I really want more art friends, people to do art trades with and share art related memes with. How do I befriend other artists without sounding like I'm trying to recruit them or whatever?
sounds like it’s time for
ZED’S GUIDE ON HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE
Artists aren’t really any different from anyone else, so you usually should treat them like you would someone new. So, this is less about ‘how to talk to artists’ and more ‘how to talk to strangers’ (coupled with ‘common things artists deal with’).
As I repeatedly have mentioned int he past, one-word conversations are incredibly dull. Small talk that feels autonomous is not engaging for anyone.
Don’t message someone with ‘hi’ and expect a response. Don’t carry on a conversation with ‘sup’ or ‘how are you’ because the only responses to that are:
give a noncommittal response that further enforces the barrier
talk about personal aspects to an unknown party
Instead bring with you a conversation that’s interesting to you or the party (preferably both). Unique questions about something you know they’re interested in are good.
For artists, you might ask them about one of their techniques or their characters.
I have to stress the ‘unique’ aspect though because like, an example, I’ve gotten like 20 asks in the past that say roughly ‘so what do you think of Curly Brace in Blade Strangers / Are you going to get Blade Strangers?’
There’s other harmless convo starters like, favorite shows or games, upcoming events, etc.
Do note, asking questions is not a substitute for conversation. Conversation can start from them, but if you’re just playing 20 questions you’ll just come off as wasting someone’s time.
With artists, the most important thing is to not put them up on a pedestal. No one likes that, it just feels awkward, and you’re immediately establishing a very uncomfortable power dynamic when you do that. Most artists want to see others as equals.
It’s important to note that friendship / mutuality more occurs naturally and can’t really be forced. If you do art, and you find some themes that other people like, chances are you will get followers, some of which will also do art. Some may be artists you already follow, or they might be new people for you to follow back. These should be who you ask to do trades and stuff–just message them and be like “hey, I like your OC! (or something) Did you wanna do a trade an art at all?”
You can also find other artists to follow / look for people to do trades by just asking for suggestions. (I’d recommend against the latter though if you get a large following as you’d never get through them all.) In general, friendship is going to come first and will come naturally before anything like that is even on the table–though sometimes trades are a great first-interaction bit between artists. It can go like:
A: OMG I LOV UR OCB: OMG I LUV UR OC TOOA: OMG IM GONNA DRAW THEMB: OMG IM GONNA DO THE SAMEA: OMGB: OMG
If you’re setting your sights on really big artists, it’s probably better to temper your expectations a bit, and focus on mutuals. That said, nothing stops you from doing fanart for people you admire.
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