Okay, playtime's over. I'm here with another tutorial for you guys.

Seeing that there are all manner of artist communities in our series of tubes we call the interwebs, I'm going to cover a subject I sometimes hear about.

Feedback.

Ah yes, the big scary F word.

Also known as, the thing I don't seem to see too terribly much.

I'm not entirely sure why. I can only guess that people don't always know what to say or do when they come to a picture other than fave it and go on.

Yes, favoriting/bookmarking is a form of feedback, but it's not the only thing most artists are looking for.

We as artists share our work for various reasons. Just to name a few...

A.) Some artists want to have fun and enjoy sharing their little personal stuff with you.

B.) Some artists are looking to make money as well as enjoy their work and want to put their name out there (Think commissions and professional projects).

C.) Sometimes artists may not know entirely how to put their feelings forth in words or speech, and art is their way of expression.

There are many many more reasons for posting online, but we are going to be here forever if I listed everything.

So let's move on.

Comments are another form of feedback and often what an artist would love to see. It shows that other people are interested. If you are not on a public gallery-style site that has a conventional comments section and prefer to post your work on tumblr or twitter and the like, then substitute "Comments" with "Reblogs" or "Retweets" and you're golden.

But we're not talking just one or two words here. "Cool" and "Nice Picture" qualify as comment, but if a person is proud of their work, you're not telling them any more than what they already know.

Try branching out and making an effort (yes, you'll have to put your stubby little typing fingers to work, kids) by thinking about WHY you like the picture. Here are some questions to get you started.

"What was it about the artwork that caught my attention first?"

"Are there any particular details about this artwork that stand out?"

"What was it about the piece that makes me want to add it to my favorites/likes/bookmarks?"

"What makes it stand out compared to other artists with similar styles/genres/etc. that I have looked at?"

"Does the piece make me feel a specific way? How does it make me feel?"

There has got to be a reason for you liking an art piece. You just have to search and find out why. Even if you don't have a conventional comment pane to list your stuff, like on Tumblr for example, you can put these things in the caption when you reblog.

If the person is looking for critique in their feedback:

"What parts did I think were well executed?"

"What stood out that I thought was particularly good?"

"Were there any parts of the picture I felt stood out for other reasons?"

"Was there some part of the piece that I felt needed improvement? What was it?" (If you know of some tutorials/links that might be helpful, you can post those too, if you like)

Don't just take the lazy route! Work your brain! If this was your piece "hanging" in the gallery, wouldn't you want someone to leave something meaningful? Well most artists would like that!

If you're on a site where you can circulate it, then don't just like it. Reblog it! Retweet it! And add your commentary as well. This increases the artist's exposure, and allows them to rocket to new avenues as well as know that you're interested and enjoy their work.

Note: When you reblog/retweet artwork, please remember to source the artist and do not remove any commentary or notes they might have put with the original piece.

Sourcing the work or reblogging from the original artist allows other people to come see their wonderful work. It's not required but it's really nice if you do it.

Sourcing, however is kind of a thing. If you are purposely refusing to source artwork or are removing the source and original poster commentary, then you are being inconsiderate, are a big fat jerk, and need to be trussed up and beaten with lead pipes. We clear? Good. Moving on.

Sometimes you really can't think of anything even when asking yourself questions why you liked it. That's okay! Just fave/like/reblog/whatever and move on. It's not like we as an artistic community don't appreciate simple stuff like that. If you can though, please come back and leave some other feedback if the answers to those questions come to you. It really means a lot!

And that's my tutorial! I hope you get some use out of it!

Fuzzy out!