If you're afraid of not getting enough feedback, I'd suggest trying to find other artists that can help you with that. I know it's not unheard of, but there is certain circles where you can each submit images and get critique and feedback from others on discord channels, I've heard.

That's not a bad idea! I noticed Discord and telegram have groups, so maybe that could be an option. Thankya ^^

Yeah, those are great outlets, trust me.

I've noticed this being a trend in recent years, for the past i'd say 3 years, there's been a very steep decline in comments overall on the site, and i dunno why

Oh yeah it's definitely been in the last few years, not juuust this one haha! It's unfortunate really! But I do feel comfort knowing I'm not alone.

It can certainly make stuff a bit discouraging sadly. Comments are lovely motivation.

Yup, what they said -- I think there's been a general shift in internet culture, and I mostly blame mobile internet devices and modern social media sites. Nowadays clicking a button is considered "feedback", and that's about all you can conveniently do when you're browsing the web on the go via your smartphone. There are still some of us old farts around, who put in the extra effort, but we seem to be a dying species on the internet.

A lot of folks have been noticing a downturn in feedback, tbh. I have a lot of similar feelings, that I want to create things for me! ..... but that stuff gets little to no feedback or support. It's created a cycle of despair for me personally, feeling like "why should i even bother drawing for myself at all? nobody cares," becuse even if it's for YOU.... art is incomplete without an audience.

I feel the lack of feedback is partially due to the rise of social media culture. You don't have to comment anymore to show support, you can like or share! Which is cool and good in its own way, but leads to a habit forming of NOT saying anything... ever. The habit carries over from FB/twitter/etc, and people just fav and leave. I found myself doing it, too, and am now making an EFFORT to comment on things I enjoy more often.

It likely gets little feedback because it's not what folks watched you for.
Produce what you like and you'll gain watchers who like it.

Another thing: I think another part of the feedback drop-off has been that a lot of us got online and started sharing art at a younger age, when we were less busy. Now everyone has gotten older, busier, with more responsibilities, either with a career outside of art or are busy managing their own art as a profession instead of a hobby! They might not have the time/energy to go look at their friend/acquaintance's art and say anything anymore. Which is understandable but in a way, pretty sad too....

I think that's why social media has taken off so much because people have time to quickly scroll their mobile for new art and stuff. While FA is a PAIN on my phone. Fa is just... a dinosaur that will die off if it can't keep up

Most of the younger audiences that are joining up just already know of the social media sites so those are easiest if you know how to traverse them.

Yes, FA really needs an update. I doubt it will come, though. Someday it'll keel over and die and there will be no more "centralized furry hub" and we'll all scatter to the wind. :|
I mean, it's already been happening a lot, with people getting fed up with FA and leaving. It's so disappointing that nothing new has popped up as a GOOD FA competitor. I try to follow people to whatever social media places they sactter to but it's such a hassle to check all those different places!

Oh yeah, I hadn't considered that younger folks might not even really think about commenting since they grew up on social media!

The worst part is that, site-wise, there are many places much better structured than FA.

But I don't know, I like FA. Feels like home to me, even with the decline of user interaction.

I completely agree. I've tried the other sites, but none of the felt like home the way FA does. :(

Same! I oddly find it a comfort, however clunky it seems to be!

This is pretty much what i think is up, especially with those of use used to being around and posting when we were just starting as artists. When there was no twitter/facebook of anything like that. FA was THE hub for content.

Anytime you shift subject matter or style you are going to see a major drop off because many watchers are there for your older style/content.
Keep up the new stuff and you'll attract watcher who like that.

This is a fair point that I will also keep in mind

It's not a bad point! I intend to keep it up for sure!

FA is fading quickly right now, I get way more response from facebook, twitter and instagram. Then after that I use telegram, Furry Amino, tumblr and even deviantart is on par with responses I get on FA and I barely post there.

it feels like you have to be EVERYWHERE to keep a decent audience, and you have to know how to promote yourself on each platform(hint every single one is very different from the other)

I'm going to be starting up a youtube channel to promote my patreon better to restart it, and I'm trying to teach myself pinterest and reddit as they seem to be good promotional places as well. But MAN it's an upkill battle as new things continuously pop up, and you have to be fast at predicting where people go. Vero just started up and it seems to be the new thing people are trying. I'm trying to join servers on discord to see what can happen there, and sometimes just joining random groups that have nothing to do with furry and just slipping your artwork in there can grab attention.

I'm definitely trying to figure all this stuff out, seem to be doing okay, but I get socially overwhelmed FAST

Oh wow yeah I don't think I've gone back to Deviant art in so many years haha, but I'm happy people can still use it as a gallery!

I think you're right though, it's feeling like we have to spread ourselves as far as possible. The unfortunate add on being I get socially exhausted, really fast. x_x

Oh! That's awesome, I actually didn't know you were. I'm glad to see you haven't stopped trying, your work is always go great to see!

What about those of us who absolutely hate social media because Facebook and Twitter don't serve any purpose for me. Twitter seems like an absolute waste of time and Facebook is literally an echoing chamber of ideologies and nothing more.

Tumblr is kind just there.

Pinterest and Reddit are just....I can't even make heads or tails of them. I think Reddit is a bit different, but it is more likely things will just get buried, because of their promotion system. with each +1 you are 25% more likely to get another, and if you don't it is super likely it might get a little attention, and then just die. It is not really a balanced platform.

I don't feel any of those platforms offer honest feedback or even promote real feedback at all. e621 something has some really harsh comments at times, but people are less afraid to be honest about things. I want someone to take the time to comment, not just give me a quick thumbs up or a like or something. I don't even care of comments that just say "I like this" basically, that is what the fave button is for, if you are going to comment, people should say some about the piece.

Each site has benefits if you take the time to learn how to use them. Personally I’m on facebook a lot and as annoying as people are, if you use the group and page systems and learn the algorithms it’s a great way to boost your audience. And if you want harsh critique people are HAPPY to give it in certain groups.

Twitter is a good platform in where you can get to know people a little more than Facebook, being constrained to so many words makes people take a bit more time to say meaningful stuff, or nothing. To me it’s the most personal site.

Tumblr is a good booster if you use tags properly and the right blogs find ya. same with Instagram on the tags bit

Pinterest and reddit are new to me so I can’t comment on them

If looking for honest feedback, I’d say Facebook art groups or finding specialzed groups on telegram, discord, or possibly even deviantart chat boards if you specifically ask. People don’t like coming off rude by critiquing a piece without being prompted

This is all based off my experiences over the years though. Every single place started out super slow and rough

I am sure there are, it is more the whole social media environment is just....well, one a huge time sync for someone that does art more as a hobby and not a job, and two they just never have appealed to me. Twitter just on its own, not even as a platform to post art, just never grabbed my attention or even something I would really use, because I don't post about my life or things I am doing, I am happy to talk with people about my life, but otherwise it always struck me as odd for people to be like "I went here and did this today" and my immediate response is always, okay, cool, but was it necessary to announce it? What purpose did that serve other than to grab attention and get noticed?

That is kind of how I have felt about social media as a whole, yeah it is nice to catch up with friends and what not, but otherwise it has always struck me as a thing to boost one's ego more than anything else just by the very nature of how social media was designed.

Art gallery sites like here, DA, Weasyl, and even SoFurry and e621, feel very different, because there are a way of sharing things that are more of something to be consumed.

I found a really awesome video from Swatches on youtube, a person who is working as a professional artist doing things for Wizards of the Coast and what not, and he made a really cool video about how what you talk about really does say a lot about someone as a person: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfHu1dgFJzM

And social media, or at least a lot of it as always felt like the first option to me, that a lot of it about people, gossip, the ego and etc. where gallery sites seem to fit the other two categories.

I mean I gave up facebook forever ago, I literally post once a year just to give an update and to say thank you for that that gave me birthday wish, otherwise I have no reason to post anything, there is nothing going on in my life that warrant me to use it, and I hate that it is like the go to thing or that artist are almost being forced to use social media especially when there are better forums for such endeavors, because instead of having your art spread out in a feed, it is all localized in a gallery.

I definitely see where you are coming from. The very last bit of your first paragraph is the truth for any use of social media, the worth of it is in getting noticed. As a business entity is a good thing, personally it is incredibly isolating. Even talking to friends is only a brief moment of interaction that could be false since why would anyone want to be raw and real when they don’t have to show it unintentionally in their expression and body language.

I might be going off topic with that, but I had assumed you were looking for a more work-like feedback initially so I followed my responses in that way. I don’t really like social media for the above reasons, but as a full time artist it is a nessecary evil in this time and age xox Learning algorithms and trying to help other artists looking for work figure them out has become part of my job ._.

I’ll have to watch the swatches video later though! I’m always down to listen to other people talk about psychology. :3

Tbh I’ve been trying to break into going to in person art shows. The screen fatigue is real. I miss being around other likeminded people to just talk with and not be in a constant debate or competition.

Well, a lot of people who use Facebook for work stuff, don't have it as a regular account, you can't friend those pages, you can only follow/watch/subscribe to them, but I still feel a real gallery site would be much better for show casing art, than social media platforms which seem better for updates. But even then I still have little use for it.

As much as I would like to sell my work for supplemental income, traditional art is much harder to make profitable, and being I have a regular job, plus drive for Lyft as actual supplemental income, I don't have the time to even try and work out the whole the social media sphere of influence, I don't even use discord/telegram groups that much, because I cannot keep up most of the time, because I have so many other thing going on that need to be done. So thus, a hobby with a few friends I ask for critique from, but they have become increasingly busy as well, so it is complicated to say the least.

Like just the first 3 minutes is pure gold.

I don't know where you live, but there might be an art district like the one in Denver on Santa Fe, and it is literally just a few blocks of small art galleries and studios.

I'm one of the lurkers who just fav pictures and don't give feedback most of the time.

It's not you, don't worry about that. For me, at least, the fav is already considered as feedback, a sort of 'I like what you drew!' and it seems enough. Besides, typing 'cute' or 'nice picture' or 'I like this' or any variation on those themes gets quite tedious and feels empty after a time. I faved, so I already said, in a way, that I like the picture, what purpose would it serve to repeat it? Plus, the behavior of some artist on feedback and criticism, be it positive or negative, made me become cautious and more or less stop writing feedback, except on pictures that I commissioned.

More than once have I seen an artist rebuke and shut up someone who commented on a picture, pointed out something in a respectful way and offered constructive criticism. Some even have a rule that say 'no critique, even constructive one, unless you're the commissioner'. Kind of put a damper on the will to spend time writing anything if all that is wanted are 'Good,' 'nice', 'I like it', 'great pic' etc...

That's okay though! There's really nothing truly wrong with just wanting to shy back and lurk. Unfortunately, though seeing just a like or fav they kinda get buried. I like being able to reach back and personally thank folks for enjoying my work when I can. (aka replying to comments usually) I feel like the community really thrives off of creator/consumer feedback.

But even I myself have trouble commenting for many reasons. Like time, or shyness. Thinking even if I say something the person might not care/see it.

I can only speak for myself but I rarely give feedback on art. Mostly because I do not have anything worth saying about most of it.

That's fair! I didn't want this to shame people into replying more or anything, but it is such a help to artists who are trying to get more well known.

Well at least I do +fav the things I like.

Feedback on FA in general is dying in my experience, twitter & explicitly asking for feedback will help you more

"explicitly asking for feedback will help you more"

I absolutely agree with this. Getting your audience to participate by also asking questions can often help.
For instance, if you post a character in a costume, then ask "what's YOUR favorite costume to wear?" or
"what costume should I draw next?" can be a fun encouragement to respond.

I always feel like I'm being annoying when I ask for feedback, I (personally) am VERY polite so it's hard to push myself out there more. It's not a bad idea though!!

I was reading an article a few months ago about this thing. It does have a lot to do with social media culture but also the level of feedback that even big names get.
Ont the corporate scale, people spending millions on advertising campaigns, a 5-10% feedback rate is considered a success.
I don't think people like you work any less, but culturally people will either just look and continue on, or at most hit the like/fave <3 button and that's it.
But even if people aren't commenting but still supporting, as long as you are hitting that 10% margin you are doing well even if people aren't saying so.
It's something I try and keep in mind when comments and such aren't flowing like they used to.

I think a fair bit of it is all the competing sites coming up and a number of people getting fed up with FA in general.

Other than that, the furry market is glutted, it's only the fetishy/extreme stuff that really stands out anymore.

Honestly it's something I've noticed as well, but I think there are a lot of different factors that contribute to this situation...

I remember your artwork and have saved it in a multitude of reference folders. You've been on FA since 2005. I joined in 2006.
Back then there was no twitter, tumblr or other websites that furs used. It was 'thee' place for artwork.
Now all that has changed. There's a multitude of art sites and social media sites that are being checked all the time through phones.

FA isn't mobile-friendly at all, so I don't think people are taking the time while they're out, instead they're on twitter, etc.

I think also we as a society "consume" a lot faster. We're constantly browsing through media, pictures, content, news, and we're onto the next headline
or post or whatever. It's a lot "easier" to just hit "like" and move on. And to be honest, typing on a phone is still annoying.

When people are at home, they're probably gaming as well. It's just what I've noticed from my viewpoint.

To me, I've always considered a good ratio of "views to favs to comments" when I post artwork is 10% of 10%...in other words:
Let's say your image you post has 100 views. I've noticed that the number of people who will hit the fav button is 10%, so 10 people.
Then out of those people who hit fav, 10% of those are likely to leave a comment, so 1 person. If your image has 200 views,
it's 20 people who hit fav, and 2 who comment.

I also think FA users can have a real love/hate relationship with this website, but the roots go so deep that it's hard to break away.
I also post my artwork on IB, SoFurry, Weasyl, and Furry Network, and the views to fav to comment ratios are completely different.
Same goes for tumblr, twitter, and facebook. The thing is that I post everywhere and try to cast a wide net, but I also do not expect
anything back. There's so much talent in the fandom, and the viewing lens has widened, there's more creativity and more creators.
The spotlight isn't just on artists, but on fursuit makers, dj's, tech, and engineers. It's astounding (and I mean that in a good way).

All this is being typed with a positive outlook though. I look at it all and see so much potential inspiration and growth.

One last thing, but definitely feel free to reply back or connect and have a conversation...I know there are art groups on telegram for
artists and creators to get feedback, critiques, and bounce ideas back and forth. I'm on a few and I've noticed that they tend to originate
out of a specific area, however they are not solely inclusive if you don't live where they do. If you want I can point you to those groups or
try to do some digging to find out if there are others.

I know that sometimes you have to take the "if you build it, they will come" approach...I did that for creating art groups in my area,
and though it's a bit of work, it's absolutely worth it.

I hope you find what you're looking for, and that all is well and at its best.

Oh wow! Thank you for this, I honestly didn't know I'd get so many folks curious about my thoughts. And I'm glad for the discussion it's bringing. (Also very glad I'm not alone. I didn't want to seem like it was making me not want to draw. Or that I was whining.)

And you're totally right, goodness I think I was on FA at it's birth, before the first crash. Even before then I was on VCL and the tail end of Yerf. I can't believe I've been posting in the fandom since 2002. The new sites make art so quick to digest, it's almost like you can blink and see everyone's posts in a day. FA not being mobile friendly has even put a damper on myself, I hate using it when I'm not home. It's much easier to toss up twitter.

To me, I've always considered a good ratio of "views to favs to comments" when I post artwork is 10% of 10%...in other words:
Let's say your image you post has 100 views. I've noticed that the number of people who will hit the fav button is 10%, so 10 people.
Then out of those people who hit fav, 10% of those are likely to leave a comment, so 1 person. If your image has 200 views,
it's 20 people who hit fav, and 2 who comment.

this this THIS! I've actually been trying to tell myself that info for a bit. That the ratios are what kinda truly shows how far your work reaches.

I've definitely been looking into other places, try and break my shyness which I still have all these years later! Haha

thank you so much, this was very kind of you to share your thoughts on!

I totally hear you on this. My art is slowly heading in the direction I want it to, but unfortunately, it isn't getting as much attention from people in the fandom.

I'm still trying to figure out a good balance but yeah... it's hard, especially when you want to get commissions :(

yeah, you see it on a lot of artist pages, people just dont bother anymore with leaving comments. its a shame really

Those guys who already commented said some very valid points that I agree with: the change in the internet culture, FA basically being the same it was 10 years ago with only slight changes, changes in people themselves...

I must admit that I am a type who rarely comments as well. That's because due to the masses that being put out there I just can't keep track anymore, which sucks sometimes.
But still I myself experienced almost the exact opposite of yours: in the last year, my fa profile got as much attention as it did in the previous 9 all drawn together; same for commissions. Yet at the same time, I constantly get the shaft on SoFurry, Weasyl, Tumblr and (not as bad) DeviantArt where I get little to no feed-back at all, barely comments.

Many times I thought to myself that it actually doesn't seem to make sense to spread out, because you just can't give 100% everywhere. And again at the same time, when everyone is everywhere already you see the same stuff everywhere popping up, so why not sticking to one place instead?

It's hard to see any logic in these problems, but come to think of it, humans aren't logical to begin with. xD

Even as a Commissioner I notice it, so not just you.

Imagine you're told there's someone on the other side of a one way mirror, they can see and hear you, but you cant see or hear them, and then are told to interact with them, and despite everything you do, you never hear or see any sort of response, regardless of whether they actually are acknowledging you or not, you'll likely eventually give up.

I think that's how commenting on the internet can feel at times. Not that it's any fault of the poster, cause It'd be unreasonable to expect a reply to EVERY comment, but I think people comment less due to the lack of interaction, it can feel like you're just talking to a wall, there's no feedback, of any sort, unless you are replied too. Even just some little thing that the poster clicked that said "hey, I read this" would make people feel like they're not wasting their time commenting. The comment and then just.. nothingness, can totally lead to people feeling like "what's the point?" I know I'm guilty of feeling that way, and have myself haven't commented like I did when I first came to this site.

So there's my 2 cents.

I thought this was just me because I stopped posting on FA for like two years back in 2014 and I figured people were unwatching an inactive account, but I guess not! :(

*flaily pats* We're here, just, i'm the sort of person who barely comments on anything at all. for i often feel much of the jibberish that falls out of my brain is just... not worth conveying. BUT, as one of the silent many. I(and many others) appreciate all the hard work and hours spent by you and other artists to make your work. (your badge is still one of my faves i have <3)
And i knowwww it sucks when you dont get feedback, but journals like these make me feel i need to step up and stop being such a sucky follower and support the people i've followed for years(or new people i follow tooo)

In any case, we do care <3 and we love your work.

It's such a rough thing, especially as a writer. One hardly gets any faves to start with, and comments are so few and far between that I've seen talented folks just stop due to the lack of feedback. Just keep doing it because you love it, if nothing else. We're here supporting you, and I'll start trying to be more vocal about comments on things!

I always sort of keep my thoughts to myself because I am a text windbag, and I still have a lot to work on so it feels sort of snobby for me to say something without a prompt. I know it can ruffle my feathers when some rando does it to me and I was already feeling poopy about the piece. I enjoy favorite/liking things as when I do its because I like the overall piece or subject matter. Sometimes I like that one best of the upload batch. I am guilty of favorite bombing, but to me that is like stopping in a gallery in front of your work when others I just look at drive-by style. It means I was drawn to look at it in full, and found it something I want to feature in my favorites.

Personally I do a lot of nudes, and I have had people say its the cheap route, but its just what I was into previously to going full time artist. Before now, I was doing life modeling and alternative pinup modeling (like in my 20s, lol) and I still life-model by appointment now. I just enjoy textiles and the nude form as well as pinups because it was my lifestyle. I also like making money and my inks, just don't make money, get zero views, and art novice compared to schooled illustrators, plus take much more time. I like having something that is stable because I am not a fine artist. I like fastfood art, but try not to be a mill artist.


If there are particular things you want feedback on in a specific sort of way or advice, let me know and I will make sure to leave you some feedback on the lines of what you are seeking. (positive, negative, mix of both at once) I personally hate comments that are just an emoji because it feels empty but I also love getting a comment all the same.

Hmm.. wish I could give some solid advice :(
I think there's just so much volume that a lot of it gets lost in the swarm.
Only thing I can think is that maybe you could explicitly prompt for comments/feedback on your submissions? I bet there are a lot of people who are too shy to comment but might given an explicit reason to.

I'll be better at commenting more often. I always kinda worry about coming across as samey or that I'm not adding anything? But I think it shouldn't be too hard to get over that and do more than just offer a favorite. All of your work is absolutely magnificent and it deserves the say-so far more often, Gravey. Keep up the wonderful work and stay proud!

furaffinity is a bad website

I mean, you're not totally wrong. But no one seems to use the alternates.

That's the most annoying thing. Social media sites don't really provide the same targeted advertising for artists to offer their services, nor can you easily see an artist's portfolio since you end up with a mixture of original posts and retweets or suchlike. They're not really an adequate replacement.

I admit, I'm bad about commenting on things sometimes. But I do love all of your art!

Holy heck there are a lotta responses!

I guess I'll add mine too.

I don't think it's JUST that FurAffinity is a 'bad site', I mean, there's a lot of problems but it's still probably the most traveled furry art site around for the moment, so it's what we have to deal with.

Your journal mentions that you get a decreased response from characters with more normal proportions, and this is symptomatic of a few things! Fat furry artists are in higher demand than artists who deal with regular proportions, because there are less of us. You can make your way as a fat furry artist, and try to sell that content easier, than perhaps you could sell 'normal' content, simply because you're in a smaller market. People will still buy normal stuff, but if you're competing against more people, you'll get a smaller percentage of the clientbase, etc, etc.

The ideal is to go with drawing what you enjoy. If you make a job out of catering to a fetish you have no interest in, it may be lucrative, but in the end unfulfilling. My biggest advice to folk who are trying to get a Patreon running is that: do what you enjoy. Make this your excuse to start a comic, or something like that! Patreon needs patreon exclusive content, a lot of the time, before people will support you. There needs to be something that they see BEFORE everyone else does. This doesn't make it a paywall, just an 'early access' kind of deal. That'd be my advice, anyways! ^u^

Adding to the echo chamber - I had way less watchers a few years ago but had so many more comments and favorites and good interactions in the fandom. It's been majorly downhill the last few years - I mean even at Anthrocon last year, everyone in the artist's alley complained that they didn't do as well as the year before (I made less than $100 in sales where the previous two years I made 3-4x that). I'm not sure if there's just less interest interacting online and buying things in the fandom, or if that's an issue with FA in particular.

I know I'm guilty of not commenting because I feel I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. It just seems like actual talk on (at least FA) has really fallen down. I love my regulars, too, but it gets hard pouring time and love into a piece and no one else seems to like it. It's so true that extrinsic motivation destroys intrinsic ones, but it's like... having people tell you they loved what you did and enjoyed it is also this validation and reaffirmation and it's hard. Especially since art is very much a thing to show and share in with other people, the loss feels that much more. And especially especially when people have their own lives and jobs unrelated to art, spending free time on art to share with others just feels a little empty if no one else is gonna like your stuff. Sorry that things have been in decline for you, too :(

Maybe I'll see you again at AC this year! I definitely want to actually get some art from you this year, even if you're not at the alley and I just have to hand you some cash under the table ;3

Myself I've noticed it for years, but the cause is not only more venues to post. It's also fear. Far to often giving critique or feed back nowadays leads to terrible backlash either from the content creator or worse there fan base.

This has scared many critiquers and comment givers from doing anything other then blind praise less they be made an marked individual.

It's honestly a real shame.....

I never thought about that really! Though I've heard it quite a bit. Possibly it's because I've always (personally) not minded any comment I get unless it's truly cruel or raunchy. But of those I don't get too many.

Sorry that seems to happen though!

Im a bit late to the party but Ill still through some feedback your way. :P

I can definitely see what you're talking about when it comes to slow moving traffic when it comes to doing things your enjoy. I think it has something to do with the more fast paced culture that the internet is talking to new limits where just a fav is considered enough feedback. I also believe a good chunk of traffic gets diverted because they are looking for specific things and more often than not its going to be fetish fuel. It's a bit disheartening but Ive seen many artists fall into a niche simply because it pays out and they end up latching onto it like an oil pump. Now I wouldnt like to see you become type-casted as an artist but why not post a list of what you enjoy drawing or would like to draw. I think that would be a nice case of having your cake and being able to eat it too.

Patreon still isnt bad move but I think they really need to work on making it more mobile friendly and it took on some water when they tried to restructure the pledge system. Id highly recommend having some sort of Discord chat or similar for you to have more direct interaction with your followers/fans. I think this will solve a good portion of your feedback issues as it's feels less business and more personal.

Hopefully this bit of rambling helps in some regard. I know that I dont comment around here too often, but I still hope to work with you again in the future!

I can totally sympathize with you. With the changes that social media has brought, (twitter, facebook, etc) I can't help but feel that folks have been conditioned to "fave and run" without leaving a comment like they did when FA was the main social media site for furs. I've noticed that the number of comments I've got have gone down, and to an extent, the quality of them has as well. Sadly, I'm even guilty of it at times, just faving things, with intentions to leave comments later, but I never do.

Not sure what to do to fix that, other than just encourage furs to talk to one another, especially when it comes to the creative aspects of the fandom.

I rarely give feedback on art because I do not have anything worth saying really. I really suck at it.

I've noticed the same thing. I can't say exactly when it began but both on DA and on FA, I used to get almost a hundred comments on my best pieces sometimes, usually around half that on my quickie paintings, and half that on my sketch pages. Now I get like twenty or so on my best pieces, around five on my quickies, and one or two on my sketch pages. Moreover, a lot of the comments are just "nice work" and "good job" which makes me feel like a failure as an artist.

I don't take it personally. I try not to let pageviews, faves, and comments dictate how I feel. That's a dark path to go down. I'm going to paint what I want to paint. If people like it, great. If not, okay, that's fine too. I won't lie though, I do miss the days when I had a closer relationship with my watchers. We'd shoot the shit, make each other laugh. I'd answer questions or explain my techniques to eager ears. Some of them still hang around from the old days but a lot of them have moved off. I miss them. I miss that closeness.

Now, this place just feels empty to me. I don't know if that's because I've failed in some big way or if something big happened but either way, I miss how things used to be.

This is partially a furaffinity thing, partially a......fetish artist thing. I noticed I get more comments on my fetish porn than my regular art too and at first it made me feel nice to get more notice but then i started noticing the notice was only there, nowhere else.
But furaffinity in general is used less and less in favor of facebook, twitter, and tumblr, all of which have less feedback and more "likes" or "favorites".
Just keep you rhead up, keep on trucking. you're not wrong, you're not failing. Your work has value.

Well, I certainly enjoy your art. You've done two wonderful pieces for me without the ridiculous proportions that seem to get feedback, and I get positive responses from them all the time. If you'd like, I can message you and relay critique I've heard by voice over the life of having the traditional style piece on display in my room.

I really enjoy your art and hope you continue everything you're doing! However, I totally share that sentiment. The problem with FA is that if deviantART is a 'main' gallery for many people, FA is just a horny version of that lol. Most people tend to think with their libidos around here and aren't necessarily ready to type out a well-thought-out critique of a piece. I know that's painting with a broad brush, but in my limited experience here, that's what things tend to be more tailored too. Quick fix, explicit, fun to enjoy, not necessarily to experience and support as a work of art.

I found that my fanbase was the most connectable on Twitter. Two artist friends told me to join and I was SUPER skeptical, but it's become such an intrinsic thing to my art, I don't know I ever just got by with dA for so many years. I still post almost everything from Twitter on dA, but the active, quick nature of Twitter at least helps your art come to a much broader audience. Then from there you can hone in on channels like Patreon, perhaps, or other websites, where you can get more nuanced feedback. But it's amazing the domino effect of just one retweet. It really helps you reach more people. Hell, I said something marginally funny in response to a picture on Twitter just the other day, and then someone put it in a 'moment' (compiled of multiple tweets). From that 'moment' feature alone, almost 600 people liked it and got around 40 new followers in that one day. It was insane and actually a little annoying; I can't imagine being Internet famous haha. But it at least goes to show you the power of viral exposure in the right communities.

While you won't get constructive criticism on Twitter due to the fast and transient nature of the site, I am a big advocate for it opening new doors.

Also I feel dumb now because I MISSED THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE A TWITTER link in the bottom! Sorry! Still doesn't change my answer - I suppose it all comes down to finding the right crew of people who will be there to consistently engage with you and your art. I know personally Twitter has helped with that significantly.

Hahaha no problem! Thank you so much for your input, this kinda got way more responses then I ever anticipated! But I'm glad I'm not alone and it really made me think of all the options I do have and their limitations.

"Unless I draw something with ridiculous proportions, or something very fetish heavy I...barely get a response." That seems unfortunately very normal around here.

Also, are you still in Wyldsyde? I remember seeing you there many many months ago. If you are, you're more than welcome to share art with us and give you all sorts of feedback. Its a really friendly bunch.

[edit: holy crap I didn't realize this was posted a month ago. I'm really slow.]

Haha! No problem! I was blown away by the response I got for an FA journal, and really appreciated everyone's feed back. I still do too, it makes me feel a ton better.

Ahh no I left awhile ago I think cause it sorta overwhelmed me, I'm a shy bby!

I can totally understand that. If you'd like to pester me on discord though, let me know!

I'll admit I saw this when it was posted, but couldn't really collate my thoughts until a much-needed hiatus to work on personal art and subjects I wanted to work on. You're pretty much voicing sentiments I've had in growing amounts over recent years, here... and the responses as well, if anything, reassure me that I'm not the only one to feel something like this.

I can remember when I'd not just get a pleased response from folk, but I could get to hear why they liked it or were critical of something in more than a couple words, and discourse with my viewers was more frequent. It let me know what I could improve on that I didn't notice before, or what I had a knack for conveying. This was early on in the site's life and my time on it, say 2006 through 2010 or so.

Nowadays it kinda feels like I'm drawing by the numbers and the large proportion of feedback I get beyond my very supportive close friends is 'man that's hot/cute/pretty', or some random arrangement of emoticons and smileys. The discourse has fallen by the wayside save for the occasional nugget of inspired prose and it's practically nonexistent when I try to draw something outside of what most commission me to do (hyper or macro figures of some sort). Since this is my chief income, it leaves me feeling bracketed into drawing the same things over and over until I headbutt myself into a commission-hiatus out of sheer frustration at my situation and the feeling I'm squandering my art opportunities.

Other websites probably will not truly take off unless something happens to FurAffinity, which I don't wish for, but recognize this site's the biggest gorilla in the room. I've made efforts to post more on Weasyl, but failing a crossposter that doesn't feel like it's more effort and work than just single-posting every time (Waxpost breaks on my main compie and consolidating tags and markups on Postybirb still feels a bit clunky early on), just updating a page can feel prohibitively time-consuming.

No wonder so many people are just flocking to Tumblr of all places.

I wish I had a solution to the feedback issue aside from asking for it on every single opportunity but that'd prolly require a shift of mindset for posting and art appreciation. Sometimes people just don't have the time to give a wordy breakdown of your stuff and I understand that. Doesn't mean I don't miss the exchange though. Beyond...well....what happens now.