Giving DD's is Tough - Part I

One of the most visible duties and privileges of being a Gallery Moderator is the responsibility to feature Daily Deviations in representation of the gallery.  While we as a community sometimes seem to put a bit too much weight and drama on the selection of the DD's, they are still for many deviants a highlight of the dA day, and a prestigious feature when one is received.

While many deviants wish they had the privilege of giving DD's, I know that since I have become a Gallery Moderator, I've become aware of just how challenging it can be to consistently feature "good" Daily Deviations. I also have a much different view of DD suggestions, why some are featured and why some aren't, than I ever did when I was a regular subscriber suggesting DD's to various GM's.  The challenge is an enjoyable one, but there are definitely more considerations involved than many people might realize.

In this article, I'm going to mention some of the many factors that are a part of choosing what deviations to feature for DD's. I'm going to speak from my own perspective. I think several other GM's might have similar but not necessarily identical considerations in their own selections, while others might disagree with me on certain points.  As Gallery Moderators, we are given a high degree of latitude to set our own DD criteria, so this does not mean that any of us are wrong, but simply that we make different choices from different points of view.

Some GM's receive a staggering number of DD suggestions.  While I don't find myself overwhelmed with DD suggestions, I appreciate the nice steady flow of art being recommended to me.  Some of it is art and artists I'm really familiar with. And of course some of it leads me to art and artists I haven't seen before, and that's always a great feeling for me, both as a GM and on a personal level.

I don't respond to every DD suggestion note, but I do read and keep every one of them, and I have a filing system for them. And yes, I will bluntly say there are suggestions that I immediately file as works I will never feature as DD's. I still keep them, and will still include these suggestions as part of my "Fleshy Features" news series, because I still appreciate the fact that they were suggested.

There's a constant debate in some facets of the community about featuring "popular" artists, or artists who already have many DD's.  Now first off, "popular" can mean different things to different people, and second off, "many DD's" can mean 3, or 10!  Opinions on this subject vary widely even between GM's, who are again free to use their discretion in this area. But here are some of my own thoughts on the subject.

For myself, while certainly I often feature artists who have had DD's before, I also make a concerted effort to balance that with featuring artists who have never had a DD at all.  Deviants are eligible for a DD 90 days after their last one, but I'll rarely feature someone who just had a DD 90 days ago.  There are too many artists on dA for me to want to feature the same person again so soon. And, with artists who have more than even a couple of DD's already, I prefer it to have been a proportionally longer interval since their last one.  

Also, I have not yet myself given two DD's to the same person.  I hope to be a GM for Artistic Nudes for a long while yet, so I can't say that in time I won't find it appropriate to give a second DD to an artist I've personally featured before. But for now, having been a GM for just a few months, I have chosen not to give a second feature to any one deviant.

There are some artists I may never give a DD to myself, and one of the reasons is that they are so popular that more people already see and their work every day than see even a piece featured for a DD by a lesser known artist.  Most artists in this class of popularity already have a number of DD's too.  A DD is a "feature," not an award, so it's not "cheating" that super popular artist out of anything if I don't give them another DD.  It's just that the DD doesn't give them anything they don't already have, and doesn't show their work to any more people than the numbers who are already seeing it!  

These are all generalities, not hard "rules" made by myself or anyone else.  And there are reasons that sometimes I do feature someone who has many DD's or had one just a few months previously.  

For example, there are some artists who develop a style, work in that style, are known for it, and do nothing else.  But, there are some artists who always continue to break new ground in their work.  Regardless of popularity, if an artist makes a leap in growth and development of their style and technique, if they have reinvented themself in comparison to their own past works, that for me becomes a reason to want to feature the new work for a DD, even if they already have several or many.

The next point I will address is the challenge of keeping "balance" in many factors when selecting works to feature for Daily Deviations.
Stay Tuned for Part II!
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A recap of my Daily Deviation Suggestion Guidelines for Artistic Nudes:

**The deviation does not have to be submitted to the AN gallery, but still must meet the criteria of the Photography -> People & Portraits -> Artistic Nude gallery.
**I prefer to feature deviants who have not received a large number of DD features already, but this is a preference not an absolute.
**The deviant may not have received a DD in the last 90 days. How to check any deviant's past DD's
**Please send a note with "DD Suggestion" in the subject line.
**Please include the thumbnail, not just the link to the deviation, in your note.
     FAQ #511: How do I post thumbnails of my art on the Chat Network or Forums?
**Please include a short description of why you feel the piece should be a DD.  If you would not like to be named as the suggester, or have your description used if the piece is featured, please let me know that with your suggestion!
**Please send your suggestion to only one Gallery Moderator.
**I will not respond to every suggestion note, although I keep every suggestion note that I receive.

Suggesting DD's for Dummies
FAQ #61: What is a Daily Deviation?
FAQ #18: Who selects Daily Deviations and how are they chosen?
FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature?