What is it all about?

Steemit is an amazing community with loads of potential. I am ablaze with excitement when I think of all the great things that are happening and soon to happen around here. So what is it all about? We have Content Creators and Curators, but what is really going on around here? Creating and assessing value. As Content Creators we should be sharing something of value with the community. As Curators we should be determining and spreading value. An up-vote is a declaration that this post has value to the members of this community.

How Can I Add Value?

I am still learning all of the ways that I can contribute around here and add value to the community. I just recently got involved in a few discord servers, and just a few days ago I made my first purchase of Steem. So in short, I feel I am just now getting started. When I started writing and sharing here on Steemit my posts would only get a few pennies unless somebody with a following re-steemed them. These re-steems were essential to any success that I have had here so far, but it didn't dawn on me until recently that I actually had a big enough following to do the same for others now. My up-vote is only worth between 6-11 cents at the moment, but with my following, my re-steem is worth much more to my fellow Steemians. So I am going to keep on the lookout for more great artists here on Steemit trying to get started, and give them the boost that helped me so much in the beginning. My new goal is to have at least 2 re-steems per week to spread the love around. Another thing I have started doing to give back is donating between 1-5 SBD to brand new steemians that I feel will do well here, as a sort of welcome to the neighborhood gift basket. With continued success I would like to branch out and donate more to keep those minnows swimming. It is something I wish I could do everyday, but haven't reached a point where I have enough SBD coming in to spread around.

Art Giveaway

I am blown away by the support here. I have been on Steemit for 5 months now and only really active for probably half of that time, and still I have managed to reach 500 followers. Thank you all so much for your support, direction, and friendships. To show my appreciation I am going to do another art giveaway. I will draw an 8" x 10" portrait of the winner's choosing. This is something I normally charge between $100-$300 for. So now you might be wondering, "What do I have to do to enter?" It is simple. All you have to do is be one of my followers, and resteem this post, up-votes would be nice to cover shipping costs especially if it is international, but are not a requirement for the contest. Next Friday I will pull a name out of all followers that have re-steemed this post. In case you aren't familiar with my work, here are some examples of small portrait drawings I have done.