Logically Illogical

I decided to answer this publicly because it’s something I actually wanted to address.  Let me start by answering the question first, though.

I started on Deviantart and APForums.net.  I was (still is, will forever be) a big One Piece fan, and so my early work were all fanarts of One Piece.  Luckily for me, when I started drawing One Piece around 2003-2004, the fandom was still small and there weren’t that many artists around, so by being consistent and friendly, I was able to stand out.  The forum was a big part of this because people usually post things like “oh man, what if…” and that gives me ideas to draw.  Doing this made me a lot of friends in the forum, though not necessarily Deviantart.

On Deviantart, I was a bit lucky that some of the pieces I draw ended up on front page, and that’s how I ended up with more watchers.

If what you’re looking for is an advice on how to get more followers, I’d say go link your Tumblr/DA/whatever on various forums.  But try not to be annoying.  People who post things like “Hey guys check out my stuff” usually will be the first to get ignored.  A better way is by contributing consistently to a fandom, and if your stuff is good, people will naturally start following you.  Be positive, be thankful, try to appreciate all the friends you make online, and avoid posting negative things, even something as trivial as “bah I hate how this picture came out.”  If even you yourself think your stuff is crap, why would anyone want to follow you?  That said, don’t be cocky either. 

If you don’t have anything you like, don’t belong in any fandom, and everything you draw is original stuff, it’s usually a lot harder to get noticed.  Avoid drawing for the sake of drawing.  A pin-up is only interesting if the character is known.  If it’s an original character, add a story to it.  Put the character in a setting, make a comic, write a short narrative.  A picture of a character standing tells no story, and no matter how well drawn/composed it is, will not get attention.  Story is vital.  Everything you draw needs to have a story element behind it.  This is why drawing fanart usually gets you popular fast, because you don’t have to worry so much on making up the story; the character already has a story.

Now, since this question came up, I have a bit of personal note I’d like to attach to this.  This is a GENERAL note, and not aimed at the person asking.  Be forewarned, though, this may sound harsh to some:  If you’re making art and one of the things that concern you is popularity / attention, then maybe you should reconsider your approach.  I’m not one of those purists who think art should be made for the sake of making a statement, expressing oneself, or even for personal growth.  No, fuck all that meta bullshit.  Make art simply because you enjoy making art.  Don’t make art because you like the attention. Having a gazillion pageviews on DA does not make you a better artist.  Neither does having thousands of followers on Tumblr. 

Make art not so you can be popular, but rather, make art so you can contribute to the world, something that lasts. I’ll take the example of one of my favorite movies: How To Train Your Dragon.  It’s a very successful movie that leaves a lasting impression on everyone.  Almost everyone know of that movie and the characters, but how many know of you know of the name Nico Marlet?  All the characters in that movie, including every single one of the dragons are designed by him. How many of you have heard of Tom Owens, Toby Shelton, Scott Santoro, Jeff Snow, Dave Pimentel?  They are the story artists of the show, meaning everything you enjoy about that movie came from their creative minds. 

They may not be individually “popular” among general public, but together they made something amazing, and that ought to be a greater accomplishment than being popular.  If success is measured by end product, the movie accomplished that.  If success is measured by the amount of money one makes individually, I’ll have you know that these Dreamworks artists are making close to (if not over) $100k a year.

Bottomline is, rather than trying to be popular on the internet, why not strive for something bigger and better?  Will being popular on the internet earn you $100,000 a year?  Unlikely.