It's a valid question. Many of us who have been at Rotica a while take the presence of the Premier Gallery for granted, whether we belong to it or not. But what about those of us who are new to the site? There are already a number of fine artists in the Main Gallery. What's the big deal?

Well, first let's start with who is in the Premier Gallery. Not just anyone can post there. Though a member can always request that they be added to the list of artists who post in Premier, there is no guarantee that they will receive the distinction of being made a Premier Artist. Premier is where only our best artists post, who have distinctive artistic styles and skills that set them apart from the other artists who regularly post at the site. In other words, if the Main Gallery is like an audition, then Premier would be the Broadway Show.

Now, even the best painter is only as good as the tools that they have to use, and so it is with Premier. While all of the other galleries are limited to an upload size of 512KB, a Premier artist may create works of up to 1 full megabyte in size. This allows Premier artists to utilize the full range of their ability, adding in detail and complexity that would otherwise be too large to post.

So what is the Premier Gallery? It is a collection of the best work created by the finest artists that we can offer to you, our membership. A collection that is always changing, always improving, never satisfied with merely "good enough." It's the best of our best!

The criteria we use are totally subjective, and the selection process will continue to be subjective. However, that does not mean you can buy your way in or get in because you are our friend. This is business. And you can share in the profits if your work meets our criteria. Some of the factors that we take into account are:

1. Quality of images
2. Number and nature of comments
3. A personal style
4. Number of hits
5. Being a good member of the community
6. Number of images

No strictly mechanical nor mathematical system was employed nor will be employed in making our selections. Our intent is to have a wide variety of styles, genres, sexual orientations and mediums in Premier. It matters not if we personally like your style. We're looking for things we think our members will like and will pay to see.

So, if you want to be a Premier artist, consider your images to be your portfolio. We have and will continue to seek outstanding talent for the Premier gallery both from within this site and outside of it.

You are also free to point out yourself or another artist to the management as possible contenders. There's a tremendous amount of art to go through on this site and we are only human (hint, good thumbnails help). Extra eyes are helpful.

50% of the money goes to support the Premier artists. It is split among them in a fair fashion.

The other 50% goes to the site to help keep the free galleries and other free services open.