Well, this is a community, we are here to interact with each other and have fun together. Of course I get that as artists we want to become famous and popular and be recognized by our efforts, but at the end Newgrounds exists as a community and is built to be the place were we share our thoughts and interests with others as if they were good friends. I'm pretty sure many people still find the thoughts you have shared in many threads interesting and helpful

I feel this deeply. I hung around an overall apathetic community for a while and in hindsight I'm really glad I fell out with them since the experience of people being around and not really caring about my work was maybe worse than just having nobody around at all.

It helps so much to have people to bounce ideas off of and gas you up. I think a lot of people like to put on a brave face about doing art for themselves, but also as humans we're social creatures and need that validation from time to time.

You ever want to post something but you know that art threads barely get reactions and don’t know where else is appropriate to post them? Thats how I’ve been feeling when I gave up on my art thread. It’s like the having a job vs not having a job meme

I guess the next place to look is the Clubs and Crews forum. There’s some groups available for artists who want to share each other’s art, OCs, etc. Maybe that’ll help.

Yeah, back to the same feelings now. Aside from friends that I can still contact on Discord, I get the feeling that nobody would really miss me if I left.

I don’t feel like I’m worthy enough to do any actual payed art. I gotta try to keep my head up and work hard. I’m sick of being stagnant on my art.

Hey, use those commissions as a way to get better. That’s why I really liked doing art trades for a while - having different characters to draw helped me expand my skill, and I would try to go the extra mile with a new and interesting style to present the OC in so that the gift art would be truly unique.

Just a word of comfort: From the way you give out such thoughtful responses, I think this place definitely would feel... Emptier, for a lack of better word.

If possible, I'd like some advice on artistic style. I always feel nervous when drawing and struggle to express myself freely, which often makes my work seem generic. I really want to create something bold and amazing instead of just playing it safe, but I can't seem to overcome this mental block. Any tips?

Bold and amazing require more than what you can trivially summon up in an afternoon. You're young, and youre skilled, I can tell from your art that you have what it takes to perform the physical part of the art. You need to start thinking now, not about something as trivial as what style youre drawing in, but what you want to evoke in the person beholding your art.

You have power over the person who is looking at your art, not complete control, but almost all of it is yours. What do you want to make people feel? How does how you feel relate? How do you get the reaction out of people that you want? How intense do you want that feeling to be? I find that its easiest to get the audience to feel something that you feel yourself, because you understand what it takes to make that feeling appear in front of you to show to others.

Trying to evoke a feeling that you yourself have never felt before probably wont work, or it will be really weak.

Sinister grace?

loss?

fear?

graceless lust?

something without a name?

awe?

What feelings have you picked up in your life that you can channel into your art? Force people to feel?

Another thing these things all have in common is a level of technical mastery. Technical mastery isnt a hard requirement to have in order to force people to feel things, but the better you are at art the more control you have over how you can make somebody else feel.

Oh man that reminds me that I've been wanting to portray stuff like wonder, nostalgia, and maybe sadness for a while now. No idea where to start other than using a lot of blue lol :P

you can approach art often times a lot like how you approach cooking. look at a recipe (use a reference) study people who are successful at what you want to do, copy their recipe and add your own ingredients to suit your taste.

and how would I find said reference? looking up "sad art" on google or something?

You can try searching for "melancholic artstyle" or "sad mood art". You can even try searching for specific color palettes, like a Sad color palette (as you probably already know, certain colors mixed give different conotations and sensations)

You could have an “inspiration” folder of art you like with different moods! Or to have art “goals”. I started doing it back in highschool and if I ever couldn’t think of a clear way to communicate my ideas, or make a composition, or w/e, I’d go through that folder. I still kinda do that via reposts and my spouse does it with instagram bookmarks. Just curating art with vibes you like

The desire for a style is one of those desires as old as art itself. A lot of it is built up over who you take inspiration from, what you enjoy rendering, and how you push it.

A lot of it can feel like fumbling in the dark but sometimes it takes pure experimentation and studying masters/peers/the world around you to really dig down into what you enjoy making

I think overall don't worry too hard about developing a style fast. I see a lot of artists develop one rendering style then decide that they've hit "their style" so they don't really work on anything else but then stagnate because theyve never learned how to be flexible. So I guess enjoy the journey and making mistakes. People with nice sketchbooks full of finished pieces can't be trusted. Get weird with the stuff that only your eyes will see

It helps so much when you can have people you like and trust who can formulate why it doesn't do what you want it to do or how it can be better. I really want my art to be seen, not due to any "social hierarchy" type shit, but I want it to be seen and enjoyed. I love interacting with people who like my work. I am not selling what I make for the most part, so something that helps is when someone comments and says that the girl I made is so cute! or if the nsfw I made was so hot. That stuff makes me so much more motivated with art too.

> Barely over 100 followers in nearly 5 years on Newgrounds

> Artworks average about 80 views, used to regularly get hundreds of views

> Most of my friends I met on Newgrounds left for other sites

> Hated by most people left on the Newgrounds forum

> Have never had a single artwork front paged, probably never will

> Descouted 2 years ago without any reason given, still unscoutable to this day

> Mod won't reply to my DMs asking about it

> Incapable of growing a community outside of DeviantArt, despite all my efforts

> Typecast into drawing only "cringe" art as a result

> All my efforts into improving my art quality and expanding into animation wasted, because only my own few followers are capable of seeing my artworks anyway

Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty discouraged. Could do with some support...

I don't intend to add to your difficulty, or be dismissive. I noticed that you seem to be putting a lot of your focus on the numbers.

Even people who are big on ng, those numbers arnt as huge as other sites. It's just smaller, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

I don't hate you, I've just met you. Im sure theres others thats true for. It can feel really overwhelming, but I think there's still a chance to meet people and form a community. Joining clubs , collabs or games is one way.

I'm sorry that you're going through it. I think shifting the focus to what you enjoy about art/creating will help. Improve for your own sake, if you want, and draw what you like.

Best of luck

Using greentext is already pre-emptively reading as cringe ngl

Though seriously. We may have different perspectives on what's important as artists, but numbers and interacting with followers are honestly pretty unimportant in the actual pursuit of art. I try to follow a mindset of "drawing for myself" and posting things online as secondary, maybe tertiary even, and whatever happens online stays online and never travels into my canvas.

Newgrounds itself is also a pretty small/insular community all things considered, so your numbers naturally aren't gonna be high. Also talk to your friends (hypocritical coming from me), they'll understand and at least commiserate with you.

im just making an educated guess here but the reason youre likely unscouted is because youre still symbol drawing, which is pretty detrimental to the quality of your artwork despite the attention to presentation you give to your pieces.

I decided to give my art thread one more chance and same old same old no one responded. I’m not even that sad about it cause I have so many other alternatives to post my Art but it’s still kinda depressing

Sorry... I shouldn't have typed this post. I was feeling very depressed a couple of nights ago, and probably said a lot of things floating around in my head that I really should have just kept to myself.

Yeah, Newgrounds is a smaller site, so it makes sense my follower count would be smaller than the likes of DeviantArt. It's more the EXTENT that it is smaller, relative to other artists who are moderately large on other sites, that bothers me. But you're right, I should probably just focus on improving my art over the numbers...

I'm sure most people on this forum don't hate me. Again, I shouldn't have typed that. I know there are SOME people that definitely DO hate me, but that's always going to be the case wherever I go... I have tried a couple of clubs on Newgrounds, but didn't find many that were very relevant to the kind of stuff I make. I'd like to take part in collabs, but I never seem to be able to join them in time (plus, I'm a slow drawer). I tried making my own games, but neither were very popular (though, I haven't given up making games yet).

If I draw only what I like, I'm afraid I will go back to being completely ignored by everyone like I was for many years on DeviantArt before my change of direction. That's why I now try to balance artworks for myself, and those made to entertain my followers. But yeah, no point in trying to draw something I don't like, and lose the will to finish it.

Thanks, I'll need it!

I was trying to use the greater-than symbols like bullet points, but I suppose it does look a bit like greentexting... But yeah, this whole post was a bit cringe, and I already regret making it. Depression makes us do weird things sometimes...

I tried making art "for myself" in the past, and the complete the lack of interaction I received as a result put me off drawing entirely, until I returned to the hobby a few years ago with a new mindset. I was finally able to build an audience for myself on DeviantArt by drawing the sort of stuff that people there actually like. Alas, I've not had the same success on other sites such as Newgrounds, and since I'm paranoid about DeviantArt potentially shutting down someday, I start to feel very much like how I did then: lonely and depressed. I think that some artists (myself included) do need some level of validation for their efforts to maintain the will to keep on working at their craft, but much like many things in life: different folks, different strokes.

It's true that Newgrounds is a lot smaller than other art sites, but even so, I still see a lot of other artists (especially on the forums) with several hundred followers, even thousands of followers, so it is POSSIBLE to have a reasonably large following here if you put in a lot of effort. And many of them have been here a small fraction of the time I have... I don't mean to take away from their achievements here, they've certainly earned it, but it does make me feel rather embarrassed. Especially given I've put in just as much effort into my Newgrounds account, yet I'm not even scouted any more!

I have talked to my art friends about these problems before, and they've told me that they don't understand why I am so unpopular here either (some have even tried to scout me, but have been unable to).

You shouldn't regret venting your frustrations in a thread expressly made for venting frustrations. Voicing these problems are sometimes the only way to get direct acknowledgement from the community about them, the formatting of your text really should not be factored in at all, it's difficult enough to be in a place like that as is and it was good you voiced them. I would also like to add ghthhgfhg's inclusion of calling the formatting of your grievances cringe was unnecessary for a support group thread -- even if it was in jest; but at least they followed up with more substance after.

The "draw for yourself" advice gets thrown around a bit too cavalier in my opinion. We are on a social art community, the art world as a whole has been based on public exhibition for the last two centuries or so, pretty much all of us here want an audience, and want feedback on our work. A lot of 'too cool for school' people will say they don't care, they draw for themselves only; and maybe that is the case, but I would argue most of us here would be bummed if something we spent hours on got zero recognition at all

The important distinction is too not let public response be your sole motivating factor. You should at least baseline enjoy the act of drawing.

I don't know that you are unpopular here; you're more just unknown (maybe that's a distinction with little difference for you). I don't know if that is much of a consolation for your situation, but I think it's easier to get known, than it is to be known, be unpopular, and then turn that perception around.

You've been on the site for five years, you've been posting in the forums for three of those years, and you've got 139 followers. In those five years on the site you've submitted 383 pieces to your gallery, and in those three years of forum posting you've made 242 posts. What does all of this mean? Nothing. The numbers are not relevant to getting you scouted, or getting people to follow you. People will tell you over and over "engage in the forums" "comment on threads" "join collabs" etc etc.

All decent enough advice, sure, but bottom line You need to draw stuff people want to see, that doesn't mean draw pikachu at your current skill level, or big anime boobs, or whatever else is popular.

It means that you need to improve your art, that is step one, without taking that step nothing will change.

These four posts are from 2025, 2023, 2022 and 2021, they are functionally identical. Brightly colored, cel-shaded largely geometric characters, over a photo background. There are some improvements in line consistency, and construction, but a lack in growth with overall anatomical structure, no variation in composition or concept (the picnic one does actually have three characters having a picnic so it is conceptually different but functionally they are very similar to the prior three). You may be putting in work to create these images, but you are not putting in the work to build your skills.

As Template said, you are symbol drawing, I think it's time to expands your abilities beyond it. 5 more years on the site will pass, and unless you build your skills as an artist you will still be exactly where you are right now.

Some immediate tips I can give you:

Ditch the photo backgrounds. I think they hinder your work more than they help. Using photo and collage elements can work sometimes, but unless they're worked into the piece creatively or subtly they often distract, or call attention to shortcomings in an artist's ability.

Expand out beyond character facing screen, or posed in front

This is really good. It's simple, but it's nice, really good color use, and it's all you. Same with this one:

A bit more going on and I think it would benefit from having a more neutral tone as opposed to the black for the figures closest to us. But it is conceptually interesting and a full composition.

Work on anatomy. You draw a lot of female characters, clearly with intent to be sexy, and pin-up work. A lot of them, going way back in your gallery have boobs that are just two circles fully outlined (very mild potentially nsfw links) here, here, here, and many more. There are a lot that also have almost perfect circle with almost full outlines - a bit better but still very much in the same ballpark. These types of pin-up drawings also put you in the category of artists that draw nsfw, so the quality threshold for being scouted is put higher on your account.

Do some anatomy studies, look up references of women wearing the outfits you want your characters to wear, grow as an artist.

Expand your subject matter. Those two landscapes were my favorite of your gallery that I've looked through. You have drawing ability, shoot for more dramatic compositions - challenge yourself. It looks like you haven't done much different for a while, I think it is time.

This is a lot, and I usually don't comment in this thread, but you seem to be having a tough time and I think your perspective on art is a bit skewed in ways that are not conducive to growth, and is keeping you discouraged, and keeping you from reaching your full potential as an artist.

Yeah, it's a bit discouraging to get no feedback (even if negative). I can't speak of my experience with the NG art threads, but in my experience it just doesn't have the same discoverability as other sites, as much I don't like saying it. For forum-like communities you have to post frequently and consistently; a trait many of us can't realistically sustain.

I totally get it. We've all typed/said stuff we regret while in the middle of something emotional, and framed in the context of depression that makes things more obvious, and I apologize for invoking the concept of cringe upon thee.

Drawing for an audience vs yourself is something I feel stems from how far along we are on our journeys, and so far I'm pretty satisfied with drawing for my own amusement. But will that change one day? Who knows. You definitely seem committed, but like some of the other folks said, it doesn't hurt to take a step back and go over some of the fundamentals if you feel your art is stagnating. I've been feeling that for a while now, which is giving me a hell of an art block (now two months ongoing). I probably have to study more and improve my technique...

It’s really easy to get lost in the journey of becoming a great artist and if there’s one thing that genuinely guides me forward towards making more art and improving my skills is having fun and enjoying the process. Try to think of mistakes as new paths in the road towards new discoveries rather than punishments. There are infinite possibilities when making art and it always excites me to see how far I can break my creative limits.

Not sure if anyone would respond to this, someone might since I just bumped this one up.

My problem with doing art is sharing it in general. All the sites but this one are just horrible for posting art on, but that's the least of my worries for right now, it's when I actually show it in person, because either they would judge harshly, give fake praises, or destroy it.

I have it with all three, especially with my parents before, I have this old art piece that one of my parents tried talking to me about (which doesn't make sense since they already went through the book, they must've saw that), but before I could get to laying down my argument, they crushed it and were about to toss it in the garbage..

And people wonder why I don't share what I make anymore.

Sigh I don’t know what I’m doing wrong and I’m a little bit scared of asking for help for some reason. I regret taking such a long break from drawing, I miss being consistent when it comes to art.

You’re going through something and that’s understandable. Life tends to throw a spanner in the works and consistency goes out the window. Don’t beat yourself up over something you have no control over.