Hi everyone and welcome to our first Anthro Newsletter. You may be wondering who I am - I’m ^skifi - your new anthro gallery director. Along with my partner, ^cooley, we’ll be working together to bring you the best of the anthro gallery including Daily Deviation awards and anthro-related events.

skifi:
My name is Vicente M. Patino, but I'm known as "skifi" because that's how I sign my drawings or colorworks. I was born and live in Spain, so if you feel like talking to me in spanish, you will be more than welcome. ^^ I started drawing (real media) and coloring (digital) in summer 2002, and joined the deviantART community around Mar 2003, lured by some other talented friends moving here too. I never took art lessons neither studied it, so all you can see in my gallery is thanks to self-learning, and the advices of many friends, and artists, I have met here, and previously at The Crystal Palace board. Some of them, I want to keep her aside me forever... I am, with ^cooley, the Anthro Gallery Director. Part of my duties are keeping those galleries in order, scrap wrong deviations, promote artists on News Articles or Journals and give Daily Deviations to top-quality works. Feel free to contact me or ^cooley with any questions regarding the Anthro Gallery, or just to say hello. We don't bite... generally!

Cooley:
Hi everyone! I'm your anthro gallery director. With ^skifi as my partner, we will be working with the community to bring you the best of the anthro gallery. Make sure to check back often for we'll be featuring Daily Deviations, organizing events, and writing newsletters in an effort to service all of you! I have several jobs including layout design for a local newspaper, digital photo-editing for a couple of professional photographers here in Alaska, as well as taking on freelance art and photojournalism opportunities. As you can imagine, this keeps me quite busy. But, it is a joy to volunteer my spare time here on dA. I am honored to serve this community. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy your time here on dA. Feel free to send me (anthro-related) DD suggestions and alert me of any (anthro) events taking place on dA. You can find me in the ModSquad chat-room, should you like to speak with me "in person." Have a great day!


DeviantArt has been experiencing many changes of late, including new servers. So for those of you who are wondering when those scrapped deviations will actually go where they belong, or why dA keeps conking out on you – worry no more! The new servers are well on their way to bringing you a faster DevianArt. We also have new surprises down the road but those will be unveiled when the time comes.


You may also notice that ^cooley and I aren’t the only new Gallery Directors. In fact, your Artist Relations Team now consists of 52 members! To see a listing you may either visit the “AR Team” box on the left of my journal page. If you have any suggestions for a better dA, a Daily Deviation Award, etc. please send them to the corresponding gallery director.


Because there are so many new guys on the AR team, it’s now more important than ever that you send your Daily Deviation (DD) suggestions to the correct gallery directors. ^cooley and I are your anthro gallery directors, so we’ll be taking all of the anthro DD suggestions. We don’t ask much in ways of guidelines, but here is what we do request:

Title your note "DD Suggestion."
Include a link and/or thumb of the piece.
Tell me why you think it deserves a DD.
We prefer unknown artists, but that's not a must.
Do not suggest yourself.
Do not send the same suggestion to multiple GDs.
Do not complain if we don't respond or feature it.
Do not complain on a DD feature, take it up with ^cooley or I via note.

Don't worry if you think an artist has been featured before, leave that up to us. We can easily check and it will save you the trouble of trying to find out on your own.


Some of you may be wondering what “anthro” art even is, here’s a simple definition:

“Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics and qualities to nonhuman beings.” –Wikipedia.com

In other words, “anthro” art is a genre which features animal, vegetal, or item characters with human qualities such as upright postures, clothing, and human activities. Please keep in mind that anthro does not automatically equal furry art, nor does it exclude it…There are many sub-genres in anthro art. The only sub-genre we do not allow in Daily Deviations are “yiff” – an image composed of anthro characters committing sexual acts. Most “yiff” is not allowed on deviantArt so if you see it, please report it. Thank you.


In each newsletter I will include a section dedicated to current events in the anthro gallery.

The largest event at the moment is the Bladewind Challenge. You may read the aforementioned news article to check out prizes – which include dA subscriptions, “Dev-Wear” clothing, and more. The deadline is August 30th, and all submissions should be made through Contests & Projects -> Contests -> 2007 -> Bladewind Challenge. (Current entries can be seen here or on the left side of my journal page.) If you do not submit your entry under the correct gallery, it may be overlooked when the time comes to judge. You may ensure that your image is included in the contestant listing by sending ^cooley a note titled “Bladewind Challenge Entry.” Lastly, please offer your support by sporting an advertising stamp or “faving” the news article. Thanks!


During a week, from July 20th to 27th, we're hosting the "Daily Deviations: Suggest your own Art" special Anthro Week: During those 7 days, you are allowed to suggest YOUR OWN ART to get a Daily Deviation Award, but only if you send also 5 awesome DD suggestions by other artists. Wanna know more? Read the News Article.

Other events include a contest sponsored by ~DreamDog. In this event, contestants are asked to create the main anthro character of a book. It sounds like great fun and I suggest all of you to consider joining.

We also have a convention coming up, here’s the necessary information:
FurFright
Anthromorphic Halloween Convention
October 19-21, 2007
Connecticut Grand Hotel
3580 East Main Street
Waterbury, CT 06705
800-446-1449 (toll free)

If you have (anthro) events you would like included in future newsletters please send them to ^cooley or I. Thanks!


That about wraps up this edition of the Anthro Newsletter. Remember, if you have suggestions or events for future newsletters, please send them to ^cooley or I via note. We will be happy to help you.