When creating art, having an audience to view your finished work is idealistic. In a dynamic, tech-evolving world, online art communities have sprang into the spotlight. One of the most prominent, deviantART.com, receives over 150,000 submissions a day. Although deviantART is a great site in its own, most artists have established a profile there already. We’ve compiled a list of additional, alternative sites for you to check out!

Behance

Behance is an upcoming site that gives artists a place to establish a professional portfolio. It allows you to integrate social media, so sharing art cross multiple platforms comes with ease. Its design is something to be proud of, and makes it easy on the eyes. A lot of 2D artwork is showcased here, so Manga Studio users particularly should definitely check it out.

CG Society

It has an established community that’s almost two decades old. CG Society offers good resources for both 2D and 3D art as well as other types of artwork. It’s a forum-based site, so it’s very easy to integrate yourself into the conversations, and get instant feedback and recognition for your works. Aside from the forum itself, the site offers workshops and other resources for artists.

Shadowness

Probably the closest design to deviantART, Shadowness offers a great alternative for artists. It’s home to many talented artists, and showcases many different pieces. Poser users should take special note of this site particularly, as its browsing section for it is filled with beautiful artwork. It has an integrated social media aspect, and a leveling system that encourages daily participation in both viewing and creating art.

ConceptArt.org

If you’re looking for an active community, at ConceptArt there are always hundreds of people online browsing the forums. You’ll get a lot of participation in threads you create, and in turn, it encourages you to be active as well. It felt very welcoming to come to this site and see a new thread get ten replies in less than an hour. Engagement is one of their strong points, so setting up an account here is a good idea if that’s what you’re looking for.

Pixiv

For Manga Studio users, PixIV is the best kept secret on the web. You will find the site to be a beautiful database for 2D illustrations. You can create your own profile and list your artwork in different genres of manga-styled artwork. One shortcoming is that unless you can speak Japanese, the site doesn’t support English yet (I personally use Google Translate on the site).

What’s nice about the sites above all have great browsing capabilities. All five communities give you a chance to list your different art styles in respectable venues. Expand your horizons as an artist and broaden your audience!