These are some tips that I’ve compiled to help you improve your Steemit experience. This is not about how do make your art, but rather how to present your art and reach a bigger audience.
These are my suggestions and not rules. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments and to express your opinions.
First of all, if you're new to Steemit, take advantage of "Introduceyourself". It's a post where you let Steemians know who you are and what you wish to share with them in the future.
Basic Writing Tips:
Even thought you're posting art, writing is important to engage with your readers. There are many platforms for posting art, but Steemit is more than that. It's like an art diary, something that you can look back at and see how much you've grown and improved since then.
Use spellcheck, especially if you’re a non native English speaker. Having a fluent text helps readers not get distracted from your art.
If you need some writing help and you're looking for apps, check out How to write when your grammar sucks? by @deborism
Avoid saying “I" too much. I did this, I did that. Sometimes I forget this “rule” as well, especially when explaining my art steps. However, it’s important because it makes the reading experience smoother.
It’s essentially the same with repeating same words over and over. If you notice you’re doing this, simply google the word and find some synonyms .Tell us a bit about your artwork, why did you want to draw it, or what inspired it? You can even make a small fictional backstory to form an attachment with the audience.
Keep notes of your ideas and inspirations. You can have a mini notebook with you, or use notepad on your phone. Personally I love preparing my written part of posts while cooking or in bed.
You don't have to post just art. Feel free to share a bit about your hobbies and passions or anything else as this makes your blog even more relatable.
Learn how markdown works or html coding, it makes a huge difference. It also differentiates the casual Steemians and the more serious posters. Some posts for you to check out: A Beginner's Guide to Markdown and Formatting Help - How to make your blogs stand out
by @grocko
How to Present Your Traditional Art
Take photos in natural light. This make a huge difference!!!
Take more than 1 photo and pick the best. It’s easier if you take the extra photos right away instead of having to check on pc and then retake the photos again.
Use various adjustments to make your photos more realistic and appealing. Try to make it as accurate as possible compared to the original, don’t overdo it.
Most important adjustments are brightness, contrast and color. Paint.Net is free and offers the adjustments under “Effects” tab. There are some plugins with more options, but watch out where you download them from. There are many other photo editing programs just google and see a list.Avoid angling your camera as this distorts image and makes it harder to see. Keep the camera parallel to the drawing and centered as much as possible.
What should you draw?
Draw whatever interests you, this will make you stand out and you're less likely to burn out or to hit an art block.
Share some of your art process. Help others learn and prove that it really is your work, especially if you're new to Steemit. There are loads of plagiarized posts around including art. Moreover, sharing is caring, people feel it and they are more likely to support you.
If you feel that your art skills are lacking, then do some learning and share your progress on Steemit. There are always people who want to learn and you’d be helping them out as much as yourself.
As an artists you really should make a personalized banner that you can put in the end of your posts. It doesn't have to be just one, you can use them interchangeably. You can include upvote, follow, comment and resteem. Also it doesn't have to be exactly those words, but find a way to remind your readers to interact with you.
Consider making some page dividers in your art style, to complement your text.
Create a unique user image that stands out, or use one of your previous artworks. Do not leave the default image as that leaves an impression that you're not a Steemian, just someone browsing posts.
Other Tips
Reply to the comments and put more effort in replying the long ones.
Imagine you spend several minutes looking for best words to explain how an artwork made you feel, and all you get in return is silence. How likely are you to comment again to the same person? Possibly, but less likely.Use your art as the post's preview image. This lets readers know what they are clicking on and know what to expect the next time they see your name.
Enter contests, but only the ones that really interest you. This way you have fun, don't mind losing and gather some new followers. You should be picky, because doing random or all contests will just drain you. Also the followers will expect art similar to your contest entries, so they might not really care for your main art.
Support and follow Steemians that you like, not just the artists. There are a lot of things you can learn from them or just have some fun!
Make a user picture!Using your old drawing is better than not having any picture.
Cut your text into planned chunks, this makes the post so much easier to read and understand.
Useful Websites to Check Out
steemd.com/@username
Steemd shows your voting power and many details about upvotes.http://steemistry.com/steemit-mentions-tool/
This shows who mentioned you.http://steem.supply/
Great for new Steemeans to see what is really going on with your post payouts. Seeing the raw number on Steemit can be very confusing and sometimes demotivating.https://steemdb.com
I use this to see resteems. Use the post’s link and replace “steemit” with “steemdb” and then click on reblogs tab.https://busy.org/
@eqko explains really well how to join and what you can use it for Why I use busy.org for interaction with the steem blockchain & what I love about it.; How to use Steemconnect v2 to login to busy.org
Last but not least
Join some communities. Find the ones that fit you best. It's nice to have a chat on discord after a very busy day and forget about all of the worries. :)
Thank you for reading! I would love to know if this has helped you, or if you have any questions or requests.
Nice compilation @kristyglas! I will try and use some of your suggestions that I haven't tried yet!
I use https://steemnow.com by @penguinpablo for checking vote related stuffs; I guess it loads faster and busy.org for my posts; Easy to use and nice UI and best part the busy bot supports us with a grand upvote.
Thank you!
And fascinating! I had no idea that busy upvotes the posts if you post through it :O Good to know!
And yeah steemnow is great for vote stuff, I just check it rarely, because the other links give me enough information.
Wonderful post! I know to be 'Curie-worthy', you have to show some of your process, and do all of the things you said to do. Why, how, etc. Even if it's 'I think this is a cool concept so I wanted to do it', put it down there! Explain why you think it's a cool concept, and why you were so drawn to it (hehe puns).
You're so nice for commenting on this post. For that, I gave you a vote!
That username...
Love the pun! :D
I was so happy when I received Curie vote when I first joined. It was really an amazing start and luckily for me I had a friend who already tried Steemit for a bit. He explained some markdown to me and said that having more details is better. After awhile you get used to a certain form of formatting and it simply becomes a habit :D
I'm slowly learning about HTML to make my own posts better, too. Aesthetically, I think it's more pleasing to have step-by's pictures off to the side, with an explanation on the other. People can then see and read nearly simultaneously, like 'Oh I really see it now'. On my next art post, I'm going to try what I've learned!
It really does help with side pictures ^^ I usually share big ones, so it's hard to balance the text. However, if you can it looks so much nicer.
Also thank you for the resteem :D
Some great advice.
Photos I don't have a problem with, talking about my work is where I really struggle.
I'd love to have a divider that used my art but my work doesn't lend itself to that :(
I don't understand what you mean in the last sentence :)
For dividers you can simple things like a strip of hand drawn stars or even colorful dots.
In the end if you still have trouble you can simply use the free ones on Steemit or 3 dashes :)
`---
I work in glass not 2 dimensional media. Making the image isn't a problem it just doesn't look as pretty as a strip from a drawn piece.
That sounds really interesting and fun :D
I finally found 1 of your posts about it. You could make interesting separators with the tools you use if you're posting about glasswork. Even the long flame looks interesting and usable if you take the right photo. As for the posts about other things, you can use the simpler things like I mentioned above :)
That looks really good.
Wow great information if only I read these earlier :) Damn I use a lot of " I" when writing and really hard to avoid that. But maybe I should take a break and reread my post before posting. I'm just really excited to show things and forget to make it more readable etc. But anyways I'm learning so I will get there. :D Thanks for this post
My pleasure! ^^ When it's only one problem it's not a big deal. I'm certainly interested, if you manage to fix it, if it will help your posts ^^
I use a lot of I-s as well, but I fix that in my final draft :)
Forample example: I used a blue color to achieve a calming effect.
Instead try: the blue color of the painting is meant to have a calming effect on the viewer.
However, don't make everything like that, it's all about balance :D
Thank way you have something that sounds personal and professional at the same time. It adds a sense of authority on the subject :)
Good luck!
That's true the problem is also the variety of words I guess as it's not my main language I lack that sometimes. But yeah looking at it and create some balance is what I should do. Also I have to make some banners and stuff to design my post some more but I keep postponing that (for now).
What did you mean with personal and professional?
thanks again! :)
Personal is so that people relate to you and get to know you. Professional as in "this is what you do all the time" and you have experience. Also professional is associated with respectful and knowledgable.
So if a post is more personal and very important to you as a person, using personal "I" tone is ok. If you're talking about work or looking to teach something, it's good to use a more formal, third person tone ^^
You can google writing tones for more and here is a link to get started http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-tone-in-a-story.html
It's just like art, do you want a scary or cute atmosphere; tension /comfort.
This is useful in posts, because you want everyone to understand your art better. However, because you have art to set the main mood, you don't need to complicate writing too much unless you want to :)
Sorry for late reply sometimes it's hard to find time atm for more constructive replies and also it's hard to keep track of all replies.
Thank you for explaining! And for the link I saved it among the other great info links. Never really thought about the way writing it down because I' m to focused on the art. So great tip I have to work on that later on.
Also does it help adding a banner about following and upvoting? I thought it could be a bit like begging for it. I don't say that how it is but it was my first thought on it. I'm a very skeptical thinker so I could be completely wrong ;) Just wondering.
No worries, I have same issue with time.
I admit, I haven't had trouble with upvotes with or without a banner. It's a personal choice and if it makes you uneasy, then I think you don't need it ^^
As for writing, I suggest to spend more time writing on posts you like the most :) Afterall votes are still a bit of a gamble, but if you enjoyed making it, it wont feel so harsh.
Also you do incredibly detailed work, you could easily add even more zoomed in closeups :D Basically micro photography.
I don't know how I missed this jewel of a post 3 months ago! It is now saved to bookmarks for future reference. Some future steemian will surely find some useful information here (I know I did).
You are awesome, @ kristyglas!!
Thank you! I plan to make a shorter version sometime soon. Something like a list to tick off when making a post :D New tips suggestions are very welcome ^^
I will keep that in consideration ☺
Just curious, which of the tips is new to you? :D
The tips that stood out specifically are:
Talking about what inspires my work hasn't always been easy. A story seems like a good substitution for describing the process in those cases.
I'm almost certain I'm guilty of doing that for every post! For some reason I felt it's what the people wanted. ((` ε '))
Another thing I'm always on the fence about is how to far 'stray' outside of art-related content. I feel like I'm too "random" when I post non-art. So I go through stages of many resteems and no original posts when I'm working on non-art things like cooking, rhyming, nature walking, and so forth.
Ah, and one tip to add just came to mind: posting art in another person's post about their art without discussing how it relates to that other person's art is sometimes seen as rude or unwelcome behavior.
Thanks for feedback :D
The angle one tip I meant for 2D art mostly. For 3D art it is usually recommended to do a 3/4 view. Also angled pictures look cool, but I think it's important to also have a straightforward clear photo :)
For non art posts, I recommend adding a bit of artistic flavor. This can be a very quick sketch, some fancy personally made separators, or personally taken photos.
You can always ask your followers about which non art content they are interested to read about.
I'll definitelly add your tip. I haven't seen many comments like that myself, but it should help those starting out who are actively looking for followers :)
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by kristyglas from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
writing is important to enrage with your readers
Engage I think? ;-)
All great tips, resteeming for visibility.
Hahahah xD Thank you, didn't notice. Idk if I should even change that, sounds too funny. :D
And thank you so much for resteem!
This post is filled with a myriad of gems!
First of all, I would definitely agree that figuring out the markdown is a big one. I've found that if you can chunk down your post into sections, its not only easier to read but it feels like you can read it faster. I tend to write more extensive posts, so knowing how to section off my writing has really helped.
Secondly, one thing I would add as a tip for creating anything on here would be: have as much fun as you possibly can when you are creating things.
It totally shows! Your final product will be the result of the experience you had while creating. Maybe fun isn't the right emotion and vulnerability is a better fit. Whatever it is that you are creating, but emotion into it and you will gain attention!
Lastly, the links you shared were great. There's a bunch that I have yet to consider and will definitely be looking into that!
Thank you so much for this highly valuable and informative post @kristyglas.
Cheers,
~ @axios
PS: I'd love to hear your thoughts about my latest post that I had a ton of fun creating today! 10 Highly Influential Things I Do Every Single Day
First of all, thank you for you reply, it's such a pleasure to read so much feedback!
I agree that emotions show through art and text and those attract the attention. I mentioned "draw what interests you", but you worded it so much better. Moreover, when it's something you're attached to, you usually spend more time and effort on it.
Also at first I was a bit worried about the way I comment, I avoided using emoticons even though I love them. However, over time I just accepted that I want express myself more comfortably and others didn't seem to mind. It just made communication more sincere.
Next, cutting posts into chunks is a very important point that I forgot. I usually do this in my posts, because it helps me think and proofread what I wrote. If it's difficult for me to read and understand then it's way harder for the readers. Thank you for pointing this out, I will add it in the main post.
As for the links, these are simply the ones I use regularly. I bookmarked and positioned them on top of my browser, always at hand. I've been looking for a way to see who my newest followers are, but I haven't found anything useful yet. I just google Steemit and what I'm looking for and usually a post pops up with what I've been looking for.
Thank you again for reading the post and I'll get to your post in a moment. ^^
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the comment. Thanks again for sharing all of this! Looking forward to seeing more :)
Thank you for the tips! As a relatively new steemian I am always looking for ways to improve my posts. This is perfectly informative and helpful! I’m book marking this for later reference. I have also upvoted, resteemed, and will now follow you. Thanks again!
Thank you very much and for resteem! :)
Instead of bookmarking, I suggest you simply note down thetips that you feel are most useful to you. Simply by writing them down, you're more likely to remember them next time you make a post.
This is a really helpful checklist with great advices for artists here on steemit. Thank you for sharing this
My pleasure :D
Got any extra tips? ^^
I want to underline that engaging with other artists helps you getting better in your own work and also can be very inspireing!
Definitely!! :D
Thank you for sharing ^-^
Great tips! I think the writing aspect is lost on a lot of artists at first.
It took me a while to realize that people seemed to be much more engaged with my drawings that had more written about them. Its been great though because it got me thinking about my art more and I have had a blast writing about what I make and I think it has made the art better.
Definitely!
Luckily for me, in highschool for advanced art, we had to keep journals. I think that helped me enormously, had to pay more attention to what I do and why. Now it's so much easier to express myself (artistically) :D
This post give me knowledge on how can I improve my work. I am still new here so I'm still learning how to be creative with my writings, artworks. Thanos for this :)
Welcome :D Glad it is helpful!
Thanks for sharing all this tips to get noticed. I'm still struggling with the art quality haha but for sure this tips will help me out.
BTW, I wanted to invite you to a Discord Server I'm running called Steemit Webcomics It's a place specially for people who like to write or read comics, webcomics, comicstrips, etc. It's just starting out so not many people is there yet, but the idea is to grow the community so people can start sharing and collaborating on the creation of comics. I will share you comic as well so people who join the group can also see your blog.
Thank you! I'll consider it :) I have zero experience with drawing comics. I only read Garfield as a kid.
@bronkong might be interested if not already joined ^^
Don't worry about the experience, it doesn't have to be the greatest, maybe just something funny that has happened to you and that you can draw to share :). Oh thanks for the recommendation, I will ask him.
Thanks for sharing. I will try to practice this suggestions for my blog although as art student the professors teaches you to do this in your sketchbook or artist's book
Welcome! I hope this helps you :D
It might not work right away, but having high quality posts over longer time is highly appreciated on Ststeem. And luckily there are more and more curators helping and finding hight quality posts :)
Really, a to-save-in-bookmark post for all artists around here!
Thank you! :D
I hope so ^^ and that it reaches those who really need it.
the spellcheck tipp is what i was missing :D... i try to improve my english by writing about my art/ study but it's hard if this is the only chance, to speak english, you get... I would apprecciate a honest opinion of my blog :)
you got a new follower aswell :)
I understand ^^ If you have a lot of difficulty with english, you can maybe ask a friend to help out. However they shouldn't do translating for you, so that you can learn faster.
As for your blog, first of all I recommend you make a profile banner. A simple temporary one is better than nothing.
I like your chilhood memories posts. Also I see you have improved your markdown skills in the newest post, which is great. :D
I think you should just keep it up and maybe share a bit more pictures in your posts, especially if you plan to do art posts.
Great post, full of very useful information. What about digital art post? Do you have any advice about them?
Thank you for this post. Cheers!
Thank you :)
First advice: check how the image looks on different monitors and in post preview. There are many times that I noticed that my art looks darker than I intended, but that is easy to fix.
Secondly: if it's a big drawing, post some closeups as well. People often forget that they can oply image in separate window to zoom.
Good luck :D
Lots of excellent tips here @kristyglas.
Markdownstyling is an important one but you know what helps (and took me a while to figure out), simple coding...html is it? I'm talking about centering images or text. Than there is the paragraph break to put space where needed.
I don't know maybe it's obvious for some but it wasn't for me, not right of way.
Good links for steemit tools too. I was just wondering yesterday how to check for re-steems!
Thank you for sharing...following you and the little dragons!
Yeah, I thought they were synonymous (silly me). I believe I personally use html:
<center> <br> <i> <h3> etcThank you for pointing it out, I'll have to add that to the post :D
Thank you for the follow, followed you as well. ^^ You have lovely photos!
You're welcome and thank you so much! I'll have to get something that takes good quality images soon!
I should post the 4th episode of our honeymoon tomorrow...there will a lot of pictures in that one.
That's lovely! A good camera is a worth investments, especially if you like taking photos for memories ^^
I have a Canon SX170 IS, it's still small enough, but great. And it has many options.
Yea actually I forgot, we got a "hand me down" from my father in law... A Nikon-coolpix L110. Without knowing much about the camera's options we got this https://steemit.com/naturephotography/@senorcoconut/black-and-white-winter
The photos are amazinlookAlso the camera model looks a loot like mine just different company. I should try to get that quality somehow :O
I never put enough time into learning the settings.
Thank you so much for that! Youtube (Dtube maybe) your camera to learn. It's pretty easy
Just realized I wasn't following you...must of thought I clicked on follow and didn't. Sorry, I am now!
Thanks for this, really, thanks a lot. Already saving it for reading it multiple times so I can get the hang of it. I do really need to improve that aspect of presenting the work to the public
My pleasure :D I plan to repost a shorter version next month, hopefully reaching more people that need it. ^^