How to get exposure and some rants

This is journal is a bit of a rant but also some good advice from someone that's been here over a decade on what it takes to get noticed.

You already know DA has been getting worse and worse over the years. One trend I hate I blame on tumblr. That place encourages art theft because people just pass on images with text that do not belong to them.  DA is about making your own original art. But you see more and more screen caps with text that does not belong to the posters.  If you watch me and you do this STOP it. I do not care if you're a buddy of mine it's wrong and you show you have no talent that way.  A example is the "gallery" of peacelovehalstewart. I only mention this person because they stole some of my art and were too stupid to even reply to me when I confronted them. My friends even left her comments but she did not reply. Probably doesn't know how since you can't comment on tumblr which is a huge flaw there as well.  So I reported them last year. My first time doing the copyright thing and the images got taken down. But why is this account still there? None of that stuff is hers. It's all a den of thieves.  All stolen movie art.  There is no longer a report button for this but you can still report stuff in the general section.  I see too many accounts like this and they are all by kids that haven't been brought up properly to respect other people's property.  Then they cry and act like victims when you smack them. They deserve it. They should not be here.

Another thing that has changed since DA is no longer for artists but for stupid people with no talent is people don't help each other anymore. I am amazed I haven't gotten questions on how I may stuff in ages. I haven't bothered to make tutorials because no one cares about them.  I guess it's too much effort for this generation to actually do work to make art like mine. Back when DA was new it was a place of much discussion. You would watch artists to learn from them and ask them questions. Things like, How did you do that shading? I asked a lot of questions like this and I still do. I am not afraid to ask. If they won't tell me I ask someone else and I'll get my answer eventually. Of course there are those artists that are jerks and so afraid to give away the "secrets" because they fear everyone will suddenly get good like them. That's stupid because people still need to practice to master a technique. Knowing and doing are two different things.  I do love being a big fish in a small pond but I often wish I had more peers to share knowledge with.  That said if someone asks me how to do something in photoshop I will not get scared they are competition and keep the secrets. I'll try to explain how it is done. And if they really are worth my time I might make a tutorial for them. Since this doesn't happen anymore I mostly make walk throughs if anything at all as that doesn't say anything, doesn't teach anything and they are easier to make than full tutorials.

And now to the advice part of this journal.  How to get noticed and get comments on DA.  Guess what it's a lot of work and do not be under the misconception that you have to be a good artist.  There are many good artists that get no attention because they do not use the site correctly.  Here are some things that will help you get noticed.

Comment.  Yes you have to give what you want to get. Go out and give people compliments on their art. Remember communication is the first step in any working relationship.  Comments are so rare now and artists do want to hear what you liked. It's why they post in a public forum. Otherwise they'd never post in the first place.  Those that reply might add you and keep other conversations going.

Read the comments. Read the comments of people you like. Their watchers that left good comments are likely to be good conversationalists. Check out their galleries and then comment to them.  Start to get to know they. They'll probably add you back and start talking to you.

Reply. Someone said something nice to you. Do you know that's rare? Thank them and talk to them about the art. Don't ignore them or just say Thanks.

No one word comments. Don't leave comments to artists like, "Cool." "Nice".  "Good."  That says nothing and does not help  the artist or give them reason to talk to you more. "This is great. I really like the colors and the character." Much better comment and not hard to do.

Groups.  This one is very important. Join all kinds of groups. Think of as many types of groups that your art might fit into. For me I can add say a drawing of Ophidius to groups that are accept all, OC, mythology, birds, reptiles, fantasy, sci-fi, digital art, humor, violence, metal and others.  You'll get tons of annoying faves but there is the chance you will get watchers out of this and active ones at that. This is how I have met the majority of you guys I think.

Llamas.  Yes give llamas to everyone.  Llamas are a great invention.  They were part of an April Fool's joke back around 2010 that was so popular DA kept it. I have met people through llama trades and it helps expose you as well. People that hate llamas and don't participate are missing out on a helpful tool.

Journals. Use them. Journals are not twitters. Using them for one liners or to post pointless youtube videos that do not support you post is a waste of a resource.   They are actually "blogs" base on Livejournal from when the site was new. That's why it lets you add moods. Use them to talk about what you will do with your art, your daily life, or anything else that is interesting. Take the time to write a decent amount as the point is to write not to "tweet".  Journals can be searched now so use them appropriately. Someone might find you because of them.

Submit.  Yes actually post something. Don't have an empty gallery.  DA is about art. And don't use the excuse that you can't draw or do any art. Anyone can take a photograph these days.  No camera? You probably have one in your phone. Photography is an art. Post photos that are fun and interesting.  You don't have to be a pro artist. It's not really about quality but about participation. You have to give before you can get. That said it doesn't mean you should upload crap.  Don't upload digital stick figures of people and animals. Put effort into it if you're going to do non photographic art. You should be posting your best stuff.

Use descriptions.  Don't just post something with nothing in the description. I'm less likely to comment on a pic if there's nothing written about what is happening in the drawing or photo.  Russian, you guys are terrible about this.  ELABORATE.  What better way to practice English.  Or any other language for that matter.

Languages.  If you know more than one language use them. You see I often post my descriptions in English AND Spanish. I join Spanish groups. This gives me even more exposure. I wish I had learned German. That would be 3 times as much exposure if I'd become trilingual.  Only journals do I not translate.

Promote.  You guys know I promote my friends and gift art I get. It's a way to say Thank You and to help other artists. Ask them to return the favor. Nothing wrong with asking. Don't demand they don't have to but asking once is totally acceptable. And most will be happy to do the same in return and it helps both parties out as you have different audiences.  

Profile.   Build a good profile.  You don't have to have a paid account with fancy widgets. You can use your own art on your profile, in the recent art widget that comes with all accounts.  Don't go overboard with stamps. You don't want the page to be annoyingly flashy or too long. Make it nice and give good info on who you are, what you draw and why you are here. Make your front page interesting so people will want to see more and add you.  An empty profile with nothing on it is one that will get passed over. I see that I move on as I want to know about the artist.  The artist is more important than the art.

Real life. Tell people you meet in real life if they are into art about your site. I have given my url to my waitresses at IHOP.  THey love my stuff even if they don't join and now I have real people to talk to in real life about my works.    Perhaps someone you know in real life will join you on here which is nice.

So there are the points. As you see getting noticed is a lot of hard work but you have to do all these things or nothing will happen. Even if you're a great artist.