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Simplegray_OWO
Feb '21

Hi tapas forum, my name is simplegray and I'm a hobbyist artist trying to turn professional so I can pursue my dream as a webtoon artist/author. I've been trying to grow my social media accounts for the past couple years by doing fanart and DTIYS but my growing interest to just do original content is making me unmotivated to do some typical content grabbing art pieces. I've decided this year that I would just start to draw small comics and o.c art on Instagram because I want my following to be familiar with my characters so when I make my webtoon people will read it because they like my characters. I notice a lot of Instagram accounts who are big with just O.C art and I really want to be one of those accounts but my question is how do you make your audience interested in that type of content. I feel like I'll lose a lot of followers but I'm tired of not doing what my heart is telling me to do. How do people even have O.C exclusive accounts on social media?

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    Feb '21

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    Feb '21
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rajillustration
Feb '21

Something you just kinda have to come to terms with is that a lot of people who may be there for fanart will not crossover to original art. It's the catch 22 of fanart for views where it's great for buildling a following, but will that following stay? ehh? maybe? Like in my experience you lose some subs, because it is a different demographic. Fan people there for fandoms, only really want fandom content of the fandoms they are an active part of. But, not everyone will leave, so don't let losing followers keep you from doing your original art--but just bear in mind that until that art is what you're best known for, other people will kinda see it as a random event and it probably won't get much traction. Doesn't mean they don't see it, it just might not get a lot of likes.

Personally, I'm not social media famous, but I decided to step back from fanart for the same reasons, it kinda takes a long time to do and it's not actually what I want my endgoal to be. I've found that the original art people connect to is the art that has an emotional connection in it. So if I were to draw an OC sheet--there's no connection there. That's just a D&D sheet basically, and no matter how pretty it is, no one cares. But, if I drew my character looking longingly at a beautiful sunset, that's an emotional connection they can relate to. If it's an action character, I can draw it doing some stunts. If it's a romance character, maybe some smooches.

Kinda like the adage of "just put a bird on it" if you make a story to your illsutration, it tends to draw people in a little more. Doesn't mean it'll get as many notes as superman, that probably will never happen, but maybe it can get in a few who may eventually read your comic one day.

As for people who do OC exclusive accounts--they've just been doing it a lot. I can think of a few people who draw just one OC (like the chick behind Carcinaphona, for instance) and it's because...that's just all they draw and all they have been drawing for like 10+ years.

WoollyPAR
Feb '21

What I like to do is post whatever art I feel like sharing and plug my stuff where ever and however I can. If you wanna post your OC art, I think you should just go for it. If your followers don't like that, that's their problem, they don't have to follow you. If you post the stuff you like, you'll end up with followers who like the stuff you like, so you won't need to worry about what you post.

Kaydreamer
Feb '21
1

I've been an original content artist since I started drawing. (I make fanart occasionally, but it's pretty rare.) I don't have a big audience by any stretch of the imagination, but I can give you some of the advice I've received, and what I've observed from OC artists who have made it big.

Style and Themes: Cultivate a consistent style which is able to evoke and convey mood. If your art makes people feel something, they'll keep coming back, even if they don't recognise the characters. (Hell, I follow a dude who only paints gorgeous landscapes with striking lighting and an... empty chair. There's always an empty wooden chair. His pieces evoke this warm, yet melancholic mood, which is why I love them.)

Consistency doesn't mean you can't evolve and experiment, but you want to always focus on the question "What is this piece giving to my audience?"

Skill: This one's a bummer, but it's really hard to grow a large following making OC art when you don't have strong technical skills. It doesn't matter as much for fanart, because the audience is more interested in the character than the skill it's drawn with.

I'm pretty sure this is why my reach is still so small, despite having been posting art online as a hobbyist for a decade-and-a-half. I just didn't have the skill required to attract a large following for the vast bulk of that time. I'm only just beginning to develop beyond that, and I've still got a long way to go.

Interest: If you want people to care about your characters beyond just thinking "oh, I like this art," you have to get them interested in those characters! Just focus on two or three characters to begin with, so you don't overwhelm your audience, and imbue every piece you make with as much of that character's personality as you can. Make illustrations which feature moments from their backstory. Make them emote. It's not enough to just draw portrait after portrait. Have them do stuff.

Ordinarily, people wouldn't have a compelling reason to care about my protagonist from Blue Star Rebellion, since he hasn't actually done anything yet. But, I've taken care to ensure that my opening pages have him oozing personality. As a result, I have an audience which is excitedly waiting to see what happens to him, because he's simply charmed 'em into caring. He's the only character in the comic so far, so it's all riding on him to be the hook to make people want to keep reading.

Make A Project: I didn't expect Blue Star Rebellion would grow an audience very quickly. (For the sake of clarity, I have about 100 readers spread across Tapas and WEBTOON, and I've only been posting for about three weeks. It's not overnight fame, but it's way better than I expected.) Blue Star's sci-fi genre is outside the one I typically work in, which is more typical, colourful fantasy. But, as it turns out, just starting a project will attract people, because it's giving them a reason to care about your characters.

If you're not ready to create a whole webcomic yet, start creating concept art for one. Make stand-alone illustrations within the setting, featuring the characters you'll one day write about. Draw parts of the story. Provide sneak-peeks and previews of what your comic will be about through these pieces.

But honestly, I'd say just... start making a webcomic. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece straight out of the gate. Heaven knows, I don't know what I'm doing. I've never made a comic before! Just start. You can always re-make things in the future, and the audience you have cultivated will probably be excited to see the story they're enjoying refreshed with updated art.

Good luck, and have fun creating!

Simplegray_OWO
Feb '21

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out for me. This really gave me hope for trying to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. I'm gonna really try this year. Something you pointed out to me that I already had a feeling about but clarified for me is that I need to put meaning behind my art. I'm definitely gonna sit down reevaluate my account and see my strengths and weakness so when I do original works I bring my A game. There is so many points in this post that motivated me lol and I wanna talk about them but there's too many lol. All I can say is thank you ^ ^.

Simplegray_OWO
Feb '21
rajillustration

Thank you so much, the problem I also had for fandom art is that the followers never really stayed over the years they would just unfollow if you did other fandom art. I'm really motivated by this post thank you! I gonna try to focus on the emotional connection part like you said and put story into my drawings. Its gonna be a long processes but I'm kind of excited its like starting all over.

gabriellabalagna
Feb '21

I did lose a lot of likes when I switched over to posting comics instead of just my regular art. However, eventually, I gained more followers.

After a while, people who are interested in OCs will eventually find your stuff and even share it. It just takes a while. The people who are successful typically pose tons of content. And if you're not having luck on one platform, you could try a different one.