So you think you're a pretty good artist, and have some decent pieces, but nobody to show. Or perhaps you're a learning artist who wishes to attract more attention to your pieces to get advice and criticism. Sound like you? I know it sounds like me!

Many artists on deviantART wish that they could have more exposure in the art world, but I've noticed that not many of them know how to go about doing so. There are actually many options, and we shall examine them thoroughly, to hopefully get you more exposure!

First off, just so that we're all on the same page, please don't expect exposure if you have nothing in your gallery. You need to be serious and dedicated about this. Also, ALWAYS make sure that the work is your own, and not stolen from someone else. It will surely get back to the artist from which you took it from, and you will be severely penalized.

Now that we've cleared that up, we'll begin!

1. The most common way to get exposure, comments and favourites is to do the same yourself. Browse sections you are interested in, search stuff that you think may be interested, check out the newest deviations pages and comment comment comment! It would be better if you didn't leave comments such as "cool" or "lol, funny". Imagine getting that on your pieces, I don't think that you'd be that happy. Comment like you mean it! Tell them if you like it, why you like it, or why you don't like it! Don't be mean, always use constructive criticism. Tell them how they can improve. Even if you're not into the same style as them (i.e you are a pencil arist and they are a digital artist) you can still tell them what looks off, what they could work on. You just can't tell them how to do it xD. This makes them more likely to be interested in looking at your gallery, and commenting your pages. Some people will even watch you back if you watch them first!

One thing I've noticed about this method is, if you comment/favourite pieces that are very popular (over a hundred favourites, or artists who have a ton of watchers) you will get no thanks or pageviews/comments from them. They are very busy people (as we all are) but they also have hundreds if not thousands of notes and comments to go through. Some will not reply at all, but simply write thanks in advance for the comments/faves, and some may reply if you ask them a question. I am not that popular, I don't know how it works, I just know that if it were me, I would try my best to get back to every comment if just to say thanks, even if it would take me ages (don't hold this against me, I have no idea what I'm talking about with the whole popularity thing xD just giving my opinion!). There are some very kind artists who are popular but manage to get a few pageviews/comments in. Artists such as , , and . Many of these artists have given me great advice, and have encouraged me. Please don't assume I am saying artists who do not comment back are awful, mean people. I am aware that they are busy people and don't feel the need to comment back just to say thank you to every hundred people that has commented on their piece, telling them it was gorgeous.

2. This next method may not be for everyone, but just bare with me here! Skip to the next suggestion if you aren't willing to try this. Expirament. You will get a larger variety of watchers/attention if you dabble into a little bit of everything. Of course, as with anything, you should probably put some effort into it and try to actually immerse yourself into it rather than just taking a photograph of a random plant, putting it up and expect millions of comments (although some of the photography I've seen that is popular makes me go o_O).

3. When I started to use deviantART seriously, I wasn't sure how to go about getting more exposure other than commenting and expiramenting. Until someone suggested I tried using the forums. I didn't think that it would work, and I wasn't really into the whole idea of foruming, but I decided to check it out nonetheless. Believe it or not, it worked! I even found myself finding a few watches and looking at certain peoples galleries because of their posting style, their icon, their advice, etc. The more informative, creative and interesting your posts are, the more likely you are to draw attention. I personally like to post in the art scene, help with life and thumbshare forums. Thumbshare forums is great for exposure, there are tons of threads that are created everyday with titles such as "Let me see your at!", "Show me your most recent deviations!" and "Looking to feature unknown artists and give favourites!". They're basically begging you to show off your stuff, so I suggest you do! You may even like to start a few threads of your own. I have created a few offering criticism and advice, looking for certain types of art rather than searching through the network (yeah yeah, I'll admit, I can be lazy at times!). This is a great way to get exposure. As I said with comments, make them worthwhile, not just "lol neat". And try to be nice, would you honestly go to someones gallery if they used bad language in response to a post of yours, or insulted you? I know I wouldn't!

4.Another way that I think has some sort of effect (I'm not sure though, so don't get mad if it doesn't work!) would be to get a dA subscription. There are a few ways to go about this. A) buy one (its around 8$ for three months, thats not bad at all, wouldn't be too hard to pay your parents for it and use their Visa, or if you have your own, spare an hours pay for it ) or B) Win one. (See number 5 for more details!) Theres also the possible C), to have one donated. How likely this is to happen, however, I have no idea. I have seen it happen, some people are just that generous, but I wouldn't say count on it . For some reason, I am more inclined to be interested at looking at someones gallery if they have a subscription. I am not sure why. Although I do look at others, don't get me wrong! However, there are probably those people who tend to look at your gallery more if you have a sub. This one is optional, I know not everyone can afford it.

5. Contests are a great way to gain further exposure. Honestly. I know they aren't for everybody, such as myself, I have a hard time sticking to a deadline, I get lazy, I have a life outside of my art. But entering is a great way to meet new people, usually in contests, the contest runner will feature all of the works being submitted for the duration of the contest. This also allows you to dabble in new styles, as well as progress as an artist (I know with every piece I get a bit better, and learn new things!). Also, if you win a contest, generally contest runners will give out prizes (most commonly that I've seen is a deviantART subscription) AND will give you a feature in their journal!

6. Another way, well it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, would be to have features in your journal yourself. The people whom you are featuring may be so excited that they may feature you back, or put a link on their page telling their friends to "check it out, my stuff is being featured here!" Which will in turn give you more views and more attention!

7. Become further involved with the community by submitting news! If you decide to run your own contest (Bing! Another way to attract attention to you page!), you can submit an article about it, people will read it and hopefully flock to your page! You can ultimately submit any articles as long as it is pertaining to something that would interest a majority of the community, not just to say "Hey guys, check out my gallery!" (thats what the thumbshare forum is for ). If you are going to submit any news, make sure you read the rules and guidlines first! Rules and Guidelines for submitting news =>[link]

8. As far as tips go, I unfortunately do not have an unlimited supply. But, as a last resort, what you can always do (it could happen even when you try to gain exposure) would be to just wait and hope that someone or a few someones catch onto a piece of yours, and that it expands into a larger audience.

I really hope this helps! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop a line by either noting me, commenting on this article or leaving me a comment on my dA page. Also, if these tips/tricks work for you, I'd love to hear about it!

Good luck to you all!