/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>6695470
• progress videos.
• questions. "hair style A or B?"

>>6695470
Ask yourself this: if you were getting interactions with your posts like funny normcore movie reacting gifs and facebook memes to tweens spamming emojis on your post, would you actually engage on the same energy as them? If the answer is yes, do your posts give off that energy? If no and all you do is post the image with 1 word or 1 sentence, why do you expect a large engagement beyond "cute" or "I like this"?

>>6695470
As someone who has remade my presence from scratch three times with 0 connections to help, you need to draw things that are both extremely easy to find and people want to retweet.
I chose popular ships with active fandoms (this part is very important, lots of popular things don't have greatly active fandoms). This is because shippers will always check their ship's tag regularly and will always retweet art of their ship. Shippers always follow each other and it will spread in their circles easily.
Another option is fanart of vtubers or smaller internet creators who will retweet your work (this won't work if you are very transparently looking for retweets, the shipping option is a lot easier).
The second thing is to be consistent. The above is merely a springboard to get the initial attention. You can't draw 1 random shipping pic and expect to carry that momentum with random unrelated shit after. People will only follow you for that specific fandom, so you need to center your account around that until you build up a few thousand followers.
The last thing obviously is to be good at drawing, so the above won't work unless you are actually good.
There is probably a more optimal way to do this but this has worked for me several times.

This is also dependent on the platform you are posting on, for example the strats on twitter vs tiktok are very different, so that's something to keep in mind.

>>6695476
I often share a bit more like my inspiration, thought process, or goal. I worry that my skills are shit but I’ve seen people with worse art stills gain more engagement.

>>6695489
> This is also dependent on the platform you are posting on, for example the strats on twitter vs tiktok are very different, so that's something to keep in mind.
What’s the difference?
I noticed with twitter I only got engagement when I posted some quick and dirty fanart of a relatively inactive game.
For tiktok and insta I made a reel that took a bit of effort but didn’t get much likes, actually on insta I only got 1 like and it was from an irl friend.

>>6695490
That's because those people post very regularly and network well so the algorithm favors them. Being good at drawing is only a part of building a following online. No one will follow/like/comment on art they can't find or isn't pushed in to their feed.

>>6695491
>I noticed with twitter I only got engagement when I posted some quick and dirty fanart of a relatively inactive game.
How much engagement are we talking here? 30 likes? 200? The first picture I uploaded while doing this got about 2k. You can build up to that if you were to post in an active fandom. You should research ones you like and could see yourself making regular content for.
>For tiktok and insta I made a reel that took a bit of effort but didn’t get much likes, actually on insta I only got 1 like and it was from an irl friend.
Instagram is terrible for new accounts and it's much harder to build a following ever since they removed the ability to search by newest in hashtags. Unlike twitter they also prioritize video. To make it in to their algorithms you are reliant on other accounts sharing your art to their stories, so networking with big accounts is incredibly important as well as being active and posting every 2-3 days at minimum.
What was the reel about? As I said, if it's not for anything active then you are shoving content at people who aren't looking for it.

>>6695501
The reel was basically a process video with me commenting on it via text to speech. The comments weren’t educational but a bit funny/cringe.

I got 32 likes wtf, it’s just a random sketch.
I did another fanart piece, a lot more high effort but it only got 3 likes. It was for the same fandom

>>6695470
Would you recommend Pinterest to get attention

>>6695512
Yeah, that always happens with sketches lel. It can be puzzling.
I had the same experience before I figured this out. I couldn't understand why my art wasn't picking up. The truth is most people don't look for random art in fandoms and unless its outstanding then it'll go nowhere. Just drawing a random character from a series just usually doesn't do well if you have a low follower count. Shippers are really reliable and will share your art even if it's not very good because they want to rep their ship. I suggest posting minimum 3 times a week for a few weeks. The algorithm will start to prioritize you and you will notice a difference. If you don't then sadly it is almost impossible to build a following.

If I'm in mood for finding new art and artists, I search actual art sites for my kink or fav characters and make it show the latest art of those tags. Those sites are much better compared for example to Twitter that only shows what algorithm wants to show you.

Same goes for my own art. I get lot more traction in Pixiv and DA than I get in Twitter or Instagram. Because the people sharing the passion for the kink or character want to make sure they see what there is for those tags. As my DA and Pixiv follower count goes up, more and more people find me and interact with my art. It happens in Twitter and Insta too, but slower and smaller numbers. If you have already a thing you doing with popular characters, there's no reason not to upload that shit to actual art sites where people into your scene and characters are more likely to pick you up, because you offering what they are deliberately searching for.

>>6695549
My art isn’t good enough for actual art sits (if you’re talking about art station) I don’t mind using pixiv but it feels pointless since I’m not Japanese nor do I speak the language.

>>6695581
Pixiv operates in English if you choose it as your language and when you search tags, it gives the jap translated tag too. There's a reason so many westerns, western artists too, use it. Deviant Art is the biggest art site online, no reason not to use it unless you absolutely need to miss out on potential viewers and business

>>6695604
Deviant art devolved to kink art and furries which isn’t what I’m interested in.
Also didn’t they have a scandal some time ago?

>>6695641
Deviant Art is the biggest art site so naturally it attracts all sort of people. Dunno if you have first hand experience on it or if you parroting 4chan memes. I too was wary of DA because of its fame here but happy I started posting there. It's my most active platform and brings the most comms.

>>6695641
You're mostly correct, sadly. I wouldn't bother with it these days, the site is practically on it's knees but if you have an extremely niche interest the community might be on there. Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok are where most communities are these days.
>>6695647
NTA but dA hasn't been the biggest art site in at least a decade. I used to be a big artist on there many years ago. I logged on recently and 95% of the posts are AI, the site is completely ruined.

>>6695652
Odd, works on my machine

>>6695660
>Most visited visual arts and design websites
>behance
>vsco
>deviantart still not the biggest

>>6695660
Girl, deviantart got delisted from alexa.com ranking like 10 years ago because its traffic decreased so badly. I watched it fall in real time, the site is in its end stage.

>>6695647
I used to be on DA before moving on to tumblr, I was in many art groups as well.
So I’m very aware of DA, I even made a new account a few months ago out of nostalgia but the whole situation felt pointless with furry and AI art taking over.

No one mentioned any good online marketing advice, surely there must be a good strategy to use.
>>6695473
I’d like to also add education (or entertainment education since these videos barely teach you)
But I’m not familiar with “hairstyle A or B”

>>6695470
It’s fanart coom or gtfo. There’s no other way. Sadly, you have to choose whether you want attention or to enjoy your art. You can’t have both. Either become a slave to other’s degenerate desires, or wither away in obscurity forever. Neither option is 100% attractive.

I personally can’t bring myself to spend my time drawing depraved coom and or fanart. I realize this means I’ll be an unknown all the days of my life, but I know I can’t draw fanart or coom, I just can’t. It’s soul destroying to me. Almost as soul crushing is uploading my art into a void, but it’s Sophie’s choice. Choose your punishment.

>>6695838
I can’t do coom, no way. I don’t mind fanart so I guess I will lean more into it.

>>6695838
This right here. People will only gives a shit about your lame OCs if you're already big. Most people just look for art of their favorite characters. That's why fanart (especially porn) drives so much attention. The audience doesn't really care about you unless you give them a reason to. Commiting to only doing OCs is basically commiting to obscurity.

Haven't you noticed that most big artists drew fanart until they got a large following or started getting professional work?

>>6695604
pixiv is mainly for anime style portraits though right? doesn't seem to be that good for much else idk.

>>6695696
deviantart.
I just went on deviantart yesterday. the feed was like almost all AI shit.

>>6695838
The other way is by being pro... And working for the companies that produce the franchises people are fans of... Idk if that counts as fan art.

>>6695838
I thought of another way, animal "fan art" this artist got big by drawing really big cats. https://twitter.com/13033303
Animals+novelty is a winning combo

I’m literally stiil on DA just for the color schene. Please just give me another site that isn’t sterilized Apple White.

>>6695702
>But I’m not familiar with “hairstyle A or B”
that was just an example. post 2 pics and ask your followers which version they prefer.

>>6695489
Being consistent is something I cannot do and I also don't want to spam random tweet to favor algorithms. I give up in the end and leave everything to luck.

>>6695470
The most important thing you faggots seem to forget is that social media rewards SOCIAL interaction

Comment on other people's pictures, like other people's posts, ask questions, draw-fanart, reach out to other people

You ever see on YouTube there's those accounts that seem to comment on every video? You go on another video and there they are - suddenly people are engaging with them
>Yoo wtf I see you everywhere lololol
Check out there channels they will have 1000's of subscribers without posting a single video
The social part of media out weighs the media part of social media
Success isn't for introverts

Is there any merit in trying a shotgun-approach to demonstrate a versatility in how many styles you’re willing to draw in?

>>6697849
most sites have a ‘dark mode’ option these days

>>6695489
> The last thing obviously is to be good at drawing, so the above won't work unless you are actually good.
Why lie?

>>6695470
have you tried the $1.80 strategy of posting on others profiles and then you get checked out. i don't post on insta but i follow people and there are artists i follow i read their comments and it is a lot of other artists giving comment, some quite pretentious by watever.
https://dollareighty.com/what-is-the-strategy
is a saas which allows you to do it easily for very cheap, maybe free

>>6697897
Fuck off shill

>>6697863
>shilling useless advice that doesn’t work
Everyone on twitter is an antisocial retard who refuse to socialize with you. They just like your comment and ignore friendly DMs. These are mid/small accounts too btw. Everyone’s a diva now, too good for social interaction.

>>6696981
Nope, there are western style artists too. Majority is anime style though, yeah, but you won't be chased away if you post non-anime. It's an art platform. You make art you might want people to see, post it to sites where people go to see art.

>>6698119
On Twitter you get either a bot or messages don’t show up, at least for my case. Saw a message for a commission showing it was week ago on insta

>>6698129
> there are western style artists too
Name or show 6

>>6698130
Is this English?

>>6698119
>DM'ing
Don't DM that's the difference between saying "nice shirt" to some guy on the street and instead tracking him down and knocking on his window and saying "nice shirt"

Be public about your comments, and do actual comments
>Nice drawing
Compared to
>Nice drawing - how did you do X effect?

Bonus points if you are commenting on smaller channels and being genuine
Double bonus points if you are actually good at art

>>6695470
So any actual advice lol?