I’m not sure what to say, Myke. I don’t know much about how people get large followings here or anywhere online.

But I am certain your larger following will eventually manifest. ☺️ Keep doing what you do, how you do.

Personally, even if I didn't participated on the last giveaway, I found you through the announcement. So it worked for me. I'm pretty new to your work and I only know what currently appears on your gallery. Maybe some YCH so that people can find your work? Or if your commissions are open you can create a post with the information that you are open and upload a reminder once a day or few days?

I hope you get more followers, your work is amazing.

Huh, yeah, your watcher count is really low. Weird.

Not sure what advice I can give, I’m pretty bad at the social media thing.

Do you know any artists who you could ask? That could be helpful.

Alas, I wish I knew the secret sauce to getting watched.

There IS a very non-secret sauce, but that's something I don't really want to put on my salad. ;P

I haven't had any new watchers in a long time now. I need to be a bit more productive, but I've been in a slump lately. I'm more focused in trying to play D&D at the moment. >__>

At this time, I believe you could benefit from exploring new techniques and avenues that could bring your output closer to your aesthetics, as well as refining your current formulas. You are on a good path, but there's still a ways to go.

Drawing more lewds of popular franchise characters is usually a good recipe for success. Krystal, Renamon, Lucario, Midna, Amy Rose, etc.

That is *one* recipe. But it's not what I do. Beside, there are plenty of artists who achieve 5 digits watcher counts without resorting to that. So yeah, that falls into the "counter-example" thing I mentioned in the journal.

Your style isn't detailed enough for conventional art, not pornographic enough for hardcore and your characters aren't curvy enough for softcore. Consequently your art misses a "whoa" factor.

I also have reservations regarding your equine anthro muzzles, but considering it doesn't apply to other species, eh...

So what you're telling me is that this is all that 8 years of dedication, practice and work afford me.

Lovely.

It's not a problem of technique. Your art needs a stronger identity.

I think this is due to what is happening recently with everything related to social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., which prevents people from creating new accounts on sites like Fur Affinity, for example. Due to all that, many users on the Internet want to avoid any kind of "inconvenience" that could arise on any platform (including this one) because of... Well, I think I can't say more than that; what I can say is that it has to do with the exodus that is happening right now with respect to a certain social environment and that is all I can say about that.

Also, you have to take into account everything related to deviantART, which could be due to that too. And I say this because if something bad happens to deviantART it will also affect the number of new followers you could get here. Most people avoid Fur Affinity because it relies on a niche exclusively for everything related to furry fandom, which is one reason why most users don't come to this site. However, deviantART is in serious trouble lately due to all kinds of bad decisions on the part of its administration, which is negatively affecting almost the users who have accounts on that site (especially those who create content on that platform).

In conclusion, what is happening to you here is basically, almost the same, for the rest of the users on this site due to everything I said before about what is happening on other platforms. To sum it all up, you will get new followers here depending on how well you do on deviantART and / or Twitter; It's as simple as that. I didn't tell you all this to make you feel bad on purpose or anything like that but to clarify what the situation is today on the Internet; nothing more than that. That's all I have to say; thanks for your attention and greetings to you.

You are pretty off the mark, considering that:

1 - There are several artists on FA with watcher counts that are orders of magnitudes above mine, and
2 - My DA and Twitter follower counts both see much better growth (even if still unsatisfactory) that doesn't reflect here.

I think that you really should stop trying to make everything confirm your personal biases. It's not all about what you believe.

I think you are taking it all very personal; I told you what is happening in reality, in general, and nothing more. I never said that there can be no exceptions to what is happening now and regarding my "beliefs", I want to tell you more about what is happening today but I cannot, no matter how much I want, due to how the stuff here and I'm not going to lose my account for it. Greetings.

There's no secret sauce. There's not going to be a secret combination of fetishes + species or whatever that result in massive increases in watchers. It sounds obvious, but it's true.

The first step is to really be honest with yourself what you want. If its watchers for the sake of watchers, then don't stress about it. The only thing you can do is grind it out in a way that ensures you're enjoying yourself, and take the process as its own reward. If you're getting bummed out or discouraged, step away for a bit to try to reset your attitude. And, hey, no shame in that! All hobbies require this sort of reset sometimes.

If you want watchers to be e-famous, or to make more scratch, then you may have to compromise your principles, values, or aesthetics. Definition of insanity, and all that; what you have now isn't working, so change it up. Different platforms, different styles, some ad runs, whatever. But if the art really is a means to the end (and again, no shame there! Professional illustrators exist!) then you have to be willing to treat it as more malleable. And remember that, unfortunately, there's an element of luck. It might just...not work out. This possibility is what makes the first reasoning so good. Enjoying the process for its own sake is going to get you through the rougher times.

Honestly I think you just draw strong gorgeously underrated girls that don't have massive asses or tits that most people for some dumb reason seem to prefer. They don't want to see a girl that can outrun them lol Like how I like smaller breasts, small breasts don't get views like larger breasts. Though I am not sure I want more competition for a slot if you ever open them X3

This is just a theory I have and I could be completely wrong here, but for the artists I follow that are most memorable, there's something that I associate with them. It could either be something they're really good at doing that not many others could pull off, or it could be something else that's interesting and different about said artist. In other words, quality can bring people in, but if you want them to stay then you need to give them another reason to.

The market for furry and pony art is saturated, but I think the solution to saturation is to come up with a way you could specialize yourself a little more and maybe experiment with your art style a bit. I'm not saying to go from being a jack of all trades, to being a master of one, but go for something in between. Be able to do a few things relatively well, and have one or two things that you absolutely excel at which could be aimed towards a niche of some sort.

I'm not your most active follower by any stretch of the imagination, but there isn't anything really specific that comes to mind when I think of you other than swimsuits, which by itself isn't a niche you can really take advantage of IMO. The first time we talked around a year ago, you mentioned that you wished to spread a message with your art, but the problem with this is that I think it's a little bit diluted. Try and see things from the perspective of a new follower who just discovered your work. They won't have previous context of older images, and if you can't summarize what you primarily do in one sentence at most (that also isn't just "I draw furries/ponies"), your art isn't specific enough IMO.

If you feel like what you're currently doing isn't working, then maybe it's time to switch things up a little, and focus on demonstrating what makes you different from the thousands of other artists. You shouldn't compare yourself against others too hard, but at the same time you have to remember that you're up against many others if your wish is to grow your fanbase and make more income from your work.

It's a difficult question. Certainly some of it is shit luck - your watcher count does seem low for the quality of your art. I've noticed a few things, some of which have already been mentioned, but I'll reiterate them all anyways.

First off, you have a somewhat defeatist attitude with regards to yourself. The quality and quantity of your art, your watcher count, yourself, etc. It's definitely not helpful, and even sometimes offputting - while I respect you can't always help but feel it, things like your favorite quote being "I'll do better next time" and the, uh.. very negative last comment you left on yourself ("I am nothing ...") don't help.

Second, your art. First off, your art is *excellent*, and incredibly believable especially where anatomy is concerned. And very well-matching what you would "expect". And I think that's almost part of your issue - Other artists have a noticeable "something" to their art - eye-popping shading (a few), exceptional fluff (hioshiru), lewdness/fetish mastery (lots). Your art doesn't have a particularly "holy shit, _______" to it, even though it's excellent and continually improving. I'm not sure what to suggest here, other than continuing to try and experiment with things. If I had to try and pinpoint a 'weak spot', I would probably have to point at your shading as being a bit weaker, though in the same breath I'd admit I can't offer any useful suggestions for improvement, just that your fur shading is often oddly too smooth/specular.

Third, art quantity. I think this does hurt you a bit, because while your pieces are excellent, your lower art cadence does put you "out of the spotlight" more. I'm really not sure how to offer any advice other than maybe be a *little* less perfectionist, and try to be more focused on your work, and/or try to work on art off-stream; I do notice that you have a tendency to spend longer periods of time on-stream not actually drawing - sometimes chat, sometimes other life things.

Fourth.. consider more YCHes, Raffles, etc. The more community involvement opportunities you allow for, the more community interest you'll get. This does go hand-in-hand with #3 however, so YMMV.

Late to the party on this response, but to be honest, I just found you by this image on the FA front page:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39442016
And I loved your look and style so much, I followed you and planning to hopefully get a wonderful commission from you at one point in the future because I like your style that much. Nothing much more to it. You are talented. I like your art and style. I eventually want to give you money for it. Keep doing what you do and be awesome!