Asking Advice: Online Gallery Social Networking sites (DA,FA etc)

[furry1337otaku.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[ocelotish]

My thought is that it's really what you're looking for the most that determines which site is going to be your best bet. I haven't frequented IB or FA personally, but that's in large part because I don't want to be associated with porn.

With FA it strikes me that it's easier to start with commissions and whatnot. It's a little hard to get noticed, but it's a lot easier than on a site like deviantart just because it's a lot smaller. It's also focused on original characters a lot more because there really aren't official characters.

DA strikes me as a little more respectable, but it's a lot harder to be noticed. Fanart definitely helps, but it seems a lot like an anime fanart site in terms of what will get you commissioned. If you find a good group you have a chance of getting good critique though!

CA is my personal favorite, but that's because it's very focused on a professional environment. Ultimately I don't want to be taking small time commissions for art - I want to do it as a career. The only thing that bothers me is that it's sometimes a bit too big. It's hard to get noticed there too, but it seems like finding a smaller group can help loads. I've had decent luck getting to know the ladies on CA, and I recommend other women there ask for access to the girls' forum. It just helps so much to be able to talk to the smaller group. There's just a bit more sense of belonging there. They also seem to be most interested in actually helping someone improve whereas the other sites it's more about the viewers' enjoyment.


If anyone here is interested in smaller improvement communities I do have a few recommendations/plugs. art_skill_trade is a community here that's reasonably active and is all about finding really good artistic resources. Then definitely a plug, but if anyone here is on dreamwidth I started a community there called feedback_studios that's going to focus on improvement and critique. It's a little dead right now, but it's just starting out and I've been hesitant to make three of three total posts there. These aren't exactly good for networking with non-artists or advertising, but may be able to fill the niche of "fandom okay, small group, and about improvement."

Edit: I almost forgot a huge point/pet peeve of mine! Link your gallery(ies) to your lj account! I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone in this very community whose art I want to look at, and there's no way to find their gallery! You're doing networking right now! Show your art!

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Link your gallery(ies) to your lj account!

I second this! It drives me nuts when people on LJ are obviously doing art and obviously have an active gallery somewhere but never say where to find it! Argh!

[gel-wolf.livejournal.com]

oh my god that is the MOST annoying thing >:( I constantly see people posting, on fursuit coms especially, obviously trying to sell their work, and yet I go to their profile/journal/etc, and there is literally NOTHING to indicate they have a presence on the internet outside of that one single LJ post. It's tragic and terrible networking.

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I've chosen intentionally to keep apart my usernames for art websites and my LJ. Some people no doubt know, it's not that I keep it a huge secret, but if I say something here that some person don't like, I don't want them attempting to hurt my business over it. I think that's fairly normal for a lot of people who run a business and use social sites/forums.

I guess it might be jarring for people to see me talk about my experiences in commissions or selling at cons or whatever, and have nothing to "back it up with". It doesn't seem to have caused me any problems so far though. :)

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

I do understand wanting to keep your online identity small. Still frustrating though :p. (And I have been in a situation where people caused me trouble here on LJ, but surprisingly they never made the jump to my dA. Nowdays I guess the story might be different, but I try to avoid causing any drama to begin with. :p)

I think another thing is that if I were to come across your name on another site and there was nothing to connect it to any of your other known sites or contacts, there could be a question of whether it was truly you or an imposter. Which I have run into before.

[ocelotish]

I'll agree, it is quite frustrating, because while you may be avoiding a saboteur, but by the same token you may also be avoiding customers.

What you may consider doing (although this is mainly for other viewers who might have a simiarl situation) is have a professional and a personal journal.

[imlikat.livejournal.com]

I am all over the internet, but somehow I never thought to link to my other sites from LJ. That is a very good idea, and I think I'll do it now.

Also, I'm joining those comms :) Networking!

[serious-mccoy.livejournal.com]

YES to the edit. I get so curious about people I see on LJ art comms.

[henriekeg.livejournal.com]

Just asking you (and the OP) because I'm curious: Is CA about a specific type of art, since it's called Concept Art? I mostly do cartoony character drawings without backgrounds, though I'm trying around with comics and such, and I could use help with those. Would that kind of stuff be fitting there? And are they open to anyone or do you need a certain skill level to recieve useful critiques? (for the record, this is the kind of stuff I draw: http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/henrieke/)
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?

[ocelotish]

Cartoony characters are more than welcome there!

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.

[minoriko.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to pop in really quick and say that the CA people really don't like anime. I'm not sure if the mentality has changed the last time I went there, but I recall seeing threads upon threads of mocking and parodying anime art.

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.

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Oooooh yeah, I remember that from back when I browsed the place. It was like being an anime-inspired artist meant you were held to much, MUCH higher standards than other styles would be. Yeah, I get it, anime is way overused by beginner artists, but I remember CA being somewhat ridiculous about it.

[ocelotish]

The issue is more that you're not developing your own visual language, you're using short cuts without knowing what those shortcuts mean. Because the structure is missing from the shortcuts, they don't work.

This often comes across as a dislike for anime style, but it's really a dislike for any short cut like that, but let's be honest, a lot of people from da going over there are going to want to try the anime stuff as opposed to any other borrowed stylization.

I could go into it more, but generally speaking drawing anime is the most common symptom rather than the disease. Most of the more well-respected members of the forum will be down on anime when it's clear the artist has never worked from life. There are a few members who will just be down on anime to prove how edgy they are, but don't pay them any mind.

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

Link your gallery(ies) to your lj account!

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.

[gearpony.livejournal.com]

Link your gallery(ies) to your lj account!

Wow.. this is like advertising 101. I feel so derp for not even thinking about it, lol.