# Is the only way to gain attention in the fandom is draw NSFW?



## Ratchetjak (Jun 12, 2020)

This is something I've been wondering about in recent years. Now to start, I have nothing bad to saw about NSFW art. I draw a little bit of it myself and I do look at NSFW art, I have no problem with it at all. But lately I've been wondering if the only way to really gain any sense of attention or notice is to draw NSFW art predominantly? 

While I draw NSFW-lite (though tame, not really outright nudity, just softcore), I just can't help but notice that most of my clean work just doesn't get much engagement at all. I'm pretty much a character design artist where I like to draw designs as opposed to scenes or comics, just mainly character design. But I just can't seem to get much of any engagement. There's an artist I follow who does design as well only they do it with NSFW in mind, anything that can show off genitals and they are just raking in the viewership and engagement and it just makes me wonder if I should just start going down the NSFW path. 

It's not that I have anything against NSFW, the biggest hurdle is just feeling like I'll burn out just drawing that genre because I actually do want to design characters for my own game some day but I feel like with my current gallery being so vastly different as one moment I do NSFW, then the next I do some art of my original characters, then the next I'm doing fan art,  I feel like people get turned off by that and are only wanting to see one main thing which is the NSFW in my case since it gets a lot more attention than my clean stuff.

I'm just curious what you all think. Do you think in order to find success in the fur fandom is to draw NSFW?


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## TyraWadman (Jun 12, 2020)

Well, your gallery does not have a lot of variety and you seem to have a theme that is generally fetishized within the community.
Character concepts are nice (I love doing it) but it helps to have character designs that tell a story. Most of the pics I see in your gallery are mostly plain-furred pokemon inspired adopts or other fan-related inspirations. I guess the short version might be you need to branch out/experiment some more! 

You got some sweet irl outfits though, not gonna lie.


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## Ratchetjak (Jun 13, 2020)

TyraWadman said:


> Well, your gallery does not have a lot of variety and you seem to have a theme that is generally fetishized within the community.
> Character concepts are nice (I love doing it) but it helps to have character designs that tell a story. Most of the pics I see in your gallery are mostly plain-furred pokemon inspired adopts or other fan-related inspirations. I guess the short version might be you need to branch out/experiment some more!
> 
> You got some sweet irl outfits though, not gonna lie.



Yeah in hindsight a lot of my work in the last 2 years have been more streamlined a bit, I do have a lot of sketches on the backburner that do need to get finished, I've just been so busy with irl stuff lol.


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## Nike_M_Aguaraguazu (Jun 13, 2020)

Dude, just do what you like (or what makes you money, hehe). 
Also, why not both? Designing characters in a NSFW way? I mean, you already do make a lot of big ass femboys and big bara tiddies muscle guys. One kinda expects that would be your thing. 
Make more designs, and make more sexy designs, I think.


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## Minerva_Minx (Jun 13, 2020)

Depends on tastes.  I do a lot of scenic photography and travel fairly regularly to out of the way places.  However, photographs of nature, people, and street life aren't really in demand.  The photos are good, just not the badass photos people want.

 But computer generated?  That nets me a couple of new followers daily and is my most well liked and appreciated.

Your art is amazing and has a lot of work in.  But branching out would likely do you a lot of good.


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## Bororu (Jun 13, 2020)

TyraWadman said:


> Character concepts are nice (I love doing it) but it helps to have character designs that tell a story. Most of the pics I see in your gallery are mostly plain-furred pokemon inspired adopts or other fan-related inspirations. I guess the short version might be you need to branch out/experiment some more!


Even though I thought OP's gallery looked fine, this is still excellent advice. 

My take on the NSFW/SFW dynamic is that SFW furry art seem to be most compelling for people in a story context. People enjoy SFW furry comics and games quite a bit, but a picture of a character isn't interested by itself. NSFW is different because narrative/storytelling is far less important. NSFW is kind of like comedy in a sense. It is designed to give the viewer a quick physical reaction. SFW requires viewers to form a connection over time. Hope that helps.


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## Deleted member 111470 (Jun 13, 2020)

Yup. The most followed and viewed artists are all primarily NSFW.


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## ConorHyena (Jun 13, 2020)

There is no chance to get views as an SFW artist. All the SFW works on FA are just mis-labeled porn or fetish YCHs


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## Fallowfox (Jun 13, 2020)

Unless you depend economically on your art, just draw what you want. If you get an audience great, if you don't, who cares? If you enjoy making the art, it is worth it.


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## Frank Gulotta (Jun 13, 2020)

Yus


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## TheCynicalViet (Jun 13, 2020)

Yes. And to pander to a niche audience.


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## Punkedsolar (Jun 16, 2020)

It helps.  I don't do NSFW art (any more - used to occasionally under another name).  I have to be honest and say it gets less attention.  But it depends what 'success' is, really.  Is success actually doing your lowest-common denominator work at high speed because people want to view porn?  Or is it exploring your characters, developing your technique, and being rewarded by personally getting better?


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## Stray Cat Terry (Jun 16, 2020)

Same. I have done bunch of furry OCs with varying backgrounds and stories(not FA), but people don't care. Or, as I assume, at least they're too busy to read those descriptions to make the safe arts appealing.

However, any NSFW or kink arts, even without any backgrounds or stories, catch people's eye fast and easily. The art itself seems to contain enough thrills that people have everything explained in their brains and need no longer description, however, if you also have descriptions for those NSFW/kink arts, the better(usually).

After all, sadly, the NSFW/kink arts is a must if you want fast and easier way to get attention and maybe gather more audiences. If you prefer to have general stuffs rather than easy attraction, then you can as well stay with the safe arts.

It won't be as effective as NSFW/kink arts, but you can still boost your safe arts' attractiveness by giving them the scene. After all, the NSFW/kink is also a way to possess a scene. By doing this, maybe you can attract a few more people into your safe arts too.

For me, as I usually don't favor drawing NSFW, I just keep doing safe arts(or maybe some kinks as I can't resist drawing them sometimes). I'm like: If some people would only find me for my NSFW arts, it means my uniqueness (the art style, character designs, etc) isn't likely in account of their interests. So, I would rather ignore those people and focus on those who are actually interested in my uniqueness.

Because, losing the audiences who only care about NSFW won't kill me. So that's that, not that I'm offending NSFW lovers. I know how they feel, but it's just that I don't do those often.


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## BunBunArt (Jun 16, 2020)

I don't think it's the ONLY way, but... yes, it helps. In my case I'm getting some attention thanks to my comic which is SFW but I also draw NSFW art of the characters from my comic and extra short stories.


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## ChozetsuDynamisch (Jun 20, 2020)

I refuse to draw NSFW! If you think that's not a suicidal mission, then you might don't forget to set your arts to Adult rating.

I ever don't give up if my arts are only get little attention to no favorites given from them! I'm just a new user, but I won't give up, I can still stand up even!

Drawing NSFW to get more attention in FurAffinity isn't the only best way to help you even!


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## zenimalice (Jun 22, 2020)

You can just draw your own thing for sure. If it has enough soul it will find success. NSFW art can be sold faster I assume. It’s all about that clout really. Nowadays you need to dedicate a lot of time to networking yourself. Or if you have funds invest into shortcuts with ads or tasteful self promotion.


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## skroge (Jun 23, 2020)

nope if you have skills to make art and have fun making new friends having fun what so ever then yeah


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## LeFay (Jun 23, 2020)

To be fair, getting noticed at all can be fairly challenging whether you do SFW or NSFW. And a lot of this comes down to 2 things. Visibilty and tastes, delving into NSFW along with SFW will net you a bigger audience. But with the sheer volume of artists in this fandom it can be tough to standout from the crowd.

Arguably the most popular artist (I believe she still is) is Falvie and to my knowledge she's still purely SFW. Rudragon is also insanely popular, despite them having recently started doing NSFW they had a massive following just through SFW. Even Fluerrfur and ItzNightly to my knowledge are purely SFW and also have massive followings on reddit with most of their works hitting hot or even top.

NSFW is the same with SFW, it all comes down to your visibilty and peoples taste in your art. NSFW can be a bit easier to break into but it's honestly only marginally more in my opinion.


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## redhusky (Jun 23, 2020)

The best way to get attention is through engagement. As in, you have to interact with your audience which will give a reason them come back for more. Just posting isn't enough, regardless what it is that you are doing. If you just post and don't engage then you are merely a "vending machine" and you will be out of peoples' minds just as quickly.


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## BlackDragonAJ89 (Jul 5, 2020)

redhusky said:


> The best way to get attention is through engagement. As in, you have to interact with your audience which will give a reason them come back for more. Just posting isn't enough, regardless what it is that you are doing. If you just post and don't engage then you are merely a "vending machine" and you will be out of peoples' minds just as quickly.



I mean, that's good advice and all, but as in my case, when all you get are just weirdos who just want to either ERP with you (using your characters of course) or just want to make mindless "looks the hot" comments, there's no real point in engaging with that kind of crowd.


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## MainHammond (Jul 5, 2020)

Well.... Trials of mana proved it kinda does, but I don;t think it's the only way.


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## MoonriseLotus (Jul 7, 2020)

I feel you with this! I made a blog and Instagram in 2013 where 90% of my art was hard nsfw (though it wasn't furry-- it was fanart). By the end of 2014, I had nearly 3k followers. And I don't post a lot or quickly either.

I couldn't stand the way people were interacting with me though, and they were constantly begging for free art and reposting my stuff without credit while cropping my name out.

Then I deleted everything and decided to rebrand. I also don't want to draw nsfw anymore due to the bad experiences. My interests shifted to wanting to make cute original art.

So since I started a new Instagram in 2017... Now in 2020, I've been struggling to even get 300 followers for 3 years now. It feels bad when I need the dumb numbers to get accepted in a lot of conventions and events to vend, but I really can't see myself drawing nsfw content too easily these days.


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## redhusky (Jul 7, 2020)

BlackDragonAJ89 said:


> I mean, that's good advice and all, but as in my case, when all you get are just weirdos who just want to either ERP with you (using your characters of course) or just want to make mindless "looks the hot" comments, there's no real point in engaging with that kind of crowd.


Yes, it's definitely a task, yes?


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## BlackDragonAJ89 (Jul 8, 2020)

redhusky said:


> Yes, it's definitely a task, yes?



Yesh, I could have responded to this sooner if I wasn't working, but...

I understand that when it comes to fetish art, the sex-crazed guys are gonna come out of the woodwork; it's a part of the territory. But after drawing in general for most of my life and having a major online presence for about 12 years now (looking at my time on Deviant Art), people should realize that I'm not going to draw NSFW or mindlessly get involved in their ERP sessions. Sure, I'll tease things, because that's what makes "saucy" art actually good (leave some stuff to the imagination), but I'm not interested in over half of what some of my "watchers" have asked for of my characters or fursona in terms of kinky or fetish art. Especially since I actually need to use these characters for something, as pointed out in a few other posts regarding characters within these forums.

I've been wanting to do either a comic or game for quite some time now, but anytime I ask my watchers about what they want to see or feel like we need to see more of, I usually get ho-hum responses or people wondering why I haven't done any fetish comics yet. Because in the end, nobody wants me to improve or actually go beyond what I do, they just want the same thing over and over again.


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## MainHammond (Jul 8, 2020)

Yeah , at the end of the day the most popular artists are the ones who post new stuff constantly for a long time.


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