Welcome to Amazing Emoticonists & More. This is the 34th installment of the mostly-weekly feature dedicated to showcasing the emoticon creations of up-and-coming and veteran emoticonists. Be sure to check out the rest of their galleries for other amazing works. This article also features projects, contests, groups, and more, in the hopes of exposing them to new deviants and those not familiar with the emoticon community.

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Lesser-Known Emoticonists

~Beaken


I am a huge fan of fan-art emotes and this one is great. Readily recognizable and lovely white shading.





*OrionSTARB0Y


What I love even more than fan-art emotes are superhero fan-art emotes.  This Captain America is great. Love the shield.





~JediSandwich


An absolutely adorable green emote with a well-pixelled shamrock.  Lovely work.



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More Well-Known Emoticonists

~criz


A punny take on the classic song.  Awesome pixelling and animation. A fun piece.





`livius


Probably one of the most controversial emotes ever made, it remains a true classic. Fun take on ~fool's work.

  

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Emoticon Fun - Guess the Style

A bandwagon swept through the emoticon community recently where artists questioned if their styles were unique or like another emoticonist.  To that end, below are a variety of basic emoticons done by various artist.  Can you guess who they are by their shading and/or style?

     

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Three 2-Minute Interview

<sub>The Unknown Emoticonists feature was created to showcase the works of lesser-known artists in the community. The hope was to give these up-and-coming emoticonists some additional exposure.  In that spirit, each issue will present a mini-interview with an active emoticonist who has been previously featured in this series. Short and sweet, we hope these Q&As will help you learn more about this artist.

Each interview consistents of 4 standard questions and 1 random question that varies from article to article.</sub>

~litecrush

How long have you been emoting and how did you get into it?

I've been emoting since September 2nd, 2009! Though I haven't consistently been making them from that point onward. XD I did leave dA for a while (which I regret), but I did come back and that was when I immediately started emoting again. C:

I got into emoting because I loved emotes so much! The animation and pixel-ing from some of the artists I found here on dA were (and are) truly amazing! I kept roaming the site and I just was compelled to find out how to make these awesome things and so I did! XD From the very beginning I was inspired by *MixedMilkChOcOlate, ~MenInASuitcase, ~SmilingMuffin, ~KimRaiFan, and `Synfull! They are truly awesome deviants!!


What programs do you use to create emotes and why?

I use GNU Image Manipulation Program (also known as GIMP). I use it because it is simple and it gets the job done. It took me so long to get used to it but now it is a cinch! Though, I'm now trying to switch over to Photoshop. C:


Describe your emoting style in five words.

Adorable, Shiny, Lovable, Small (for the most part), and Detailed.


Pick your top 3 favorite emote from your gallery and tell us why.

At the moment I am most proud of these three deviations:


I chose this one because I was so ecstatic with the way my transitioning worked out! When I made this, it was a leap of faith and I believe that I pulled it off beautifully!!



My "Mirror Mirror on the wall..." was my first and so far only deviation to receive a DailyDeviation. The end result is practically everything I imagined it to be from the beginning. I never expected a DD to come my way! I was in awe!! I was really feeling bad at that point and it really lifted up my spirits to continue on emoting!!! Thank you again, `Krissi001, `Synfull, and ~yarjor!!



This deviation is the one I spent the most time on above everything else in my gallery. I made around the time when I told myself that I needed a Premium Membership and that I'd win one no matter what it took. XD It was silly. This deviation also was my first major animation. I'm proud of it even though I didn't win the #EmoticonOpus contest I entered it in. I loved the outcome all the same!


Random Question: Who was the most recent emoticonist you added to your devWatch and what led you to watch them.

The last emoticonist I watched was ~Sinister-Starfeesh When I joined dA in 2009 I remember seeing her name around and I never really pursued her profile to even see what she was like. I regret it. She seems really cool. I wish I could have gotten to know her before she went MIA. :c Her pixel art is really awesome and she seems to have been really well know in the community. I hope some day she returns to dA.

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Emoticon News

As many of you know, this feature was on a mini-hiatus as I sorted some things out with my life, art, and scheduling.  The format you see now is the new layout for the article.  I will be featuring 5 artists per issue, plus rotating group/project mini-features, games and fun, news, as well as having a 2-minute interview in every issue.  The article will remain on a 3 weeks on, 1 week off posting. I hope you like it.

If you have an emoticon themed contest, project, or something else emoticon related to pimp, drop me a note and I'll add it to this section. This includes general contests and projects that allow emoticons as entries.



--- > so that others can discover these awesome emoticonists.

_{Past Installments}

Volume 22 [link] - Volume 23 [link]
Volume 24 [link] - Volume 25 [link]
Volume 26 [link] - Volume 27 [link]
Volume 28 [link] - Volume 29 [link]
Volume 30 [link] - Volume 31 [link]
Volume 32 [link] - Volume 33 [link]

For a full listing of past articles, see this journal ---> [link]