Comments
MePhIstoZoR | 09/20/2004 @244 | edit post

Hey, i was just wondering what the rest of your opinions were, but does anyone have any idea why there are so few comments on artworks?? i mean, i looked at one of mine the other day, and it had about 180 viewings, but only 2 comments. I mean, surely one of the reasons of posting is to get constructive criticism? To think that some of the most talented artists i've ever seen post here but do not make any cc on "amateurs" works is kind of sad. They were there at one stage too.... but yeh, just my thoughts... what do you guys think?

Re: Comments
Kyena | 09/20/2004 @308 | edit post

I guess sometimes there are too many things to point out and it's hard to critique someone you don't know well. Most of all people tend to say "cc please" but what they normally mean is: compliment me! Yet I am not saying you are one of those people mind you..but I became really hesitant with giving cc since I hurt someone with doing so on another community. It is really hard to accept criticism and it's even more difficult to give criticism being honest but not hurtful the same time. Besides giving really insightful and good critique takes a lot of time. You do need to look at the picture. It's not like taking a fast look then write what comes to your mind first.. On top the elite and the professionals here are for sure extremely busy - you can't really expect them to look through all the tons of submissions gfx gets each day. And like someone said on another thread: If you don't have something to critique or if you don't know how to do it in a nicely manner - then don't. If you don't get a lot of comments - don't take it personally because there are sure a lot of factors involved and non of them are directly aimed towards you. Forgot something to add - since I am not native English I am even more hesitant to post comments..things may not sound like I actually wanted them to sound.. [Message edited on 09/21 @031]

Re: Comments
Thurzia | 09/20/2004 @557 | edit post

I think there are a number of reasons why people don't comment; 1) They don't like or have no feelings towards the artwork - personally if i dont like the piece I can't say anything about it. Comments are usually a good indication of how popular a piece is. Not how good, how popular. If you look at the ultimate top ten on this site it's easy to see that the gfx communtity as a whole has a preferred style and so those pieces get commented on more. Sometimes you're just unlucky and 50 people that might of loved your work just miss it. I sometimes wonder why there are no comments on some of my pieces that I really like but it's just peoples preference, don't be put off. 2) Laziness - sometimes you really just can't be bothered. sometimes you can. It's all luck as to whether your artwork is seen by the latter group. (although people can almost always be bothered to comment on a spectacular piece) 3) Browsers - alot of people come here just to view and enjoy new artwork. I think this is a positive thing. Although sometimes it can be a little disheartening when all you see is comment:0 it's a good feeling to know that someone out there at least saw your work. Few comments can also be a push to make you want to post something even better to provoke a reaction. The best way to get comments is to make sure you always type a description to your pieces and to comment constructively on other peoples work. 50% of th etime they return the favour. There's also the post a comment thread which is slowing down a lil but still helps.

Re: Comments
Cyrogenic | 09/21/2004 @800 | edit post

Excellent points. I've found another factor though. The small images matter a whole lot. Generally I find myself only clicking on images that have nice icons, I don't have a lot of time, and I do like to enjoy looking at nice art. Sometimes I just... force myself to go out and look at one that I might not normally look at and comment on it. I've found that having nice small images will draw more people in to look at the larger image. If you don't get comments, well, I'm sorry, not much you can do. But don't give up. Keep trying.

Re: Comments
Martin | 09/22/2004 @067 | edit post

Keep in mind that the largest part of the views on your artwork is generated by the visitors of this site. In general there are 4 to 5 times more visitors online than members. Although your views increase, visitors are not able to post comments.

Re: Comments
ThruMyEyez | 09/22/2004 @092 | edit post

Am I incorrect or have the views totals disappeared?

Re: Comments
Crow | 09/22/2004 @177 | edit post

quote:  ThruMyEyez wrote on 09/22 @383 Am I incorrect or have the views totals disappeared? I can still see them, so no, they haven't

Re: Comments
CityRose | 09/22/2004 @206 | edit post

I agree on the points that have been mentioned. ^_^ Many members here don't speak much English, so they are hesitant to write comments. I know one member here who lets his votes do the talking, for this reason. Sometimes it's obvious when a member is just fishing for compliments. When this is the case, members normally back off. It's a generally a big turn off to hound members for critiques and votes. By this, I mean members who will send messages to countless artists they have never spoken to before and begging for votes and critiques. These messages normally go something like, "I like your pics! Vote me too please!" Then of course, there are those who are genuinely looking for help, and these people normally get a better response. Also, you can make friends with artists who are always honest, who will be sure to give you constructive critiques each time. These people don't even always have to vote. People do get busy. There are heaps of pieces that slip through my fingers because I'm just not here enough. There are members with even less time than me. Many Elite artists do art for a living, and can't afford distractions like visiting all the galleries all the time. If you've chosen a type of artwork in a category that isn't very 'popular', or the genre of the artwork itself isn't really 'popular', you may find that less people will comment. This isn't because they think your work stinks, most of the time it's purely because people lack the knowledge in that department to offer any helpful critizism. I rarely critique 3D, photomanips and design pieces because I can't appreciate what's gone into the piece because I've never done something like that myself. It's also much more difficult to point out things that might be wrong or need improving for that reason. There are a lot of members here- most, actually- who aren't artists themselves and just like to surf through the cool art. These members will never comment. Many of these surfers aren't even registered to GFX. I know I was lurking around on this site a good 3 months before I joined. I was looking at the art, how things worked, what the standards were..... Sometimes good artworks don't get noticed much because of bad presentation. Sometimes, like  Cryogenic said, boring thumbnails can lead to people missing your pictures completely. But mainly what I'm getting at is bad scans. People post some good drawings, but because there are shadows on the scan/ you had to take a photo of your piece (and it's badly lighted or you can see your green flower wallpaper in the background)/ you can see the edges of the paper/ the paper is ripped or creased/ the paper is a piece of ruled notebook paper or you can see pencil lines that have been unsuccessfully erased, the quality of the picture drops significantly. Picture going to a five star restaurant and ordering the lobster, but when it is served to you it's served on a bed of maggots. Still think that lobster looks so great to eat? Some members, when posting a picture, make a comment such as, "Just something I did last night- I was really bored". This, *believe it or not*, doesn't get a good response. Don't post pictures that you've done out of boredom. These pictures are often *cough* trash *cough* as they haven't had any real effort put into them. Also, many people feel a need to post how long it took them to do a picture. I used to do it because I thought it was required. It's not really. Plus, saying how long you worked on a picture can be throwing yourself into a trap, for example: Artist: "I only did this in 2 hours" Member's Critique: "You need to spend more time on your work" My last point is a very common thing, especially among new members to GFX. People just can't wait to post their work. This can lead to two disasters: Members may rush through pieces (or cheat) just so they can get new pieces up and be noticed. They pay scarce attention to the critiques they recieve (except for the ones that give them a pat on the back) and don't learn. Very quickly people will stop critiquing, because they see that the member isn't putting enough time or effort into a piece. Pictures posted within the same day or even within the same week lose a lot of exposure. General rule of the thumb for me is post a max of one picture a week, unless I'm not expecting many critiques. Members who post twelve pictures in a week will probably find that most of their pictures have zero critiques- at best two or three. Spacing your pictures out will keep your work fresh in people's minds (you will be in the recent additions for longer), give people a chance to critique each piece without being bombarded with ten more (in which case many members 'pass') and it will give you an opportunity to learn from your critiques and improve before posting your next one. I'm not saying that you're doing any of these Evan, but this pretty much exhausts all the reasons I can think of. ^_^ Hope it helps!

Re: Comments
Wysiwyg | 09/22/2004 @380 | edit post

Well spoken CityRose! I really can't disagree with a bit of it. Especially the one artwork a week bit, it's hard to be patient, some people are just hungry for votes as they are critiques, but patience is key. Another quick hint about the timing of your postings..... I uploaded 3-4 logos (Design:uncatagorized family) on one day, but didn't publish them, I loaded them all at once so if I was at a computer without my files I could hit 'publish' when I felt the time was right. Well when I did, they still didn't upload to the new artworks section, because the date I UPLOADED them is what counted, not the publish date. If I was a vote hunter I guess I could have deleted and re-uploaded them to reset the date, but I just like the critques the most, so I figure over time they will get their exposure and leave them as is. Oh well, lessons learned.

Re: Comments
Cyrogenic | 09/22/2004 @402 | edit post

Wow, thanks for that tip. That's what I was doing... No WONDER some of mine didn't get so much as even a vote. I tend to come here in spurts, and I'd upload all at once and then filter them out. No wonder not many people saw them. That's a great tip. And I agree with what's above, especially now tha tschool's started again, I have to learn to be patient, I'm not going up into the mountains and taking shots twice a week, I don't have that time. And just for the general record, folks, I actually do want help. I know I've gotten better, I can see an improvement, but I want to get better. I know I can be, I'm always missing one thing or two, and when I fix that I miss something else... I'm thinking of buying a Canon Digital Rebel (pick one, they're all incredible), but I want to know that I can be better as a photographer before I do. Personally, this is the only place I post work, and I can say that I don't really watch the votes, except to gauge how many people really stopped to look. I'm trying to improve, not just afirm my own thoughts on it. At the same time, I view artworks here, and I completely understand the commenting. I used to comment a lot (about a year and a half ago, I think, it was a long time... not sure when), but now that the number of members has like, quadrupled, it actually seems harder to comment. Just... harder. I can't figure out why. Any ideas?

Re: Comments
Wysiwyg | 09/22/2004 @435 | edit post

It's harder to comment because nobody wants to miss a chance of coming across an inspirational piece, and with the increased membership people tend to spend more time 'glancing' until they come across something that wows them. As mentioned before the thumbnails are KEY, unless you have time/energy to post emails and threads to everyone to check out your work. If art is dependent on any element/principle it's composition. This really comes into play when creating your thumbnails. Think of them as a piece of artwork in themselves, not just a 'chunk' of the piece your uploading. It (the full version) doesn't have to be represented entirely in the thumbnail, but a good contrast of light/dark, and color composition can be cropped then that thumbnail just might stick out more and susequently get clicked on more often.