YouTube Artists Collective: Themes & How to Take Part

July 08, 2018

What YTAC or YouTube Artists Collective is, why and how to take part in it as an artist and how to vote for the next themes + a list of the previous YouTube Artist Collective themes, so you can use as ideas for your artworks.

Have you seen the acronym YTAC in art videos on YouTube and wondered what it means? Read on, because I'll explain what YTAC or YouTube Artists Collective is, why and how to take part in it as an artist and how to vote for the next themes. And then I'll leave you with a list of the previous YouTube Artist Collective themes, so you can use as ideas for your artworks.

YTAC members and guest artists in June 2018. See the current members in the cover of their Facebook page.

What is YTAC or YouTube Artists Collective?

YouTube Artists Collective or YTAC was formed in 2015 by Sakuems as big collaboration between a group of artists on YouTube every two or three months. They make art based on a chosen theme and viewers gets to vote on the next theme on their Facebook page. Everyone gets to leave their suggestions in a comment to a post on the Facebook page. Three of all of the suggestions will be chosen for the poll, and viewers get to choose their favorite option, which will become the next artwork theme.

All YTAC members (current members are listed on the Facebook page) will post their video on a specific day or in period of those days, which are usually the first full week's Friday and Saturday of a month, every two or three months. The exact day will also be announced on the Facebook page.

So, the YTAC members make an artwork based on the theme, post the video on YouTube on the chosen day and they might also sell the original artwork. That last part is now optional, because they wanted to include the possibility of making digital art and not just traditional art.

YouTube Artists Collective theme Wordl in a Bottle

Birds in a Bottle. My unofficial entry for the World in a Bottle YTAC theme.

Why and How to Take Part in YTAC?

YTAC is a closed group that has a certain number of official members. They have spots open from time to time and to be eligible to apply, you must have an art YouTube channel with at least 5000 subscribers. They also have guest artist spots for each theme.

However, you do not need to be an official member to join the YouTube Artists Collective themes. You're welcome take part in the themes unofficially and post your artwork on YouTube and/or social media.

I've been taking part in YTAC unofficially since February 2018 and so far I've noticed a few benefits. For one, joining in any regularly repeating art collaborations or prompts like this, motivates you to make more art. The deadline is coming up, so you have to get your paints or markers etc. out.

It also develops your creativity, because you have to come up with an idea for a theme you wouldn't necessarily have chosen otherwise. This happened to me with the Word in a Bottle theme. It wasn't something that particularly interested me, but I combined it with other ideas and was actually really happy with the result.

As an artist on YouTube, posting your artwork based on the same theme as a group of other artists on the same day, will also boost traffic to your video. You can make your artwork later, but to take full advantage of people searching for the current theme, it's best to post your artwork/video on the same day with the official members.