# How do you draw followers in?



## Toboe13 (Jan 9, 2014)

At this point I'm not interested in commissions or selling. I just really want some followers and maybe get some comments. It gives me motivation to work. I've been getting better (a lot better since I started) and I just can't seem to get people.

Is there a good time of day to submit? Anything special? (I already draw mature/adult stuff, so don't say "draw porn!", I already know)

Thanks.

Dmitry


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## Zydala (Jan 9, 2014)

There's no real proven way to get attention unfortunately. Post a lot, keep getting better, be active in the community, fanart maybe, and a bit of luck.

Try joining some art groups online, swap crits and feedback in sketchbook threads, things like that


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## Toboe13 (Jan 9, 2014)

Thanks. What are sketchbook threads? They sound cool!


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## Socks the Fox (Jan 9, 2014)

Comment on things, post lots of stuff (but not all at once, maybe every other hour), and just generally be active.


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## rjbartrop (Jan 10, 2014)

Humour seems to work well too.  Really, what people want is art that makes them feel something.


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## Batty Krueger (Jan 10, 2014)

Draw porn.
Oh wait. 
You answered your own question.


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## Evriale (Jan 10, 2014)

I was trying to figure out the same thing. It's true that I don't draw porn and have no intention of. Still, I like to think that my art is "ok", but it happens so often that I post a drawing I'm really proud of and get like 3 views, no favs and no comments... Yay... I did make new year resolution to be more active in the community, but I'm just so shy... I write a comment/reply, read it 10 times and then delete it because I think it's stupid, will be interpreted in a wrong way, etc... :s
I think comics are something that really draws people in. If you'd like to try that


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## rjbartrop (Jan 10, 2014)

People do seem to like pictures that tell stories, whether as comics or single images.   I don't think porn is a guaranteed draw at this point, simply because of the sheer volume of it that's already being produced.   "Draw porn" isn't even a clever bit of snark anymore.
    Being active, and letting people know you're there in a non-annoying way is important.  If there is a "secret", and I will admit it's whole lot easier to say than to do, it's to just be interesting.  When somebody makes the decision to click on your gallery, what are they going to see that will make them want to share with their friends?    If they're just going to see the same generic figures in the same generic poses in the same generic styles, then there's probably not going to be that much interest.   If you want to distinguish yourself, you should be asking yourself "What am I bringing to the table that nobody else is?".   If you say "It's what everyone else is doing", then sorry, you're doing it wrong.   There's almost a million other people on FA clamouring for attention, and "good enough", just isn't good enough anymore.


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## Aleu (Jan 10, 2014)

Be active in the forums in general
Post a variety of things and not JUST porn. That'll at least draw some folks in who typically like clean art. I tolerate people who do porn if they do clean art as well. However if someone does only porn then I just stop watching.
Also, sketchbook threads are basically threads people make in Tutorials and Critique in Pallete Town where they post sketches of things to show improvement.


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## Singarl (Jan 11, 2014)

Actually, I'm very interested in this too.
People always say "be active, post alot" or "comment", "keep improving". They say people will come automatically when you have great stuff. 
Well I don't consider my art bad since I study illustration and have a lot of practice. Still I don't have many followers and I have seen several great artists who only get very little attention.
Is it really about being active? Or is it more about having great contacts? 
I'm a little confused about that sometimes.
I will have to live from doing art in the future (even now) and I don't seem to know how "marketing" works.


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## Aleu (Jan 11, 2014)

Singarl said:


> Actually, I'm very interested in this too.
> People always say "be active, post alot" or "comment", "keep improving". They say people will come automatically when you have great stuff.
> Well I don't consider my art bad since I study illustration and have a lot of practice. Still I don't have many followers and I have seen several great artists who only get very little attention.
> Is it really about being active? Or is it more about having great contacts?
> ...


I have about 100 followers and I'm not that great of an artist. Most of them have come from forums I frequent. I post a lot while also doing art. I sometimes have done requests as well.


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## Taralack (Jan 12, 2014)

Porn helps, but only marginally, and usually they tend to attract the type of crowd you don't necessarily want. Same thing applies to free art. 

Most of my followers came from the year I did 50 cent iron artist sketches, several years ago. 

Marketing involves a mix of being a personable artist (being friendly and communicative with your customers is important), knowing how to promote yourself and your work, and knowing how to be professional. It's why we have a rule on Black Market discouraging people from just copy-pasting responses to hiring threads, and why we prefer people to tailor their responses to the customer. Because yes, once you start accepting money for art, they become your customers/clients.


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## Singarl (Jan 12, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Porn helps, but only marginally, and usually they tend to attract the type of crowd you don't necessarily want. Same thing applies to free art.
> 
> Most of my followers came from the year I did 50 cent iron artist sketches, several years ago.
> 
> Marketing involves a mix of being a personable artist (being friendly and communicative with your customers is important), knowing how to promote yourself and your work, and knowing how to be professional. It's why we have a rule on Black Market discouraging people from just copy-pasting responses to hiring threads, and why we prefer people to tailor their responses to the customer. Because yes, once you start accepting money for art, they become your customers/clients.



So yyou mean you started with low prices and worked you way up?
I thought of this too but I'm not sure whether this is a good idea since my professors always tell me not to underprice my art or other artists may be in trouble too.
There was a short time when my commission prices were rather low and I had alot of people buying but since I incresed the prices, only few or none are interested.

@ Aleu: I have 200 and more followers but few of them seem interested in purchasing art x)


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## Taralack (Jan 12, 2014)

Singarl said:


> So yyou mean you started with low prices and worked you way up?
> I thought of this too but I'm not sure whether this is a good idea since my professors always tell me not to underprice my art or other artists may be in trouble too.
> There was a short time when my commission prices were rather low and I had alot of people buying but since I incresed the prices, only few or none are interested.



Essentially, yes. Your professor is right, and with art of your level I would not recommend it either. During the time I did it I was under no pressure to pay bills or anything of the sort, and I had a ton of time to burn, but my situation is different now that I wouldn't do that sort of thing again or price myself so low. 

You need to be actively searching for customers as well, it's not like all of them will be approaching you. About 60-70% of my furry clients are from responding to threads on FAF, the rest is from posting journals with x number of slots and from YCH auctions. There is a slight psychological aspect when posting journals as well, because by limiting number of slots, you create the illusion of demand.


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## Singarl (Jan 12, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Essentially, yes. Your professor is right, and with art of your level I would not recommend it either. During the time I did it I was under no pressure to pay bills or anything of the sort, and I had a ton of time to burn, but my situation is different now that I wouldn't do that sort of thing again or price myself so low.
> 
> You need to be actively searching for customers as well, it's not like all of them will be approaching you. About 60-70% of my furry clients are from responding to threads on FAF, the rest is from posting journals with x number of slots and from YCH auctions. There is a slight psychological aspect when posting journals as well, because by limiting number of slots, you create the illusion of demand.



Maybe that's what I should do. Actively looking for customers. I haven't been doing that much. Wheras I always limit my slots.
But even when I only have 1-2 slots open, people come very slowly. Eventually all slots are taken, but it always takes some time.
I never did a YCH auction either, because I wouldn't know what to do when nobody is interested oÃ´ Do YCH sell better?


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## Socks the Fox (Jan 12, 2014)

Post up the silly doodles you do in your free time. Nobody will know you exist if they never see anything! It's a good thing to do while you're waiting for commissioners to apply, since it not only lets you practice and try new techniques while not worrying about messing up someones art, but it also gives you something to do to distract you from the slow trickle.

And don't be afraid to expand your market! Register on other sites and do the same thing. It's more to keep track of but if one site goes down for a while you're not up a creek! Just be sure all of your page profiles have links to the other places people can find you.


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## Smuttymutt (Jan 12, 2014)

Join multiple communities! Join conversations! Not just little "thats nice" comments. But sometimes journals can have nice conversational topics, I browse the ones on SF all the time because its easy and joining in on a conversation is an easy way to get to know people or show what you are about. Post art. Try not to take long breaks between uploading. If you make a comic be consistent with upload. Respond to comments, especially if you see someone commenting on a lot of your stuff. Thats a chance for more than a fan but to gain a loyal fan, or even a friend.


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## Toboe13 (Jan 12, 2014)

Agreed.


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## Taralack (Jan 12, 2014)

Singarl said:


> Maybe that's what I should do. Actively looking for customers. I haven't been doing that much. Wheras I always limit my slots.
> But even when I only have 1-2 slots open, people come very slowly. Eventually all slots are taken, but it always takes some time.
> I never did a YCH auction either, because I wouldn't know what to do when nobody is interested oÃ´ Do YCH sell better?



Yup, you definitely need to start doing that. Even for professional freelancers they need to spend at least half of their working time canvassing clients and creating pitches so they will get hired. This happens to a slightly lesser extent in the fandom but it does still happen, and the better you are at it, the more professional you will appear to customers. 

I think YCHs are a bit more friendly to people who maybe don't have any concrete ideas of what they want to commission, as YOU will be providing most of the idea and context for them. I would say maybe start out with just buyout YCHs (ie. no auction, just a set price) and the first person to respond gets it, and as you build more of an audience you can start to have auction ones with longer durations. I've been doing that recently and it's quite popular, all of the YCHs I've posted in the past few months have ended on a bid that was higher than I was expecting. 

Presentation is important as well, it's a good idea to have a commission price list as an image or as a standalone site. I have my prices listed on Blogger, which means I can still link people to it in the event FA goes down. And it's modular as well, so I can show them what they want to see rather than forcing them to look through everything, which may be tedious on them. Do some basic research into layout and typography, it will help you make some good graphics for making commission sheets. I know there are templates out there, but try to avoid them and make your own.


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## Singarl (Jan 12, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Yup, you definitely need to start doing that. Even for professional freelancers they need to spend at least half of their working time canvassing clients and creating pitches so they will get hired. This happens to a slightly lesser extent in the fandom but it does still happen, and the better you are at it, the more professional you will appear to customers.
> 
> I think YCHs are a bit more friendly to people who maybe don't have any concrete ideas of what they want to commission, as YOU will be providing most of the idea and context for them. I would say maybe start out with just buyout YCHs (ie. no auction, just a set price) and the first person to respond gets it, and as you build more of an audience you can start to have auction ones with longer durations. I've been doing that recently and it's quite popular, all of the YCHs I've posted in the past few months have ended on a bid that was higher than I was expecting.
> 
> Presentation is important as well, it's a good idea to have a commission price list as an image or as a standalone site. I have my prices listed on Blogger, which means I can still link people to it in the event FA goes down. And it's modular as well, so I can show them what they want to see rather than forcing them to look through everything, which may be tedious on them. Do some basic research into layout and typography, it will help you make some good graphics for making commission sheets. I know there are templates out there, but try to avoid them and make your own.



Thanks for taking all your time to explain all this to me  I really appreciate!
It never really ocurred to me, that I have to be the active one actually x) But it's true who come I didn't see it. There are so many people offering commissions it's hard for people to even get to your stuff.
And I will probably do a YCH sometime, just to see if my audience will find it appealing.

While I looked through your gallery, I saw you - like most people of course - do anthros. I think that's one of my problems too. I don't plan on doing anthros and I had people saying they were interested in my art but unfortunately they'd like an anthro character. It's kinda extra hard to find enough people if I don't draw what's most peopular in the fandom I guess. Though I have seen artist being very successful doing only feral art.

I have a commission sheet and of course studying illustration at our university implies learning the basics of typography and design 
What bothers me is more that I'm not consistent in what I am drawing so that people don't really know what to expect.
I draw everything from realistic to chibi from painterly to lineart and pixels.


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## Taralack (Jan 12, 2014)

Singarl said:


> Thanks for taking all your time to explain all this to me  I really appreciate!
> It never really ocurred to me, that I have to be the active one actually x) But it's true who come I didn't see it. There are so many people offering commissions it's hard for people to even get to your stuff.
> And I will probably do a YCH sometime, just to see if my audience will find it appealing.
> 
> ...



Hrm well I won't tell you what to draw, but it's important to be flexible. I don't know how far you plan on taking your art as a career, but if you want to freelance, you'd be better served having a range of stuff you can draw. 

If I may ask why do you not draw anthro? A lot of feral only artists cite the excuse of "oh but I can't draw humans so animals only", but I'm just wondering if it's a matter of can't or won't. The nature of the fandom does mean that anthro art is preferred over pure feral art, but I would say your quality of artwork is enough to carry you so that you don't have to draw anthros. The only problem is you're not well known enough that you can draw ONLY feral art and get by.


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## rjbartrop (Jan 12, 2014)

Themed commissions also still seem to work as a way to inspire ideas.  There's a lot to be said for being active in other communities, both online, and in the real world.   I'd say half my business comes from talking to people in FurryMUCK, and I've gotten illustration jobs from talking to authors and publishers at science fiction cons.   Even if you don't make a direct sales,  your friends and contacts will know you as "that artist" when someone else is looking for art.


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## Singarl (Jan 13, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Hrm well I won't tell you what to draw, but it's important to be flexible. I don't know how far you plan on taking your art as a career, but if you want to freelance, you'd be better served having a range of stuff you can draw.
> 
> If I may ask why do you not draw anthro? A lot of feral only artists cite the excuse of "oh but I can't draw humans so animals only", but I'm just wondering if it's a matter of can't or won't. The nature of the fandom does mean that anthro art is preferred over pure feral art, but I would say your quality of artwork is enough to carry you so that you don't have to draw anthros. The only problem is you're not well known enough that you can draw ONLY feral art and get by.



Well I'm definitely going to have art as career, I'm not studying illustration for nothing x) And I do think I have a very wirde range of stuff but in the internet I almost exclusively do digital art. No need to confuse people even more with all I do x) Of course in real live I have to do traditional works everyday for my classes.

I don't draw anthros because I simply don't like them much. It's not about human anatomy x) 
It's more a personal matter 
But if buisness keeps stagnating, I may have to swallow my pride as an artist to do only things I love and start doing anthros as well :/ I'll see.




> Themed commissions also still seem to work as a way to inspire ideas.   There's a lot to be said for being active in other communities, both  online, and in the real world.   I'd say half my business comes from  talking to people in FurryMUCK, and I've gotten illustration jobs from  talking to authors and publishers at science fiction cons.   Even if you  don't make a direct sales,  your friends and contacts will know you as  "that artist" when someone else is looking for art.



I think one of my main problems is also that I don't really have a community. I realized that if you'd ask me, I couldn't mention anyone who'd recommend me as an artist if others need something drawn :/


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