(I’m just gonna copy your replies here, I hope you don’t mind kourvo ! Mostly because I thought nobody will see my post anyway and I’m just talking to the void, so getting a lengthy reply actually was surprising! So thank you a lot for replying!)
Original art is very hard to get noticed here unless you're willing to work for it, that is, using the artists on tumblr tag, posting often and reblogging your art at regular intervals, networking with others, talking to people, talking about your art and OCs,... a lot of effort goes into it which may be why you feel like nobody is seeing your work. It's easy to slip into the backstage of tumblr if one isn't actively engaging the audience here with art and communication
But yeah, I think deviantart is more appropriate for original content. The place sure feels like time travel haha. I wish you good luck wherever you decide to make home. Your art is amazing kajoi! I hope you won't let the lack of feedback stop you from posting here as well. It will eventually pick up if you keep at it and be consistent.
I know & understand what you mean, and of course being really active and engaging with people to get your work noticed applies to any site, not just Tumblr. But I really do find Tumblr to be difficult to use when it comes to networking. I know many people have managed to make it work, but I never felt that comfortable with it. Mostly because I’ve seen other sites do it better? (But then again, those sites also might suck when it comes to sharing art, while Tumblr is really good with pictures). I just guess Tumblr just doesn’t fit my style of posting, because according to those things you listed (posting often, talking to people etc) I’m doing pretty much everything wrong :’D Like I just mentioned, I don’t know how to talk to people here and I post very infrequently, because I’m a slow worker & not prolific at all.
But also, I’m definitely not the only one who has noticed the drop in general activity, I talked with some artist friends (and some of them post more fanart than original works too) and they said they don’t get the same amount of activity they used to. So Tumblr’s actions must have driven away quite a lot of people.
So right now, I feel like it’s too late for me to do anything about this? People are leaving the site so trying to boost my visibility now would feel like going against the current...I just maybe had hoped that not all people who were already following me would have disappeared.
“It will eventually pick up if you keep at it”. I mean...I’ve had this account for 8 years, I think that is long enough :’D 8 years here and I failed to utilize Tumblr the best way, so I feel that is a lost cause now. Perhaps other sites will fit me better.
But yeah, thank you again for reaching out to me :)
