Currently, I'm taking a strategy where I am uploading less than desirable art, whilst improving with every upload. This tracks my progress over time. Its based on the general idea that people enjoy seeing improvements. Before/after videos on RU-vid do very good for example. If people see progress of someone else, it makes them motivated to make content too, and follow you, share your art, etc. People have made comments on the quality of my art and how to improve. Its been a goldmine on how much information is freely given on improving. From random strangers too. Meanwhile I am building a following. Although it can be rather stressing to be able to pull of an improvement every upload, I feel that its worth it if I don't give up. at 5:06 it is said in the podcast to upload your best work. If it takes too long however to upload you will lose following. So uploading a content thats not so good once in awhile should be okay.
I highly agree with “don’t post random stuff” on your artist page... I hate it when other artists do it too. Also make two separate Facebook profiles: one for your personal stuff and one for your art circles.
Another good episode. Though, I think that alot of the advice given assumes that the artist has a presence or following to begin with. Stan mentions "small" accounts with "only" a couple thousand followers, but that advice may not be applicable to people with less than a hundred followers! As a member of that double-digit club, and since I have not much of a community to begin with, I'll be looking to interact in other art communities in hopes of drawing attention to my account. Not through asinine ways like spamming comments, but through constructive ways like participating in art challenges (Inktober, Brushtober, etc.), contributing to popular hashtags/trends (The I-pose, Sailor Moon redraws) and participating in Draw This in Your Style challenges. These are ways that even an account with zero followers can "collaborate" with larger creators AND their peers with smaller accounts as well.
As for things to put into practice. I think I would have to make a gallery first! I've mainly done commission pictures for my friends but I wanted to make a gallery with my own type of content too. I'll revise this video after I've gotten to work on it. Thanks for releasing this content, it's very helpful.
One thing that bothers me as someone still learning and struggling to become "good" at art is artists who are better than me calling something that they're doing at a level well beyond my own "garbage". It's something that I hope to never do if I ever become professional.
59:03 THIS struck a cord with me... I've been constantly pointing out mistakes in my work lately, and you've just made me realise how utterly stupid that is. I still see my mistakes without putting it into words on a post, so why do I constantly feel the need to do it for other people? From now on I am stopping this BS, it serves nobody and it actually does me a disservice. Thank you guys for your honest conversations once again, this is the greatest podcast to listen to as an aspiring artist.
46:00 there's also fake followers who go around following others on the chance they will follow them back, and then they unfollow them after a few days. A lot of them are fake accounts too. So that could also explain you losing that many every week.
Those are the WORST! I've had plenty of artists who follow me, and then like clockwork, 2-3 days, they unfollow you after you've followed them. It's annoying, the follow/unfollow asshats.
As an digital artist who has been going on for years without much activity on social media. I really take many of these topics to heart. Thanks for the wonderful advice.
i should be doing school work but i'll excuse this, draftsmen podcast is a priority in life also, ik you jokingly said marshall would make an instagram in the last episode, but i was rlly hoping he would. i want to show my appreciation for his art & wisdom
This was one of the best lessons in social media that I've ever heard. I especially loved how Stan has an intention each time he opens up social media. That just might be the cure to doomscrolling.
Three tools that will make social media for artists much smoother: > Buffer (for composing and scheduling uploads) > Evernote (for tracking and organizing your most profitable ideas). > Pomodoro Tracker (ideal for maximizing time and measure progress). All of them have free versions. Using any of the three will get you incredible results. Mastering all three will allow you to give a rhythm to your content production, while turning you into a professional, deadline-commited, competitive artist.
I love watching you guys! My biggest take away from this topic is when Stan talked about not getting hung up on the fact that some people unfollow you. It is easy to feel deflated when this happens. I feel much more at ease about this now, so thank you Stan.
Already heard the podcast! I learned that I will have to edit my traditional drawing photos better before uploading. I have neglected my upload quality for too long and I thought editing them was not being honest.
Remember art is one of the most superficial crafts you can do. Always make sure your shit looks the best it can, get good lighting and a good camera. and remember a camera won't ever match how it looks in real life but it can get close.
the segment on not burning out is so crucial. stay frequent but healthy! don't feel bad reeling back the frequency from time to time your posts really become your portfolio as well
I mostly started my RU-vid channel and my Instagram because 1. it looked like fun and 2. it was a way to try to push myself to keep making art. So I wasn't really trying to grow it. I've been vaguely thinking about pursuing it more seriously, but I work full time so that's not really going to be easy. But this was really interesting and informative. I really liked the idea of not worrying about people unfollowing or not choosing to follow because they're just not interested in what I do. That's a really healthy way of looking at it.
Very interesting episode. Big thanks for it. My question and feedback: 1. Many artists focus on variety, not on mastering one topic or style. Is it better still to make your online presence look like you only focus on one thing (eg. pencil drawing, human anatomy, robots, watercolor landscape etc), separate different aspects of your creativity into another accounts (more time needed to manage them all) or keep advertising yourself as an artist of many skills? (I've had commissions coming from diversity aspect) What is your feeling about this, gentlemen? 2. Not everyone enjoys family photos in artists' galleries. For me they're annoying and I skip them as fast as I can. I feel bad for looking at your private life while you don't even know me in person. Also I feel bad cause I take it as you making a marketing tool out of your family members. This is nothing personal and by no means I'm telling you what to do, just explaining something you might have missed. Cheers!
I have to say I am REALLY liking the lighting and camera of this podcast, it makes me wanna draw their faces. the colors, the shading the contrast. so appealing. not joking.
Solid advice! The one that hit home for me was when you said to prioritize quality over quantity. I've had a few successful artists encourage me to post everything I create, even the stuff I knew wasn't my best work. But I felt that was not wise and didn't take their advice, and it's nice to hear someone else back that up. However, I have had a lot of engagement in some of my process or progress posts on IG. But I go back and archive those after a couple of weeks for the same reasons you stated.
I'm going to use social media with a goal in mind! That was actually freaking mind blowing to me. You know, not using for sake of habit, use it because of a purpose, be it entertainment or professional.
Speaking of getting on someone's case, when is the Marshall perspective course going to ready? The chalkboard one is great but I'm sure with the technology proko's courses employ there will be a vast improvement!
Yes, "steroid growth" is something I saw a lot of my peers doing on DA. I always thought spamming llamas was stupid and cheating. Why would you even want a follower who just came for the llama? Get followers for good art. I'm happy to know that all my followers genuinely followed because they like my art.
I think one scary thing about consistency and quality is trying not to fall into the churning mode and some people do have a hard time experimenting because it makes them feel guilty because they are going out of their norm
As usual just love the podcasts I love hearing from both Stan and Marshal...please keep these going..I’ve done art many years and have learned so much through artists like yourselves..thank you for all you do!
Quick note on consistency and renewal: I recently stopped following a lot of people that were obviously working social media on their current ground rules (much of which are exposed here), because every single day they would post so much stuff that seemed exactly the same, that it grew very tiresome. Proko's channel, on the other hand, has got my attention much more since the latest additions - new people to the videos, Draftsmen podcast etc. -, because it feels like a healthy grow of your community reach. I've come across many talented artists and thinkers, such as Steven Zapata, because of Proko's curatorship. So I just wanted to add that while this might hurt a machine addicted to addictions, it does feel warm and nice on a human level.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Stan and Marshall! Well, with all of the information gathered, now I gotta re-focus on committing to making it happen which is the hard work. From this podcast, I learnt that "Algorithm" is the new god that needs to be included in Neil Gaiman's pantheon. And I definitely agree with the minimal viable audience strategy of Seth Godin! Thank you again!
I have not watched the episode yet, but i just wanna say I needed this so bad today!! i've been having a hard time with social media, sometimes i just want to delete all my accounts a live a free social media life lol the algorithm sucks! thank you for this ep!!
The one thing I will put into practice more: "To thy own self be true"...not re-shaping one's self to other's preferences unless they have a stake in your success.
Writing this before I watch it, but this came at the perfect time. I've started to get frustrated at how slow my instagram account is growing, I have half as many followers as posts, and I'm sure this will help! thanks!
@ - Don’t Dwell on the Numbers. I'm guilty of unsubscribing from your channels. But it has nothing to do with you or the quality of your videos. Usually, I do unsubscribe when I see that I've stopped doing anything related to the channel's topic and I have a hard time finding anything on my subscribed list. What got me to draw again was some five or so simple warm-up exercises like lines, circles, etc. So I do unsubscribe when I think that I have quit but I return when I realize that I had just stopped for a while and ready to go on and learn more. Keep going. You are creating awesome content.
About negativism, is okay and healthy to read it, just learn to separate work from personal life, they are attacking your work not you, sometimes helping you, sometimes they don't like the taste, but it's not at you as a person, almost like 99% of the time. So give your drawing the best weapons to defend on their own, if they fail...... draw a better one and give it a BAZOOKA. Better works are the only right way. you can learn a lot from critics, especially the ones that repeat, they are into something you can't see yet, but you will eventually.
Just started planning on adding more regular postings on LinkedIn instead of only Facebook just this past week. You helped confirm this is a good way to go. Thank you, I learn so much from the Draftsman!
I’m trying to make an instagram account that aims to interact with budding artists that are also learning the basics and fundamentals on their own, like what I am doing right now. My main goal is to give new artists- myself included- a safe space to interact and discuss about study materials and all those stuff.
Hello! I’ve created a reddit for beginner artists who want to learn and share info and get feedback about drawing fundamentals! I did it because I was tired of seeing other how to draw Reddit’s that just became a place for people to show off their work rather than for beginners who need help. I’d love to follow you and please join r/beginnerartist if your a new artist who wants to learn & share learning resources about the fundamental
Thank you so much for all these information you shared. It is a big struggle for me to survive with no followers growing. But now I know what I have to do. I will quality work more, and wont be disappointed with less followers. Thank you.
this year i started digital art, i started "leaning" all over again 6 months ago, i started with anatomy from this channel, around 4 months ago i made an instagram acount, i upload from sketches to practice and almost every most bring me 2 3 followers... it is a big deal for me cause im anticocial as a personality... and thanks for this vid, i do feel down cause my posts dont get more than 40 likes
Well, the first thing I will put in to practice is leaving a comment -- which is that I wish you would leave a like or dislike or comment for when people do leave a comment -- because I have answered some of your pinned post questions and have no idea if they suit your vision or not. Kinda disconnecting feeling. I know, you are not on here to do what I want. I will be acting on a social strategy that I have not prioritized but procrastinated. Thanks for this podcast.
One thing I struggle a lot with is whether I know my work is good enough to start posting frequently, It seems when I'm in frequency mode, the traction is very little and I fall off the bandwagon. This right now is the biggest struggle in my art life, as its what I want to commit my life to, but feel like I'm in a permanent cul de sac. I'm just coming to the conclusion now that statistically speaking, we cant all really make it on social media, even if you are good. Thanks for the video and hello from Ireland!
I'm not sure if this has been discussed in previous podcasts, but I was wondering if you guys could touch on the topic of doing art work for free. Non-artist acquaintances ask for free work, not realizing that art is a special skill that must be crafted through years of training, and it would be like asking an accountant to do your taxes for free. Also, Stan mentions collaborations in this video. Where is the line between collaborating and giving free work to a stranger? Can you elaborate on the subject of doing art work for free?
Great Episode! Consuming is not necessarly bad.. It's about what you consume. (Fast Food or a balanced meal?) The main thing I will focus on, or started while listening, is to make a killer product! 👏
This video was really helpful! I'll stop worrying about losing followers and start focusing on posting quality content even if it'll make me post less frequently.
I really liked this one! Thx stan and marshall! Now i always make sure to post quality content and don't point out my mistakes xD, i will also eventually archive all of my old drawings!
21:00 its true i was kinda confused but it was a good confusion haha because the content is really good so i appreciate that (so if u read this pls keep going :D)
Thank you for your great advice! I am a seascape and portraiture artist. After my last commission series, I switched gears these last few weeks and have been working on watercolors (with a charcoal portrait on the easel just to stay limber) 😊 I haven’t posted the watercolors because, well, I gave up social media for Lent, number one, but number two I feel the abrupt turn might confuse my followers. Perhaps I’ll sit on them (metaphorically speaking) and only post the best ones after Easter. Have a great day, God Bless.😊
That may be one of the most important thing here -- for negative, hurtful, toxic comments "DON'T RESPOND TO IT." (also the comment on people to listen to -> those who have a stake in your success or failure.)
I have to work on focusing the topic more. Even though I am not all over the place, I still feel, that I try to pack too much into an episode. So I will try to clarify the topic even more! Thank you both for this very interesting podcast.
Apart from art quality and other important things, the problems about likes and followers are: algorithms depend on it - usually first 10% of the number of the followers will see the new content, time people spend watching the new picture influences it too, and first of all: the more followers, the bigger chances of your art to get shared and to reach more people and so to reach the right people who would love your art and who'd become your potential clients. So on one hand it's true that we shouldn't concentrate so much on the likes and followers, on the other we need those if we want to get more clients or even followers who would truly care about our art.
As for facebook: People can now follow you and you can make personal posts only for your friends, and public posts you artwork. You can split your audience in that kind of way.
I reaaaally need to post good work and with frequency. Thanks for the tip about archiving posts, I'm really changing my portfolio and need better stuff to show. Awesome podcast as always :)
I have a question about being a multidisciplinary artist. I started my account years ago, and it was always a mixture of mental health, motivational content, writing, art, personal stuff and projects. So my local audience has developed a taste of this all encompassing brand- but with the algorithm changes I feel I cannot grow as I did in previous years. So I have the same issue Stan had with the Facebook issue. How do I fix this? I tried to create a digital art account but most of it has gone to my main account @yvette_hess which has different mediums. The major concern is, if I change the main account name, to describe what I do, that everywhere I’ve list this link or people I’ve emailed in the past perhaps, lands on a broken link because I would change the name, for example. Any advice people?
Yeah, social media is very hard. I still have not figured out Instagram at all. I've used into Facebook Creator Studio to schedule posts for months, at the best time (when there's the most audience logged in based on analytics info), I add hashtags and description, I ask questions, etc, etc. The most engagement I'm getting is a dozen or so likes plus 2 comments from spamming bots. A while ago I realized I was spending too much time focused on trying different aspects and I barely get interactions per picture, instead of doing what I'm supposed to do.... study art xD So now I no longer care much for social media, I use Facebook Creator Studio to queue posts that will last a while and then I forget about it and I can just browse and enjoy my art feed.
Consistency but with quality over quantity. I try to post as many good drawings at once but then I burn out and hibernate for months. 🤦🏻♀️ so now I know that I need to pace myself and plan better.
On the subject of private accounts, I made my account private because people targeted me before. Not because of my art but because I'm part of the LGBT. The amount of hate and bigotry that I got from random people for something I keep to myself and never really reveal or talk about in social media really blows my mind. I don't even know how they get that info. Sometimes keeping your profile private is creating a sense of security for yourself. keep your artworks in public, and the rest private.
I created a page on Facebook to share artwork on instead of sharing through my profile. I ended up making a new FB profile to manage it and deactivated my original profile account. It was the best thing I did on FB. I no longer fall into that feed trap but am also able to share art with fam and friends.
Please please please 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 do a interview with loish !! I think she's a wonderful artist.her works are magnificent. They have so much flow and colour in them.
