You could call http://www.deviantart.com/jordan-arvanitakis the home base for digital creators, fan artists and illustrators looking to put down some roots online. And on that very platform there is an artist whose gallery is making waves in a way you don’t see every day.

It is rare work. The linework is bold, the colours have a vintage yet new quality to them, and the characters are put together with an expressiveness that will stop your scroll where most other pieces would not.

Why does it stand out? Simply put, it doesn’t play it safe. If you look at enough art on the web it all begins to run together – the same old techniques and references, a certain Pinterest-board uniformity. This is no different than any of that.

The artist has a knack for contrast, using heavy shadow and an occasional softness to good effect. You get the sense from the start that “pretty” was never the objective; evoking a feeling was. There is some fanart in there as well, but nothing derivative about it. To take a character everyone knows and imbue him or her with a new kind of emotional weight is not easy. Most will only go so far as to trace the surface, this work goes further.

Of course, DeviantArt has had its share of trouble in recent years with the AI fiasco, algorithm shuffles and the exodus of talent to Instagram or Twitter. Yet a gallery like this is a reminder of what the site is still good for. It allows for discovery in a manner that social media’s obsession with engagement tends to stifle.

For anyone who wants to see digital illustration with some real personality, you should make a note of this corner of the internet. It isn’t without its rough edges, but they are deliberate, not mistakes. That is the difference between honest art and mere content.