Ruffy (dead account!!!)so today i was kinda thinking on the furry fandom and how it tends to view art, especially in the social media era. a lot of us are heavily influenced by professional animators, illustrators, full-time commission artists, or people who are working/aspiring to be those. i feel like this has definitely created a lot of interesting ways in which we view and talk about Being An Artist online
the big one is since the whole sphere is so influenced by people who are Trying To Do It For A Living, things like branding, consistency, developing a style, self-promotion, and interaction with fans/customers often features heavily in how we think about Being An Artist Online. and honestly that's great! i really support people who want to follow their dream to do art for a living, or at least use those lessons to become stronger artists
but what im realizing is that most of this stuff really clashes with my brain's idea of how *I* want to do art. the idea of being consistent and doing art to other's specifications, or to please an audience, really gums up my brain. i naturally want to goof around, experiment, try different shit. i do have a "style" but its not as consistent as other artists' styles. if i draw one way too much i get tired of it and want to shake things up a bit
and im not trying to say that im like... "more creative" and "more adventurous" than other artists. honestly i view this shit as a weakness right now. i wish i could just shut the fuck up, do the drawing, and be consistent about it. brand myself and be nice to everyone and draw to please and audience and get those likes and shares. i need the money
but... i really dont want to do that. i knew fairly early on that i didnt want to do art as a career. i just wanted to draw weird shit for fun and post it and see who likes it.
it's just hard to say no. im a student and my schedule allows for maybe like 2-3 days to work a part time job. jobs which don't pay super great in an expensive city. so its hard to say no to a job where i can work from home at any time, set my own hours, no interview or application needed. so i kind of have to try to match the fandom's conceptualization of what a "furry artist" is in order to succeed.
i guess what im coming back to is theres something in my brain, personality, whatever, that is mismatched with the way that artists are expected to do art As A Job. im just no good at it. i cannot wait for a time where i can afford to not be a Furry Artist™ and just be a furry artist instead.
idk if anyone even can relate to what im talking about, let alone understand the disorganized mess of words i spewed out. and i hope it doesnt like... discourage people from supporting me and my art because god knows i'll probably need it for the next 2 years. but i just needed to get that out and hopefully be heard and understood where im coming from and why i struggle with art a lot. idk
i dont think this is a problem in the fandom that needs to be addressed, its just my brain is weird when it comes to art and it conflicts with the norm. it's a me problem. i just wanted to be heard
Halloween Emoji@ruffythelion I don't personally know much about art, but I know I see some artists put out slots for "experimental styles." I think if you threw up some examples, did a limited number of slots and did a few pieces in a style until you got tired of it, people would still be interested.
Personally I like it when an artist provides different style options in commissions. What I find appealing and what everyone else finds appealing is often different.
@WhiteClaw yeah, I might try that. thank you