there is a Daily Deviation category that features certain artists’ works everyday. It is quite an honor to recieve a DD since it throws the artist into the spotlight with all of the other DDs from other art categories. You can recieve a DD every 3 months.

The Review
Deviant Art is a great way to have your art out there in the art community while still being in the dolling category. With the handy favoriting tools and commentry, it’s perfect for those who want organization or a gallery for their works while being able to look back and read the commentry on each one. The watching tool helps you keep tabs on your favorite artists from every medium and the journal is a handy way to keep your watchers up to date with any major news and announcements of your own. With so many other things that one can discover on the site, it is best to say to join and find out first hand!

To read more about dA and dolling, take a look at the Welcome to Digital Doll dA article!

© 2009 Dolling Magazine. Cover doll by Sumi, base her own