An Artist's Need for Attention...

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MagicallyCapricious's avatar
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As I said bfore, many times, an artist lives on attention. Without attention the will to create fades and the artist is discouraged. Everyone has a different point in which they will stop what they're doing because they get insufficient attention. Many people, especially around schooltime or something similar, will become discouraged at the lack of comments, views, llamas, cakes, points, replies, etc. etc. Especially (again) the younger artists who are trying to make a name for themselves online.

When I first started on DeviantArt(at the careful, polite prodding and coaxing by a good friend), I didn't get many views. uch was to be expected, but I wasn't confident in my abilities as an artist, though I liked to draw. to be honest, I saw DevArt as a place where all the godly artists were. As a pre-teen and early teenager, I looked at a lot of fanart, and almost all of it would link back here.

But of course I get ahead of myself. You're not here to see me rant about how I came upon this site or my history. You read this because you want to know HOW TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO COME TO YOUR PAGE.

Well, again, I've made a list:

Be Polite

No matter how good your art is, people will avoid your page if you're a total douche (pardon my language). Off the top of my head I can think of a few examples of this, which people who know know and people who don't will not know. You can be a godly artist, but you'll only be liked for your art, not yourself as a person. being polite online can really help to get people to your page, which leads into my next point:

Be social

Boo, grr, hiss. Eww being social is for noobs and I'm a recluse! Well guess what? You're given the mask of a screen-name, you have the chance to think about what you type, and you can quickly patch up any mistake by saying that you put in the wrong word via thesaurus or something you misinterpreted. Advertise yourself! And no, I do not mean go hit "Random Deviants" and say "HEYCHECKOUTMYARTGUYS." NO. This will make people mad. Very, very mad and though you may get more pageviews, it isn't the good kind. As the first rule says, be polite. talk to people, be a nice person and you will get watchers as long as you remain that way. Of course, being a snarky witty deviant who is also good at art is a good way to score faithful friends and fans as well (you people know who I speak of). Comment on peoples' art, favorite, go to "random deviant" and ask how peoples' days were. Go talk to your friends! But something that'll catch everyone's attention:

Do free art

"But I wanna be paid for my awesome work!"

Yes, and so does everyone else. Image is what counts when you're a newbie (very vulnerable, and first impressions count). And no matter how bad your art is, people will eat you alive for free art. They'll eat ANYONE alive for free art. This goes back to the journal I wrote a bit ago, which states that taking requests helps improvement, which leads to the next point:

Don't just stand there, IMPROVE!

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE has room for improvement. Even the master artists have room for improvement! Your art isn't the best just because you say so (this is arrogance, and everyone hates an arrogant novice). Practice, reference, use a ruler for once, learn techniques from fellow deviants, drawing a scribble and saying "I'm awesome!" won't work, Because the sad truth is no one cares how long you took to make it unless it's really, really, really good. And many artists here are about thirteen (or younger, you cheaters, you)to fifteen years old, and are still practicing, honing, learning. It's high time for you to do it as well.

Join Groups and submit!

The best way to get comments, I learned, is to join groups and submit stuff! Especially groups devoted to fanbases or wolves (sadly I am a wolf artist, considered lower on the totem pole than fancy human artists), you will get many, many favorites, often by people at the same level as you or below. This is your opportunity to make friends! People will watch you if you submit art and they like it! Or, of course, they might watch you because you're a good person.

Take the hint

This goes in many categories, but the most well-known of them are:

Improvement
Subject
you as yourself
content

As far as improvement goes, the more you improve the more watchers you'll have. as your anatomy improves, as you pay more attention to detail, people will take notice and flock to you.

Artists, especially wolf artists, are challenged often to draw different things. Try new subjects! If you only draw humans, try drawing your cat or your dog or your pet marmoset. It may come out horribly, but remember that this is where you started long ago. With practice, you WILL get better.

People may be hating on you for just being yourself. Unless it's racism, sexism, homophobia, or something that you can't change, you have a cue to try to change your ways. For instance, you may have a habit of calling people out on their bullsh*t or being a grammar Nazi. These things CAN be helped, don't say that they can't unless you are clinically OCD (or something diagnosed that MAKES you HAVE to do so), in which case it may be safer for you to put a warning in your signature. Try to be less of a bad person (for lack of a better term), and people will notice. they will readily take the change, no matter how small, and urge you on. if you change your ways, you may get more attention to your art and your page.

Content, content, content. There have been many, many debates about this. if you're getting too much negative attention, CHANGE THE CONTENT. This may include the subject portion, but it also concerns the mood of the actual picture or... what the characters are doing.

For instance, if you draw wolves, this may not be a problem among the wolf artist community, but drawing yiff may be. If you're into photography, nude photography may be your thing, and it may be considered just fine! But not everyone wants to see nudity all over the place. Especially  not close-ups. I'm sure that's against the rules in some places. If you get what I'm saying, cool. If you don't? Here it is in layman's terms: if you like what you draw, fine. But be wary o what the subject is doing. It may scare more people away from your page than the amount it attracts.

That's really all I can say to you. I wish you luck, and I hope this helps you in the future.
© 2011 - 2024 MagicallyCapricious
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Auggiekins's avatar
I want to attract people, but I'd rather draw what I want. Screw them if they dont like it.