Edit July'24: Added additional resources, spelling fixes. Added "Improvement" section.
Nov'24: more corrections, added information
Feb'25: Added suggestions
May'25: More advice, added section just for lewd art...
This is in no way a guideline on how to be scouted quickly nor an official guide for scouting talent. This is just to categorize my own thoughts/suggestions.
I am not a moderator and a mod's ruling will take precedence.
"Whats scouting?"
Ornery's Handy Dandy Scouting Guide - Straight from an art mod. Chances are your questions may be answered here.
Scouting is defined in the wiki as a form of quality control. Effectively, this means that the curation of the Art/Audio portals (and to some extent moderation) is left to the userbase of Newgrounds. This has the effect of having no centralized or consistent measure to what is "good" enough for Approved Artists and what stays in Undiscovered, since it's quite literally up to any random person with prior approval.
Generally, I think this is good because it creates a higher probability of diverse art styles and skill levels appearing in the general portal while filtering out spam/bots/rule-breaking/etc. works. Seriously, imagine how boring if the only art that's in the portal is anime-art with huge eyes, or the most surreal hand-painted illustrations you'd never understand. Or the Audio portal being only full of basic beats and diss-tracks. Diversity makes the portal interesting!
That being said, there are absolutely downsides to the system. Friends can scout each other, bots getting control, or, ironically, lack of quality control. There are users who scout only one or two people, and users who like to scout well into the hundreds. Those mass-scouts can be a problem when authors are scouted with little to no scrutiny or manage to miss long-time users. Heck, apparently a few people use Newgrounds for years without being approved.
"So how would you fix the system?"
I wouldn't. I think right now, the system does what it needs to. Can it be abused? Certainly, but I think there are also enough users who use it in good faith and genuinely care about the ecosystem of Newgrounds.
To scout someone means "[you] have vouched for the quality of [another's] work." This is important because if someone who was scouted goes on to break the rules or post low-quality/spam to the portal, not only are they punished but so is the person who had scouted them. Conversely, if you end up getting punished for something then any scouts you've made could be revoked and the authors set on cool down. Basically, scouting someone else is you taking responsibility for their posts' quality on the portal(s).
＊Think of it as NG saying "Whoa, my guy. Are you sure?" so you're careful about who you scout.
"Blah blah. I found a cool guy, I wanna scout them!"
Wonderful! Should you scout them?
Has the author posted a work that break the art or audio guidelines respectively? Is there more than one? (Remember to report violations.) The report categories are below:
General rule is if someone does not have the care to correctly post according to site standards then they probably won't care for the portal's health either.
Do you genuinely think this person is posting quality work? What does quality mean to you? Is it technical ability? Creativity? Does their work make you feel something?
Does their work appear to have been made with effort? Does it heavily rely on presets/bases?
Does the artist have a basic understanding of fundamentals (anatomy, color, shading, etc. or Basic music theory)?
Beware: If you scout someone who doesn't meet NG standards, then your permission may be revoked AND users you've previously scouted, regardless of eligibility, will be de-scouted and need a mod to reverse it.
"I found someone to scout but I don't know if I should..."
If there's something that makes you hesitate, there's usually some reason for it.
Perhaps the user hasn't posted much at all, or their profile is blank. Do they have other socials where you can easily see their other work? Does it fit the quality of Newgrounds? I would normally suggest waiting until they post more before you give them approval.
Do their socials link back to New Grounds? Once in a while, impersonators create accounts. An easy way to confirm a real account is to see if the artist adds their NGs profile to their other socials or mentions it on another site. This is especially important for famous artists!
Is there nepotism? I appreciate wanting to help friends/authors you admire, but make sure you don't approve them only because you like them. Is that fair to the site?
Is the author begging for scouts? Do not scout beggars even if they're good as it will encourage more begging (+ it's bad etiquette!)
Maybe you think their work is inconsistent. Is there a reasonable explanation for this?
Do they post infrequently? Are they reuploading older work out of order? Are they experimenting? Usually works will have some general progression of improvement or stylistic choices. Would you be able to tell the same artist made them?
If you think they might be posting AI works, carefully consider it before you report them. AI accusations are free to throw but costly to the receiver. They shouldn't be made lightly.
Is the author transparent about AI use? Does the amount of AI violate the guidelines? What makes you think it's AI (e.g. bad fundamentals, repetitive, inconsistent lighting, distortions/disappearing objects, etc.?) The more you observe AI works the more problems appear. That being said, be careful because everyone— esp. newer artists/musicians— can make mistakes.
"Uh, maybe I shouldn't scout them..."
That's perfectly fine. Just because the user isn't meeting the site standards now doesn't mean they won't later.
Consider reviewing their work and leaving constructive feedback. What do you like about their work? What if they do well? What do you think could be improved?
If you like their vibes maybe follow them so you can see their uploads more often. If their vibes are off, check their other work/socials?
Remember the guidelines have officially asked NSFW/adult works should be graded to a "higher standard."
"Hey wait! I'm an author and I haven't been scouted yet!"
Oops. Well, have you uploaded anything yet?
Does your work lack fundamentals? Consider your current skill level and what's on the approved portal. Does your work hold up to scrutiny, as suggested by this post?
... You've actually read the guidelines and aren't wasting anyone's time, right? You haven't been begging for scouts, either?
＊Have you rated your work correctly?
While ratings are somewhat subjective, please do you best to follow the rating system. This protects the community (minors, people with sensitivities, and people from countries that restrict porn access this site!) and owners/moderators + is generally good manners!
For Art:
The Guidelines have as basic overview of Rating.
My rule of thumb is if an art is meant to titillate/sexually arouse, it can't be E.
If you have multiple images in one submission, you can adjust the individual ratings: click the three dots, chose Options and uncheck "Use project default". This is good if one pic is too saucy for the project rating!
Note that work also has to be rated on vibe/intended audience: Your submission might technically count at one rating, but others can argue differently. If the art is E but the thumbnail is butts and boobs, your thumbnail is saying it's for more mature audiences. Descriptions should also match your rating!
Suggestive text/poses/facial expressions or situations and overly defined or emphasized breast/butt/private areas bump up the rating.
If your art is toeing a line, it's safer to rate higher!
Guidelines also ask that censored porn must be rated A and that fetish art needs to be tagged with the appropriate fetish.
For Audio:
The guidelines don't explain the rating system, but the basic idea is the same as the art portal:
Nothing suggestive should be in the E rating.
Mild explicit language goes in T.
Heavily mature themes, language goes in M
Work intended for adults only or straight up porn audio goes in A.
Frequently mis-rating risks being de-scouted!
There's a whole number of reasons you could have not been scouted that I can't tell you. Maybe you're just unlucky or really new. Be patient, keep posting and continuing improving your crafts. Eventually you'll be approved and get on the portal.
"But how do I get better?"
Consider your mindset and goals. Why do you draw? Are you drawing to become a professional, or other reasons? What style do you want? How hard are you willing to work? It's important to have a sense of what you want out of your craft so you can set the right pace and objectives for yourself.
Read Yatsufusa's Guides, Tutorials & Other Help, that has lots of tutorials from around the community. You can choose what to look at and it will save you a lot of time. If that's not enough, there are many other (free) resources you can use to help yourself if you look.
Practice fundamentals! Art is not a medium of rules, but basic principles that combine to create fundamentals we use to express ideas. When we understand these principles, then we can properly learn rules that create style.
For visual artists. this would be line, shape, color, value, contrast, form, space, and so on.
For audio artists this would be timbre, frequency, balance, etc.
Music artists would also learn Music Theory and why scales, intervals are used to create certain vibes or why x sounds pleasant.
Let yourself be open and read (constructive) reviews! Feedback can tell you a lot about what the audience likes, mistakes and corrections, etc. Also read other artist's reviews. Getting perspective about others can let you reflect on yourself.
Consider trying a master study. Master studies are replicas students make of famous or professional work to get a better understanding of their current skill level, why masters make certain artistic decisions, and how to be closer stylistically. Master studies are best used be those who have a higher grasp on fundamentals and would likely be confusing otherwise. (I.e. can you effectively use something if you don't know why it's there/how it does that?)
