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artists_beware
I'm sorry if this isn't the right place for this, and I'm cross posting (spamming) to a few communities to see what the general consensus is, especially for those lucky few whom are considered successful.
Now, I'm sure we're all familiar with and many of us do business using at least a couple of these websites. Deviantart, Furaffinity, Inkbunny, Sheezyart, Concept Art, and Nabyn to name a few examples. The latter is why I decided to ask advice as I already have an account on most of the others. While some make sense as many of them specialize to certain interests or offer different types of feedback, I'm beginning to realize that it is becoming overwhelming for me to keep up with them all (for awhile now I've been in a constant state of reorganizing watchees deciding what notifications I want to keep, and who I need to ditch, which is rough when you have a good friend but they aren't what you're looking for in artistic inspiration or a fabulous artist who won't stop babbling about memes). Obviously, I should probably cut down to just a few, or so I think.
So this is my real question, is it better to specialize in one or two of these sites, or is it advisable to join near all of them for further promotion to a wider audience? Also, curious what sites people have used and how they find them compared with other sites.
Here's my experience with them.
Deviantart. I've been with Deviant Art the longest. It is not necessarily my favorite, although I enjoy many of their features (it has been very pleasing watching various premium features become standard over time). Some report serious issues with this site, including but not limited to malicious ads and plagerism (art theft for the layman). I feel like this site is most popular with those whom have an Anime type style or very strong photorealism. It is probably the largest of all the sites and offers the most opportunities, especially if you don't mind paying for a premium account. However, it is also hard to make a real following or get very big on your art alone, like most of these sites, it requires a lot of hard work, networking, self promoting and pandering to popular media. As is often bemused, a five minute fanart will get several times more views than the masterpiece you bled your soul out producing. The Job Offers and other forums are pretty diverse and the competition is terse. There are real job offers, but mostly is a matter of one party or another looking for an artist and mostly artists looking for work.
FurAffinity. My current favorite despite the overall poor site integration, lack of features and questionable content. Not surprisingly, this art website is mostly home to furries; artists and fans of all sorts. While the furry fandom is many things and often undeserving of the less than favorable reputation it has earned, there is no denying the expansive collection of erotica and outright explicit fetishes that are present on FA. That being said, there is a very open and friendly community, for all that there is a bit of drama to be found. Its smaller size means it is easier to stand out, but even still it is fairly crowded and networking is important. Toony and expressive styles seem to be more popular here, although there is a strong body of psuedorealistic styles. The forums are fairly reliable for work, and especially for basic feedback and critique. It can be a little rough though if you are sensitive to critique.
Concept Art. Generally regarded as the place you go when you need real critique and seek to vastly improve your art. This is a place where professionals work on self-improvement and occassionally help out freelancers looking to transition to full time jobs. This is not a place for those who are dependent upon their personalized style and require positive feedback. This is a place where all or at least most have been professionally schooled and survived the harsh critiques of professors. If you have ever been hurt or offended by an honest critique I would not suggest this place. And this is considering that you are even noted. A lot of people join Concept Art thinking they can just pop in for a quick critique, but Networking is even more important than in larger communities. Until you have gained a name for yourself, most people will not bother to look. The site itself consists only of a forum and it is generally considered that you should start a single thread to update your work as you produce it.
Inkbunny is very similar to a hybrid between the ease of use and clean site design of Deviantart paired with the material of Fur Affinity. If your sensibilities are offended by the likes of FA, IB is worse. While the filters and tag systems offer more browsing freedom, I feel that the sheer volume and proportion of pornography deters from the otherwise pleasant browsing experience. I have not used it very long, and I'm not certain I will use it for more than updating information or using its broadcast on twitter feature for streaming and announcing new art. I have not used its forums, if it has them. There seems to be a stronger preference towards cartoony styles.
Now, I'm sure we're all familiar with and many of us do business using at least a couple of these websites. Deviantart, Furaffinity, Inkbunny, Sheezyart, Concept Art, and Nabyn to name a few examples. The latter is why I decided to ask advice as I already have an account on most of the others. While some make sense as many of them specialize to certain interests or offer different types of feedback, I'm beginning to realize that it is becoming overwhelming for me to keep up with them all (for awhile now I've been in a constant state of reorganizing watchees deciding what notifications I want to keep, and who I need to ditch, which is rough when you have a good friend but they aren't what you're looking for in artistic inspiration or a fabulous artist who won't stop babbling about memes). Obviously, I should probably cut down to just a few, or so I think.
So this is my real question, is it better to specialize in one or two of these sites, or is it advisable to join near all of them for further promotion to a wider audience? Also, curious what sites people have used and how they find them compared with other sites.
Here's my experience with them.
Deviantart. I've been with Deviant Art the longest. It is not necessarily my favorite, although I enjoy many of their features (it has been very pleasing watching various premium features become standard over time). Some report serious issues with this site, including but not limited to malicious ads and plagerism (art theft for the layman). I feel like this site is most popular with those whom have an Anime type style or very strong photorealism. It is probably the largest of all the sites and offers the most opportunities, especially if you don't mind paying for a premium account. However, it is also hard to make a real following or get very big on your art alone, like most of these sites, it requires a lot of hard work, networking, self promoting and pandering to popular media. As is often bemused, a five minute fanart will get several times more views than the masterpiece you bled your soul out producing. The Job Offers and other forums are pretty diverse and the competition is terse. There are real job offers, but mostly is a matter of one party or another looking for an artist and mostly artists looking for work.
FurAffinity. My current favorite despite the overall poor site integration, lack of features and questionable content. Not surprisingly, this art website is mostly home to furries; artists and fans of all sorts. While the furry fandom is many things and often undeserving of the less than favorable reputation it has earned, there is no denying the expansive collection of erotica and outright explicit fetishes that are present on FA. That being said, there is a very open and friendly community, for all that there is a bit of drama to be found. Its smaller size means it is easier to stand out, but even still it is fairly crowded and networking is important. Toony and expressive styles seem to be more popular here, although there is a strong body of psuedorealistic styles. The forums are fairly reliable for work, and especially for basic feedback and critique. It can be a little rough though if you are sensitive to critique.
Concept Art. Generally regarded as the place you go when you need real critique and seek to vastly improve your art. This is a place where professionals work on self-improvement and occassionally help out freelancers looking to transition to full time jobs. This is not a place for those who are dependent upon their personalized style and require positive feedback. This is a place where all or at least most have been professionally schooled and survived the harsh critiques of professors. If you have ever been hurt or offended by an honest critique I would not suggest this place. And this is considering that you are even noted. A lot of people join Concept Art thinking they can just pop in for a quick critique, but Networking is even more important than in larger communities. Until you have gained a name for yourself, most people will not bother to look. The site itself consists only of a forum and it is generally considered that you should start a single thread to update your work as you produce it.
Inkbunny is very similar to a hybrid between the ease of use and clean site design of Deviantart paired with the material of Fur Affinity. If your sensibilities are offended by the likes of FA, IB is worse. While the filters and tag systems offer more browsing freedom, I feel that the sheer volume and proportion of pornography deters from the otherwise pleasant browsing experience. I have not used it very long, and I'm not certain I will use it for more than updating information or using its broadcast on twitter feature for streaming and announcing new art. I have not used its forums, if it has them. There seems to be a stronger preference towards cartoony styles.
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 12:42 am (UTC)My personal experiences with many sites:
FurAffinity: This has been my best bet with commissions. Although the majority of my clients are furries, I've also had a few humanoid characters commissioned through there. I've got enough of a following that I've been able to survive on freelancing for the past 7 months, so it's definitely been good to me. I usually direct all my business to there so I keep it organized.
DeviantART: It's... ok. It's nice if you can manage to get people to follow you, but I seem to have a hard time doing that. XD; I like the folder options, but as far as doing business through there, I don't have much luck. Most of my watchers seem to be underage.
Inkbunny: I have a very... love-hate relationship with this website. I love the features! Tag blocking is always a big plus for me. But it's rendered almost useless from the members of the site not utilizing the tag feature. ._.; Personally, I think some people may be intentionally not tagging their works properly to avoid the tag blocking feature. I really don't use IB to browse art though...
On a positive note, I actually managed to gain a lot of views and watchers pretty quickly compared to any other website I've ever used, and I have been able to redirect customers to my FA page to do business even though I don't do cub art. IB has a lot of potential if they'd just be more strict on their tag feature. x_x;
SoFurry: This is another site where I've managed to gain exposure pretty quick, but here's the downside of it. The user base, while friendly, tends to get uncomfortably explicit in the comments. Plus there's no human art allowed, which really puts me off a bit from it. But like with IB, I've been able to redirect clients to my FA to do business, so it does have it's uses for me.
SheezyART: Don't bother. The site got bought by a new owner, and they haven't updated anything in over a year. From what I hear, the new owners are planning to redo the whole website, but it's not worth going there right now. The user base is pretty dead.
I've tried a bunch of art communities, but none of them are really worth me mentioning at this point. XD; Traffic to them wasn't really good for me.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:09 am (UTC)When I go to the galleries section it shows all user thumbnails, but it only shows a thousand or so (which took forever to load). Is it just showing them at random/the most popular ones, or are there only that few users?
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:12 am (UTC)It says reg is invitation only, what kind of people run the place? (not sure if I have time to maintain another gallery though... anything but my FA already kind of went defunct)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:19 am (UTC)While the forum was original founded to help with concept art (the really realistic, video game kind), it's moved onto being more general commercial art founded of all kinds. It does draw that crowd the most, but there's definitely support for all kinds of art! The forums are probably the best place to go to get critique. Also, if you notice, at the top of the forums you'll see some of the best of CA up there, including some more stylized work.
To get critique, it's more about being active and finding a group of friends to talk with. The best way to get critique is to give it. :D And everyone gets it, regardless of skill level, even if you've never picked up a pencil before in your life.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:51 am (UTC)DeviantART: If you don't draw anime fanart, cartoon wolves, or hyper-realistic scantily clad women, don't bother. Even then the management and customer service is atrocious, especially when it comes to art theft. I reported my own art being stolen and they told me to file a DMCA because they didn't want to do their job that badly. Most of the userbase is teenagers anyway, so if you run a commission check you'll either get "my parents won't let me :(" or "USD? Can I give you DA Points instead?" Avoid for commissions.
FurAffinity: If you do furry art, absolutely use FurAffinity. Even if you don't do porn, it's relatively easy to get commissions (for some reason template icons do really well.) But yeah, if you do porn you're more likely to get business on FA. Be careful though, if you're not firm and lack a spine, guaranteed certain types of furries will pick that up and walk all over you.
And stay off the forums. It's a cesspool of ridiculously entitled furries who think 15 dollars can buy a 10 page fetish comic and artists fighting each other like starving dogs for every cent said entitled furry is offering.
InkBunny: Never used it. I heard "cub porn" and quickly walked in the opposite direction.
One more site I want to add is Livejournal itself. For a little quick cash Teenycom is great. I'm planning on taking small icon commissions as a stepping stone to USD commissions.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:51 am (UTC)The site also has some obvious bugs and the admins don't care enough to follow up on them. An example was I had blocked someone to keep him from contacting me. He still was able to and when I notified the owner of the site, he simply asked who it was I had tried to block and... never responded to me again. =\
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 02:00 am (UTC)As for the lewd comments, not surprised. Some users are not very aware of ah... social boundaries. I get them on FA too.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 02:43 am (UTC)THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Jesus, people, I want to see your art and maybe, I dunno, watch you and favorite your stuff and show it to my friends. HELP ME OUT HERE.
Kind of an off topic question
Date: 2012-01-06 03:56 am (UTC)Re: Kind of an off topic question
Date: 2012-01-06 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 04:53 am (UTC)Shame, because Nabyn looks really cool (and small), but I don't think I'd get an invite.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 05:12 am (UTC)On a side note: Art theft/character theft/imposters are rampant on the site as well. I've known a few people who were impersonated on the site. I personally, had one case of someone adopting a personal character of mine as their fursona.
I have had no luck with commissions and the one time I did open up for commissions, I just ended up with people asking for free art.
But echoing above comments, it's good for stories, and it's good for critiques. BUT, I'd also advice checking it out just to ensure that no one is steaing your art/impersonating you.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 05:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 07:23 am (UTC)Wow.. this is like advertising 101. I feel so derp for not even thinking about it, lol.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 08:57 am (UTC)Although CA is known as a place to get 'harsh critique', sometimes the criticism isn't exactly constructive. CA's seen a boon from people leaving Deviantart due to some change or other, and the forum regulars seem to have lost patience for helping the newer, inexperienced artists. Usually there'll be a few impatient posts of "you just need to read a book to be better" or "don't think that posting your image online for feedback will magically make you a better artist" (which is true, but still not relevant to the image at hand).
Unless you have really thick skin and can stomach a few of those posts above, I'd advise against CA.
keep it simple
Date: 2012-01-06 09:33 am (UTC)One issue I just thought of, if you are an artist, is you would probably need many different TOSs for the different communities...DA and the types of customers there would need something so precise, iron-clad, and clear that I would hate to do commission work there. If it's not anime or EXTREMELY suggestive nudes they try to pass off as art you'll get no love. I've been there for years...tried to do commissions there as well and never got a bite...NEVER.
So I guess my recommendation would be FA.