DeviantArtist Questionnaire

15th birthday of deviantART is a great reason for celebration, sadly spoiled a bit by recent controversies about changing name and pricing of the Premium Membership. Nevertheless it is a good opportunity to share (and discover) some facts and stories about deviants with a #deviantartistquestionnaire .

1. How long have you been on DeviantArt?
It’s been 4 years now as a registered user. I joined in Summer 2011, although I’d been regularly visiting deviantART earlier. My first contact with deviantART was in 2002, when I saw some thematic Linux wallpapers created by deviantART users in some computer magazine. I wanted to look for more, but I had a dial-up internet connection and it was way too slow to display deviantART website in a reasonable amount of time.

2. What does your username mean?
It’s my alternative pseudonym. I’ve been originally known as Lupus but when I was creating a YouTube account back in 2007 I wanted to have a unique username without any numbers and suffixes (and obviously “Lupus” had been already taken), so I’ve come out with “Vertiser”. I’ve stayed with that name ever since and gradually used it on various websites. Now I only use it on my deviantART profile and YouTube channel, and in most other places on the web I use my real name.

3. Describe yourself in three words.
Creative, introverted, engaged.

4. Are you left or right handed?
I write with my right hand but draw (and perform most of other tasks) with my left one.

5. What was your first deviation?
Well, it was a photo of a lily in my garden, but I deleted it, so don’t know if this count My oldest still available in the gallery is a black&white photo of spider’s web on a thuja hedge.


6. What is your favourite type of art to create?
I love taking photos so photography is my major discipline at the moment and the only one published on my deviantART profile. But I also like writing so it’s possible that things will change over time.

7. If you could instantly master a different art style, what would it be?
I would definitely want to be composer and create my own music. Maybe not the type of art for showing on deviantART, but it’s the type of art I always wanted to learn and never did.

8. What was your first favourite?
That’s embarrassing, but I don’t remember. Let me check it and get back to you in a minute…
… OK, so apparently my first favourite was a portrait made by Khomenko:



9. What type of art do you tend to favourite the most?
Photography, definitely. It is my favourite discipline and the one I browse on deviantART most often. But I also fave literature a lot (by the way, please check amazing poems by VioletRogue!) and I like both traditional and digital art as well.

10. Who is your all-time favourite deviant artist?
I met a lot of wonderful artists and great people on deviantART and I don’t want to ignore or underestimate any of them. Nevertheless there is one person whose art I love particularly, and it’s ChloeClik . She is a very talented photographer, skilled traditional artists, a writer and an unique person full of energy and ideas who creates stunning art of any type. Please visit her profile if you haven’t already and I’m sure you’ll find something you like. Just look at this mighty lion:



or this wonderful view of the lighthouse in the Mull of Galloway:

There are dozens of other art works in ChloeClik’s gallery and they do deserve your attention! She also runs three dA groups with amazing, friendly and supportive communities, check them out as well: NatureWeb , SprinkleOfSmiles, CatCatalogue.

11. If you could meet anyone on DeviantArt in person, who would it be?
I haven’t met any of my deviantART friends in person yet but meeting any of them would be a great pleasure

12. How has a fellow deviant impacted your life?
There are a few deviants who impacted my life in one way or another. Always when I admire someone’s art it affects me somehow and changes my POV, gives me inspiration, motivation or energy, so I guess many of you have impacted my life without even knowing it But again, the biggest credit goes to ChloeClik  whom I met on deviantART and who became my great friend. We shared a lot of wonderful conversations together and I’ve had a privilege to collaborate with her in NatureWeb group. She made deviantART an unique and important place to me.

13. What are your preferred tools to create art?
My Nikon DSLR camera. Previously I used Konica Minolta digital camera, but Nikon represent a whole new level of quality. I use Nikon D90 camera with a bunch of lenses and I don’t plan to change it in the nearest future (although I always wanted to try Canon cameras out to check if they are better than Nikon ones).

14. What is the most inspirational place for you to create art?
I don’t have a favourite or the most inspirational place to create photos, for every time I try to find the optimal place for taking the shot.

15. What is your favourite DeviantArt memory?
When my photo of Old World Swallowtail won a competition in NatureWeb contest. I was really surprised and didn’t expect to win at all. Wining the contest gave me a lot of positive feedback and made me feel more confident about my photos.