Today we all use websites where we share our art.
These art-sharing websites and social media are spaces where you can post your work for free. This helps your images reach as many people as possible so that people can comment on them and value them, and communicate with other artists or even fans. It’s perfectly feasible to become a professional artist by getting your work out to industry professionals, such as comic book publishers. This makes social media a necessity for any artist who wants to find their audience.
Let’s first see how we can take advantage of social networks.
In which social networks does art move more?
Since you are interested in reaching people fond of illustration, comics, and manga, you will want to choose the website that best suits these needs.
These are some of the most popular websites:
DeviantArt
DeviantArt is one of the most famous artist communities and has visitors from all over the globe. It has a strong community focus, as you can create blogs, detailed profiles, and advanced options focused on communicating with other artists. You can find all kinds of techniques, tools, and pictorial styles.
ArtStation
ArtStation is a community primarily for illustrators, concept artists, and animators. You can create a portfolio on the site to include your work experience and the different existing graphic programs. You can also classify your images by categories, such as 2D or 3D art. ArtStation is more intended for professional artists, as it includes a job board, a marketplace, and the possibility of creating an optional payment profile.
While it wasn’t designed with the artist community in mind, tons of cartoonists post their work on Instagram. The web has over a billion monthly active users, making it a very good place to build a solid audience base. Of course, keep in mind that new accounts have it difficult to stand out among many others, so you must publish your work frequently.
Behance
Behance is a very accessible portfolio creation website for all types of artists. From it, you can organize your images and share them. You can use tagging and categorizing your art to create a professional-looking portfolio with different galleries.
Pixiv
Pixiv is the most active artist community in Japan, with millions of monthly users. It is especially popular with fans of the manga style, including professional mangaka. Pixiv is a great place to grow your following and network with industry professionals.
The number of active users is very important, but the type of users who frequent the web is also important. We recommend that you test and compare the different communities personally to gradually discard those that do not convince you and show activity in those that do.
Five tips to make your art stand out
So, getting back to the topic, how can you make your art stand out in different communities? We are going to try to answer this question with five tips.
- No destructive criticism! Support your fellow artists.
If you disparage the work of other artists or criticize them without tact or empathy, there will be many people who dislike them, including the target audience who reads those comments. Such an image of you could make people lose all interest in your work.
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Post frequently
Every day countless new works come to light in artist communities. Constantly publish yours to try to always stay on everyone’s lips. This will also gradually translate into a higher number of followers and positive comments.
- Never give up
It is impossible for everyone to like your works. Sometimes you will receive positive comments and other times more critical. Some of these criticisms are probably off the mark, and some users even leave nasty comments.
- Praise the work of other artists.
If you see a drawing and you like it, take a moment to give the artist your opinion. Take a look at the work of others and support it with likes and positive comments.
- Finish each drawing you start
It’s okay if the style of that particular image is just like that, but if you only post unfinished drawings, it will cost people more to forge a positive image of you.
Those “little worked” finishes that you see in the works of some professional artists are actually studied from top to bottom.
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