It happened on a random Monday. August 7, 2000, to be exact. While most people were still obsessing over the Y2K bug that didn't actually break the world, a small group of guys—Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens—decided the internet needed a place to skin Winamp. That’s it. That was the big vision. They didn't set out to build the world’s largest art community. They just wanted a place to share customized skins for a media player.
But honestly, looking back at when was deviantart made, it’s clear the timing was perfect. The dot-com bubble was bursting, yet the creative energy of the web was just starting to boil. People weren't just consuming content anymore; they were making it.
The weird, skin-focused origins of 2000
DeviantArt wasn't even supposed to be "DeviantArt" in the way we think of it now. It was a spin-off of a site called Dmusic. The founders realized that people were making these incredibly cool, neon-soaked graphical interfaces for their software, but there wasn't a central hub to show them off. They called the users "deviants" because they were deviating from the standard look of Windows or Winamp. It sounds a little edgy now, maybe even a bit "cringe" by 2026 standards, but in the year 2000, it was the height of cool.
The site launched with almost no fanfare. It was a scrappy, green-and-black corner of the web.
If you weren't there, it’s hard to describe how slow everything was. You’d click a link, go get a glass of water, and maybe the page would be loaded when you got back. Yet, within months, the site exploded. It wasn't just about skins anymore. Digital painters, photographers, and traditional illustrators started showing up. They saw a platform that actually treated digital files like "art" rather than just data.
The Dmusic connection and the early team
Angelo Sotira was only 19 when the site went live. Think about that. A teenager helped build a platform that would eventually host hundreds of millions of pieces of art. He teamed up with Jarkoff and Stephens to create something that felt more like a community than a gallery. They introduced things like "Daily Deviations," which became the ultimate badge of honor for any digital artist. If you got a DD, your inbox would literally melt from the notifications.
It was chaotic. It was messy. The servers crashed constantly. But it worked because there was nothing else like it.
When was deviantart made and why does that date matter?
The year 2000 is a pivot point in tech history. Before DeviantArt, if you were a digital artist, you were probably posting on obscure message boards or hosting your own GeoCities page that no one ever visited. By launching right at the turn of the millennium, DeviantArt caught the wave of broadband internet entering the home.
- Broadband adoption: People finally had the speed to upload high-res (for the time) JPEGs.
- Photoshop 6.0: Released the same year DeviantArt was made, it brought better layer styles and vector shapes, fueling the digital art boom.
- The lack of social media: There was no Instagram. No Pinterest. No Twitter. If you wanted feedback, you went to DA.
It became the "Face of Art" on the web. The community developed its own slang. You didn't just post art; you "submitted" to "scraps." You had "kiribans." You engaged in "art trades." It was a self-contained ecosystem that functioned entirely on its own logic.
The era of the "Llama" and growing pains
As the years rolled on, the site evolved. By the mid-2000s, it wasn't just a site; it was a culture. You had the rise of "Oily" digital paintings and the explosion of anime-style fan art that would eventually dominate the platform.
But growth brings drama.
Ask anyone who was an active user around 2010 about the "Eclipse" update. It was a total overhaul of the site’s classic green interface, and to say the community hated it would be an understatement. People felt like the "soul" of the site—that clunky, charmingly ugly 2000s aesthetic—was being traded for a sleek, corporate look that looked like every other social media app.
Yet, despite the protests, the site survived. Why? Because the archives are too deep. You can find art on DeviantArt from 2003 that hasn't been posted anywhere else on the internet. It’s a literal library of the digital age's creative evolution.
Ownership shifts: From indie to Wix
In 2017, something happened that no one saw coming in the early days. Wix, the website-building giant, bought DeviantArt for $36 million.
Some thought it was the end. They feared Wix would turn it into a sterile portfolio site. But Wix mostly stayed hands-off, focusing on improving the backend infrastructure while trying to figure out how to monetize the massive amount of traffic. They introduced "Core" memberships and more robust ways for artists to sell prints and commissions.
Then came the AI controversy.
In late 2022, DeviantArt launched "DreamUp," its own AI image generator. The backlash was instantaneous. Artists felt betrayed. The very platform that had championed human creativity for two decades was now integrating the tools that many felt threatened their livelihoods. DA had to pivot quickly, introducing "NoAI" tags to help artists protect their work from being scraped into training models. It was a messy period that showed just how much the landscape had changed since those early Winamp skin days.
Real-world impact of the platform
It's easy to dismiss DA as just a place for fan art, but it has launched actual careers.
- Lois van Baarle (Loish): One of the most famous digital artists in the world basically grew up on DeviantArt. Her style influenced a generation.
- Concept Artists: If you look at the credits for major Marvel movies or AAA games, a huge chunk of those concept artists started by posting their "deviations" in the mid-2000s.
- Community Support: For many LGBTQ+ youth and neurodivergent creators in the early 2000s, DA was the first place they found a supportive community.
Breaking down the timeline
To understand when was deviantart made, you have to look at the milestones that followed that initial August launch.
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- 2000: The site launches on August 7th.
- 2002: The site reaches 100,000 members. Today, that number is over 75 million.
- 2006: DeviantArt finally moves away from being a "beta" site and establishes its "V5" interface.
- 2014: The "muro" drawing tool is integrated, allowing people to paint directly in the browser.
- 2020: The mandatory switch to the Eclipse interface happens, sparking the largest user exodus in the site's history.
The site is a survivor. Think about all the others that died. MySpace is a ghost town. Friendster is gone. Google+ is a memory. Yet, DeviantArt is still here. It’s the "Old Man" of the creative web.
Is it still relevant in 2026?
Honestly, the answer is complicated.
The site isn't the "only game in town" anymore. ArtStation has taken over the professional portfolio space. Instagram and Twitter (X) handle the quick social engagement. But DeviantArt still holds the title for being a true "community." It’s where you go to get lost in folders of character designs or find that one specific tutorial on how to draw hands that was written in 2008 and is still better than anything on YouTube.
The site has struggled with the AI transition, and the bot problem is real. You'll often see the front page flooded with AI-generated content, which frustrates the "old guard" who remember the days when every pixel was hand-placed.
But if you’re looking for a historical record of how humans learned to paint with pixels, there is no better place on earth.
Actionable steps for creators today
If you're thinking about jumping back into the community or starting fresh, here’s how to navigate the modern version of the site that was made all those years ago:
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- Protect your work: Immediately go into your settings and enable the "NoAI" tags for your entire gallery. This won't stop every scraper, but it's the first line of defense the platform provides.
- Utilize the Groups: DeviantArt’s "Groups" feature is still one of the best ways to get your art seen by specific niches. Don't just post to your main gallery; find active groups that cater to your specific style.
- Check the archives: Use the search filters to look for art made between 2000 and 2010. It’s a masterclass in early digital techniques and can give you a fresh perspective that the current "algorithm-friendly" art lacks.
- Engage with the "Daily Deviations": Even if you aren't the one featured, looking at what is being picked by human curators (the Volunteers) is a great way to discover high-quality artists who aren't just chasing trends.
DeviantArt remains a strange, beautiful, and sometimes frustrating monument to the internet's creative spirit. It started as a place for skins and became a home for souls. Whether you love the new direction or miss the old green layout, the fact remains: on August 7, 2000, the internet changed for artists forever.