Bugger, looks like I missed making this journal on the 4th, my DA birthday... Reaching double figures on an age line has already been significant to me, I remember when I turned 10 years old, it was an emotional day for me, I was getting old! hah But anyway, 10 years is eons on a site that's only 11-12 years old itself.

I joined this site for the same reason may others do, to showcase my over bloated ego that was depicted in my crappy drawings, but people would comment and encourage and it's probably the reason why I'm still here. I only made the switch to photography about 4 years ago, when I moved to Japan or just before. I used to view the art as a 'lazy' art as all you had to do was click a button, as opposed to craft lines into a drawing.

Pretty amazing how much changes over 10 years. I'll start with DA shall I? below is a screen cap of my page reaching 666 page views in 2004.



That was a time when I was quite into my digital painting, even though I was utterly crap at it. I would make a collage of photos, then use the PS smudge tool to smudge it all together. Yeah... I then started with the paintbrush tool etc. Hang on, I wonder how far back my undeleted deviations go... Awesome, here are my first 4 submissions to DA:-



Well, that's embarrassing... haha

Considering these are counted in the 6 digit codes, and today's submissions are counted in the 9 digit codes, it's definitely a testament to how much DA has changed since I joined. I just wish I had more of a chance to be more a part of the community in these early days, or even now. I do try, it's just my time zone that kind of makes me a bit invisible I feel... I know there are plenty of Australian mods and what not about, but I don't think they sleep hah

I joined DA in 2002, and I lurked the site since it was founded in 2000, so I really discovered the art scene that is DA when I was in year 10, or 16 years old. Back then I had no idea I would be who I am now, at 27. I now have a name made twice as long with post-nominals and I am a Japanese teacher. Something which I utterly hated during primary school, but I really enjoy it, and I'm also trying to make a bit of money with my photography. Back in 2002 I think I wanted to be a programmer, so there you go.

While we are tripping down memory lane, my fortune city site from 2002 is still up showing screenshots of my 3D Unreal Tournament maps I made [link] and compare that with my current portfolio site [link] I think you can see a bit more sophistication in my work I think, even though I'm still very proud of my UT work...

1,234 people watch me now, considering in 2010 I had half that, the last 2 years have been a pretty busy time on DA for me. I like to think that it's because my work has gotten better, but I also feel that due to work I don't get as much time to practise as much :/ as such I've decided this year I'm going to really try and compete in my state's annual photography awards. I have some great ideas lined up, hopefully I can get off my ass and realise them. I've also booked a month in Japan during April again, so look forward to that.

Thanks everyone who has supported me over the years, and hopefully I can continue to enjoy myself on this site for years to come.

~Alshain4 This guy gets it