Community Spotlight is a regular feature which highlights and celebrates amazing fan projects in the Remedy community. In 2018 we switched things up a little with each month having its own spotlighted fan and fan project. This year we're continuing the tradition, and today I'm excited to talk about the anniversary of a lovely community project.
Last year we posted about a wonderful new DeviantArt group created by long-time Remedy fan and artist, Katerina. The group is called Remedy Entertainment, and it's a community-driven project with the aim of connecting artists and showcasing the fandom's artwork. Today the project marks its first anniversary, so I wanted to write a little today about why I'm so much in love with this project.
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| Featured artist: Emme-Gray, artist and cosplayer! |
Katerina is a familiar name in the Remedy community; an active artist in the community, a wonderful friend to a lot of people in the fandom, a regular member of the various Discord servers, and a lot more. For the past year, she has been the admin to a wonderful DeviantArt group, which collects Remedy artwork from international talent spanning across the studio's entire history. In its collections are collaborations, crossovers, cosplays, milestone celebrations, sketches, traditional art, digital art, the list goes on!
As the site originally launched back in 2000, understandably not all of the artists have remained on the site; some have gone to other channels such as Twitter, Tumblr, Art Station, or created their own website to display their portfolio. Each piece that gets added to the group has to be approved by both the group's admin and the original artist, and sometimes the original artist just won't see the request if they're inactive. In those situations, Katerina has the "Favourites" tab, a page dedicated to artwork that has been liked but isn't an official part of the group. Works under this tab can still be enjoyed and celebrated by a new audience and the group members.
New artists are always welcomed in the group, but even if you don't create any art yourself, there's still lots to explore and to become a member. I seriously love it! Check out the group HERE!
For the milestone, Katerina very kindly spoke to us about setting up the group:
What motivated you to create a DeviantArt group for artists in the Remedy community?
First of all, I wanted to find a place to collect almost all of the fanworks related to the Remedy games. Yes, I may be missing something while searching for arts, but still. I like things being organised - or at least, I know where to search for them. And there weren't really any groups related to Remedy in general! There are groups on Max Payne, Alan Wake and Poets of the Fall, but, for example, there is nothing on Quantum Break.
People prefer thinking that Tumblr is more popular for artists than DeviantArt but I like dA more for its system of 'storing' the arts so I know what and where I can find something and keep it safe, to come back for it later. And this is why one day I wished to create that group. For it to be a place for every Remedy fanwork. For me to keep them. AND for the others to find them as well.
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| In addition to running the DeviantArt group, Katerina is also an amazing artist! |
The group is updated regularly with amazing new pieces, but how long did it take you to initially set up the community hub?
I've never thought about it actually, haha. I've been adding things gradually. And I think updating the group is very far from being regular. It mostly depends not on me but on the people whose work I would like to add - if they haven't done it by themselves.
Something which I really love about the group you created is that you celebrate artwork regardless of if it was created yesterday or years ago. There are some individuals who have created amazing work but are not as active on DeviantArt much anymore, but their work is still celebrated in the “Favourites” tab. Was this something that was decided on when you started or something that came in gradually as you built the project?
Speaking of that - this is pretty upsetting seeing some members gone from dA or moved on another page or simply inactive. That means that I cannot get their permission in adding their work(s) into the group. You do not need that for the Favourites folders. This is truly the advantage. Because, in fact, there are lots of beautiful works that are still worth to be shown. In the end, no matter if the creator is alive or not (and no matter how tough it may sound), but their creations must live so this all is not in vain. And I am exactly the one who doesn't want such works to be lost in the web.
Were there any specific artists who you discovered for the first time while scouring the Deviant Art database that really stood out for you?
I've known the most of 'resident' Remedy fanartists before. But yes, there were lots of artists new to me. Most of them, though, have only 1-2 works on Remedy. However I've talked to LanaVdV and caboosemcgrief, for example, and their works, even old ones, are very nice. Plus, I would love to mention Aleoo-Whiter in a special way. She is, too, inactive now in dA and I am so thankful for her to coming back for me to let her works be in our group 'officially'.
Thank you for talking to us, Katerina!
You can follow her work on Twitter or her personal DeviantArt page. If you're interested in joining her Remedy Entertainment art group, click HERE!
