So the viewer (you perhaps?) stumble upon a deviation, the how is unique. What does one do?



About emoticons:
1. NEVER leave only an emoticon as the comment. Artists HATE that! It doesn’t tell the artist whether the art was good or not, whether the art can improve or not. And emoticon is as useful to an artist as nothing at all. Trust me, leaving only an emoticon will get you nothing in return.

2. DO NOT leave ridiculously repeated emoticons unless one knows this person closely. If it was a random deviant then refrain yourself! I mean, with only three times, I get the picture; I’m sure other artists are the same way. With my friends, I allow them to do it because I know it is their expression of happiness, but if a stranger did it, it would just annoy me.



About +fav:
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT press the +fav button without a comment! In my case and several of my artist friends’ cases, we would rather have a comment than a +fav! Feedback is like blood! Give blood, give life! Fuel the artist’s inspiration, gusto, and self-worth by leaving words! Don’t be lazy and give the artist just one click of the mouse…



About full view:
ALWAYS FULL VIEW! The joy an artist gets from seeing his or her deviation viewed full view more than normal is overwhelming! It makes an artist feel as though the art is WORTH looking at… WORTH having a second look… WORTH having a closer look… Do artists a favor: FULL VIEW! Especially if the artist specifically asked for it! Usually if the artist tells the viewers to full view, it’s to make the viewers see something not easily seen! And, the art is so much more enjoyable that way! Why fill your screen with DA’s ugly gray when it can be full of vibrant color?
(With help from RandomClaire-chan) If you don't feel like pressing on the deviation twice, try looking at them as a full view from the start! Here's what you do.
Go to Settings ==> Go to Browsing ==> Where it says Open Deviations, change it from Zoomed Out to Zoomed In
Voila! The deviations you open will automatically be in full view!



About artist’s comments / notes:
1. ALWAYS read them! If the viewers don’t, they are risking to make themselves look like dumb asses.
     a. The artist could have mentioned what materials he or she used so when the viewer asks “you must tell me what you used to get this effect!” the artist will think “uhm, dumb ass, look at my comments! I tell you what I used!”
     b. Similarly, if the genre was fanart, the artist could have mentioned what anime/game/etc. it was and what character is being portrayed. If the artist already told his or her viewers, the one viewer that asked “so who is this character and where is he/she/it from?” is looked upon as an idiot.
     c. Lastly, if the viewer wanted to give helpful criticism, then do so! However, if the artist mentioned “I know I used a different style so please do not tell me that the arms are too big or that you liked my previous style better” and the viewer tells the artist “the arms look a little broad. Did you change styles?” then the viewer has marked a big, fat, bold “stupid” on his or her forehead.
Viewers, do yourselves a favor: READ THE ARTISTS’ COMMENTS!



About criticism:
1. CRITICISM IS NOT BAD!!! I cannot stress this enough! Not all criticism is bad! There is such a thing as helpful criticism! Trust me! When you tell an artist “the chin is off” or “the hands are too big” or “the proportion looks like it needs work” the artist will take it as it is or love you for it! And, believe me, it’s usually the latter! I have never met an artist fully confident about his or her art that he or she never looks for something to make the artwork better.

2. DO NOT FLAME!!! Okay, I understand if you prefer one art over another: it’s called preference. But to completely belittle the art and the artist is puerile, immature, rude, hurtful, and, as I mentioned in the first, it is an insult to the flamer’s intelligence! All flamers will be properly dealt with and by this I do not mean we go to the administrators at all times. So make yourself look like an intelligent being: if you don’t like something, just live as though you never saw it. Go on with life.

3. DO NOT leave one word comments. This is almost as irritating as emoticon-only comments! “Cute.” Okay, so the artist knows it’s cute; that was probably the artist’s intention! But WHAT about it was it cute? “Good.” Thank you Sherlock, I’m glad you deducted the art was good, but I have to ask “and…?” We want moooooore! Words give artist life!

4. DO NOT say “this is good but it looks like someone else’s work.” The artist thanks for being observant and hurtful, even if unintentionally. This is ONLY understandable if you compared an artist’s art to a professional artist; and by professional, meaning it is his or her career not a hobby like most fellow deviants. Maybe it was meant to be flattering, but if compared to a fellow deviant, artists will just take it as a sugar-coated plagiarism accusation! So, on second thought, try to avoid comparing for you will never know if he or she enjoys comparison or not.

5. ALWAYS mention a small detail! This is why the one word comments irritate the artists so! The one word is soooo vague! I will give you examples:
Bad: “Awesome (insert emoticon here)”
Good: “I really like the variety of colors you used here! The blending of the colors remind me of the aurora borealis and gives a sense of wonder and somehow nostalgia. This deviation is awesome! (insert emoticon here)”
I mean really now that was, what, three sentences? You’re telling me you can’t write three measly sentences?? For that, I say one thing: hooked on phonics! HOP helps!
Also, artists absolutely love putting in a detail that the viewer would have to search to see! If one viewer notices it and mentions to the artist that he or she has seen it, the artist will be ecstatic. I speak from experience and from first-hand sources.

*~*~*~*~*             *~*~*~*~*             *~*~*~*~*             *~*~*~*~*             *~*~*~*~*

Now to put everything in a nutshell, I will group them into DO NOTs and STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE by importance!

DO NOT:
1. Leave only one emoticon
2. Leave only one word (if you’re going to do either of these, then don’t bother to do anything at all)
3.  Skip the artist’s comments
4. DO NOT FLAME!

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE!
Step 1: Read the artist’s comments (I switched steps one and two because if the deviation is adult only, then it’s good to be warned first)
Step 2: FULL VIEW!
Step 3: DO NOT do the DO NOTs!
Step 4: Mention something the artist could do to improve! If there’s nothing that could make such perfection better, then tell the artist so! I’m sure he or she will be very flattered!
Step 5: Mention a small detail before saying something broad (see above for example)
Step 6: BE FRIENDLY! Be a friend and we’ll be one back! Just because you worship someone does not mean you can’t be friends! I speak from experience! Nothing worse than being awkward so… just… BE FRIENDLY!