I really see this thread being moved to the OT forum... The issue of popularity has gotten to be a dead horse. I agree comments are really nice and sometimes really helpful. Having someone view your work is greatly appreciated. And in perusing the galleries, I often see genres that I would like to try out. That's how I switched from noir to sci-fi. Sometimes its really frustrating to see one of my noir pics with less views than a nude Vicki pin-up. But I choose to do noir and not nudes. And as a consequence I get less hits. However, it is the type of work which interests me. Again, I have no clue as to who is considered popular and who isn't. It really seems pretty arbitrary to me. And I can honestly say that I have never voted for an image because I've never understood what the top 20 was. However, these are some things about artists with a lot of hits in their galleries that I have noticed: 1. They use a nude female pinup in their image (duh...). 2. They either supply free content or have good quality items in their online store. 3. Some of them are amongst the oldest members here so they have already networked and gotten to know other artists. 4. They do a fair amount of postwork... including painting hair instead of using hair props.