Why Forums Are Important

There are many reasons that you should frequent Microstock forums if you are or want to be a Microstock vector artist. Here are a few of those reasons.

Technical Information

You can learn more about software and gadgets to use to create your images. There are always new things coming out that might help you in your work. The forums will be the first place that will know if there is a new ftp client or plug in for Illustrator or anything else related to what you do. Not only that, but chances are that several people have used whatever it is and figured out the advantages of it, or whether it has bugs that haven’t yet been fixed.

Forums are also a great place to learn about equipment for those of you who choose to do photography as well as illustrate. You’ll find information about cameras, lenses, lighting, noise in your photographs and what to do about it, shooting in RAW format, etc.

Get others to review you artwork. A lot of times when you have artwork rejected as a Microstock artist the reason for the rejection is completely vague and it can be impossible to get a straight answer from some of the agencies. By showing the rejected illustration to other artists you can get a better idea of what you need to do to either adjust or recreate it.

It’s hard sometimes to deal with having your work turned down. It’s harder still to not know why especially when first getting started. Having other people look over what you’ve done can be invaluable when it comes to correcting things in your future illustrations.

Exposure

Posting on the forums can help to get your portfolio seen by more people. Not only do contributors go to the forums for information and entertainment, so do some buyers. There are times when designers or other customers might have time on their hands and want to get a feel for what the artists and photographers are discussing. Sometimes it is just curiosity that drives people to go to a forum and look around. Sometimes a buyer may have something specific in mind for an illustration or image that they need and can’t find it anywhere. They go to the forums and request what they need from the artists or photographers directly.

Standards and Other Information Related to Specific Microstock Agencies

You can locate information on the particular standards for the agencies on which the forum exists. If you have a question about something concerning a submission to for instance Shutterstock, there is a section in their forums called General Shutterstock Submit Discussion. Within this forum you can get information about everything from royalties to models release for your own child. If you have a question about the site chances are you can find an answer there.

Program Related Tips and Tricks

People love to share their knowledge. Some people genuinely want to be helpful and, as we are all aware of, some people want to be boastful and show other people how their knowledge is far beyond that of the average person. Regardless of the reason for the person posting the information, we can all benefit from the material that is offered. Some of the Microstock websites even provide a section within their forums for such information and offer tools that the contributor can download to help them to undertake exact tasks.

Information Concerning Contests

A great way to get people to see your work and to possibly visit your portfolio is to enter contests. Some sites will have monthly contests or contests revolving around holidays or contests concerning certain subject matter which they may have a need for within their libraries.
There was recently a contest involving creating illustrations and taking photographs of foods related to your own geographical area. It’s not only a good way to gain more exposure but can provide you with inspiration for subject matter.
The forums can either provide information on the rules for contest or actually host the contests and allow the members to provide feedback and vote for their favorites directly on the forum. This not only gives you subjects for artwork to create but gives you chance to get direct feedback from your peers concerning the specific illustration.

Requests for Specific Art

As stated previously in this article the forums can be a great place for both buyers and contributors to go to either request a certain subject matter or fulfill someone’s needs for an illustration or image.
Sometimes buyers will have a precise request and sometimes it is less defined and left up to the artists to create their own interpretation of the concept they are presented.
Regardless of how the request is made it is still a good opportunity for the artist to fulfill a need that is apparent as opposed to creating an illustration based on what is perceived to be a need.
Sometimes you can even create a series of illustrations based upon a single request from a designer or other customer. One idea can spark your imagination and you can create as many illustrations related to the concept as you can think of.

Tools of the Trade

There are many tools out there for vector artists. Not only are there great software programs for the creation of vector illustrations but there are many plug-ins for programs such as illustrator and Photoshop which you may not be aware of. It can not only be helpful but fun and exciting to discover something new about a program that you thought you knew all of the ins and outs of.
I’ve been using Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW for many years and every once in a while I still discover something about the programs that I wasn’t aware of.

Camaraderie

It can be lonely out there on your own in the artistic world. “I was asked once how do you become an artist, I could never do what you do.” My answer was this. “You become an artist by spending a lot of time alone.”
When I was in high school and other people were hanging out with their friends, going to movies or playing sports I was at home hunched over a drawing focused on getting the lines and shading just right.
There is no secret to being an artist. It takes hard work and dedication. If you’ve made it to this point in this article the chances are you might have come from a similar background.
It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized that there were other social misfits just like me who not only had similar experiences, but that I could share things with and be understood. There is nothing like talking to people who understand what you do without you having to try to explain it.
Never underestimate how important human interaction can be to not only your personal development but also your artistic growth.

Meet-Ups

Going a step further through the forums you can plan to meet face to face with others artists and photographers. It can be inspiring to talk face to face with other people who are trying to do the same thing you are. Even though you are always in competition with all of the other artists and photographers in the Microstock world, the market is so big that you should never feel like you need to keep to yourself. There aren’t really any secrets that you’re going to give away to other artists that they couldn’t discover on their own.
You’ll never get as honest a critique from anyone that is as informative as you can from someone who has been there. Unlike the reaction that you get from your other non-artist friends you can discuss things with people who actually know what you’re talking about

In Conclusion

Other things that you can find information about on the forums include what the newest commission rates are and what the pricing is for all formats and sizes of artwork and photography.
Many Microstock forums have a section dedicated to “newbees” or people who are just beginning to become involved in submitting their art to the libraries. It can be very helpful to those who are just getting started to have people who have been there answer questions that can help “newbees” avoid some of the mistakes others have already made.
Another interesting thing that you’ll see in some of the forums is a section created for showing off how artwork and photos have been used or incorporated into designs. There is nothing like seeing your work incorporated into a magazine article, website design, etc.
Some of the Microstock websites also have sections in their forums that are dedicated to specific programs like Adobe Illustrator with tips and tricks for using that particular software.
Website designers can sometimes find areas dedicated to them within the forums.
I’ve also seen a section in forums for classified ads in which you can buy and sell equipment and software.
Keep in mind when going to site specific forums that there are going to be a lot of people there who are really gung ho about that particular agency and will make it seem like the worst thing in the world if you’re not an exclusive contributor like they are. If you choose to become exclusive that is your choice, but be aware that attempts will be made to coerce you into it.
I think it’s interesting to peruse some of the areas that don’t really even pertain to the particular area of Microstock that I’m concerned with and see what kind of problems and solutions are presented to, for instance, photographers or web designers.
There are some contributors who claim that their sales are greatly increased by frequently posting and interacting on the forums. I think that it is probably a different experience for different artists.
My opinion is that it can’t hurt and can possibly be fun and informative for you, so why not give it a try.

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