Getting feedback on your work (Patreon)

We're delighted to launch our long-awaited platform for getting feedback on your artwork! We retired the Facebook Feedback Group last year and we're pleased to be able to offer feedback via our new Draw Slack board. You'll find everything you need to know about it below. 

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(You can always get to the Draw Slack by clicking THIS LINK)

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Getting started

Slack is a website and app built for business & education and we'll be using it as our new feedback platform. You can use it on a computer via your internet browser or by downloading the desktop app; alternatively you can download the app for tablets & smartphones, which can help you to upload images of your work quickly. Here's what you need to do to get started:

1) Register on Slack. Follow this link HERE to register for a free account, using the same name you use here on the Patreon (we'll remove anybody who isn't a listed Patreon supporter and don't want to kick you out by accident!)

When you sign in to Slack you'll see a screen a bit like this:

2) Join a Channel. The 'Channels' in the left-hand bar relate to different topics, each with their own description - you can join the channels you are most interested in. Once you're on a channel, the central timeline shows all past posts in chronological order - you can put up your own post for other users to see, sharing images of your work, links and text, or tag other users to get their attention.

3) Set your preferences. This is important - you'll find your account settings in a menu in the top righthand corner. As a default, slack will send you lots of notifications about activity on the platform and you will want to set your preferred limits. Click on your Profile icon (top right),  then Preferences to set the notifications you'd like to receive so that you don't get bombarded. 

4) Introduce yourself! Practice making a post by introducing yourself in the Introductions' Channel. In a single post, tell us all a little bit about your artwork, link to your art Instagram or website (if you have one) and include some images of your work. 

5) When you're ready, ask for feedback. There's no hurry, bit when you have work to share, you can post your work in the correct channel to receive feedback. If you'd like feedback from the community at large, ask for that and if you'd like specific feedback from a tutor, make sure you tag them in the post (see the FAQs below).

Finally, when you're commenting on other peoples posts there is one golden rule: always 'Reply in thread'. That means, if you'd like to comment on somebody else's post, or answer a comment on one of your own posts you shouldn't create a new post like this:

Instead, find the 'Reply in thread' option in the top right of the post you'd like to comment on and click on it, then reply in the box to the right. That will keep all of the comments about this post together and make it easier for the other person to see your comment and reply. Your comment should look like this:

And there you are, you're all ready to go. Take a look at the FAQs below and get in touch via info@draw-brighton.co.uk or via Patreon messages if you have more questions - we hope to see your work on the Slack soon! 

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FAQ

Who is the Draw Slack for? The Slack is open to any current Draw Patreon Supporters, across all tiers.

What can I post? You can post your portrait and life drawings, paintings and prints. At the moment we're keeping the Slack figure-focused, but if there is demand we'll open open further channels for other subjects and media (let us know what you'd like feedback on in the comments on this post!)

What kind of feedback will I receive? Lance will be our main Slack tutor and he will be offer a mixture of feedback, from suggestions of Draw Patreon tutorials to look at, focused comments about your work or artists to research. Always remember, our feedback is subjective (but also pretty well informed!), so discussion & debate is welcomed.

Can I reply to other artists? If other people have posted in the slack then you can comment on their work by 'replying in thread' (see above!). Feel free to give positive encouragement but ONLY give critical feedback if the person posting has explicitly asked for feedback from the community. If they have asked for feedback from a Draw tutor, let the tutor give them feedback. 

How do I ask for feedback from a tutor? Lance (Lancelot) is our main slack tutor. When you post up your work, type @lancelotrichardson and select him from the options that appear - he'll see your messages when he logs in. It is helpful for Lance to have as much context as possible, so make sure you ask for what you need. That might be a practical question like: how could I improve the tonal markmaking in this drawing? Or it might be something broader like: these are my recent drawings and I'm aiming for more accurate proportions - what could I improve? 

Context is  helpful, so you might want to tell Lance more about your work: are you a complete beginner looking for places to start? A student putting together a portfolio for university? A professional looking for high level critiques? 

How long will it take to get tutor feedback? Lance will be logging in to the Slack every Wednesday. Expect to get feedback in a week or two until we adjust to volume of people posting their work in here. If the Slack proves popular we will be inviting more guest tutors to give feedback in the future.