As a child I was extremely fascinated with Yu-Gi-Oh card art (example attached), and it became my main focus when I've bought a cintiq and actually started doing digital art.
It has been a year now, and my biggest struggle is to find an audience. Naturally, what I do won't and shouldn't appeal to just anyone (Yu-Gi-Oh card art), so I can't just advertise myself randomly.
What can I do to gather an audience?
>>2407056
First step is to git gud
>>2407058
And then..? >>2407058
And then...?
I mean, I've worked on this step for so long, and obviously still am. However finding audience is just beyond me.
Do you do art because you enjoy it or because you want an audience? If it's the latter you'll probably end up disappointed. No one can choose to have an audience, the audience chooses who they follow, and there's no magic bullet to get one. Who would have predicted Undertale would get the fanbase it did?
If you can help it leave ego at the door and make things you enjoy, hopefully an audience will develop on its own from the passion you put in your work.
Some people say art is really just communication and expressing thoughts and ideas, do you actually want to make art or do you really just want an audience to communicate with?
>>2407064
I enjoy art. All I did before turning to ditigital was downright personal and done for none but myself; however when you move to digital art there's no sense in keeping it to yourself. You open a DA and then it becomes a waiting game. You don't share pieces for the googlebot, you aim to make yourself a name as an artist. Especially if the goal is to work as a card artist, you must push for that.
It doesn't mean I no longer make art for my own joy. I do, but I also want it to be realized and the search for an audience comes from there.
>>2407070
The thing with getting people on the internet to like your art is you have to give them something they want. It has to appeal to them in some way.
Fan art is popular because people already have a connection to the characters and setting, porn is popular because it's innately appealing. People can garner followings by offering original characters with a narrative that allows the audience to engage. (webcomics etc)
If your work is just original illustrations it has to be so good people can't deny it. Fan art quality can be pretty low and people will still enjoy it, but if your work has no context people have to see it and go "fuck that's awesome" or they won't care.
>>2407070
I can respect that, particularly with digital. Not only can it take more time and effort but it's so easy to share. It's natural that someone who's put so much effort into something would like to share it.
>>2407085
You hit on a very important point, are we talking about an audience or about consumers? Is there even a distinction between the two anymore? In the Internet as a medium we are both the consumer and the product, Twitter drama is both a game we play and participate in as much as entertainment to be consumed, let's players are as much about personality than content.
Maybe the question isn't so much getting an audience, but how do artists market their work through the medium of the Internet, what are you selling stranger?
Fuck that's so sad...
>>2407056
I have a 30, 50, 20 division rule when it comes to making an audience.
30% personal work, your work.
50% fanart.
20% studies
The 50% will get you more views , thus making it more better to pursue when you're starting.
Some clever artists uses mash ups to incorporate their interest in the fanart they're making like Disney reimagined as X kind of shit.
Hope this helps , OP
>>2407056
Honestly it's probably not the audience you need. As long as the art is solid people will follow it.
For most people they follow and like something without even knowing the sauce material.
What you trying to do is to cash in on the fandom which I don't support in any way or form.
>>2407113
The question is >>>>2407113
Perhaps that is the bigger question, but personally part of the struggle is to find people whom I might interest *considering* what I do is yugioh card art. This sole fact narrows my potential audience even more.
Some people suggested I would make requests to spread my work more effectively, is there any other way?
show your work. how do you make your artwork look like the yugioh cards?
>>2407171
not OP but yugioh cards tend to have a specific look to them
the backgrounds all tend to be ambiguous so you focus on the monster unless its a spell or trap in which case sometimes it can be a bit more detailed
>>>2407137
It does. Thanks.
That "disney reimagined" shit reminded me of the realistic pokemon design trend, it was a great gimmick backed by quality designs and overally a great success.
That 30 50 20 thing is pretty clever btw, thanks.
>>2407141
Cash in on the fandom? At all not.
I'd love to make money out of it (who wouldn't want his favorite hobby become a profitable job?) but that's not even part of the goal.
I honestly enjoy making those designs. The goal isn't even money, it's to have those designs be realized by other people. Be 'fulfilled' as cards, be used, be played. That's what an audience stands for in my perception of things, not cash.
>>2407056
>It has been a year now....
>>2407062
>I've worked on this step for so long...
Are you for real? You've worked on art for a year and you're wondering why no one is looking at your stuff? Because most likely your art looks like shit. Is this a bate thread or what?
Even if your work was decent it'd take quite awhile to get any sizable "audience" who gave a shit. Try coming back after 4 or 5+ years of intense study and then complain no one cares when you have quality work. You sir are delusional about how long it takes to get good and how good your work needs to be to attract attention.
(OP here)
>>2407182
Go on! take 2 sentences out of context, twist them and make a worthless rant that is everything but helpful. Not a single glimpse you've given at my art, then you rant and you call this a bate?
"For so long" as a figure of speech, give your angry attitude a break. My *activity* on DA sums up on barely 2 years, prior to that? I've done traditional paintings, ever since.
Had my pieces looked like shit I would have asked a whole different question - nothing audience-related.
Another thing your rant totally missed is neither have I claimed to have mastered the technique nor I've said no one is looking at my stuff.
People look, but that's not an audience, and I improve a time goes by. What I look for is ways to spread my art amongst a target audience.
Now, I came here for advice (not for your angry. baseless assumptive judgement), I don't know how you read this as a complaint but please spare this thread of further rants because your reply was not even slightly helpful.
>inb4 lousy art (yea I know. Old. And done when I was teaching myself to paint)
Back in the late 90's when all sorts of collectable card games were the rage,a professional artist friend recommended that I try making a complete set of a dozen cards featuring an alien race of my own design in various situations to submit to some specific game,the theory being that a new alien race would be more likely to be bought up as a collection. So I suggest to you to make your next few works to be card illustrations of stuff they might be interested in. It'll be good practice in any case working within the size and format.
>>2407287
This is what I forgot to attach. The figures were way too small to be recognizable in a 2 inch square illustration, and there are a few thousand other flaws,as the helpful trolls will point out,so spare us all those dozens of posts.
