Getting Started

Make your own art thread

Having a thread to call your own is nice first step. You can use it to showcase your drawings, photographs, poems, musical compositions, or any other artistic creation, along with any information about yourself you'd like to share. One thing to keep in mind is that you need a minimum of three separate art pieces before making the thread, as we'd otherwise get loads of threads by people just asking for quick opinions on a single image. But if you're a quick producer, odds are that the opposite is just as likely, so if you have many creations on display, consider putting them inside [HIDE] tags or links, so that new visitors with bad internet reception won't need much time to load your thread.

Of course, your art thread is what you make of it! Share links to other places that also showcase your art, brighten up the first post with a banner welcoming new users to your thread, divide your artwork in various categories to make browsing them easier, or anything else that creates a good impression for all new visitors checking out your thread. Just don't forget that your art will still be what speaks the loudest!

Getting feedback

We all strive to improve ourselves, and while art is most definitely subjective, you're nonetheless making content for others to see, and can thus gain a lot by considering their perspective. Also keep in mind that few users on Smogon are professionally trained artists or scholars, so the critique you get may sometimes not be worded as best it could be, so knowing how to look past their language and focusing on what they actually mean is a great trait to have.

While we do try and keep the forums active by welcoming new artists and commenting on any new images posted, odds are that traffic might get slow and only a few people will notice your thread, so don't feel discouraged if that happens! Explicitly stating that you'd like feedback on certain images can be the prompt certain users need in order to give their input, but if you've posted plenty of content and still haven't received any feedback, feel free to turn to the Rate My Art thread, or ask the studio mods if they could check out your stuff and maybe even give a short evaluation.

Visiting other art threads

Checking out the works of other experienced artists, or artists in training, can be just as rewarding as drawing something yourself, since you can broaden your horizons and consider what styles you can apply to your own craft. If you have a question about a certain detail or technique someone is using, make sure to compliment them on that and inquire if they have any advice to offer! Remember: just like you would appreciate someone giving you some earnest feedback, you can do just the same to other artists, even if they're more skilled than you! Hopefully, you'll discover that we're generally a chill bunch and that sharing your input in various threads will make others more inclined to do the same to yours. Also, the like button is a thing, so use it to show your admiration towards any great work you see.

Join the chat!

Since quite a while back, Smeargle's Studio has a Discord channel, which is one way to speak to other resident artists in real time and get some quick feedback on art you're working on. Another chat room is the Art Room on Pokémon Showdown! which fills the same purpose, although it should be noted that not all users there have an account on Smogon (but they do know the place). More info about the chatrooms can be found here!

Participate!

Naturally, the studio is not just a bunch of isolated artist threads clustered together, we also have threads where artists of various skill level can submit images to! The first thing that comes to mind is Battle: Free for All, where the only rule is to defeat the previous Pokemon drawing with a drawing of your own, so use your imagination! The Daily Draw Challenge, which is hosted in the Art Room on Pokémon Showdown!, also provides all artists with a small challenge each to day to let anyone take a shot at it and try something new for a change. If you see a recent theme that you missed but really want to try, go ahead and do it anyway, we're not that picky. Sometimes contests pop up in the studio, such as the Monthly-Art-Contest, so keep an eye out for those too and see if you're available to submit an image that shows your art from its best side!

Don't overthink it

Probably a weird recommendation to give at the bottom of a long page advising new users what to do, but at the end of the day, we're still just a group of chill people hanging out in one particular area of Smogon, so no need to feel that we'll chew you up if you don't get the hang of the place right away. If you have any further questions or some insight to be added to this guide, feel free to contact any of the studio's staff members who are listed in this thread.