VISUAL ART-RELATED REDDIT SUBREDDITS
Reddit is a social news aggregate community, which is a fancy way of saying people share articles, links, images, and comments with each other, with the most popular topics rising to the top. What sets Reddit apart from other social networks is its organization; the site users organize themselves into subreddits based on their interests. There’s a subreddit for just about everything: /r/movies for movies, /r/forwardsfromgrandma for your grandparents’ posts on social media, and /r/birdswitharms for sharing images of birds with human arms. Reddit is also a very useful place for artists to congregate, share their work, receive constructive criticism, or just discuss their field. Here are a few visual arts-related subreddits worth checking out.
With nearly 3.5 million subscribers, /r/art is the biggest arts community on Reddit. It’s an excellent starting place for sharing your visual art. Digital art, paintings, and drawings are the most popular posts, but on any given day you are guaranteed to find discussions between artists seeking advice, criticism, and interesting articles concerning the art world. /r/art is also home to a great resource, its ever-growing artist “life-hack” thread, where artists share tips for succeeding in the arts.
Described as “the amateur artist’s gallery,” /r/artstore is a great place to show off their work and link to their websites, in hopes of connecting with possible art buyers. There, artists can link to their own portfolios and offer promotional sales, while buyers may browse art or even commission special pieces that you can accept. While you should still be careful, this subreddit is closely monitored by moderators that have strict anti-art theft/scam policies, so it is a relatively safe space for art business.
A useful place for artists seeking advice or help with certain techniques. Here you can find just about anything, including tutorials for using PhotoShop, tips for painting, and resources for drawing architecture. This offers supportive community for artists just starting out who may feel overwhelmed.
“The Reddit Museum of Art” is dedicated to sharing your favorite works of art from museums around the world. Have a favorite Klimt? Of course you do. Why not introduce it to others?
Looking for a more academic artist community? Look no further than /r/arthistory, the place to discuss art movements, media, and famous artists. Members often share art essays and research that you can read from your armchair while smoking a pipe in your study.
Perhaps you are interested in a specific medium? Try /r/sculpture, /r/painting, /r/design, or /r/printmaking. If I didn’t list a subreddit that interests you, do not be discouraged. Reddit is absolutely massive, so you can be sure there will be a special place for you. Probably /r/birdswitharms.
– Written by Sean Doolittle
Image: Vince Contarino (Fellow in Painting, ‘12), Deep Pockets. This work is included in Triacontagon: A Celebration of 30 Years of the Artists’ Fellowship Program.