I haven't been on DA all that much lately due to work commitments, but it seems like every time I log on here people are bitching about this, bitching about that.

Look, at the end of the day, this site provides a service. You can choose to pay for it, or you can choose to not pay for it. It works either way. If you really don't like it, not only should you not pay for it, but don't use it. No one is forcing you to.

It seems like a lot of people seem to think that being a member of this site gives them ownership of it. It doesn't. Be grateful it exists. Be happy that it is (now) profitable. For a long time it wasn't. The people who work on it deserve to make some money - they work hard.

If you don't agree with any of this, I think you're lacking in perspective. There's nothing keeping you here if you don't want to be. I think DA does a great job of listening to a vast community and trying to make changes to please it's members. It can't be incredibly dynamic and flexible to accomodate every whim within a week of it being mentioned any more - it's too big a beast now. Things take longer. Have a modicum of patience.

All that negativity man... it's a drag. Find something else to occupy your time.

New Chapter is live! 80+ pieces of brand new, never before seen art.

To read more on the topic, check out the official press release here.

Four pieces total from me, including two solo and one collab. I'll post them all here over the next week or so.

What are your favourite pieces?!

Busy with client work, Depthcore etc.

Tell me a joke.

I really need to get some CSS added to this journal, this plain green is getting embarrassing!

Lots of news over on Depthcore - we are having our first exhibition tomorrow night, which is promising to be one hell of a party! We managed to rope Pabst, Sailor Jerry and Red Bull in to stocking the fridges, and will be having all 70 pieces from OBSOLETE up for sale, with all profits going to Stoked NYC.

I've been flat out with work (damned NDA's keep me from discussing the fun stuff!), but still keeping the pages of DC stocked with fresh content, including this >step by step workshop of how my DC submission "Harvest" came to life. There's new content every day, and by the looks of things, many of your are stopping by every morning. What content are you most interested in? What else can we provide to keep you coming back for more?

Big folio update coming from me as soon as I get clearances from clients, including new work for Nike, Coke, Bliss N Eso, Martini, Young & Reckless and more, so stay tuned - there's going to be a barrage in your message center once that gets going!

Mean time, your feedback on DC is much appreciated - let me know what you want more of! Wallpapers? Workshops? Videos of my hair (since shorn and donated to Locks for Love)? Let me know!

I've been spending more time these last few days editing and curating content on the new Depthcore website than I have making art.

It's a hell of a lot of fun! I wish I could do it as my full time job!

Have a look through the content there. What's your favourite type of thing? What should we do more of? Your input is appreciated - don't be shy!

From the official press release...

'OBSOLETE'. A perfect Chapter theme across many fronts. On the most obvious level, it is a dense subject, open to artistic interpretation in many ways. Our members used the Chapter as a platform to examine the chronological relevancy of topics ranging from the environment to humanity to technology, and made artwork across a timeline encompassing past, future and present to show the effects of decay and progress of the relationship between these prime entities. It's release coincides with our first major presentation at OFFF 2011, a festival coincidentally entitled 'Year Zero' that concerned itself with forgetting an obsolete past, in order to forge a new future. 'OBSOLETE' also marks our 42nd Chapter, and with it the end of the web medium having a stranglehold on our exhibitions, as we partner with deviantART to produce our first commercial publications.

Many of our members view this Chapter as our strongest, and I can see why. Our artists seem energized by this theme, ready to offer their own personal interpretation of the disposable objects and connections we have with the world around us, and a technological future that seems poised to surpass our mortal capabilities far sooner than anticipated.

It is fitting that the first two submissions to roll in for this Chapter would belong to our featured artist, Niklas Lundberg. His "Scattered Time" series set the bar for this chapter, both in terms of conceptual brilliance and elegance of execution. His three pieces epitomise this Chapter, and the influence they had on our collective creative process can not be understated; the only surprising thing about his selection as our first featured artist for this exhibition is that he has not been featured before.

We welcome several new members to the collective this Chapter; Matt W. Moore brings his vectorfunk talent to Depthcore after accepting a long overdue invitation. Speaking of overdue invitations, Joshua Smith, aka Hydro74, graces OBSOLETE with two examples of his amazingly intricate work, and gives many of us the chance to know and work alongside someone who has served as a tremendous inspiration over the years. We were also graced by very strong debut pieces from recent invitees Daniel Diggle, Lucas de Alcântar, James Merill and Erik Schumacher, who have combined to bring wonderful new energy and some strong aesthetics variation to our collective.

This week marks nine years since Depthcore released it's first Chapter; 42 exhibitions and nearly 5000 pieces later, we are working hard to come to transcend the new reality we exist in as a collective; no longer a group of adolescent enthusiasts, we are striving to retain our relevance within the context of an art collective as an assembly of full time creative professionals. The aforementioned book project and partnership with deviantART has us all tremendously excited, and we look forward to providing updates on it over the coming weeks. We are similarly excited about our forthcoming exhibitions, as we aim to exhibit physically with the release of every Chapter henceforth.

However, it is probably in our new web format that we take the greatest steps away from obsolescence. No longer will there be months of static inactivity between Chapters; our new format will see us provide and produce large amounts of updates and rich content on a daily basis, including interviews, articles, workshop examinations and graphic downloads that will show off the great talent of our members, as well as the intricate process and tremendous amount of effort that go in to building our Chapters and also sustaining our collective creative lifestyle.

We will further utilize this format to its potential, by syncing with other projects produced and curated within our creative family, and broadcasting content including articles from Pig Bimpin', artwork from Typcut, and products from Funkrush. These articles, in conjunction with regular updates from our artists on personal and commercial projects, as well the aforementioned rich content series will hopefully provide many of you a valuable and inspirational daily insight - all updates will be broadcast on our Twitter account, so now is a great time to follow if you haven't already. A tremendous thanks must go out to our development team; Karan Singh, Ravi Vasavan and Brian Smith for their tireless work - I would hope the result speaks for itself!

Enough words for now. There will be many more to come now with our dynamic new platform. Enjoy the Chapter, enjoy the new site design, enjoy the new content. Send us your thoughts and suggestions, we'd love to hear from you!

Justin Maller
Creative Director
The Depthcore Collective

It has been ten years today since I joined deviantART.

Ten years.

I was finishing my last year in high school when I stumbled across this place. I had long stupid hair. I liked acting, theatre, writing, books. I went to a school for gifted kiddies destined to become doctors and business executives, but took classes in humanities. I had no idea what the future would hold, or how I was going to turn any of my interests in to a job, or a career. I was just getting in to digital art, making silly photoshop filter pieces over the top of scanned photos of friends. I actually originally started out making awful websites, but decided I needed bigger canvases to try out my new Flaming Pear and Eyecandy plug ins.

I started looking in to the medium more, searching for more effects, and then for what could be done with them. I found Misery (now Deaddreamer), found Jake and George at Endeffect. Reading through the FAQ on EE, I saw one of them write that whilst they were too busy to teach, people who wanted to get better should join deviantART or something. I clicked the link, and signed up.

I had no idea what a profound impact it would have on my life. I don't think very many people can identify a single moment in time when their life's course was irreversibly altered. I can. On a cold Melbourne night in June, in my bedroom in my parents house, when I was 17 years old with no idea what the future would hold for me, I joined this website. In one way or another it has shaped and defined my life ever since.

On this site, I discovered and nurtured my passion for visual arts. I came across people who could make art I couldn't believe, things I had to try.

I encountered art collectives for the first time, a concept which utterly intrigued me. So much so, that after being knocked back from two of them (Breed and Raster to be specific), I started my own, a year after discovering DA. I invited a dozen different guys I had bumped in to here to join, and we put out our first pack. Just the twelve of us, around thirty pieces in total. We proudly released the new site, and paraded our work around here...

And on it goes. Alas, too much has happened to relate it all in one journal, and I don't suppose too many of you even care. In short, it is through this place that I came to create the passions and endeavours that, in part, define who I am now.

It's been ten years since then. Now, I am a professional digital artist. I live in New York. I run one of the largest art collective's in the world, and am hip deep in plans and schemes to transform and build it in to my life's work. I never doubt where I am in life, and I never doubt where I am going. I owe that security to deviantART, and the path it set me on.

I still have long stupid hair.

Ten years. Doesn't it go by in a blink.

I remember when deviantART didn't even have favs.

I remember when deviantART had a GRADING system for every piece.

I remember when I wasn't the only + on the site.


You go!

From the news article...



The Depthcore Collective is proud to release it's 41st themed chapter exhibition, "MIRROR".

This chapter features over seventy carefully considered and meticulously executed pieces produced by a diverse selection of members from the collective. The submissions, as varied in content as they are in style, revolve around central themes of introspection, self reflection and contemplation of man and his environment, and are spread across several mediums, including music, photography, illustration and digital painting.

The Chapter sees several debut pieces, including first offerings from new artists Sougwen Chung and Tony Rivera, as well as a couple of homecoming pieces from long time members Heiko Klug and James Wignall. It is no stretch to say that the gamut of style run in this chapter is one of our broadest and most eclectic to date, and this is reflected in the unusual congregation of new and old blood from the membership taking part in the Chapter production.

Our featured artist this Chapter is long time staple Karan Singh, who has produced a wonderful series of pieces for this collection. His contributions over the years have effected every aspect of collective life, and his feature is as well deserved as it is overdue - he even came up with the title for this particular theme! We'll be releasing a wide variety of featured content to highlight this achievement over the coming weeks - in addition to the customary interview, we'll be hosting a uStream chat, and looking in to having a live drawing session broadcast from the site as well - please stay tuned to our official Twitter stream for updates about this!

Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy our latest Chapter.


Justin Maller
The Depthcore Collective

Been in NYC for a year now. The time has flown, but by the same token, I remember life beforehand only dimly; it is just a memory.

Will be nice to see my family and friends again (as well as to avoid NYC winter), but am leaving a pretty big and important piece of myself here.

New art will come very soon. I think I have around six new pieces to share, including a couple of my best landscape style things to date. So yeah. That will be fun.

Will be trying to immerse myself in work once I hit Melbourne again; if anyone has a fun project to discuss, please hit me up (I mean freelance projects, not art collabos - have them coming out my ears already!)

Love,

Justin

Sorry for radio silence on my end. Had a couple of client jobs on, and have just been trying to pull my head in a little from the vortex that is community and social media sites and focus on actually creating things.

I was starting to feel like a better blogger than artist, so it was definitely time.

Will be publishing a bunch of work over the next few days, and maybe hosting another stream, so feel free to throw some questions you'd like to see me answer in here.

Looking forward to the usual autumn freelance madness to begin! What have you guys been working on?

Hey gang!



I'll be doing a live chat tomorrow at 2pm EST as part of '4 Hours of Power' - four hours of live chat with myself, James White, Nick Campbell and Fabio Sasso. I'll be the first one up to chat; I'm totally excited!

I'm going to take questions live during the chat (via Ustream and also Twitter), but you can feel free to ask anything you'd like me to answer here in this journal - possibly helpful for those who can't make it to the live chat but would like to see their question answered in the replay (the chat is recorded and you can definitely catch it after the fact!)

These can be questions about anything:

- Art!
- Making art!
- Art collectives!
- Freelance art careers!
- Cooking tips!
- Personal advice!

So please feel free to hit me up on here, and I hope to see you all tomorrow!

Twitter: [link]
Tumblr; [link]

Hi there,

I sent this out to people who subscribed to my newsletter. You guys didn't, but whatever. I thought I would send out a brief note to say hello and update you on goings on.

I have updated my folio with a couple of major campaigns I completed earlier this year, as well as several personal pieces. It can all be viewed at [link] - I have a couple of large and fun campaigns on the go at the moment (including some super fun Nike stuff), but unfortunately, they probably won't see the light of day until early next year at earliest - drat!

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this release. I've been doing my best to be active lately, and have been both tweeting and blogging regularly, in addition to commencing the hosting of a weekly UStream chat - if you ever harboured any secret desires to hear my dulcet Australian tones respond to random questions from an audience, your prayers have bizarrely come true! Show time is at 4PM ET on Thursdays - I will give warnings via twitter.

Twitter: [link]
Tumblr; [link]

That's all from me here in Brooklyn, hope all is well wherever you are.

Until next time,


Justin M. Maller
Art Director & Illustrator
www.justinmaller.com

I'm going to be flying out to LA to help +spyed and the crew celebrate this wonderful site's tenth birthday. I'm stoked, it should be a wonderful event, hope to see many of you there!

I can't even fathom how different my life would be had I not found this site. Finding this site is unquestionably the first stone in the path that led towards me being an illustrator - it set in motion everything that constitutes the life I have and the career path I'm following. Who knows what would have happened had I not stumbled upon these familiar green pages one night late in June 2001. Nine years later, I'm still eternally glad `precurser had the link here in his endeffect.com FAQ (and awed by the immensity of the weight of my decision to click on it)!



On an unrelated note, I've created a case study for my new piece 'URSUS' - feel free to take a peek and watch how it evolved to be!

The Depthcore Collective is proud to releases it's 40th themed chapter exhibition, 'MYTHIC'.


One of our most thematic relevant Chapters ever, 'MYTHIC' is the result of five months of careful planning, research and stylistic experimentation from the collective. The slow creative process has resulted in a Chapter that has been meticulously crafted, workshopped from sketches through to completed pieces, thoroughly taking advantage of the collaborative collective experience. Several of the pieces presented in this collection were composed over the course of several months, taking on board feedback from our artist base at each stage of completion to try and fully realize their full potential, and ultimately create a Chapter that is carefully considered, conceptualized and executed.


This chapter features several stunning contributions from the wonderfully talented Raphael Vincenzi, earning him the Featured Artist nod for this collection; click here to peruse the traditional interview. This Chapter is also notable for the abundance of it's collaborations, including several pairings never before seen - make sure to explore thoroughly to discover these unusual visual experiments.

  
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for some extra content releases from the collective, including some video interviews, live chats with various DC artists, a couple of fun community competitions as well as artist process walkthroughs! Follow us on Twitter for updates and announcements – we're going to make the wait for the next chapter a little more fun this time!


Enjoy ''MYTHIC' – we look forward to hearing your thoughts!. Please also check out our Depthcore DeviantART account!





Justin Maller

Creative Director

The Depthcore Collective

Fourth (maybe fifth, I'm too lazy to check) installment of the album recommendation journal series. These usually turn out to be real cool discussions, so please get involved! Thanks for game recommends last journal; I'm going with Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2 - got a nice little list of back ups after that too, thanks for all your thoughts!

Anyway, on to music.

My top albums of the last month or so:

1) Big L - The Big Picture: Sweet old school hip hop. Nice beats, awesome lyricist. Can't believe it took me this long to find this guy.
2) The Roots - How I Got Over: Just an amazing album beginning to end. Soul, hip-hop - just a great vibe.
3) The Black Keys - Brothers: Bluesy new soul stuff. Brilliant lyrics and tight as hell music. Good fun.

Let me know what you have in your rotation!

Also, I just signed up for last.fm, so please feel free to add me. I deleted facebook a couple months ago, so get on the twitter train - I'm updating it and also my tumblr quite a lot each day, so if you're on either, hit me up! I post a lot of stuff I find during the day and ramble a little about the projects I'm on about. I also take questions on formspring from time to time, so feel free to ask away fi there's anything you're curious about.

Now, albums! Recommend em!

Made it eight months in America without a console, finally caved and bought a 360.

Was in the Best Buy and had to decide between a PS3 and a 360 - ultimately went for the 360 because I feel it does wireless controllers more gracefully than the PS3.

I bought Halo 3 and FF XIII; at home I have heaps of Lego games, GTA, NBA, Guitar Heroes etc. so I thought I'd try a new vein.

Care to recommend me a game? I'd appreciate it if you could give me a write up of why you like whatever it is you're recommending.