Hi,
my name is akovia and I've been a long time lurker on these forums before I finally joined in January of 2013. This site has become my favorite gimp resource, though I also frequent the gimp-users mailing list. I have been using gimp for well over a decade, but not very seriously until I joined fanart.tv. Fanart.tv is a non-profit, community driven website that provides moderated fanart to be used in media centers or any other purpose. The goal of the site is to offer only the best images that have been scrutinized by moderators for mistakes and compliance to the rules. We host over 200,000 images as of this month.

I joined the site and started contributing after installing XBMC and realized that there were a lot of holes in the database for anime shows and movies. When I first started submitting my art, it soon became clear that my gimp skills left a lot to be desired. Long story short, I put my nose to the grindstone and learned what I needed to be able to have my submitted art approved. I have since become an admin on the site and am now responsible for guiding the site into the future.

One of the biggest joys of being an admin on the site is helping people to hone their skills so that their artwork will be approved. In a sense, the site is as much involved in teaching graphics editing as it is in hosting media images. Another joy is that more and more people are using gimp now since I started a complete video tutorial series on how to create fanart for our site. No Photoshop artists have stepped up in the same capacity and we only have a few scattered tutorials to help the fledgling Photoshop user. (Which is fine by me )

In an effort to spread the joy I've experienced in helping others, I wanted to see if there were any other like-minded people around that would be interested in doing the same. Also, if not interested in becoming a moderator, we have a request system on the site for the people that just don't have the skills to do the art themselves. Though we have a couple of dedicated people on the site that help fulfill these requests, we can always use more.

So if you are a skilled gimp user and enjoy spreading your knowledge to up and comers, or if you are just bored and looking for ways to hone your skills, I urge you to contact me for more information. I can't say that it is always rainbows and puppy dog tails as we are dealing with the general public and you will always have the small few that will never "get it", but by and large, I find it to be extremely rewarding.

I wouldn't be able to do the job I do without the help I've received on these forums. I am by no means a gimp guru, but with this community at hand, it can feel that way sometimes. Thank you are for this great resource and friendly atmosphere you've provided here.

Cheers,
akovia

Looks very nice akovia, I know we have a lot of very skilled and talented people right here on this forum.

Feel free to give me a shout. I don't guarantee I'll always be around, but I might be able to help in specific situations.