I remember drawing a fan-art for multiple people I follow on Instagram those posts are some of most views and most liked, everything else after that got a really tiny bump...
uff I join for the first time and it was tough,I just stop caring about the 'rules', at one point I just did lettering of the word and make it pretty X,x some times it help me stretch to work on something else but boy it left me burn out...
Yeah nothing more pathetic that an artist that draws fanart simply because it gets more attention and then whines in textposts about people not caring about their super awesome ocs lel
I made that mistake and if you think it's frustrating watching people ignore your OC's completely, it's even worse watching them ignore your OC's while asking if you have more artwork of Deadpool or Harley Quinn. These people NEVER transition to your original art in my experience. And also, fanart tends to be the art that gets stolen the most so not only are you wasting your time doing fanart, you end up watching that art make money for OTHER people. So no thanks.
KOT EBANA ROT im hesitant to call other folks pathetic, especially when theyre just searching for a lot of the same things most artists are looking for, perhaps going about it the wrong way
When it comes to popularity here's a couple of things I've long found to be true. 1. No matter how nice your art is, if you're making fan art or trend content, most people following you will mainly be interested in the property they're fans of, or the trend they're chasing. Not in your art, or your ideas. If your art is appealing enough to them, you might convert some viewers, but it's not something you can rely on. 2. The strength of original work is always, ALWAYS, that people can't get it from anyone but you. You have cornered the market and an industry of one. The caveat here is that it may take any length of time to get exposure or build an audience. The factors involved are countless. But you just can't beat original work when it comes to personal appeal. What is especially strong is being known for projects - entire sets of art and content that follows a specific original theme, setting, world, or fiction.
With that first one I just haven't seen that. A lot of fan artists move on to more original things though still keeping a lot of the same style and theme's they used to which keeps their audiance. Another thing that is extremely important for small-scale artists is personal charisma. If you have a few dozen followers they are not just there for your work but also for you. You are sort of a group leader rather you would like to be or not. I have seen many times that artists with very anti-social or toxic personalities don't get a big following even if their art is really good. Also people who are very charismatic can get huge followings fairly easy even if their art is not super impressive. Truth is being popular is kind of a entirely separate skill.
Standing out with fanart is also possible, which is a sort of middle-ish ground. Interpreting an existing work in your own unique way can often set you apart from others due to your unique views or style. For example, if you are most known for posting good art for an obscure character or ship, or for drawing/writing a really cool fanfiction/comic.
I really hate it when I see an artist I follow delete a work I had liked just because it's old. Like dude, wtf, sure it's not as great as what you posted yesterday, but it never stopped being good because something better came along.
Ikr like I will use someone's set pieces as references for my style or art in general, and then one day they'll just wipe their account clean and I'm just like- BUT I LIKED THOSE DRAWINGS A LOT PLEASE NO-
I find a lot of early work by an artist has more appeal because the initial energy and excitement comes through and they haven't gotten so sophisticated, or frankly tired out. Its fresher.
7:34 You can always have two different accounts, too. "This one is for my art stuff, follow _this other name_ instead if you wanna see pics of my wife and my dog." People are nosy- some of them actually do wanna see that sandwich. Those who are just there for the art can follow one account, while anyone who obsesses over the lives of their favorite artists can subscribe to both.
I want every fucking artist to do that, I remember adding an "artist" on Facebook, her art was cool, her description talked about the art she does,but once she accepted me the only things I got from her were tons and tons of post about pro abort pics and news, like, bitch, I have enough of that in my day to day, if you are going to talk about how much you love making art at the point of accepting unknown people then you should, I don't know, post fucking art! Not political opinions. I hate to unfollow artist because of that, but if I'm not interested in their intereses, then I won't tolerate their 4 millions of post about shits those doesn't anything to do with art. Damn.
One of my big problems is definitely the neverending WIPs. I always end up moving on to something else before the last one's done so all anyone usually gets to see is the wip.
Aibiki's Art I think that’s fine, all as long as it’s not like 99% done and never work on it again, that’s not very good cause you worked so hard on it so at least finish the small amount left. But imo I don’t think you have to just work on one thing at a time like you can work on two or more wips if you want and that way it wouldn’t be continuously one thing that you get bored of but instead you have different options on what to work on.
Aibiki's Art also it’s fine if you don’t finish a wip, any art you do is practice sooo do whatever art you feel like doing and if you feel like moving on to something that interests you more, go for it if you wantZ
I've been doing Inktober and going down in followers, I was at 618 at the beginning of the month, now I'm down to 602. Some of them were old friends, used to be really close friends. Sure losing them stung, some more than others. But it doesn't matter, I'm just happy I get to draw and as long as I have one person who likes what I do it's plenty for me. Or even if I have 1000 people who wish I would stop drawing and want me to give it up, I'll never stop. I'll continue drawing as long as my hand can move. I've already been through so much discouragement in various ways in the past that it just doesn't phase me anymore. Quitting drawing at this point would be like quitting to eat. I just love doing it, regardless of what happens. And maybe that's enough in of itself. If nothing else, I've made some art friends on Instagram and we encourage each other and give each other feedback. So I feel like sharing my art was worth it if nothing else, I figured that's gotta count for something
The point about supporting friends especially resonates with me. I've always wanted people to engage with what I make because they WANT to and like what I make not strictly because we're friends. Being friends will get me to check it out initially, anything beyond that depends on whether what my friend makes appeals to me or not.
I’m so glad that you mentioned keeping art baby photos; I love seeing artist’s growth! It reminds me that they were also decent before they were amazing.
I’ve been debating archiving my older posts on Instagram, but I love looking back at them. Good to know that I’m not the only one, I also like accounts that also have old stuff. And it makes me sad when I see accounts with thousands of followers that clearly deleted their older work, I wanna look at that too!
I used to destroy my drawings and throw them in the trash until I realized I could learn from them, even the very bad ones. Now every time I finish one I take a photo and analyse what I did wrong, what was great, what could have been better, what's my weaker point -but it still usual for me to love a drawing I recently did and a week later cringe at it. 😂
I don't even pretend to be an artist, but I stick around because of the practical, universal wisdom that you apply to your craft. One day I will decide to learn to draw a box, but until then I'm to just enjoy practical craftsmanship.
Oh yeah, fanart is a good tool to bring people in, but I try to use it (relatively) sparingly, more as a way to let everyone know that "hey im not dead", rather than "If you love this picture, please like, comment, and subscribe!", and even that can feel draining when done explicitly for that purpose. Also MAN does the point about consistency hit home, please I wanna see your awesome artwork can yoU PLEASE STOP POSTING YOUR GACHA ROLLS FOR FIVE SECONDS PLEASE I'M BEGGING Y
I just had to pause the video for a second and type this comment saying thank you. For the last year or so I have struggled with my obsession over popularity. I learned the hard way that chasing likes is exhausting, futile and never worth it. This video, however, goes above and beyond, explaining "it's okay to post less frequently." That's something I really needed to hear. Thank you for making these videos, Brookes Eggleston. I promise I'll support you on Patreon as soon as I have a stable income, haha!
I'm not going to lie, I've seen this video in my suggestions for the past couple of days and I was hesitant to watch it because I thought it was going to be you showing how to create pandering art but it was the exact opposite; it was insightful and really well-done so I'm glad I watched it!
I haven't. I'm the "draws nothing but fanart because that's genuinely what compels them to draw" kind of person. I do draw original stuff on rarer occasions, but I don't tend to show it off to people because _I myself_ don't personally care for it as much as the fanart. Why tell people "check out this random pic of a chibi hula girl" when this other equally-as-random pic I drew of Zero from Megaman X with cat ears is far more interesting to me?
Honestly as someone who has shifted from making fan art to focusing on my own original work and stories, I definitely feel you on the bit about fan art. I used to get frustrated that my fan art, that the official accounts for said thing the art retweeted, got 600+ likes whereas my own stuff is lucky to get 5. But I have to remind myself that, as you said, most of the people were just there during the 600+ one because they liked the thing it was attached to. I have to build up an audience around my original intellectual property and that's fine, it's one of the reasons I thought doing Inktober for it would be fun (plot twist I'm 12 days behind because of various factors both art and non-art related, oops). With that aside, I do have a question for you Brookes; what's your thoughts on someone doing multiple art _styles_ for the same original IP?
I needed to hear this today. I’ve been beating myself up by not keeping a break-neck pace and the quality of my art and videos have suffered. Really appreciate your advice Brookes.
Man, this is probably the best channel plug in the comments I have seen so far. You lead me to believe it was my own choice to click because you didn't really ask, but just casually mentioning you make related videos does it. I need to steal that one if I ever make videos again.
I never got into the fan art making band wagon since I usually would think "wait instead of making a bunch of fan art I could be working on my stuff instead." So I only did fan arts occasionally. I never thought time of day could affect my posts on Instagram. I tend to post at 1 or 2 am, maybe that's why I don't get a lot of traffic?
Can I just say that you really opened my eyes to the reality I'm in. I do a lot of fanart and this entire month I was like "man I don't feel like doing any fan art..I just wanna draw." So now I'm just kind of drawing whatever comes to my head, usually from my childhood. Thank you so much :)
I haven't posted in a long time on my Instagram. You could say there is a mix of styles that none of them really stikced with me. And now I was thinking of going back and start posting again. This time I was like "Alright, I'll have a color pallette and a set in stone style, I'll draw fanart and sprinkle some of my original work and maybe people will look at my projects." Tbh, this video opened my eyes. You're so right when you say that it's not good to just try to be popular for the sake of popularity and also that when you do fanart, people will unfollow you once you switch to original stuff. What I actually want to use my Instagram account for is for a short comic that I want to make. Do you have any advice how to hype it up for that?
I recently subbed to your channel, and it's awakening the artist in me after a 5 year hiatus after graduation. Your info helps me keep back on track. Thank you.
Dude, i love your intro to videos Music and chill , calm animation, You know like, getting on a small island with a small village of intelligent people, living peaceful lifes, reading books, and creatin stuff, i love it
Incredible and so eloquent as always. This one gives me a lot to think about... I feel pulled in two completely different styles/audiences, and I might have to make two Instagram accounts because of it (cutesy hello kitty-esque style vs. painterly dark fantasy), but hearing about not focusing entirely on audience interest is nice to hear. And from this video I don't feel nearly as pressured to make fan art anymore haha!
As someone who practises often, I do appreciate the W.I.Ps. Not in the sense that I like half finished works, but artists that go through their drawing process of something they've completed. I love to see how people drew or coloured in their work, since it's essentially a free mini tutorial. For example, how people use textures to make their artwork look grainy or something like that. That said, I do agree that posting half finished work isn't good. I actually almost misunderstood Tip No.3. =S
Really needed to watch this video, thanks for making and sharing! I started off posting fanart and was always conscious about likes and follows. You mentioning that people may just be liking and following because of the characters and not your own work really helped put things in perspective. Now I'm focusing on my own oc and if it costs me some followers and likes, I'll be OK with that. Glad I watched this video!
So happy to see someone talk about this. Will be sharing this with my friends.^^ I remember old dA, where I had most of my friends and all we did was encourage each other's journey, draw each other's OCs, and talk about our own stories! Yeah dA is a shadow of it, but I still have friends who post there. And while people have gotten very, very, comment-shy, I try and comment on theirs, sort of to show them that hey, it's okay to have a conversation. ^^ They're always happy when I comment on their art, so I hope it encourages them to be more vocal and dare to comment if they feel like it. ^^ I remember also that early on, yes... I watched that pageview counter like a hawk watches a rabbit's burrow. Always waiting for something to happen. Luckily as I grew older, I understood that the numbers only distracted me, so I hid the counter! Voila! It did wonders on my brain! I also did myself a favour and trimmed my watchlist, removing people who I never talked with and only followed because "I like their art!" I bookmarked those popular artists, and now my inbox has stopped flooding, so I have more energy to the few deviations that do come in!^^ I feel like some of us lost control of our own social media along the way, and I hope more people go through and trim away stuff that they normally only X away anyway, or ignore. Trim, and make room for the stuff that matters to you! :D Okay, enough cheese from me. Thank you for the video! I'll have to rewatch it whenever the popularity monster tries to lure me into it's nest again, hehe. ^^
thank you for this! for a long time i've already thought about not following the algorithm and the affirmation of Likes and Social Media Statistics but it seems as of recent that i've slightly become dependent on it with "how will i engage with my audience more". this video's in my Recommended from another TH-camr who talked about your video and this helped me put me back on the ground. thank you again!
I'll be honest it looks much more daunting to establish a following based on your own content and merits instead of coat-tailing another IP. I've been staring this topic down too hesitant to commit the needed effort to go all the way.
I definitely planned on sharing each study I was working on to not only document my journey but motivate me and keep me accountable, but I definitely see how that could turn off an audience and may lead me to try to improve for the wrong reasons. This was helpful, thanks!
How do you always manage to post at the right time?? I'm using Instagram for the first time in a while because of inktober, and I really need to hear this man!
This was a great video! I'm at a place where I'm still figuring out my artistic identity AND I'm a beginner at social media when it comes to how to present your art. This was oveall just really helpful, got some thoughts going!
I have bee posting everyday for about a week now and it was really draining me, knowing I don't have to do it , very relieving, and it disturbed my learning process
Mate I have been watching your YT for a while now, your videos have helped me alot and I am glad you are still making them. Your videos are amazing and have come so far. Thankyou
ok ive been there, you know when every big artist draw batman, i would doing fanart of batman even tho i never into dc or western comic, because i think drawing batman would make me to looks like a "real" and "mainstream", but the think is i never enjoy drawing it, i got no connection at all with batman. So that moment i stop drawing batman (or any other mainstream characters that i never read/play/watch but instead i draw what i really love and know everything about them, and mainly focus on my own comic/project than fanart.
I fell into the fanart trap so deep that I had to make a new art account for myself from scratch only posting original art and occasionally fanart and to be honest I've been more satisfied with how my art has been now rather than just creating fanart to please an audience especially when you lose interest in the fandoms you have been creating art for.
So how's your new account is doing? I'm thinking about it too I'll try to post more my kinda stuff cause most of my followers are just following me for fanart or there's simply dead
I'll be honest I'm not exactly growing that much but I've been a lot happier with having a small audience that follows me for the stuff that I enjoy drawing rather than having a big audience that only follows me for artwork from a fandom that I have no interest in anymore from my experience having a bigger following that only follows you for fanart can be very overwhelming because as soon as I started sharing something else they immediately loose interest and I would lose a lot of followers deleting that account and starting over fresh was one of the best decisions I've made when creating a new art account I hope this helps!
UGH BROOKES THIS ONE IS SO GOOD. Thank you for being such a fountain of knowledge for everyone, and I really appreciate that your content is so honest and well-thought out. I listen to every art podcast, youtube channel, and tutorial I can get my grubby little hands on, and after a while so much of the content blends together into a lot of vague, broad statements that aren't particularly helpful or motivating. It seems like a lot of online artists give tips as a way to flaunt and brag about what they know, rather than pausing to think about how this information is useful or should be applied. It's not necessarily bad, as I'm sure many of them don't have any bad intentions in sharing, but I'm just glad you're not one of those. Thank you for all that you do.
this is the confirmation I needed, thank you!! I think the most common "advice" is to "just post regularly!!!!!! post EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!11111!!!" and this usually just stresses me out so much that I sometimes just manage one art post per month. I mean I notice a difference in resonance when I have a good phase and manage to post a few times a week but tbh this video is so much more valuable than that. About fanart: I kinda stopped drawing fanarts completely except for fanzines (bc I'm really passionate about the series) or art for friends (most of my friends are more into fandoms than having their own charas etc.) and I only post either illustrations of my OCs or sketches and concept stuff ever since I have this comic project in mind and I feel much happier now. (Also I think fandoms change so rapidly nowadays that I never am On Trend(TM) with my favourites. By now my followers are so conditioned on my OCs that I only had one fanart within the last 24 months that definitely made more notes than my usual art but that didn't even give me more than a handful of followers) I also feel generally much more happy when an original piece gains traction because I know it's because of my own skill, idea, or aesthetic instead of borrowing the popularity of someone else. It's interesting to see the shift in perception. (Please don't take this as "fanarts are bad!!!!!!!111!!" - I really enjoy looking at fanarts and I love that people are so passionate about something that they want to create for it. You do you! Just - if you don't really enjoy it anymore or have the feeling you can't keep up anymore, know there are other options that work just as much!)
I can really relate to the part about talking to your family members or friends about a subject or in this case art that they know nothing about thanks so much for this 😁
Fun part of the Furry Community is that its almost entirely OCs. Very few try to adapt or take from existing media. Many look for even mediocre artists if they hit the right nitch within it and it totally can be anything as long as it's a cartoon animal, be it hyper-realistic like the works of Dark Natasha that are sometimes adult in nature or clean and family-friendly cartoons like from Spunky the Wolf. I have known quite a few artists that started doing furry art, even not being "into" it themselves, just because its a super friendly community that is welcoming and often willing to pay well for art. Some furry artists like Miles_DF and Strype charge upwards into the thousands for their work. But you really get what you pay for.
Wow I've actually got a few things to talk about here. I'll skip over the Tik Tok joke since Brookes explained it in fewer words than I ever could. You thought we wouldn't notice. First you play the Mario game over theme and then start talking about plumbing. New Mario game confirmed! When I was a kid I used to show my art to friends and family members, then I realized that I wasn't really getting a reaction from them. Over time I became part of an art group and things were different. People were more lively and wanted to talk about art. After a while I realized that artists could tell me what they liked specifically about my art and some things I could work on; as opposed to my mom who would simply say, "That's great, you're really good." So now when I make art (that isn't humor based comics) I share it with artists like myself and have a good time. Going back to the idea of people drawing for attention. One of the things that irritates me about some artists is impatience. I've seen artists post half finished drawings in different as they continue working on them all because they are too impatient to get the attention and praise of their audience. It's one thing if you're making something for a client and taking it step by step and showing them as you progress. It's easier for the client to ask for changes and easier for you to make them before getting very far. But if you're making art for the fun of it and plan on sharing it, you'll get a bigger reaction out of people showing your finished art all at once instead of showing it in pieces. A lot of times people who see 2 or more posts of a half finished drawing will stop caring half way through.
Yeh, trying to be popular on social media is emotionaly draining. I cleared my Instagram account and now draw without posting for the sake of posting and feel way better.
Pandering absolutely killed my soul. I was cranking out fanart and struggling with making what I wanted to make vs pretty celshaded big tity anime girl For Likes. For me, I grew up on tumblr and FB, and due to some childhood bullshit I won’t get into here, *likes on my art were the only way I could perceive self worth*. Bc my art was an extension of myself, the expression of my soul, if people liked it, that meant they liked me and I was good and loved. Holy shit and the fanart trap basically drove me to near suicide bc booboo not enough attention. This video bingled my Weanus bigtime and gave me a lot to think about. Also you have a very well proportioned face and clear speaking manner. Thank u!
i genuinely enjoy making and posting fanart, so I don't even know if I should try and post my original works as well or just keep it to fanart... Like for fanart I draw in an anime style, but offline I really love using oil paint- not exactly a social media friendly medium.
I don’t think making fanart is necessarily a bad thing. There’s definitely pros and cons to it, but it can be very nice. I draw fanart for myself mainly. When I’m feeling creatively down, I use fanart to inspire myself and warmup for whatever else I may be doing. I also just think its a lot of fun, as long as you’re not doing anything harmful to others or illegal. 
This was very helpful, thank you so much, i was really feeling a bit of anxiety but this advices make me realize i don't have to take things that seriously. BTW, i LOVE the music of the outro (12:20), did you make it? I would love to listen to a full version!
Thank you for this video. It gave me a lot to think about. I am struggling right now to not be discouraged when working with art as I went to school for art, got a Bachelor's degree, and I've been passionate about it since I was small. I love making art, but I don't love that I can't even make enough money to sustain myself. I often see, hear, and feel the pressure of needing to have a social media presence which I greatly dislike for how much it negatively affects me. At the same time, I really like sharing things to inspire or make someone's day from seeing something I've made. Thank you very much for your videos, they're very inspiring and thought provoking. If you have any time to share tips on how to handle this situation, that would be awesome.
Oh wow, thank you so much this was so helpful. I'm currently doing the inktober (although not really "ink") - challenge on Instagram and keeping up is getting a bit stressful :')
As an original artist for years, I'd say making fanart for fame is still a valid move. Some people may go for the content instead but that's fine cause we're focusing on the traffic. I put my bio as "original artist" so people who wants to follow me knows i'm not a fanartist thus filtering the real audience :)
My account is just everywhere with styles... Got some portraits, landscapes, original characters, fanart... It’s so inconsistent! But I hate just sticking to one style... But like my portraits can get hundreds of likes and more followers, but when I post other things I barely get any engagement and people unfollow me... I guess everyone follows expecting consistent styles but I don’t have a singular style... Just too much variety.
i have a few people in my life (mainly mom) who are super supportive of my art no matter what i do - and i love having that because it tells me they love me as a person, but it tells me nothing about my art. but my boyfriend! he is the real MVP and gives his honest opinion with constructive criticism when need be, so when he compliments my art i know its real. hes also not an artist, which makes his feedback really valuable to me, because i want my work to be pleasing to non-artists. this comment is just me bragging about how lucky i am, i guess. the video above was really good! it made me think of what i said, but also just artistic integrity. i feel like the main takeaway is "do what you actually want to be doing", which is good advice.
Tbh, I have fallen into the fanart trap at the sart of my art journey. Not to follow popularity, but because I honestly loved that fandom. And I got popular but... then after 3 years I got tired of it. Abandoned drawing all together cause I had nothing to say that was my own. Tried other fandoms, but never got the same expirience and thus for 2 years I have drawn nothing. I worked as a comic colorist. Now... I wanna draw again. For myself. Build a carrer and a voice. Thing is, I am still drawing fanart, cause I love being part of a fandom... but as an hobby. I will keep the profiles well separated, use the fanart maybe to try different techniques and styles, and in the meantime work on doing my own thing. I wouldn't have gotten as good as I am now without fanart...but it was also a crutch. Time to do my own thing. Fanart and fanfics will be for my own entertainment 🤣
I appreciate what you said I love art as well and I create my own stories Yea I get sad for only few likes and saying low followers but what’s you said about popularity I appreciate you said the your makeing a portfolio that’s what I am doing to impress my business someday thank ya
“If you build an account for fanart and then post original art you will get unfollows” wow saved me at the last minute
I remember drawing a fan-art for multiple people I follow on Instagram those posts are some of most views and most liked, everything else after that got a really tiny bump...
I feel this too :'v
Try to make two accounts, one for fanarts and one for original art
If you're on tumblr you can make 2 separate blogs. So you can build an audience for original work and fanart.
My two accounts are called Obsian•Gravel and Definitely not Obsian•Gravel
"Some of yall really giving yourself anxiety and apologizing that day 9 of inktober is a day late" Boy can i relate with that one
bro i didnt even continue inktober after i missed like one day
uff I join for the first time and it was tough,I just stop caring about the 'rules', at one point I just did lettering of the word and make it pretty X,x some times it help me stretch to work on something else but boy it left me burn out...
"sorry im late on day 23 of inktober"
followers: some crimes can never be forgiven...
just when i had the idea of creating fanart for popularity this man hits me with the NAH. I respect this. thank you sir.
NAH! 😄
Yeah nothing more pathetic that an artist that draws fanart simply because it gets more attention and then whines in textposts about people not caring about their super awesome ocs lel
I made that mistake and if you think it's frustrating watching people ignore your OC's completely, it's even worse watching them ignore your OC's while asking if you have more artwork of Deadpool or Harley Quinn. These people NEVER transition to your original art in my experience. And also, fanart tends to be the art that gets stolen the most so not only are you wasting your time doing fanart, you end up watching that art make money for OTHER people. So no thanks.
KOT EBANA ROT im hesitant to call other folks pathetic, especially when theyre just searching for a lot of the same things most artists are looking for, perhaps going about it the wrong way
That is the same that happened to me. Thank you a lot
When it comes to popularity here's a couple of things I've long found to be true.
1. No matter how nice your art is, if you're making fan art or trend content, most people following you will mainly be interested in the property they're fans of, or the trend they're chasing. Not in your art, or your ideas. If your art is appealing enough to them, you might convert some viewers, but it's not something you can rely on.
2. The strength of original work is always, ALWAYS, that people can't get it from anyone but you. You have cornered the market and an industry of one. The caveat here is that it may take any length of time to get exposure or build an audience. The factors involved are countless. But you just can't beat original work when it comes to personal appeal. What is especially strong is being known for projects - entire sets of art and content that follows a specific original theme, setting, world, or fiction.
With that first one I just haven't seen that. A lot of fan artists move on to more original things though still keeping a lot of the same style and theme's they used to which keeps their audiance.
Another thing that is extremely important for small-scale artists is personal charisma. If you have a few dozen followers they are not just there for your work but also for you. You are sort of a group leader rather you would like to be or not. I have seen many times that artists with very anti-social or toxic personalities don't get a big following even if their art is really good. Also people who are very charismatic can get huge followings fairly easy even if their art is not super impressive.
Truth is being popular is kind of a entirely separate skill.
Standing out with fanart is also possible, which is a sort of middle-ish ground. Interpreting an existing work in your own unique way can often set you apart from others due to your unique views or style. For example, if you are most known for posting good art for an obscure character or ship, or for drawing/writing a really cool fanfiction/comic.
But they don't care about my original art yet :pp
I really hate it when I see an artist I follow delete a work I had liked just because it's old.
Like dude, wtf, sure it's not as great as what you posted yesterday, but it never stopped being good because something better came along.
What's worse is when they delete entire galleries or even reset their entire account like wtf 😂
Ikr like I will use someone's set pieces as references for my style or art in general, and then one day they'll just wipe their account clean and I'm just like- BUT I LIKED THOSE DRAWINGS A LOT PLEASE NO-
ghostbirdofprey as an artist,I needed to hear this, man.
Thank you
i feel called out😻 i want to restart my whole feed again 🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️
I find a lot of early work by an artist has more appeal because the initial energy and excitement comes through and they haven't gotten so sophisticated, or frankly tired out. Its fresher.
7:34 You can always have two different accounts, too.
"This one is for my art stuff, follow _this other name_ instead if you wanna see pics of my wife and my dog." People are nosy- some of them actually do wanna see that sandwich. Those who are just there for the art can follow one account, while anyone who obsesses over the lives of their favorite artists can subscribe to both.
definitely!
lol same, not all my friends care about my art or drawings and I don't want weirdos stalking me and my kid, so I got 2 instagram acc for that.
I want every fucking artist to do that, I remember adding an "artist" on Facebook, her art was cool, her description talked about the art she does,but once she accepted me the only things I got from her were tons and tons of post about pro abort pics and news, like, bitch, I have enough of that in my day to day, if you are going to talk about how much you love making art at the point of accepting unknown people then you should, I don't know, post fucking art! Not political opinions.
I hate to unfollow artist because of that, but if I'm not interested in their intereses, then I won't tolerate their 4 millions of post about shits those doesn't anything to do with art. Damn.
Oh dear, the only thing in my bio is “Aspiring Artist” ha ha.
Still better than me. Mine is Lazy artist. XD
@Lord Kievo
I’m that, ha ha.
Maybe change it to "Artist who draws Horses that are sometimes black and other stuff"
@Wavyeye
That’s an incredibly good idea! I wish I was that smart. Thank you!
Mine is "i draw and paint stuff".😅
One of my big problems is definitely the neverending WIPs. I always end up moving on to something else before the last one's done so all anyone usually gets to see is the wip.
Maybe this means that you are developing really fast still as an artist?
Aibiki's Art I think that’s fine, all as long as it’s not like 99% done and never work on it again, that’s not very good cause you worked so hard on it so at least finish the small amount left. But imo I don’t think you have to just work on one thing at a time like you can work on two or more wips if you want and that way it wouldn’t be continuously one thing that you get bored of but instead you have different options on what to work on.
Aibiki's Art also it’s fine if you don’t finish a wip, any art you do is practice sooo do whatever art you feel like doing and if you feel like moving on to something that interests you more, go for it if you wantZ
Don't start any other piece until you're done with your current one. I have to force myself to do that too lol
But do you ghost ride your wips?
I've been doing Inktober and going down in followers, I was at 618 at the beginning of the month, now I'm down to 602. Some of them were old friends, used to be really close friends. Sure losing them stung, some more than others.
But it doesn't matter, I'm just happy I get to draw and as long as I have one person who likes what I do it's plenty for me. Or even if I have 1000 people who wish I would stop drawing and want me to give it up, I'll never stop. I'll continue drawing as long as my hand can move.
I've already been through so much discouragement in various ways in the past that it just doesn't phase me anymore. Quitting drawing at this point would be like quitting to eat.
I just love doing it, regardless of what happens. And maybe that's enough in of itself.
If nothing else, I've made some art friends on Instagram and we encourage each other and give each other feedback. So I feel like sharing my art was worth it if nothing else, I figured that's gotta count for something
That's a very normal amount of followers to shed- it sounds like your motivations and goals are in the right place!
@@CharacterDesignForge thank you very much. Hearing that from you in this moment of ambiguity means a lot for me.
bruh this motivated me sm, i wish you success in life
"Don't delete your old art" darn it, you caught me XD
The point about supporting friends especially resonates with me. I've always wanted people to engage with what I make because they WANT to and like what I make not strictly because we're friends. Being friends will get me to check it out initially, anything beyond that depends on whether what my friend makes appeals to me or not.
Got me to remove "learning bit by bit" from my bio--I mean who isn't right? Thanks for taking the time to make this one! Immensely helpful!
Hey I'm learning bit-by-bit too, you dont see ME bragging about it! :P You're very welcome!
I’m so glad that you mentioned keeping art baby photos; I love seeing artist’s growth! It reminds me that they were also decent before they were amazing.
Yesss I do too! I'm always looking back on my old art :)
I’ve been debating archiving my older posts on Instagram, but I love looking back at them. Good to know that I’m not the only one, I also like accounts that also have old stuff. And it makes me sad when I see accounts with thousands of followers that clearly deleted their older work, I wanna look at that too!
I used to destroy my drawings and throw them in the trash until I realized I could learn from them, even the very bad ones. Now every time I finish one I take a photo and analyse what I did wrong, what was great, what could have been better, what's my weaker point -but it still usual for me to love a drawing I recently did and a week later cringe at it. 😂
I don't even pretend to be an artist, but I stick around because of the practical, universal wisdom that you apply to your craft.
One day I will decide to learn to draw a box, but until then I'm to just enjoy practical craftsmanship.
Oh yeah, fanart is a good tool to bring people in, but I try to use it (relatively) sparingly, more as a way to let everyone know that "hey im not dead", rather than "If you love this picture, please like, comment, and subscribe!", and even that can feel draining when done explicitly for that purpose.
Also MAN does the point about consistency hit home, please I wanna see your awesome artwork can yoU PLEASE STOP POSTING YOUR GACHA ROLLS FOR FIVE SECONDS PLEASE I'M BEGGING Y
@AreoAnts
Ha ha, soooooo true about consistency.
Glad to hear some actual advice on getting an audience--the "draw fanart to become popular" advice I keep hearing always struck me as a little funny.
I just had to pause the video for a second and type this comment saying thank you. For the last year or so I have struggled with my obsession over popularity. I learned the hard way that chasing likes is exhausting, futile and never worth it. This video, however, goes above and beyond, explaining "it's okay to post less frequently." That's something I really needed to hear. Thank you for making these videos, Brookes Eggleston. I promise I'll support you on Patreon as soon as I have a stable income, haha!
As someone who wants to work more on animation, I really needed to hear this. This is all great advice and I'll try to keep all of this in mind.
Your channel is criminally underrated, ive learnt more in the 30 minutes of watching your videos than i have in four years thank u :)
I'm not going to lie, I've seen this video in my suggestions for the past couple of days and I was hesitant to watch it because I thought it was going to be you showing how to create pandering art but it was the exact opposite; it was insightful and really well-done so I'm glad I watched it!
Yay!
We've all fell prey to the fanart trap, specially if is a show you yourself love.
I haven't. I'm the "draws nothing but fanart because that's genuinely what compels them to draw" kind of person. I do draw original stuff on rarer occasions, but I don't tend to show it off to people because _I myself_ don't personally care for it as much as the fanart.
Why tell people "check out this random pic of a chibi hula girl" when this other equally-as-random pic I drew of Zero from Megaman X with cat ears is far more interesting to me?
@@ChaosRayZero lol true
Yeah, man I just hate doing fan art lol- so it sucks for me.
Artofizanagi honestly fanart is what helped me improve my art XD
Honestly as someone who has shifted from making fan art to focusing on my own original work and stories, I definitely feel you on the bit about fan art.
I used to get frustrated that my fan art, that the official accounts for said thing the art retweeted, got 600+ likes whereas my own stuff is lucky to get 5. But I have to remind myself that, as you said, most of the people were just there during the 600+ one because they liked the thing it was attached to.
I have to build up an audience around my original intellectual property and that's fine, it's one of the reasons I thought doing Inktober for it would be fun (plot twist I'm 12 days behind because of various factors both art and non-art related, oops).
With that aside, I do have a question for you Brookes; what's your thoughts on someone doing multiple art _styles_ for the same original IP?
I second on the multiple styles thing
I think the multiple styles thing can be done well and done wrong, I definitely remember seeing a really good artist do that but I can't remember who
Haha I’m also very behind on inktober
I needed to hear this today. I’ve been beating myself up by not keeping a break-neck pace and the quality of my art and videos have suffered. Really appreciate your advice Brookes.
Man, this is probably the best channel plug in the comments I have seen so far. You lead me to believe it was my own choice to click because you didn't really ask, but just casually mentioning you make related videos does it. I need to steal that one if I ever make videos again.
7:50
Brookes: "Who's gonna look at a sandwich post at 3 in the morning?"
Me: Oh boy, 3am!
I really appreciate this video as an "aspiring artist"
I never got into the fan art making band wagon since I usually would think "wait instead of making a bunch of fan art I could be working on my stuff instead." So I only did fan arts occasionally. I never thought time of day could affect my posts on Instagram. I tend to post at 1 or 2 am, maybe that's why I don't get a lot of traffic?
What time zone? Thatll do it for sure, most recommendations point to between 10AM-9PM EST
@@CharacterDesignForge Pacific, big oof, I just realized half the sphere is asleep xD
@@Catpuff818 hehe youre getting those prime Vermont farmers as they wake up though! :P
@@CharacterDesignForge I'm just more inclusive that way, ya know lol
You are legit an inspiration, carry on what your doing it's really inspired me to start writing my own book!
You should make a book yourself, u have so many characters that many people would love to read
Thanks! I have Parcel for now, and plenty more in the works!
Can I just say that you really opened my eyes to the reality I'm in. I do a lot of fanart and this entire month I was like "man I don't feel like doing any fan art..I just wanna draw." So now I'm just kind of drawing whatever comes to my head, usually from my childhood. Thank you so much :)
I got into animation recently! My many fans will love to hear that I excell at stickmans now!
I haven't posted in a long time on my Instagram. You could say there is a mix of styles that none of them really stikced with me. And now I was thinking of going back and start posting again. This time I was like "Alright, I'll have a color pallette and a set in stone style, I'll draw fanart and sprinkle some of my original work and maybe people will look at my projects." Tbh, this video opened my eyes. You're so right when you say that it's not good to just try to be popular for the sake of popularity and also that when you do fanart, people will unfollow you once you switch to original stuff. What I actually want to use my Instagram account for is for a short comic that I want to make. Do you have any advice how to hype it up for that?
I recently subbed to your channel, and it's awakening the artist in me after a 5 year hiatus after graduation. Your info helps me keep back on track. Thank you.
"hold on, I'm legally too old to download tiktok, sorry those are the rules" I was still laughing minutes later! Brilliant and relatable!
This is so true that it hurts... It really does...
Dude, i love your intro to videos
Music and chill , calm animation,
You know like, getting on a small island with a small village of intelligent people, living peaceful lifes, reading books, and creatin stuff, i love it
Thats the attempted vibe man- thanks!!
@@CharacterDesignForge you've done so great job with it!! Omg, i wish i will be able to create imagined places like this by myself one day
as a business graduate, my mind was sufficiently blown at 02:48 onwards omg never thought of it that way
"I'm not crying about Instagram!"
Those last little bits at the end of your vids always get me 😆❤️
All I heard at the end bit there was:
"--I'm crying because of Instagram."
Brookes Eggleston, for now, and for life !
Incredible and so eloquent as always. This one gives me a lot to think about... I feel pulled in two completely different styles/audiences, and I might have to make two Instagram accounts because of it (cutesy hello kitty-esque style vs. painterly dark fantasy), but hearing about not focusing entirely on audience interest is nice to hear. And from this video I don't feel nearly as pressured to make fan art anymore haha!
As someone who practises often, I do appreciate the W.I.Ps. Not in the sense that I like half finished works, but artists that go through their drawing process of something they've completed. I love to see how people drew or coloured in their work, since it's essentially a free mini tutorial. For example, how people use textures to make their artwork look grainy or something like that.
That said, I do agree that posting half finished work isn't good. I actually almost misunderstood Tip No.3. =S
Yep, process work! I make it a point to share as much of that as I can on here. 🙂
What you said is so true!!! My art channel is an example for that. Trying to do more original work.
Really needed to watch this video, thanks for making and sharing! I started off posting fanart and was always conscious about likes and follows. You mentioning that people may just be liking and following because of the characters and not your own work really helped put things in perspective.
Now I'm focusing on my own oc and if it costs me some followers and likes, I'll be OK with that. Glad I watched this video!
Awesome!!
So happy to see someone talk about this. Will be sharing this with my friends.^^
I remember old dA, where I had most of my friends and all we did was encourage each other's journey, draw each other's OCs, and talk about our own stories! Yeah dA is a shadow of it, but I still have friends who post there. And while people have gotten very, very, comment-shy, I try and comment on theirs, sort of to show them that hey, it's okay to have a conversation. ^^
They're always happy when I comment on their art, so I hope it encourages them to be more vocal and dare to comment if they feel like it. ^^
I remember also that early on, yes... I watched that pageview counter like a hawk watches a rabbit's burrow. Always waiting for something to happen.
Luckily as I grew older, I understood that the numbers only distracted me, so I hid the counter! Voila! It did wonders on my brain!
I also did myself a favour and trimmed my watchlist, removing people who I never talked with and only followed because "I like their art!" I bookmarked those popular artists, and now my inbox has stopped flooding, so I have more energy to the few deviations that do come in!^^
I feel like some of us lost control of our own social media along the way, and I hope more people go through and trim away stuff that they normally only X away anyway, or ignore. Trim, and make room for the stuff that matters to you! :D
Okay, enough cheese from me. Thank you for the video! I'll have to rewatch it whenever the popularity monster tries to lure me into it's nest again, hehe. ^^
thank you for this! for a long time i've already thought about not following the algorithm and the affirmation of Likes and Social Media Statistics but it seems as of recent that i've slightly become dependent on it with "how will i engage with my audience more". this video's in my Recommended from another TH-camr who talked about your video and this helped me put me back on the ground.
thank you again!
I honestly needed to hear what was said in this video. Definitely is making me rethink my priorities as an artist
I'll be honest it looks much more daunting to establish a following based on your own content and merits instead of coat-tailing another IP. I've been staring this topic down too hesitant to commit the needed effort to go all the way.
I definitely planned on sharing each study I was working on to not only document my journey but motivate me and keep me accountable, but I definitely see how that could turn off an audience and may lead me to try to improve for the wrong reasons. This was helpful, thanks!
I just wanted to share, that this video felt genuine. Thank you :)
How do you always manage to post at the right time?? I'm using Instagram for the first time in a while because of inktober, and I really need to hear this man!
This was a great video! I'm at a place where I'm still figuring out my artistic identity AND I'm a beginner at social media when it comes to how to present your art. This was oveall just really helpful, got some thoughts going!
I have bee posting everyday for about a week now and it was really draining me, knowing I don't have to do it , very relieving, and it disturbed my learning process
Mate I have been watching your YT for a while now, your videos have helped me alot and I am glad you are still making them. Your videos are amazing and have come so far. Thankyou
ok ive been there, you know when every big artist draw batman, i would doing fanart of batman even tho i never into dc or western comic, because i think drawing batman would make me to looks like a "real" and "mainstream", but the think is i never enjoy drawing it, i got no connection at all with batman. So that moment i stop drawing batman (or any other mainstream characters that i never read/play/watch but instead i draw what i really love and know everything about them, and mainly focus on my own comic/project than fanart.
I actually have this episode setup to play about once a month. Such great advice that's important to keep in mind.
You’re very well spoken! thank you
I fell into the fanart trap so deep that I had to make a new art account for myself from scratch only posting original art and occasionally fanart and to be honest I've been more satisfied with how my art has been now rather than just creating fanart to please an audience especially when you lose interest in the fandoms you have been creating art for.
100% same experience
So how's your new account is doing? I'm thinking about it too I'll try to post more my kinda stuff cause most of my followers are just following me for fanart or there's simply dead
I'll be honest I'm not exactly growing that much but I've been a lot happier with having a small audience that follows me for the stuff that I enjoy drawing rather than having a big audience that only follows me for artwork from a fandom that I have no interest in anymore from my experience having a bigger following that only follows you for fanart can be very overwhelming because as soon as I started sharing something else they immediately loose interest and I would lose a lot of followers deleting that account and starting over fresh was one of the best decisions I've made when creating a new art account I hope this helps!
UGH BROOKES THIS ONE IS SO GOOD. Thank you for being such a fountain of knowledge for everyone, and I really appreciate that your content is so honest and well-thought out. I listen to every art podcast, youtube channel, and tutorial I can get my grubby little hands on, and after a while so much of the content blends together into a lot of vague, broad statements that aren't particularly helpful or motivating. It seems like a lot of online artists give tips as a way to flaunt and brag about what they know, rather than pausing to think about how this information is useful or should be applied. It's not necessarily bad, as I'm sure many of them don't have any bad intentions in sharing, but I'm just glad you're not one of those. Thank you for all that you do.
Absolutely- i know the feeling!! Im glad it helped.
this is the confirmation I needed, thank you!!
I think the most common "advice" is to "just post regularly!!!!!! post EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!11111!!!" and this usually just stresses me out so much that I sometimes just manage one art post per month. I mean I notice a difference in resonance when I have a good phase and manage to post a few times a week but tbh this video is so much more valuable than that.
About fanart: I kinda stopped drawing fanarts completely except for fanzines (bc I'm really passionate about the series) or art for friends (most of my friends are more into fandoms than having their own charas etc.) and I only post either illustrations of my OCs or sketches and concept stuff ever since I have this comic project in mind and I feel much happier now.
(Also I think fandoms change so rapidly nowadays that I never am On Trend(TM) with my favourites. By now my followers are so conditioned on my OCs that I only had one fanart within the last 24 months that definitely made more notes than my usual art but that didn't even give me more than a handful of followers)
I also feel generally much more happy when an original piece gains traction because I know it's because of my own skill, idea, or aesthetic instead of borrowing the popularity of someone else. It's interesting to see the shift in perception.
(Please don't take this as "fanarts are bad!!!!!!!111!!" - I really enjoy looking at fanarts and I love that people are so passionate about something that they want to create for it. You do you! Just - if you don't really enjoy it anymore or have the feeling you can't keep up anymore, know there are other options that work just as much!)
I can really relate to the part about talking to your family members or friends about a subject or in this case art that they know nothing about thanks so much for this 😁
Helpful ...learned something, mostly differences of what purpose is Fan Slash Art vs Work Product for Videogame Development.
Thanks for the advice. I really needed this today.
yeap that tiktok joke was smooth
Fun part of the Furry Community is that its almost entirely OCs. Very few try to adapt or take from existing media. Many look for even mediocre artists if they hit the right nitch within it and it totally can be anything as long as it's a cartoon animal, be it hyper-realistic like the works of Dark Natasha that are sometimes adult in nature or clean and family-friendly cartoons like from Spunky the Wolf. I have known quite a few artists that started doing furry art, even not being "into" it themselves, just because its a super friendly community that is welcoming and often willing to pay well for art. Some furry artists like Miles_DF and Strype charge upwards into the thousands for their work. But you really get what you pay for.
Wow I've actually got a few things to talk about here. I'll skip over the Tik Tok joke since Brookes explained it in fewer words than I ever could.
You thought we wouldn't notice. First you play the Mario game over theme and then start talking about plumbing. New Mario game confirmed!
When I was a kid I used to show my art to friends and family members, then I realized that I wasn't really getting a reaction from them. Over time I became part of an art group and things were different. People were more lively and wanted to talk about art.
After a while I realized that artists could tell me what they liked specifically about my art and some things I could work on; as opposed to my mom who would simply say, "That's great, you're really good." So now when I make art (that isn't humor based comics) I share it with artists like myself and have a good time.
Going back to the idea of people drawing for attention. One of the things that irritates me about some artists is impatience. I've seen artists post half finished drawings in different as they continue working on them all because they are too impatient to get the attention and praise of their audience. It's one thing if you're making something for a client and taking it step by step and showing them as you progress. It's easier for the client to ask for changes and easier for you to make them before getting very far. But if you're making art for the fun of it and plan on sharing it, you'll get a bigger reaction out of people showing your finished art all at once instead of showing it in pieces. A lot of times people who see 2 or more posts of a half finished drawing will stop caring half way through.
You sound so well read, and intelligent, I can hear the experience in your voice and mannerism did you got to a university at all?
Brilliant and just what I needed to hear. Thanks!
Awesome!
Hype for a book I'm WORKING on, thank you very much for the weird right-on-point specificity...
Love this a bunch my guy
Sitting back and actually thinking about "why am I doing this?" is the most simple, complex question ever.
Yeh, trying to be popular on social media is emotionaly draining. I cleared my Instagram account and now draw without posting for the sake of posting and feel way better.
Thanks so much for this video man. It was very clear and honest and nicely breaks down the big scary world of online artwork.
Pandering absolutely killed my soul. I was cranking out fanart and struggling with making what I wanted to make vs pretty celshaded big tity anime girl For Likes. For me, I grew up on tumblr and FB, and due to some childhood bullshit I won’t get into here, *likes on my art were the only way I could perceive self worth*. Bc my art was an extension of myself, the expression of my soul, if people liked it, that meant they liked me and I was good and loved. Holy shit and the fanart trap basically drove me to near suicide bc booboo not enough attention.
This video bingled my Weanus bigtime and gave me a lot to think about. Also you have a very well proportioned face and clear speaking manner. Thank u!
I've never enjoyed making fanart. I've tried to make it because it's popular. But I just can't do it.
Oh man, this will totally help me man! I need more direction in my portfolio. Thanks for being free!
ErgoJosh recommended this video & now I’m hooked - subscribed & binging your videos!
You are incredible!! Every single word was worth listening 👏👏
i genuinely enjoy making and posting fanart, so I don't even know if I should try and post my original works as well or just keep it to fanart... Like for fanart I draw in an anime style, but offline I really love using oil paint- not exactly a social media friendly medium.
nice job, I can really tell that you put your heart into this vid
thanks! Every vid really :D
I'm glad this video was recommended to me. I learned a lot. :)
Hey man, thank you. This really helped me sort through a lot of confusion in my own life about posting art and what I want from it.
Yet another awesome video by Brookes! :)
Ahhhhh! Thank you so much for the heart! ^-^
I don’t think making fanart is necessarily a bad thing. There’s definitely pros and cons to it, but it can be very nice. I draw fanart for myself mainly. When I’m feeling creatively down, I use fanart to inspire myself and warmup for whatever else I may be doing. I also just think its a lot of fun, as long as you’re not doing anything harmful to others or illegal. 
Yep! I think I mentioned that in this video.
Maaan I just created an Instagram few days ago and you came out with this video, thank you 💜
hope it helps!
Dehma Art what’s your Instagram!
@@Mikaelamofu Dehma.art is my name on insta, my last post is a kiki drawing
Nice music banjo!
Your videos help alot, I'm self thought and your advices really help. Thank you🎨🙏🏾
Thanks! given the content of this video especially, please don’t spam links to social accounts on my videos.
@@CharacterDesignForge noted, apologizes 🙏🏾
Kyro Inked appreciate it 😄
This was very helpful, thank you so much, i was really feeling a bit of anxiety but this advices make me realize i don't have to take things that seriously.
BTW, i LOVE the music of the outro (12:20), did you make it? I would love to listen to a full version!
Thank you for this video. It gave me a lot to think about. I am struggling right now to not be discouraged when working with art as I went to school for art, got a Bachelor's degree, and I've been passionate about it since I was small. I love making art, but I don't love that I can't even make enough money to sustain myself. I often see, hear, and feel the pressure of needing to have a social media presence which I greatly dislike for how much it negatively affects me. At the same time, I really like sharing things to inspire or make someone's day from seeing something I've made. Thank you very much for your videos, they're very inspiring and thought provoking. If you have any time to share tips on how to handle this situation, that would be awesome.
it took me a good while but i was able to get rid of "aspiring artist" from my bio a year ago i think
Oh wow, thank you so much this was so helpful. I'm currently doing the inktober (although not really "ink") - challenge on Instagram and keeping up is getting a bit stressful :')
I didn't think I needed this video, but I did. Thank you so much for the advice! I'm looking forward to putting this in practice
I really need to hear this! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💕💕
4:36 that's so mood
As an original artist for years, I'd say making fanart for fame is still a valid move. Some people may go for the content instead but that's fine cause we're focusing on the traffic.
I put my bio as "original artist" so people who wants to follow me knows i'm not a fanartist thus filtering the real audience :)
Perfectly valid, the trap can still present itself if you arent careful though
@@CharacterDesignForge agree
Thanks so so much for this video 😘😘😘🧚♀️✨✨
Very grounding. Thank u 👊🏼
The Paul Rudd of our Art world. Is it okay to say this?
Thank you so much for your advice,Brookes. I feel less anxious now
hehe I do get the Paul Rudd all the time, I appreciate it... gives me hope for what I'll look like at 50. XD Thanks!
My account is just everywhere with styles... Got some portraits, landscapes, original characters, fanart... It’s so inconsistent! But I hate just sticking to one style... But like my portraits can get hundreds of likes and more followers, but when I post other things I barely get any engagement and people unfollow me... I guess everyone follows expecting consistent styles but I don’t have a singular style... Just too much variety.
Subscribed after the Tik Tok comment.
Felt that lmao.
Too old for it.
Ditto 😂😂
i have a few people in my life (mainly mom) who are super supportive of my art no matter what i do - and i love having that because it tells me they love me as a person, but it tells me nothing about my art. but my boyfriend! he is the real MVP and gives his honest opinion with constructive criticism when need be, so when he compliments my art i know its real. hes also not an artist, which makes his feedback really valuable to me, because i want my work to be pleasing to non-artists.
this comment is just me bragging about how lucky i am, i guess. the video above was really good! it made me think of what i said, but also just artistic integrity. i feel like the main takeaway is "do what you actually want to be doing", which is good advice.
Tbh, I have fallen into the fanart trap at the sart of my art journey. Not to follow popularity, but because I honestly loved that fandom. And I got popular but... then after 3 years I got tired of it. Abandoned drawing all together cause I had nothing to say that was my own. Tried other fandoms, but never got the same expirience and thus for 2 years I have drawn nothing. I worked as a comic colorist. Now... I wanna draw again. For myself. Build a carrer and a voice. Thing is, I am still drawing fanart, cause I love being part of a fandom... but as an hobby. I will keep the profiles well separated, use the fanart maybe to try different techniques and styles, and in the meantime work on doing my own thing. I wouldn't have gotten as good as I am now without fanart...but it was also a crutch. Time to do my own thing. Fanart and fanfics will be for my own entertainment 🤣
I appreciate what you said I love art as well and I create my own stories Yea I get sad for only few likes and saying low followers but what’s you said about popularity I appreciate you said the your makeing a portfolio that’s what I am doing to impress my business someday thank ya