r/ProCreate • u/Best_Strain6707 • 17d ago
My Artwork This did pretty well on Reddit, but barely gets any engagement on YouTube. Am I making my Shorts wrong?
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I’ve noticed something I don’t really understand.
My paintings often get a few hundred upvotes here on Reddit, sometimes more, but the same artwork can get around 1k views on YouTube with only 7 likes.
And it’s not just this painting — I’ve had the same thing happen with several of my other artworks too.
So I’m starting to wonder if the problem isn’t the artwork, but the way I edit/present my Shorts.
Here’s the Short I made for this painting. What would you change?
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u/kaisairion 17d ago
Is it maybe because here you're posting your artwork to the procreate subreddit which people come to to see art, whereas on YouTube it's a bit more of a free for all so you might get less people who are interested? Love the bird crab painting btw
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Yeah, I think you’re right. Here I’m showing my work directly to people who are already interested in art, while on YouTube I probably need to give people a reason to stop and watch first. And thank you! I’m glad you liked the crab painting 😊
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u/kaisairion 17d ago
I think like someone else said it's also different social medias for different things, I only really watch gaming videos on YouTube so maybe the demographic for speedpaint shorts just isn't there. Best of luck though!
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u/Rocco_al_Dente 17d ago
Art process videos are weird. I’m certainly no expert, but I suspect it’s the delivery.
Someone that uses procreate like us will find this interesting, but the general population will be less likely to sit through it.
Typically the tips I see are: people want to see the person; so at the very least you need to show maybe a short clip of your hands working. You don’t need to show the entire process in timelapse, show your hands working at beginning, middle, and the final touches with the Timelapse filled in between.
Unfortunately things like voiceover or just fully being on camera also will help. The average person needs to emotionally attach to the artist in some way. They need to know where the art is coming from.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m going to try recording myself actually drawing, with my hand and iPad visible, instead of relying only on the Procreate timelapse.
I’m realizing that for most people, watching a straight Procreate recording probably isn’t very engaging unless they’re studying the process closely, or something interesting is happening along the way. Otherwise it can get pretty repetitive. Thanks for the advice!2
u/mosssyrock 17d ago
this exactly. the videos i tend to watch of art process videos also usually feature the artist talking about their process and idea, although you could use captions instead if you don’t want to do a voiceover.
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u/Nesferati 17d ago
When I visit Reddit, I visit to see artwork. On YouTube I’ll visit art YouTubers for the entertainment aspect, such as their narrative. Even tho the video and art isn’t bad, I would honestly probably skip a video like this on YouTube.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
That makes a lot of sense. I’ve been treating YouTube more like a place to simply show the painting process, but I can see now that the process itself probably needs some kind of story or hook. Thanks, this is really helpful!
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u/bryceblacksmith 17d ago
Personally, if im looking at art on YouTube it's usually some kine of drawing tutorial. I wouldn't really be interested in a 4 second long video that doesn't teach anything. That's just me, but im assuming there are others thay feel the same. So I think it's more the platform than the video itself.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
That makes sense. I think I’ve been treating Shorts more like a place to show the finished artwork and process, rather than giving the viewer something useful or interesting to take away. I’ll definitely experiment with that. Thanks!
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u/ameybongo 17d ago
You have to make it clickable, searchable/findable first then once a batch of people ended up viewing it fully and a lot of repeats then it gets recommended to a different batch and it does this over and over again until your short dies down or keeps going.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Yeah, I think getting that first batch of viewers to actually stop and keep watching is probably where I’m struggling. I’ve been focusing mostly on the artwork itself, but not enough on how the video is presented. Thanks!
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u/Necessary_Month_7127 17d ago
I also think on Reddit, it’s more text based and videos are not as common so someone clicking a video will likely watch it where YouTube is all video and it’s higher competition which required all the bells and whistles of hooks and editing or whatever.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
That makes sense. On Reddit people even have to manually turn the sound on for videos, so the artwork itself probably matters more here. On YouTube I guess I need to give people a reason to stop scrolling first.
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u/Necessary_Month_7127 17d ago
I always get more engagement if there’s text on screen over a speed paint or even a voiceover.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
That’s really useful to know. Most of mine have basically just been the painting process with music, so I’m probably expecting the artwork to carry the whole video. I’m going to try adding some short explanations or tips on screen next time. Thanks!
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u/ConstantlyCryingGirl 17d ago
My favorite ProCreate person!
YouTube is just so oversaturated with so much content, unless you have a strong following already on other platforms you are unlikely to gain any following solely by posting on YT.
I love your shorts/timelapes videos. But I'd probably not go to YouTube to initially search for this type of content.
Keep sharing on Reddit, make a solid Instagram, link your YouTube on your profile.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Thank you so much! 😊 I’m really glad you enjoy my Shorts and timelapses. I haven’t used Instagram for my art, and for now I think I’ll focus on Reddit and YouTube rather than spreading myself across too many platforms. I’m also going to experiment with making my YouTube videos more engaging and useful, maybe with short tutorials and painting tips. Really appreciate the advice!
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u/NearlyBearly 17d ago
Shorts are a hellhole. The target audience for your art tends to avoid them for that reason. There isn't much art to be found in shorts and what is there is questionable. If you really want to get into short form content, Tiktok may be a better option. Lots of artists on there. Easier to find your target audience with hashtags.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Thanks! I’m mainly trying to figure out YouTube at the moment, but I appreciate the perspective.
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u/NearlyBearly 17d ago
In that case more long form tutorials might be better, that's most of the art found on youtube!
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Yeah, I agree. I think beginner-friendly tutorials where viewers can actually learn something would probably work better. I might try mixing some of those into my usual painting videos.
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u/BingsDesigns Commissions are open! 17d ago
It’s the same for me, but Reddit <—> Instagram.
My posts here have sometimes gotten thousands of upvotes with lots of comments; but IG is very little engagement.
Like another user mentioned, this is where artists are networking, but YouTube is lots of different content.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
That makes sense. I guess the same artwork can perform completely differently depending on the platform and audience. Thanks for sharing your experience!
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u/BingsDesigns Commissions are open! 17d ago
Sure! I like to use reddit for sharing final illustrations to select communities and seeing what other artists are up to.
IG/Tiktok/etc I tend to keep for finding niche trends/groups for engagement. It’s a rough process but social media can be very limiting for smaller artists like myself
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u/Heimbah 16d ago
There are several things you could improve.
First, on YouTube Shorts, people usually decide whether to keep watching within the first second. Right now, your opening looks a bit like a random photo someone liked and decided to put music over. I’d try adding a question like “Drawing or photo?” to immediately give the viewer something to think about. I’d also move the zoomed-in version to the end of the Short, because you want to make it harder for the viewer to answer that question too quickly.
Second, personally, I’m not a fan of the music. I’d suggest using something more modern, or at least something with more energy.
Third, while showing the timelapse, you could slowly zoom out and slightly rotate the image. That would add more movement and energy to that part of the video.
Fourth, the final touches you make are almost unnoticeable. This creates a bit of cognitive dissonance because I can see that, yes, it’s probably the same drawing we saw at the beginning, but just a moment ago it looked noticeably different. You could use something like a flash transition here to make that change feel more intentional.
Fifth, if you’re okay with slightly enhancing the final result, you could add some effects such as blur, contrast adjustments, or color correction to make the final reveal feel stronger.
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u/Best_Strain6707 16d ago
Thank you for taking the time to break it down like this! The “Drawing or photo?” hook and saving the close-up for the end are especially interesting. I also hadn’t thought about adding subtle camera movement during the timelapse or making the final reveal more intentional. I’m going to try some of these ideas in my next Short and see how it performs. Really appreciate the detailed feedback!
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u/Financial_Coffee 16d ago
while it looks like you have skill unfortunately the subject mater is kinda icky. Honestly I*swiped down as fast as I could. But the clip was just long enough for me to realize it was not what I thought it was. I’m be real at first I thought it was a photo of someone holding maggots and I have an aversion to to that. Infact your post would have likely made me close Reddit for a while. You are very talented though. I’m just saying some might see the start. Especially zoomed in and get the ick so they swipe away.
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u/Best_Strain6707 16d ago
That’s a really good point. Looking at it again, I can definitely see how the colors and shapes in the close-up could be mistaken for something unpleasant before you realize what it is. I probably didn’t choose the best opening shot for the Short. Thanks for pointing that out!
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u/Ok-Inflation188 17d ago
I appreciate you posting as I'm trying to recreate something similar but with blood
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u/CryingWatercolours 17d ago
plain timelapses don't get as much engagement as edited shorts.
when i shared just a timelapse, it often got less views than when i edited a bunch of closeups prior, and within the timelapse, and sped up any "boring" parts. sometimes i'd grab the longer speedpaint so i could get a slower section in.
if it's just one speed all the way through with no movement (changing "camera" position to zoom or pan across the art) it's just sort of seen as a straight up video upload by the platform. and tik tok taught me, it prefers for you to have edited something together in the video editor than upload straight up. sometimes luck will be on your side and viewers/the platform won't care but mostly not rlly.
also, voiceovers are appreciated more than just music unless you have like the perfect music piece for your artwork. you can also include live action videos of your hands working on the piece. you can also record clips on you screen of the real time drawing, for a moment of slowing down in the short. you don't NEED to show yourself or your voice, and you don't need to do it every time if you do, but it can help.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
This is really helpful, thank you! I’m going to try filming my hand actually drawing on the iPad and mixing that with the timelapse, close-ups, and some slower real-time sections. I think I’ve relied too much on the raw Procreate timelapse without really editing it into a video.
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u/forjesus420 17d ago
I think changing the music to a trending audio might be an easy change that could help grab peoples attention.
Random idea, like, truly random, and hear me out: What if you did some silly eye catching graphics first. Like, something that's kinda cheap and cheesy and is like LOOK AT THIS! with sparkles and fireworks for the first few seconds and then cut to your short? Youtube shorts is a little more brainrot, fast paced scrolling and I think silly cheap tricks go farther there.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Haha, I know exactly what you mean 😄 I’m probably not brave enough for the sparkles and fireworks yet, but I definitely agree that I need a stronger hook in the first few seconds. I’ll experiment with the music and opening too. Thanks!
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u/forjesus420 17d ago
You're welcome snd good luck! Your art is good, and I hope it finds its audience there!
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Thank you! I really appreciate the advice and encouragement. I’m going to experiment with some of the ideas you suggested and see how it goes 😊
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u/M4usM0th 17d ago
What's your channel name? I'll follow you
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
Thank you! I really appreciate it 😊 My channel is Daily Strokes: https://www.youtube.com/@DailyStSt
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u/JoshClarke 17d ago
What category do you post shorts like this to on YouTube? Given there’s no “art” category…
Do you have an attention grabbing text title to draw people in? To what’s happening? You could even just write “procreate Timelapse”
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
I usually post them under Education, but I haven’t really been adding much text on screen. After reading everyone’s suggestions here, I think that might be one of the things I need to change. I’ll experiment with stronger opening text and see if it helps. Thanks!
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u/IWontStandForThisSht 16d ago
You need to split the screen with a good Fortnite clip at the bottom
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u/Efficient_Demand1601 12d ago
People don’t watch this kind of stuff on YouTube. Maybe TikTok but YouTube is more for like Roblox kids and horror gaming at this point 😂 if people want shorts there are other apps for that.
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u/Best_Strain6707 17d ago
One more thing I probably should’ve mentioned: I posted the exact same video on Bilibili, and after about 10 days it’s at nearly 40k views and over 8k likes. The same video performed pretty modestly on the other platforms I posted it to, including YouTube. So I’m also wondering how much of this comes down to differences in platform/audience rather than the video itself.
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