As I embark on a new chapter of my life after a period of over 17yrs in some form or academic setting, I decided it was a good time to start networking. After all, an artist is only as commercially viable as his connections. So after scouring the internet for any available outlet of opportunity, I came across Monster.com.

I know what you are saying, “Monster.com is for suit and tie jobs that use buzz-phrases like ‘fast-paced environment’ and ’self motivated individuals’, not for artists.” And to that notion, I will agree. The site offers virtually nothing for most creative fields, the closest listings ever get to art careers is the ocassional Art Director or Graphic Designer listing. Nothing for the fine arts is ever listed. However, when I did join Monster, they did make me aware of their partner site that is far more relevant to my needs, ArtBistro.com.

Think of ArtBistro as part Facebook with a healthy dose of About.com and LinkedIN. I joined the site a week ago, uploaded an avatar (which should ALWAYS be your face, regardless of the social network), and uploaded a “greatest hits” sampler of some of my most representative paintings. Within about 5 hours I had several friend requests and a lot of comments on my work.

Now the site is very useful on numerous fronts, but its strongest point is the access to other artists. One-click access to thousands of artists and their portfolios, and comfort in knowing everyone on the network is a creative of some sort. There is also a review section where users can submit reviews of their favorite art products, from software to books to art supplies. I even submitted a rewiew of my own of my favorite paint medium Galkyd. Yet, after spending some time on the site I came across some of the shortcomings of the service.

For one, I came to the site with the distinct interest in finding an art job. No dice. In fact the job listings are just as threadbare as Monster.com on that front, meaning you are out of luck if you aren’t a Graphic/Web Designer. Here is a concise breakdown of the pros and cons.

The Pros

1. Everyone’s an Artist- It’s a great way to network  and find tons of artists at the same point in their careers as you.
2. Tons of portfolio’s to draw inspiration from- So many people coming from all over the country, there is bound to be things that you didn’t think of trying.
3. A great resource to find out about art tools before you buy. The type of things you wish the local lady at your Art Supply place knew, the crowd here does.
4. Great feedback. Of course its mostly compliments, The internet’s not a good place for a hard hitting critique. Yet it’s good to see your work in context of so many others.

The Cons

1. Everyone’s a Nail, but there are few hammers. Tons are looking for art jobs, since the primary feeder to this site is Monster.com. If you came only for that, it will be disappointing. Job listings are just as threadbare in the creative professions as they are in most other job sites. Do creative fields other than Graphic design bother posting their jobs anywhere?
2. Not as good as other sites when it comes to communicating. The site UI is not as snappy as Facebook and LinkedIN, and it leads to a lot of unnecessary steps to do simple tasks. It’s not as easy to see the activities of others, nor is it clear how active the site is in its entirety. The user experience just doesn’t seem to look outward enough, and you feel like you looking at a social network instead of being in one.
3. You may be a big fish in a small pond. I am not one to boast, but I consider myself to be a decent artist, not amazing, but not embarrassingly bad either. I would say after 7 days on the site, 70 percent of the sites users are pretty mediocre or at least not really serious. I guess that’s the case in real life as well. Luckily good portfolios float to the surface once discovered. So you don’t have to wade through shit (pardon the expression).
4. You probably already juggle more social networks than you’d like. If you are like me, you got a Facebook account when you were in college. Then you got a LinkedIn account, because like eating your veggies, it was supposed to be good for you. Then you get on to Twitter and it became your life, and you probably used Friendfeed for a while, to juggle the ones above. So adding ArtBistro to the mix sounds unbearable. But think of ArtBistro more like that friend that you don’t have to call too often because they understand.
5. It’s delayed gratification. Like Twitter, ArtBistro takes a little commitment to get any tangible rewards from it.

Will I keep using it? I am currently not sure. I think it is too soon for me to make a judgment one way or the other. If I do end up using it, I will do a little more digging to find people more on my level, find uses other the the obvious ones on the surface, and take more time crafting my presence on the site. Stay tuned for any updates I give on how its going.