What make one artist more successful or more popular than another?

[Fallenangel]

Marketing, marketing....and being in the right place at the right time, imo.
Of course if you draw/paint very well it's also a plus, but it does play a role only for those of us who can actually paint/draw (unfortunately not yet including me) because most of the people when they look at art, go for the "big" names not for the "best" art.

Btw your question reminds me of the old: "Why people like manga/anime?"
My answer is: "Why not?!" It is colorful, has a nice feel of energy in it, and it shows stuff that teens and kids like, heroes some fighting, more heroes and some boobs.

Frankly i'm not a big fan of Jim's work, (actually i don't like it at all) it looks cool but that's it...imo there are better artist than him in the industry.

About what we as artists can do:
1. Try to get as good as you can in what you do, drawing or painting, it doesn't matter what you do if you are the best in something it would be much easier for you to get published/find work,etc.

2. Style:
a. On the one hand it is much easier to "copy" someones style and work - well, because your style will remind people of something familiar and they will tend to like it.
b. On the other hand you may wish to do it 'on your own" - but no one can guarantee you that people would actually like what you produce.

3. Market your self:
When you're trying to make it big you gotta understand that you're not doing this purely for "fun", it is your work. Thus, you should treat it like a serious business:
a. Work on a strong portfolio (gets us back to points 1 and 2)
b. Show/Send this portfolio to as much people/companies/magazines as you"ll find show them what you can do, and even if they would not give you work, they might remember a good piece that you had and file your portfolio for future projects and etc.
Also your name would be out there...the editors/publishers would know that you exist.

c. Try to be as active as possible on various interactive thingies like, facebook, twitter, forums, sites, blogs...build your self a fan base, for instance even a crappy artist can find work on DA if he/she has enough fans that are willing to buy his works.
(btw it is also fun to hang around with people who can help you with your art)

d. Try to enter contests and other various events where your art can be potentially seen by publishers/editors and etc...however do not do this instead of working to improve your skills.

There are probably many more things that can help you become a "star" but i'm too tired to think of anything more...

Anyways, those are my 2 cents.
Fallen.

[50%grey]

As much as I love looking at Chris Bachalo artwork, he is imho one of the worst storytellers in mainstream comics. I think he's more in love with the page design then anything else.

I still buy everything he puts out just because I like looking at his artowrk.

I'll throw my 2 cents in since I've been recently studying why people are popular both on the convention scene ,and sell allot of comics.

It comes down to drawing at an extremely clear level both in storytelling, and clean up skills.

The reason why the bigger artists are popular is not only can they draw beautiful women, and heroic/cool looking Men, but they can also present a very clear story to there readers.

On the convention scene the artists that draw beautiful females get all the foot traffic. You have to know your audience.

On the original art collecting scene, the good girl artists destroy everyone by miles..

This has been proven for decades in comics. Look at John Byrne, Jim Lee,Ed Mcg, Joe Mad, Neal Adams and the list goes on.

If you want to become popular in super hero comics draw beautiful people especially women, and present a story as clear as possible.

That's how they become famous in comics. Its not a fluke..

[Huerta]

The mainstream formula in comics especially in the big 2 is lots of rendering, lots of muscles and some veins, keeping the anatomy semi-realistic, big boobs/sexy women and slutty girl poses for the women = success

You just have to remember what type of people are buying these books. Whenever you look at Jim Lees, Silvestri or Finch's lines at comic-cons, they're mostly male from the ages 18-30 somethings.

[SHAMWOW!]

Do you think this is gonna last? There's a storm coming, You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

[50%grey]

I'd also like to add to what Huerta just said that you do need to have some Affinity towards drawing like that. I.E. it's got to be what you like to do.

If you are forcing yourself to draw like that just to be popular then it will show, and chances are you wont be successful at it.

Art in any form is still an expression of yourself so might as well put 100% into what you want to do versus what you think will gain you fans, attention or money. Just let the cards fall where they are, and you will be much happier if you are lucky enough to do it for a living.