critique wanted Gaining more recognition and connections?

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

[sorry if this is in the wrong section]

 

I'm going to try and make this topic simple and to the point without being ranty.  

 

I have been drawing digitally for a while, for over a year or so to begin with using limited tools such as Paint, Pixlr and various other online applications, essentially pixel / raster art. About a month ago I got myself a copy of Paint tool Sai as I had heard the sparkling reviews about it and discovered the many joys of the tool that made life so much easier for me.

 

This leads me into the way I draw, which differs from alot of other people and may contribute to a lack of reception, I am unsure.

 

Most artists I have seen are skilled sketchers, preferring to draw their art first, scanning it in to their computer and doing line art etc over the lines that they themselves have drawn on the paper. I draw my pictures from scratch on Paint tool sai, using nothing to trace with and only on my earliest pictures using a reference image. At the moment I use absolutely no references, bases or guidance and draw what comes to mind.

 

This might come to the point where some people could misunderstand me. I understand that I have only been a DA Artist for a month, but in that short time I feel that I have improved to a level as good as some much more experienced artists, though of course there are many artists who's talent outweighs my own.

 

However I have found that quite a considerable amount of people draw / vector art with considerably less detail, that, without sounding like a total ass, does not look as good as the average art piece yet still manages to draw in many compliments about it looking amazing, even some people who have used actual uncredited bases.  

 

This is where it gets a little annoying for me on a personal level. No one should ever draw does for recognition, for me it comes truly from the desire to be creative and as a way to put my weird and wonderful ideas onto paper, improvising is what I love to do. But I fail to understand the lack of any recognition at all.

 

Is it the art not being Good enough?

Lack of connections?

People enjoy a more show friendly style?

 

I have no idea, maybe some people could give some pointers, but that does not involve changing my style of art, though any technical problems to do with anatomy, shape, shading, lightning etc etc I am happy to talk about.

 

Gallery of my art:

 

http://jestwinged.deviantart.com/gallery/ 

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Hey there Jestwinged.

 

I know how you feel. Sometimes I feel like I do better than some people out there (not trying to brag, just my opinion) and yet I'm all "why aren't my drawings getting more views?!" I guess I have to keep reminding myself why I draw art in the first place, like what you pointed out. I guess as long as I'm expressing myself and at least a few people see it, that's all that's important.

 

I look at a lot of artists out there, like Pixelkitties, uotapo and dm29 and think sort of defeatedly, "How am I going to get to their level?". They always have tons and tons of views and favorites, and sometimes I feel a little jealous of them. dm29 mostly does simple vectors (that are slightly different from the show style), but he seems to be one of the more well-known pony artists out there. But I think both those artists are popular because of several important factors that can make someone get recognized and watched on dA:

 

I did a little research regarding how one gets recognition, and it comes down to several factors: the most important ones I feel are:

1. Upload often.

2. Submit your work to groups.

3. Make an interesting concept, or just an idea that people will love (like a cute pic of Rainbow Dash drinking cocoa or whatever).

4. Participate- comment, give llamas, mod for a group, whatever.

5. Work on making your art better.

 

Number 4 seems to be the least important one for some (some users with thousands of watchers rarely ever leave comments, and when they do it's on their own pics. But it wouldn't hurt to participate a lot either; in fact, it can lead you to gain connections to other artists and build up your viewership.

I believe number 1 is the most important thing: nobody wants a blank, boring gallery that is rarely refreshed with new material. Try to find time whenever you can to work on your artwork.

Number 5 definitely helps, but it's not really necessary; it's totally possible for a totally average artist to get a lot of viewership if they upload often enough and people like what they see.

Number 2, while not necessary, definitely wouldn't hurt, and it can help you get your work out there.

 

Oh, and another important thing: you said you're only a month in and you're not getting a lot of views. That's totally OK; I didn't start getting a lot of favorites until maybe June of last year (I joined January 2015) when I submitted an MLP/Inside Out crossover. You just have to keep at it; you'd have to be really lucky to get a significant number of views and favorites within your first month or so. Just work on your skills and let time do its thing.

 

If you google "how to get noticed on deviantart" or something along those lines, you'll likely see one or more of the above things I mentioned in that list. Number 1 will more likely than not be on there, so make sure you update your gallery as often as you can!

 

tl;dr: Make sure you upload often to keep people entertained, try to get yourself out there, making connections can help, and don't worry, you haven't been around long, you have lots of time to get noticed.

Edited March 24, 2016 by PacificGreen

[Zeal Crown 196]

I'm sure I'm going to repeat a little of what @PacificGreen says, but You'll understand my point.

 

I know you believe that people should draw out of the desire and enjoyment of drawing and not for the fame and fortune of it, but it still sounds like to me that you are wanting the fame and fortune. Here's a common misconception. It's ok to want fame and fortune, and it's alright if it's a driving force for you to improve, but it should not be your only driving force. Above all, you should make art out of the enjoyment, but it is totally ok to want to be famous too. A few of the points you've made really sounds like being horse famous is a big driving point, and here's why.

 

I'd like to point out this paragraph.

 

 

Most artists I have seen are skilled sketchers, preferring to draw their art first, scanning it in to their computer and doing line art etc over the lines that they themselves have drawn on the paper. I draw my pictures from scratch on Paint tool sai, using nothing to trace with and only on my earliest pictures using a reference image. At the moment I use absolutely no references, bases or guidance and draw what comes to mind.

 

 

You are telling me you are using no references. I hear this all the time, people talking about how they don't use references. Please understand, there is absolutely no shame in using references. Every good artist uses references. Those pieces you see in the big art museums? All those artists used references. Every single one. It's nearly impossible to draw anything without a reference. I could only see not using one in the case of drawing a character or a thing so often that you've got them or it memorized, but then you're not drawing anything else. When drawing other people's OCs, you use references. You may not have to reference the anatomy a whole ton, but you've got to at least reference the design of the OC. I was even working on a piece today and I had to reference what a pony's neck looked like in a pose. It was such a tiny thing, but it would have looked terrible if I hadn't used a reference.

 

Now don't get me wrong, tracing is a touchy subject. Here's what I'll say about it. You should only trace images if:

• The image is your image
• You've gotten permission from the artist you are going to trace from, and have told people it's their art
• You are practicing and are not making any money off of it (even then you should still ask the artist)

A common practice among skilled artists is exactly what you said though. They traditionally draw the image, then they trace or vector trace the image. And since it's their art, it's perfectly ok for them to trace their own images. Heck, I do it all the time! Just be weary about tracing and make sure everyone is ok with it.

 

Bases, honestly I've never been a fan of. They're great for getting the mane and/or tail style right, but people aren't going to go far with just drawing on bases. That said though, they can be excellent practice for anatomy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now if I am going to be honest with you, if you aren't drawing show style or some style improved upon that, it's going to be tough to really get noticed. It seems to me that you do have a bit of a stand-out style though, so you've already got a pretty good start on that.

 

Another thing that'll get you noticed is just showing people. I don't mean messaging random people, but add to groups and just put your art in places where people'll see them. Showcase your best art somewhere easy to access. There's people who post art with a ton of tags and submit it to tons of groups. It's honestly pretty ridiculous how they do it, but they've gotten noticed.

 

Connections is a pretty good way too. I became friends with a pretty well-known artist at one point in my history, and they've definitely helped me get slightly noticed. If you really want to have connections though, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. I mean actually become friends with them and get to know them on a personal level, not just to 'have connections'. As soon as they find out, you'll make a pretty terrible reputation for yourself. Everyone likes friends though, so it should be easy. Simply just keeping up with commenting, favoriting, and even just drawing for them are all ways to get close to people. Everyone likes free gifts, even if they may get them a lot.

 

Looking through your art, I can definitely tell you have a passion for drawing, but I think it's safe to say that you aren't any Leonardo. This can be applied to anything too. Just keep practicing. No one has perfect art, and all the best artists keep practicing. They've been doing it for so long where their practice has been paying off. You're still new to dA anyways, and it'll be hard to start, but all I can say is to keep at it and keep working. Appreciate who you have as a following though. They obviously like your art and want you to do good. Once you're all big and stuff, you can also say that they were your first followers and have been from the very beginning.

 

(If there are people who aren't as good of an artist as you are, but have more of a following, they've probably have just been at it for longer than you have. If you truly have better art though, you are bound to surpass them)

 

I hope I helped, and feel free to message me if you need anything. I'm always happy to help with life advice and the such.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Zeal Crown

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

 

 

I know you believe that people should draw out of the desire and enjoyment of drawing and not for the fame and fortune of it, but it still sounds like to me that you are wanting the fame and fortune. Here's a common misconception. It's ok to want fame and fortune, and it's alright if it's a driving force for you to improve, but it should not be your only driving force. Above all, you should make art out of the enjoyment, but it is totally ok to want to be famous too. A few of the points you've made really sounds like being horse famous is a big driving point, and here's why.  

 

I actually stated right at the start I draw because I enjoy it and for the creativity side of it so I am not sure why you are assuming that, you are jumping to false conclusions there.

 

 

 

You are telling me you are using no references. I hear this all the time, people talking about how they don't use references. Please understand, there is absolutely no shame in using references. Every good artist uses references. Those pieces you see in the big art museums? All those artists used references. Every single one. It's nearly impossible to draw anything without a reference. I could only see not using one in the case of drawing a character or a thing so often that you've got them or it memorized, but then you're not drawing anything else. When drawing other people's OCs, you use references. You may not have to reference the anatomy a whole ton, but you've got to at least reference the design of the OC. I was even working on a piece today and I had to reference what a pony's neck looked like in a pose. It was such a tiny thing, but it would have looked terrible if I hadn't used a reference.

 

You may hear this all the time, that doesn't really concern me, but for me it's a preferred way of drawing and the truth. It is not meant to say that I am better than people who use reference images more the fact that I enjoy not using them, of course if I am doing a request I will save the colour pallet for an OC and make a note of their mane / tail style, that is different.  Also you say it is nearly impossible to draw anything without reference? Absolutely false, my last four pieces have had no reference image whatsoever. Don't base your ability on reference use and think everyone is the same.

 

Overall thanks for advice, you made some good points, but I felt a fair bit of it was quite presumptuous  

[Blique 211]

Here's my DA if you want to check my art level and knowledge on the subject: http://blique.deviantart.com/gallery/

 

References are very important to use. Your art has mistakes that could be fixed if you used references, including your last four pieces (if you're referring to the last four on DA).

 

The wings in particular in your Lightning Dust and Pony Arcade images could be improved by using bird wing references, or even just references to other cartoon wings. The anatomy/joints, proportions, and perspective in Breaking the 4th Wall are inconsistent within the piece, and could use a closer comparison to the Pinkie Pie version. The Shadow Strike image has an eyepatch too small for the eye, and the ears are not very pony-like. These are just some basic pointers.

 

Yes, you can draw without a reference - art can be whatever you want it to be - but if you have a goal in mind for your art, which you do, then there are limited paths you are able to take to get there. You are still early in the development of your art skills, and it is extremely important during the learning process to use references. In fact, it's important to use references even once you've mastered a style. Yes, you personally prefer to not use them, but your work will continue having errors until you do. Every beginner prefers not to use references, it's just easier. But it's not a matter of personal preference if you want to advance your drawings skills. It is how you learn art.

 

So to answer your main post, I think the issue is mainly that your skill level is not high enough. Usually, if people have work that is less skilled than yours yet receives a lot of praise, it is because they have a lot of friends who are posting comments. If you want more comments on your work and don't have a huge personal social network, you need to start using references so that your art can improve. References don't have an effect on your style by the way - it doesn't change your style, it just raises the quality of it.

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

@@Blique,

 

Sorry, but I'm not going to draw to another artists standards.

[Blique 211]

 

any technical problems to do with anatomy, shape, shading, lightning etc etc I am happy to talk about.

 

 

Any problems people would point out would be due to them looking at a reference and telling you that it is inaccurate compared to the reference. Ask any halfway-decent artist at all.

 

Anyway, I will just state that the issue you are concerned about in your first post is indeed that your art is not good enough. Improve it and you will get more people interested. You'll eventually figure it out for yourself, may the odds be ever in your favor.

[Overlord0909 479]

I don't know what little argument might brew, but I don't think the mention of getting your art advertised in some way was said. Say you find someone else, who has lots of watchers, subs, etc, and you offer a piece to be shown. The piece would have to relate to the "famous" other, for them to consider. Once considered, they might do all the advertising for you. Doing this for multiple others could help achieve recognition very quick, just as long as it's all well referenced and noticed by others.

 

This is just a suggestion, but I find what the others above are saying to be true from what I read (As you may see from my length of text, I'm not a big writer X) I didn't read everything either), I assume you've already read what they said with more interest. I hope you get more watchers, and I do agree with Blique as well. More than one perspective is always a great thing to have and to consider.

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

 

 

 

 

 

Any problems people would point out would be due to them looking at a reference and telling you that it is inaccurate compared to the reference. Ask any halfway-decent artist at all.

 

Anyway, I will just state that the issue you are concerned about in your first post is indeed that your art is not good enough. Improve it and you will get more people interested. You'll eventually figure it out for yourself, may the odds be ever in your favor.

. 

 

I don't want to continue this line of conversation with you, it's not constructive or helpful, thanks. 

[Plume 922]

http://minikirby123.deviantart.com/gallery/ 

 

This is my art dump, take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

I honestly can't give you much advice on how to gain recognition and such. I don't draw to do that - I draw because I love it, and people have just naturally come. I guess my best tip would be to just keep going, and keep improving. Strive to get better, because you always can, and someone will come along and appreciate how hard you've worked.

 

Personally, there are places where you could improve on anatomy wise, but since you prefer to draw without references, there's not many pointers I can give you without it being empty words.

 

You're doing well though - keep it up c:

[Jeric 46,866]

 

 

I draw because I love it, and people have just naturally come.

 

Love that quote.

 

---

 

, I'm locking this thread. I'm going to try a different tact here. When a person opens a topic up to the other artists on this specific forum tagged it critique wanted, respect to the advice is imperative. Critique topics are not for confirmation bias, and they are not to create an echo chamber. MLPF will not host content that functions as a trap for members to be hit with passive aggressive commentary.