# Publicity?



## Rook (Aug 17, 2011)

I have a friend (we'll call her V for short). She is a VERY good artist and posts her work on Deviantart. Her stuff has a lot of technical skill- some of it is done in Ms Paint (and it's _fabulous_, even more for that reason) and she'd just learning photoshop but she has a good grasp on anatomy and shading, plus some interesting comics she's made.

I really want to find a way to publicize her artwork. It seems like she puts so much effort into things and no one sees them. 

Any tips? Maybe one day when I'm confident enough in my own work I could use them too.

(This can also be used a general thread for discussion about spreading awareness for online artwork).


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## Volkodav (Aug 17, 2011)

Idk, get her to draw shit for you & post it on FA?


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## moriko (Aug 17, 2011)

Maybe post on forums offering a free piece to a few people just asking for them to show to a few friends and maybe point them her way. Could just plain give some free work to friends in general asking if they can post it up to their online accounts. That's publicity, and if people looking at the art are interested they will probably follow through to any links to her profiles looking for prices or more examples.


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## Ilayas (Aug 17, 2011)

If she's posting art on DA she should join the groups there and submit art to them. That's how stuff gets seen on there is just too many people there any more for you to just upload something and expect people to stumble across it.  Groups are the way to go!  She could also find contests hosted either by these groups or individuals and submit entries to them.  In addition to possibly wining prizes you can get a lot page views that way.


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## Rook (Aug 17, 2011)

Ah these are all actually great suggestions. Thank you guys. She really deserves to be seen.


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## Thaily (Aug 17, 2011)

Free art =/= good publicity. Just gets you a lot of moochers.
Commissions, even cheap ones, and art trades are much better.


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## Ilayas (Aug 17, 2011)

Thaily said:


> Free art =/= good publicity. Just gets you a lot of moochers.
> Commissions, even cheap ones, and art trades are much better.



I don't know if I'd entirely agree with this.  I give away a lot of free artwork and I have gotten some great watchers because of it.  I don't do trades or commissions (even cheep ones) because I only want to do artwork that I enjoy creating.  My watchers give me ideas and inspiration and I occasionally give them free artwork.  I don't necessarily advocate everyone doing this (which is why I didn't mention it in my previous post) but I've had good results.


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## Zydala (Aug 17, 2011)

Thaily said:


> Free art =/= good publicity. Just gets you a lot of moochers.
> Commissions, even cheap ones, and art trades are much better.



Freebies worked for my girlfriend. She'd make designs and give them free to whoever claimed it first. Then she got too popular for that so she'd do raffles... then that got too hectic so she had to start selling them for cheap. Then THAT got too hectic and etc etc.


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## Thaily (Aug 17, 2011)

In my experience, people who want free stuff will come only for free stuff and then bugger off again once there's no more to be had.
Nothing wrong with making people do something, anything, for some art, like a simple quiz or a kiriban.


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## Zydala (Aug 17, 2011)

Thaily said:


> In my experience, people who want free stuff will come only for free stuff and then bugger off again once there's no more to be had.
> Nothing wrong with making people do something, anything, for some art, like a simple quiz or a kiriban.



Ah but the people who go "woah hey where'd you get that" are sent to your page and may be willing to pay even if their friend could care less. it's about spreading the word. but hey different people have different results :]


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## dinosaurdammit (Aug 17, 2011)

Do what i do-
http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/105848-FREE-SKETCHES-AND-ART

make them advert for free art


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## Eske (Aug 18, 2011)

It's really sweet that you want to help your friend publicize their art, OP.  c:  I know a lot of my watchers find me via word-of-mouth from friends.  

For advice, I'm with the 'free art' group; it's really the only thing I've done to advertise myself in the past, aside from posting the occasional commission announcement in a journal or on this forum.  I'm quite happy with the amount of watchers I have, so I'd say it was fairly successful in my case.  c:

Also, it's good to be active and get out into the/an art community.  I've gotten watchers from commenting on images/journals/userpages, posting on the forums, and even watching other people.  I've always said, people can't find you if you don't put yourself out there.  If she's on DA, I also highly recommend  the #getwatchers group.  The program they have there is just amazing.  I know the name of the group makes it sound like a scam or a pay-for-watchers thing, but it's not.  Take my word for it, it's definitely worth it!



Zydala said:


> Freebies worked for my girlfriend. She'd make designs and give them free to whoever claimed it first. Then she got too popular for that so she'd do raffles... then that got too hectic so she had to start selling them for cheap. Then THAT got too hectic and etc etc.



This is my experience as well.  I started out giving art away for free, and I'm actually _still_ in contact with quite a few people who received some of that free art.  I really think it would have been much more difficult to get out there if I hadn't sat myself down and done free requests back when I was first starting out.  It may attract 'moochers', but not always.  Even some of my paying commissioners have commissioned me once and never said a word to me again.  There are plenty of factors which play in to whether or not someone will stick around.  But everyone likes free stuff -- even potential watchers/commissioners/what-have-you.


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## FireFeathers (Aug 18, 2011)

She has to be active and post in more then one spot. Go to places like CGhug, CG society, Concept Art, Etc. SHE has to be active. Too often there are good artists that can't apply themselves. The world's not gonna be kind to her just because she can draw, IE since she's a good artist, people will just FLOCK to her. Apply, be involved, etc. I'm one of those people who thinks free art is not the best way to go. You'll get 20-30 watchers from free art. You'll get 500+ watchers from being active and assertive. When i did the free art scene, I'd get incredibly frustrated after spending some 20 hours on a large traditional drawing, and to get a "this is an interesting take on my character" and a favorite. They didn't pass the word on, they didn't do anything but "I've expected you to give me better then this for free, screw you"  People are not always kind, and when you get those dick-holes, it can put a hiccup into your desire to do it for a living. 


When she takes commissions, even if they're a lesser type (like a sketch as opposed to inking) just try and kick ass and go above and beyond for what they might be expecting. That's the way to get recommendations and more commissions.


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## Thaily (Aug 18, 2011)

Zydala said:


> Ah but the people who go "woah hey where'd you get that *for free*" are sent to your page


And then nag for free work ;P


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 18, 2011)

By the way, I just wanted to note the irony that you want your friend to have more publicity but not even post the DA page?

I could understand if it was just a post of "Go see my friend's art *post DA link* and dash and run, but, if you think she's good and her work needs to be seen why aren't you posting her page in this thread?


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## Rook (Aug 18, 2011)

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread so far. I have a lot of advice to pass on to her now and take into account myself. It's been very informative. 



Arshes Nei said:


> By the way, I just wanted to note the irony that you want your friend to have more publicity but not even post the DA page?
> 
> I could understand if it was just a post of "Go see my friend's art *post DA link* and dash and run, but, if you think she's good and her work needs to be seen why aren't you posting her page in this thread?



I was rather wary of doing such a thing, I didn't want to be accused of using this thread as an excuse to advertise, even if it isn't for me.

I will however send her DA link to anyone who notes me or PMS me if they are interested. I'll also post some of her pieces in this thread for you to see.








This is one of her most recent pieces in MS Paint. 






She's just started learning to use Photoshop. 






This is a traditional piece done more than a year ago. She's improved since this but I still find it impressive.


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 18, 2011)

That's fine, and very sweet of you to support your friend. As she further improves and interacts with the community she'll gain more followers as well.


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## Zydala (Aug 18, 2011)

Thaily said:


> And then nag for free work ;P



Maybe for you? No one I hang around on art sites has had a problem with that. :\ I'm sorry that my experience hasn't been the same as yours.


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## Ilayas (Aug 18, 2011)

Thaily said:


> And then nag for free work ;P



The majority of people that have nagged me for free artwork haven't been watchers and go away when I tell them I am not taking requests at this time. The people that end up watching me tend to be very polite and don't constantly bug as to when I will be doing free requests again.


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## Kailombax (Aug 23, 2011)

Ilayas said:


> The majority of people that have nagged me for free artwork haven't been watchers and go away when I tell them I am not taking requests at this time. The people that end up watching me tend to be very polite and don't constantly bug as to when I will be doing free requests again.



Pretty much this. Yeah, it might be true that some watchers may nag you for free work but that is not always the case. for me personally, I only happened to have it happen to me 4 times in my whole time of drawing and 2 of them weren't watchers of mine. But as a whole, most watchers I have gotten are pretty polite and never ask for free art. Of course, I do get a lot of random watches but that's another story lol.


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