I'm Black , but in a way I can really relate to your point about not wanting stories to only center on your cultures generational trauma. As an animator myself, I just wanna make animations where black kids are going on crazy adventures in distant fantasy lands, yet there always seems to be this push for artist of color to make deeper stories that say something profound about systemic issues and Its kind of annoys me. Not that i dislike stories that talk about racism or other tougher topics, but I just wish people would let us minorities simply make silly cute stories that have no deeper theme as well.
Thank you!!! I am going through the same. I just want to make entertaining stories😢 and I’m glad to say I am following that path and not caring anymore
As much as I would loved more media talking about the problems of racism and colorism for the sake of awareness, I would preferred if it’s NOT the only thing that is brought up. I just wanna see POC characters having cool adventures and mystical powers.
As a animator from Brazil who is looking forward to make a manga I prefer using my characters emotions as the main part of my stories, it basically goes like: "What happened to them?" "How did they react to it?" "How they feel about it now?" "How would they react to X event?" "What are they personality" I usually make the desing first then think about their history and after that i change their desings to fit more The most of histories i've seen from here is just some thing about talking about politcs etc... I JUST WANTED TO SEE A SLICE OF LIFE WITH PEOPLE DOING SILLY THINGYS 😡🤬🤬😡😡
Non-artists: you can’t make money from an art career Also non-artists: you’re making money from your art? How dare you! You’re not suppose to make money!
and we also have: Lol Ai is taking over now so why make art if you can't sell them lol lol Like do those nonartists thinks that artists always draw art for money? (i encountered that kind of person last time saying that Art doesn't have a point if you can't make money from it)
The last point drives me insane! Are we expected to simply draw every day and expect money to magically appear in our bank accounts? It's absurd to think that in this day and age, art is still looked down upon and discouraged as a career choice. When you consider the countless possibilities and the potential to make a good living through art, it's mind-boggling. I am eternally grateful that my Mom supported me when I shared my dream of becoming a comic artist. Her encouragement and belief in me meant the world.
Yeah as someone who is close to graduating and heavily considering going into a career based in art I FELT this comment. It’s hard to be in a constant state of anxiety on whether I should do art full time or get a ‘real’ job.
They will tell you to get "real job" and then procede to play video game which besides programers is made by ARTISTS, and then they will sip their MtDeew which's packaging is designed by ARTIST, only to catch up to the latest show that is written, storyboarded, recorded, sound designed, acted/animated by a bunch of ARTISTS, like do I even have to hammer the point further? Artists ARE doing real job, what people usualy scoff at are teenagers on the internet but then they asociate all artists as the same
I wanted to be an artist, but gave up on it because my mom told me i wouldn't make any money off of it, and its not a real job, soon she started becoming more supporting of my wanting to do a wacky cool career, like i wanted to do cosplay, and she supported me- a little😅, but i jist strayed away from art as a career choice. I now dont know what i want to do, but i hope its not a "real job" and something exciting!
It's quite different to only being able to do one thing, and liking drawing one thing the most; it just happens to be Pinterest pretties now like it used to be anime a few years ago 😊
As an artist from Ukraine the political thing hits me so hard. I used to draw country humans art, mostly messing around with slavic history, sooo guess what happened I don't want to draw that anymore, lets say I do not like being sent photos of people dying over a drawing about being a refugee. A shoker for some people, drawing my experience and acknowledging that it's not safe in my country does not equal me wishing death or suffering on people of a certain other country like they love to paint it--
If people are sending you gore, you need to report that. You can get them banned for it. I'm sorry they are hurting you. I hope you can go back to doing what you enjoy someday. Sending love.
The topic of artist with a different art style who gets rejected by the others in art school was a point that really resonated with me. I’m older I drew with pencil and paper my whole life and I first started using digital art when I started school a few years ago. I’m older than everyone and my hand shakes on the display but it’s not awful but different enough it’s made it hard for me to stay on student films. In fact earlier today I found out a film I did keys for didn’t credit me because they redone the keys. They were on model when I gave them to them and they look identical to what is in the film currently. It hurts always feeling like I don’t belong, so I just want to say thank you, because I felt really alone on this.
The "drawing only hot dudes/girls" affects me irl, man. When I draw them, they praise me. But when I draw the "non hot" ones, they somehow offend the crowd. It's so hard to make at least pretty average man with mundane features as at least a background character these days. And that's not when I make overweight characters. There WILL be ALWAYS some people who think me drawing them carry ugly political message as if being exist is a political matter. Some will even justify with petty little excuses to make the character political and the other nonsense. I mean, okay. Drawing Farmer with Shotgun & Buu from dbz are now delivering political messages?
That’s not true at all, people appreciate all art styles. I draw realism portraits and people don’t have to be “pretty” for the art to look great, people like to see all types of people drawn. Don’t listen to the people who don’t like your art, simple, because if it’s any good there’s a demographic that does
@@Rosemary46840 I think it's better if you draw realistic art, because only having pretty people would "break the immersion" of realism, if that makes any sense. But more stylised artstyles are a bit like YA novels. Have you ever seen the hearthrob hunk of the week be an underpaid high school teacher, have an average height or even have 'dateable' background characters who don't fit the mold? People tend to view the outlets of imagination as escapist fantasies, and just like they want to read about the rich, handsome guy they want to see the pretty pictures. Of course that doesn't mean that there are noone who would appreciate average or ugly character designs, but I can see how some people who has an issue with it.
This is why I dropped taking art class in HS, against my art teacher's wishes. I wasn't bad, I just HATED being told what to draw. "Draw yourself, use a mirror," "Draw this glass vase with stuff in it," "Take three objects from the closet and arrange them, then draw them." And it all had to be realistic with specific methods used. I just wanted to DRAW. And learn how to HONE my personal skills.
yeah being told what to draw is the worst, but at the same time who knows, maybe we'll learn something from it, I HATE tracing or drawing something based off of someone else's thing, but honestly, it really does help with practice. anyways I still agree being told what to draw is the worst.
But I mean…that’s how you learn to get better. I hated drawing that stuff too when I was in HS. I just wanted to draw anime. But now I know those projects are important.
The whole point is about learning specific styles, and if you’re looking to be an artist for a career then you’re going to have to learn to draw what other people want
Getting into the art community in my early teenage days on DeviantArt, honestly this community has always had the worst opinions. We were told "referencing is cheating" by absolutely everyone despite none of those people being professionals. Similar attitudes have arisen and they are always by toxic people and the less successful. And I cannot stand the "art style" thing. Nobody professional teaches "style" in the way the online art community fawns over it.
Two things I started to notice about the internet regarding art is that digital drawing is objectively more popular than hand made art on paper. Like the artists who draw by hand that are popular have to be on a really really high level almost hyper realistic to gain traction, while the digital art can be stylized and simple and if it's good will be popular. And this thought got me to the second thing, which is art being successful or popular doesn't correlate to it being good or bad, that's still subjective, should be obvious but young artists may be discouraged and stop posting if they see their art doesn't get likes or comments, making them think it's bad or not good enough
Easier to distribute digital art when the distribution method of choice is 'teh internet'. No need to scan paper and clean-up or color-correct it before uploading it somewhere (also, the 'undo button'). If face-to-face sketchbook touring was the norm as it once was, on-paper art would be dominant. But as a practical matter, one's potential audience would be drastically limited if only people you met in RL could see your art. Double-edged swords and all that.
@@RailRide even if you go through the trouble of scanning and all that jazz. People still just don't care. In fact i have seen digital arts posing as traditional art get more traction than actual traditional art pieces. The latter just feeling really fucking unfair.
One thing that goes with this exact trend you are pointing out is how expensive it is to get into digital art, one mid tablet costs up to 700$, it feels kinda like pay to win situation when you can only afoard cheep notebook and graphite pencil, all of the popular artists on instagram are young attractive people with rich parents and all they draw are pretty anime people, worst case scenario its just a bunch of anime portraits that are super boring because there is no nuance in anime faces like in traditional realistic portraits, also yes I am that poor artist with notebook and pencil, thats why am "butt hurt" lol
I think something that works really well for traditional art isnt just posting a picture of it but a video. That attracts a lot of people because of the satisfying look of the work :]
As an artist from HK who studied and is currently residing in the US for work opportunities, I definitely felt like my own perspective as a Wasian made it hard for me to relate to a lot of stories in the media and kind of felt like my own voice wasn't as important since most stories (in film, television) only touch on the Asian American experience but I do feel like we're going in the right direction regardless. I hope that we see more variety when it comes to different types of Asian experiences!
Ahh thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts. I agree, I think we're headed in the right direction, but hope more space for more ranges of stories from all different asian experiences (and other communities) open up too!
as an artist.. when I stopped drawing "pretty and hot" people and started to draw more unique and more bodyshapes and getting out my comfort zone. People started unfollowing me and comment things like " ew why is she fat" " his nose is ugly" or " this is scary" just because the characters doesn’t match the problematic beauty standards or what’s acceptable by the society. And I think that’s not just toxic in the art community , it’s generally toxic.
maybe they unfollowed you because you call an aesthetically pleasing beauty standard "problematic". that's alo a toxic mindset. beauty standards exist for a reason, since the beginning of mankind. you may draw your characters ugly, if you have fun doing that, that's fine. but don't expect that those drawings will suddenly change the world and that every person on earth now will be totally horny for big noses and fat arms.
Genuinely how do people find only one out of the MANY body types pretty it's actually insane Keep doing what your doing if we all start doing this they'll get used to it and realize no one's body is made for there specific liking
I think this video has a BIG point about life as an artist. Because this is all true, all of us been there and I love that more and more artists are talking about being TOXIC ( the sad part is that moust of the people dont know they are actually hurting somebodies feelings )
@@HinataElyonToph They do that, because they are jealous of you and they try to hide their jealousy with saying its bad. They just dont have the guts to say that they are jealous of ya. You are all the best at what you do and theres no right way how to make/do art. Art is beautiful cause everybody makes it different by adding themselves. Remember this❤
There was a period where people were trying to use someone's lack of response to politics to be "violence by silence" between that and ai pressure and general toxicity I've seen alot of artist just unplug and wipe their internet presence .
"Violence by silence" in the context of randoms online and corporations especially just seems really dumb. I'd rather people just not speak than put out half-assed responses that come off as apathy.
I agree that taking outdated advice can hurt your art. personal story, when I was young, I learned from outdated advice videos on YT and wish I had found these videos sooner. This video can save any first learning artists from permanent art mistakes as well as inspire correct choices.I dig that. 👌
@@glowingcrowns1692 probably drawing real life accurately. I used to view older videos of people saying that to make your best art, you must do research on the source. Though now, most drawings you see are more creative and funky. ✨
@Trippett Family i had to take an art class for college (recently dropped out) and the teacher only had us drawing objects from life in graphite. Bro made me hate art and feel so unmotivated. It didnt let me be free and creative and i hated it. Also a thing all artists youtubers say that pisses me off is "just practice" well obviously practice but theres so much more then just practicing. Imo "just draw" is a better way of saying it. Im also one who learned on their own and never actually practiced anything. I just drew and its gotten me to a point where i like how my art is. Another thing is how "beginner habits" (hands behind back, not drawing hands, covering the other eye/not drawing the other eye) are considered "beginner habits" and that you shouldnt do them once you can draw them. I still draw these things. I can do the other eye and hands, etc but i like how bangs cover one eye i like how it looks when the hands are behind the back or covered by something. (Sorry for my confusing rant)
Something i always hated is that art is supposed to be about freedom of expression but lately its like all im getting recommended is people talking about it like theres all these rules you HAVE to follow or you're doing art wrong. If you're not making what you want then you're just doing a job for money with no passion. Am i crazy?
Same with being Black (and haitian) i dont want only struggle stories and just exist with all varieties. Beef on Netflix was nice to see since it was just all sorts of asians being different, them selves and human (of course its netflix so plenty of exaggeration).
The political thing is so true. My sister had an arts and crafts account and when the unfortunate situation about george floyd happened people were commenting and forcing her to post something about it and questioning why she was "silent" about it. She just didn't want to post political stuff in her account but people even called her "racist" just because she didn't say anything regarding the matter. I mean it's an arts and crafts account why do you have to get political if you don't want to. It doesn't make sense to only post art and all of a sudden you have to change your arts account into a political account just because people want to?
I think the problem lies in the term 'political'. Someone being murdered isn't just political, it's a human rights violation. No one has to say or do anything, but unfortunately in the internet sphere, if people don't see you doing or saying anything, whether you are or are not doing anything behind the scenes, they feel they need to call you out on it.
@@melody4444441 The sad part is that there are so many people who met unfortunate ends just like him, but do people talk about every single one? No. It seems hypocritical to me to only talk about who will give you clout and nobody else.
@Ruby Y. you also have to keep in mind the fact that so many people are unjustly killed by cops, it's just that Black people have a storied history with racial violence at the hands of authority. A lot of the time society looks to Black people to be either the activists or the unwilling martyrs.
@rubyy.7374 How many of those deaths are caught on camera and are as brutal as what happened to George. This has nothing to do with people jumping on a bandwagon, it has to do with the context in which it happened.
I 100% agree with you about people pushing artists to talk about political topics. And sometimes that person might talk about it and not say exactly what people want and then end up being ridiculed for it anyways. Also, I'm pretty guilty of only drawing pretty girls lol. I've started venturing into drawing guys for now and trying to not be so obsessed with my characters looking pretty.
Kinda related to the pretty-girls-only thing, it's disheartening when artists feel trapped within the "niche" of art that they have to cater to when posting online, be it due to audience or algorithmic influences. It can be very stiffling to one's artistic journey, but I encourage all artists to explore what they wish anyway, regardless of what your followers or algorithm will think.
Thank you for the political one, I've actually gotten flack for just telling people that my art account [back when I tried to be present on social medis] was more just supposed to be comfort and fun, especially since my art consistent of big cartoony men and my love for DnD. So the fact I've had people tell me as an artist I have an obligation to talk about what ever political topic is because "all art is political" ideology infuriated me. Yes an artist does have beliefs and all that which can definitely find itself in their work or words. But I wish people wouldn't try to push this kinda mindset onto us. Especially when I'd be called horrible things all because I said "I'd rather make an alt that deals with serious topics" cause there's definitely gonna be a whiplash from seeing a buff Dragon sea witch with his kids to suddenly art depicting the horrors of war especially since I never spoken about it before like that. I understand wanting support and validation but I think things like these deserve more dedicated care/need to be handled in a more mature sense and I'll say this my account would have been the wrong place for that lol
Thank you! I still dispise this small group of people who think everything is political (and I am a very left-leaning person). This is one of the reasons I have had art block for a few years.
@@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfo oh same, I'm pretty left leaning myself, but for me I always found it weird that they wanted me to post political stuff like... Uh yeah hello, if you want political art, then make it yourself. Like I understand wanting someone who you think has more outreach but people forget artists have their own thoughts and feelings
It's even worse when they try to call you a supporter of genocide/violence even though you are just uncomfortable with posting art related to current political events (which really diminishes the meaning of those words). Honestly the same people who try to turn everything they come across into some sort of snarky political message
I recently stopped talking to a "best" friend of 10+ years because she frequently treated me as lesser than artists on IG who had art she liked more. For example, she never finished art trades with me (literally wouldn't even start most of the time), didn't consider me as a potential collaborator on any projects unless she could make money off my work (and despite how we talked for years about collabing on art projects together), would comment on and repost every single post by artists she liked except me, etc.. Before cutting her out of my life, I had actually won an art contest she hosted by default, she tried to extend the deadline because I was the only person who entered, after that new deadline passed with no new entries she didn't announce me winning publicly (like she usually does for others who win her competitions) and actually deleted the post about the competition. THEN SHE TRIED TO COMMISSION ME TO FINISH THE ART PRIZE FOR THE COMP BECAUSE SHE WAS LAZY. Like I knew she wouldn't pull that shit with others because that's fucked up but she legit thought she could get away with that with me. My best friend for 10+ years... There were more reasons why I had to cut her out of my life, but that one was a big one, ngl. And it did ultimately boil down to her caring about clout so she tried to buddy buddy up with artists who drew only aesthetic things, while I'm an artist who enjoys drawing art of "ugly" things and horror art.
Man social media and the lack of interaction between artists hurts a lot badly, I do remember distancing myself from an ex friend back in the DA days because she was jelaous of me bc of my bf, she also never finished her part of the trade, I deleted mine immediately, not going to deal with this stuff anymore. You're better off w/o her
Holy crud that's a whole train of crap things to do, I've been guilty of not finishing my part of art trades myself but that's just bc irl stuff got in the way of doing anything else..... Purposely not doing it is just, hoo boy, I'm glad you cut off that "friendship" though!! You deserve so much better than that fr fr Also brö I love horror-esque art, I'd like to see some of your works if you don't mind 👁️👁️
I’m an illustration+animation junior in art school but I’m also coming back as a 30 year old. The classmates in my group are very obsessive over anime/manga styling and as someone who hasn’t ever drawn in that style, it’s a little isolating because they don’t know how to critique my work and I’m not sure how to do theirs in return.
It doesn't cost anything to compromise and research on styles we are unfamiliar with. Typical anime styles would have pointy/small chin or nose, big sparkly eyes, youthful anatomy, etc. They often have weak shading, repetitive/nondynamic composition, weak sequence. Nontypical styles would be closer to western comic style: heavy shading, detailed/accurate anatomy, dynamic composition, strong sequence. They often break standards of the classic anime style. Ofc anime/manga are diverse, but "typical" and "nontypical" would be two ends of the spectrum. It'd be good learning experience no matter what.
Actually your comment reminds me of an episode of shirobako that I loved. It's a TV show about people who make an animation tv show. In several episodes they show an older man who has been an animator all his life, and although he is a very good professional, he struggles with the new styles. But at some point, in one episode, the knowledge of his younger years as an animator ends up being really useful to the newcomers, as the only person who can help them animate the animals correctly.
as a very young artist myself, this video feels like a good push in the right direction through my art journey! i found myself relating a lot to being sucked into only drawing "pretty people," and that point was definitely something i see with Instagram artists i follow. thank you for the video! :D
There's always going to be naysayers, if people are going to unfollow you, there isn't much you can do to stop them. At the same time they didn't have to announce it like an airport departure. :/ I can see you put in a lot of effort to respond and react to people, and are always thankful for support. Positive vibe all around. Jealousy unfortunately is a thing, but we all can be better than that. Sorry to hear you have to go through some of these frustration, just know you have more supporters that matters though.
I draw pretty anime women because I like pretty anime women. If someone draws pretty characters just to game the algorithm on social media plarforms, thats their problem. Also, who cares if someone hurts your feelings? If you dont feel like talking back, ignore/block.
I think artists tend to struggle with managing their jealousy and bitterness towards other artists because it takes a lot of work to get good at art. It doesn’t just happen over night, so seeing other people doing “better” than you can really sting. Artists have a lot of pride (as they should), but it becomes negative when they feel threatened by “competition”. I hope in the future the art community will become a supportive space with no unnecessary gatekeeping. If you ever find yourself feeling bitter because of another artist’s skill/status, just remember that they probably worked as hard as you did to get where they are now. Most people have had a journey of their own on the way to finding their art style.
I can relate, my style has admittedly been amateur for years, but i have improved through probably months of anatomy practice. I'm mainly into drawing more cartoony, rubberhose types of character design. My friends have helped me improved through critiques and somewhere along the line it made me feel like the way i was drawing is wrong. It didn't help that i tird my artistic worth to instagram likes as well. I would see sketches, just sketches get thousand of likes while something i worked and put effort in would only get 5 or 7 likes. Either way I'm not giving up. The critiques jurt sure but it has helped me spot mistakes and observe my work more proficiently. I've also secided not to put so much emphasis on getting likes, I just make stuff i like and put it out for the world to see. If it make someone smile or brightens up their day just a bit then I'm good with that for now.
I’m not a beginner in Drawing but I side get many more likes than that either. Best to stop caring and focus on finding people who you trust to give you good critique
(can’t edit previous content for some reason) I’m not a beginner in drawing but I still don’t get many more likes than that either. Best to stop caring and focus on finding people who you trust to give you good critique*
This is something I noticed about the way Us people write stories vs Europe. In my experience, editors and people from US always told me to choose a theme: OR there is a political theme/racism/generational trauma/strong themes in general OR there is an entertaining story. Like they told me these two things are separate and who wants to read heavy themes are not the same target as people who want to read an adventure story. In Europe we are used to insert even very dark or heavy themes into common adventure/love/slice of life stories. Maybe just a bit, just a subplot, only a glimpse of a bigger stronger picture that serves as background for the main story. Not too much focus on it but not even totally missing for the sake of a lighter plot. I dunno about you this is my personal experience maybe I'm wrong about it!
Last two are the most toxic at times: 1. Forcing art into political. (I understand when it is about artist survival for example the No AI art phase, but not related to art is not wrong) especially if you do not have a stance on a topic and people peer pressures you. 2. Shaming artists for money. (Blame hyper-materialism, hyper-consumerism, hyper-capitalism, fracture reserve banking, monopolies, and trans-atlantic companies hegemonies, but no. Because people are less educated on how today's economy became a thing today, it is easier for people to blame artists). Really annoying!!
I've been recently getting back into art after 6 years of being in a slump. The artists that i have been recently following have been saying only "draw pretty people". That does make sense to some extent.... However i realised, after i came across another artist channel its starts with a "P" that i dont need to follow that advice. I want to up my game in drawing and restricting myself to only pretty people will do more harm than good. Drawing average people or even the conventionally "unattractive" person is actually interesting. It feels real and tangible. I'm not saying pretty people dont feel real, its just that after *so many*, they start to feel doll-like. Humans are interesting and unique. And i also have a bit a of a perfectionist mentality. I want to be able to do anything 😂 Totally agree with the political one too. Came across another traditional artist recently talking about art and activisim. I honestly have the opposite opinion that many currently might have (on both sides). I love art too. And i feel like its almost like gatekeeping art? If i have these conflicting political opinions i should still allowed to be part of this art community right? Even if i don't express them. (I'm starting art again from scratch. I'm self taught. I'm (was) really good at replicating exactly what I see. However I skipped all the fundamentals of art. The foundation is weak and the building looked lovely. The earthquake of self doubt and imposters syndrome destroyed it...hence my slump. Just a small analogy)
The idea that people are expected to include political commentary in art is infuriating. Especially since most of these people who tell you to be political, probably only ever sit in front of their screen, going on political forums and screaming at people over their screens, without actually doing anything about the political situations that make them so upset, besides yelling at people who disagree or won’t talk about any of it. Not to mention how people react when you disagree with them on the internet.
As a beginner artist myself I really love seeing different artstyles I love it when people have different styles other than yassified girls or anime. I personally feel art can be anything and i love it when it is diversed.
The first one happened to me except they outright bullied me in 12th grade. I made more anime like art, they liked anime just hated mine. A college teacher also told me to stop with my style because I would never go anywhere with it. Granted she's right, I'm a failure but anime is thriving.
I love this, i feel like these are toxic things, that we all need to try and stray from. Also could we talk about sketchbooks being too pretty trend??? Like am i the only one that thinks there should be a clear line between fully drawings and sketches? I tend to see a lot people doing "sketches" but then suddenly then bust out the brush and then they end up with a fully rendered scene(?) Like there's nothing wrong with that, but it's just not a sketch anymore, and i think that creates impossible expectations for newbies. I'm sure ama get a lot of hate for this 🤣 But F it, normalize ugly sketchbooks!! 😅
@@meria2082 This is exactly what i mean, i think social media has created this belief that you should draw something good, or else is not worth drawing(which i think is counter productive) i beg of you, as a fellow artist, go an fill that sketchbook with anything you want, rough sketches, doodles, memes, heck even stickers! I struggled with this for along time, until i finally realized, that i needed at least 100 "bad" drawings in order to get 1 good. Harsh reality, but the earlier you understand this, the more you start to see growth, and the more enjoyable drawing becomes :) otherwise it will take 10 years to fill out a single sketchbook (i'm exaggerating ofc) If you only wanna fill it with pretty and fully rendered drawings.
I just accept those pretty sketchbooks as chalenge, the better I draw overal the better sketches will be on average, I too am guilty of drawing "pretty pages" for show off purposes, still I agree that young artists should not be given this false idea that "everything must be pretty in sketchbook", because behiend those few pages are thousands of "ugly" ones with scribles and doodles
I remember watching someone fill a page with 'sketches' and they proceed to draw a character's head in different angles with almost no mistake,no erasures and most importantly DID NOT RESEMBLE A SKETCH And im over here with unfinished drawing and weirdly shaped faces😭
When people do that it's because the sketch sparked more creativity in them. I have thousands of ugly sketches but that magic moment when you realize you are onto something so you push yourself to finish it is the best feeling!
One thing that I don’t like ( not really hate) is when EVERYBODY is expected to learn realism and proper anatomy, in my opinon if you don’t plan on making money from art and only intend on doing it as a hobby you shouldn’t have to learn or be pressured to learn realism and proper anatomy if you don’t want too. I will literally stumble across realism and get upset about it just to realize OH WAIT I’m not even going to do art as a job so who cares
This video helped me so much, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I feel like I really need to improve at the "only drawing pretty girls" one because for a long time drawing anime girls has been my comfort, for years I pretty much only drew it, but if I really want to improve I must try new things. Your videos always makes me reflect on my insecurities and the fields I can improve in my art career, I promise I'll do my best!
I am a very slow learner and am turning 19 soon. Still, I would say I am on the skill level of a 12 year old nowadays. The ones that have access to all these UA-cam videos and are already very fast when it comes to learning new things. I remember being very jealous. Over the years, I have grown to not care anymore. They are just kids, it is not their fault that I am slow lol I am in no communities, both in person and online, deleted a lot of social media and avoid them. So thankfully, I have not gotten any hate yet. Because I do not know anyone. Still, I know I would get criticised for not improving faster. My family already does that when it comes to other things I have not learnt yet. I have grown to learn that people gain their skills in their own pace. It took me several years to finally understand that and since that realisation, I feel a little better about myself. Some people take 3 months to learn something. I take 14 years. And that is ok, we are all different.
I mainly have distanced myself from the art community because of how cantankerous it has become. Telling you what you can and can't draw, or how you ARE supposed to draw when it comes to characters, the defensiveness of spreading creativity through paywalls (like species formats or what have you) or just being extremely defensive over "taking someone's style" when it's only a few elements (and let's be real, creativity can only go so far; I swear everyone's art style just looks similar because we are influenced by popular media *cough cough* anime *cough cough*). Like, I occasionally get recommended videos on drama from the art community about how problematic this one artist is (whether it's true or not, idc.) and it's like, I JUST want to give/listen to advice and share what I drew without this constant highschool drama tainting everything that I love to be a part of. Whether it's Fandoms or hobbies, everyone is out to get everyone the moment they step over this imaginary line of what is and isn't okay (and I'm talking about problems that aren't even problems). The art community is supposed to be this friendly and supportive place, but it just isn't anymore; it all feels so fake with how "genuine" they are trying to proclaim themselves now. /Rant over
I honestly believe that people get angry about artist promoting their work or books are the same people that want artist to do commissions for free or dirt cheap. They're the same people that want to continue the cycle of artist being starved and only a select few elite making it. People art is a LUXURY you are not entitled to it. The fact that people can enjoy so many artist and artforms on this platform for FREE is amazing and they get mad when the artist wants to make a little bit of money from all the work they put into their online persona.
Since I was a teen, many decades ago, I've had this struggle with artists using their fame to push agendas. It's a tough balance to manage. Take a musician / band, if they sing about a problem it can help bring awareness to that issue. Then, as many big artists do, they reach a point where people get sick of hearing the speeches at a concert. *cough*Bono*cough* So how does an artist send a message without pushing a personal agenda?
I really agree with what you said about poc stories being cultural immigration stories, or even about experiences and struggles of poc in a prejudice society. Which, yes, dont get me wrong, awareness is important, and so is putting in real world problems DEPENDING on the story. But I typically am not really into writing like that. I like writing adventurous stories with deep world building and lore. And im big on diversity, but its kinda hard when other artists are shoving down my throat to integrate real world problems. I just want to make a poc character without all the added expectations of how I should be writing their stories. Even more so because a lot of it just doesnt fit my universe. A lot of people wont agree with this, but I personally eliminate racial, religious, and lgbt prejudice from my stories in near entirety because it isnt relevant to my stories. The most prejudice you get is between different fantasy species, and even then its minimal. I have other focuses for my art, and I am not going to stop drawing diverse characters. Sometimes stories are meant to be a good time that lets you escape, and relate on a general level. Not constant social awareness.
Interesting about "Drawing pretty people only" and the feeling of it not being good art for not being pretty. I have literally never thought it that way but if you said it, maybe others really do. I draw pretty woman because it's what I like to draw and that's about where it goes c: I personally don't care for growing on social media or building a following or anything, it's just for me so it works for me. But I do try other things here and there to expand as a artist
honestly, i couldn't agree more about this. I've been into art and the internet for almost 8 years and the fact that people want to befriend you because you have a certain style they like is honestly pretty sad. whenever you're in amino or Instagram, I always got that kind of online mate who befriend me just so they can get my art for free. and some of my friend who doesn't have that kind of "Pretty & Handsome" art style have always been pushing aside by a lot of people.
I agree 100% with your last point regarding shaming artist for promoting products or services and simply wanting to earn a living through there art. I noticed this via gram I recall a large thread in which an artist was shamed for wanting to gain attention for there work so perhaps they might earn a living, someone said don't post art for likes or something like that, ugh I was so irritated reading that because it's not about the likes it's about gaining visablity for your work, how else are we going to be seen via these platforms If we don't signal the algorithm so that the content can be seen? stop trying to guilt trip artist away from wanting to earn money would you prefer starving artistry? would that be considered a "real artist" the entire thread was attacking the artist I felt bad for them because I understand how hard it is to become a full time paid artist even with access to social media as it takes a lot of savvy and years of skill to get to a stage of being able to earn a living. the last thing we need is to be given a guilt trip or told we don't love art because we want to be able to support ourselves through what we do, bravo! for the honesty here ❤️
I used to do really good art... I think. I even went to college and got a degree. When I was going through the process of trying to get a job, I got turned out A LOT. It was very disheartening. I lost confidence in myself and I've been finding it hard to continue doing art. I'm trying really hard to get back into art, but it's not easy .
Superb video! Thank you from your newest subscriber from New Jersey. Soon to be Upstate New York, in the heart of the valley. We just purchased our first home and im itching to getting back to creating art! Thank goodnessI came across your fruitful page .
Heyy, I just clicked on this video, having no idea who you were before watching the beginning. I read your book! My sister borrowed it from the library and I read it for fun, as did she. We both loved it a lot so I had to show her this video and she thinks you're very cool :) I love your art and your book ❤
about drawing only pretty girls i could expand to the question of character design. It's something I was talking about with a friend, where I find most female designs kind of boring. All the characters are sexy or pretty, I don't know, I'd like to see more varied female characters (and that weren't villains, because in the minds of a lot of people, beauty and morality are two things together).
I’m not Asian American but I love Learing about all the folk stories and stuff!! It’s really interesting to me since American stories all kinda I guess sound the same, the mythos and stories overseas always light a spark in me :)
Yeah it gets rlly frustrating when I go on pinterest to find references of people for studies and theres nothing but stereotypically pretty girls. Im trying to stray away from that and learn other body types (specifically very muscular men or women). It gets hard to find reference photos I actually like because theyre all flooded under pretty girl references.
I have no issues with Asian/Asian-American stories being based on generational trauma and immigration as there are popular media about that. Yet I can understand why you worry about telling stories that aren’t about those. In terms of basing someone off of their art style or being disappointed when they don’t turn out like that, it’s dumb. Art styles don’t always represent a person. Especially if you draw pretty girls or whatever you’re notable for. And with the political page too, it usually depends on the situation (like the BLM movement in 2020) but overall I don’t mind when they don’t talk about it. Usually they’re not online all the time or they don’t want to get into conflicts. Going to complete strangers about it makes you look bad. Keep in mind when I say it depends on the situation. And shaming artists for money like… you see art in media such as animation, gaming, picture books… they cost money. Art is a luxury as it is, and it takes effort. And people need to survive, too.
Artists shouldn't have to be a part of or supporter of any movement. Armchair activists need to get the fuck over themselves and stop bullying everyone.
In the last year i discovered many things i hate about the art world: -Elitism(in particular in the fine-art world HOW IHATE THAT) -Individualism and low profesionalism in many areas -Not strong syndicates -Outdated programs in art school -Many artist students dont take seriously the career
i can relate to that where family suggest me to do political satire or wu xia art relate, while i had no knowlage of both then they called me narrow minded
Regarding the Asian American story thing, I FELT THE PRESSURE MAN. I’m ngl, I changed my entire thesis film to reflect my experiences of being adopted bla bla bla BECAUSE I knew the school would give me a better grade, the board would favor it as an “emotional personal piece” etc. I was highly praised and even received a reward for best film but I am not proud of it at all, and I felt pressured to make a story like that because I felt anything else I made wouldn’t be as significant.
Im going to Sheridan for their animation program this year! So lucky to be going, but considering I center 90% of my work around dragons I never thought I would be good enough because every single peer of mine in my portfolio class drew people. Im lucky to have found it helpful because I was basically learning from scratch instead of falling back of stylistic crutches pertaining to human art. But it will be difficult going forward not because of drawing people being hard because its easier now, but because of my artistic focus and assuming I will not achieve because of what I like drawing. Because Im "not doing art right" (love all my portfolio classmates tho ur awesome)
I used to only draw pretty girls, I found the male face extremely difficult, but one day a few months ago I said I want to LEARN how to draw dudes also, now I only want to draw dudes 😂 draw what you want, ppl will judge you anyways 😊 but I do not like the trend of "fixing other ppls art and drawings" ppl need to follow their own path of improvement, they don't need their art fixed😢
You touched on the two most overdone art topics on social media: 1) sexualized content, 2) political content. I intentionally stay away from those two topics in my work.
Did I miss something? I don't remember her saying anything about sexual content, just making characters that looks hot. Hot doesn't mean naked or anything like that, it means looking at pictures of people with attractive faces and making your art based around images like that.
As an emerging artist who hopes to turn their work into a college career, I have to say that a lot of what you talk about is super important. While I have encountered some doubt and hesitation about my choice to develop art, I fortunately have a lot of support from family and friends. I do agree with a lot of your other points, and hearing your perspective on certain aspects of the art community (the “only drawing pretty people” and “trending is the only way you can get popular” are issues I see a lot, and I completely agree with you that a lot of people tend to turn a blind eye to the damage this causes not only to others but also impressionable young artists). I’ve learned a lot from my experience on the internet, and I kinda gave up on trying to please the internet. My advice to young artists out there is to not care so much about what others are doing. People improve their art skills at different rates, and not everyone is going to draw the same things the same ways, and it doesn’t matter if your art doesn’t look “real enough” or mimic popular styles. If you feel dissatisfied with your work, don’t be discouraged by it. Take it as a learning curve. The only way you are going to improve is through practice and diversification of what subjects you study (draw. I.e. if you mostly draw cats but you want to improve how you draw humans or organic scenes) practice. Sometimes you need to step outside of your comfort zone and draw whatever comes to mind, even if it takes a while to warm up to or reach the results you were expecting. For a while there I was stuck in my own little box of creative restrictions and refused to touch anything that involves human anatomy, perspective pieces, or complicated poses, and the art friends I had felt the same way and our group chat felt like an echo chamber of opinions and like-minded styles and preferences. But after I challenged myself to try new things, I found that I really enjoy drawing things that always seemed too hard to do. Kudos to you if you read the whole thing, I got a little carried away there. But returning to the point, I hope that others recognize the bad traits of the community and take them as lessons to improve from and encourage better methods. The toxic side of the community will never disappear, but don’t let it consume you, either. Your art isn’t bad, it’s just where you’re at right now, and that’s okay! Your skill level doesn’t represent who you are as a person, it’s how you act towards it and towards other people’s works that counts! Have a great day or night! :D
Giiiiirl I hear you. Every "trending" race or group goes through this until our artists gain enough power and influence to control their own projects. Hopefully it'll pass. That's why its good for everyone to support each other. Also, I kinda disagree about the political take in one situation. If your page was never political then cool. But if you go hard for human rights for one group but stay mysteriously silent when another group needs support.... that specific silence speaks volumes.
The "only drawing pretty people" irked me too for a long time but let's be honest: As an artist, you do NOT have to be versatile. I know it sounds ridiculous at first bc us artists get bombarded left and right to be perfect in all kinds of things; but it's just the truth & I am kind of getting mad at other artists forcing their peers into that position. If you only ever wanna draw "pretty girl x", then you can just do that. If you enjoy doing it, that's all you need. Not everybody is striving to be an allround talent, or be the next "mindblowing new thing"-artist. Not everybody derives joy from trying all kinds of different things, painstakingly learning anatomy or perspective drawing or intricate light and shadow scenarioes and I need you people to understand that. Everybody is different. Your point directly feeds into the "misguided/outdated advice", in that yes, for the art idnustry, you had to be versatile to have better chances of being employed. That's just not the case anymore today. If you are able to amass a following that financially supports you for only drawing "hot guy #324", then good for you. Seriously, live your best life. Like, is there some kind of mysterious, underground statue you win by being super versatile? Does the money you own by drawing the same thing over and over not count as real money? Does being a "one trick pony" somehow lessen your quality of life or the love you have put into the piece? Are those artists somehow stealing money out of other artist's wallets? No. The answer is no. I get that you might not like it personally, but that is a you-problem. It was a me-problem too but it literally doesn't hurt anybody. Does it still irk me sometimes? Sure but then I take a step back and am happy for them, that they have found something they enjoy and like doing. I'd avise you (and anybody, really) to look into why you can't stand that kind of thing too. Does it stem from internalised perfectionism that you project unto others? Is there jelousy? Why do you feel like they don't deserve to be where they are for "just" drawing pretty people? Why do you see them as "lesser" artists?
I can heavily relate to the "being treated differently based on the art style" - it's not like I was openly bullied during art college times, but... people were still treating me like a weirdo for not applying the "Realistically Totally Correct Way To Draw Stuff Everyone Must Do" in my art. Like, I loved using bright colours, bizarre shapes, making the art fun, and even if the outcome wasn't good, at least I spent time doing stuff I like and gained some experience. So, never heard anymore from those who treated me "differently" back then, or they quit art completely after college, or they now have some problems with doing art themselves - like I was back when I almost lost my own "art spark" that had to be re-discovered later. Not making fun of these individuals, I'm just dissapointed of how it has been unfolding through the time - I just wanted to meet new friends.
Great outlook, I appreciate that you word things so well and everything you say helps nourish artists without slammin the people that spread toxic comments. Keep it up!
Experiencing the political point firsthand here. The issue I pointed out ruffled a LOT of feathers but I'm fully aware of the consequences. While I can look at it as a filter for quality people, the hit to income has been depressing ngl.
@@domenicoruoppolo5875 of course. Manara is a master cartoonist and general artist. He can draw anything to a level beyond master but he particularly specializes in drawing pretty women with certain expressions. He would probably agree with that slightly humorous assessment.
Bleuuugh as as an AuDHD artist with motor-skill issues the first one hit hard because it was my teachers ( middle school all the way through university) who treated me this way. Of course learning to draw from realism is very important to grasp but because I couldn't catch on as fast as my peers I was derided and quickly cast aside. And because of this I wound up too worn down & discouraged, now I've hardly made progress with my illustrative art even though it is my passion. Then I got brain damage and essentially forgot how to draw. Now that I'm older and teaching styles seem to have changed I desperately want to go back to school and re-learn illustration both digital and print.
10:36 I hate this trend sm- maybe it’s due to how I’ve seen how fucked my own generation is with social media, and how that’s affected self worth, my goal with my art is to get good at drawing diverse body types, even if they aren’t seen as “pretty.” Also to talk about the first point, I agree. I can’t speak from an ethnic perspective because I’m white myself, but I am personally queer, and I want to make stories that don’t just have the coming out of the closet as the entire story.
It's the same in every community. There are always going to be good, bad...the entire spectrum. Humans are prone to be negative and competitive feelings towards one another and we need to think outside of those to nurture and encourage without feeling like everyone is attacking you. When I was on DA I was part of the Senior Mentors, senior artists who were giving their free time to hrlp others. Occasionally you got people who wanted help but refused any advice or we instantly on the defence thinking you were personally attacking them when they had come specifically to you for advice. I left when it got very toxic towards anyone who was willing to help and everyone started to just attack anyone remotely offering any criticism. The point of the website for me was gone. I wanted to learn & improve and without the criticism I wasn't learning anything. Now? Barely anyone is willing to give any on any platform and it has created stagnation with many people's work.
Something that bothers me about the art community is this "I'm better than thou" attitude that many artists have tbh, and the need to do things always perfectly (which is fine if that is what you are pursuing, but people should not impose that need into those Who only want to be good enough)
I feel the same way about being a trans gay man that you do about stories about migration, I don't want to read stories about oppression and coming out, I've experienced enough of that in my day to day life, those stories are more for cishet people than they are trans and gay people, just how basic stories about migration are probably more for white Americans to feel good about themselves for learning about migration by watching an inclusive movie rather than being for people who actually did migrate. I just want gay and trans people in a story, the story itself does not have to revolve around their identity and backstory, because that's all something like migration and coming out is, a backstory. The cool and interesting stuff happens after all that
OMG! The name sounded familiar but I didn't make the connection that she was the one who created Succubishez until she pulled out the drawer! X-3 I rlly loved that comic! More on the video tho, I agree with all the points and am glad u brought them up!
1:26 This! I went to this school where you had like….talent tests? So there is this elder woman who is organizing this whole test and she gives me a peace of paper and tells me to draw some things she put infront of me. I’m not into realism, but I’m fine with it since in svg we do realism only. She said that I’m really good and if I ever thought of going to art school etc and then she asked me to show her ky sketchbook. As she opened it she went “Well you can do cartoon and anime in your freetime…don’t be suprised if we won’t take you” not to metion she let everyone else choose whst to draw while she didn’t even give a chance. And so she sends me to this elder man who is PRO painter and calls him “the man who likes to draw spooky monsters” bc he paints fantasy😭 well the man said he’ll take me for sure.
I have an issue of painting only pretty/ hot people like IG. And I am so afraid that I can't draw overwheight people because of the way how pretty my art style looks like, even though I really want. Funny story, I have decided to take one of my characters and give them a bit round belly, to show who they are and how they are. And that, I personally think is how I actually made it. But still, the issue is still there and I just don't know how to start getting over this!
The point made about artist's tying their identity to their art style is poorly made. It's confusing the method with the cause which is a dangerous notion. Art style is directly correlated to identity. Art style is made of your likes and dislikes, you experiences and your knowledge. That is a HUGE part of someone identity and the foundation for making an art style. The problem described in the video is people being prejudiced and close minded. That can be the case in any circumstance and not specific to people tying their identity to their art style. This video makes it seem as if tying your identity to your art style is the cause of the issue, when the actual cause is people being prejudiced or close minded. Art style was ONE of many methods to judge and belittle people.
"You should not be listening to outdated advice from people who are from a different generation." This is not entirely true, and should be rephrased. An older generation of artists CAN give you good advice about ART, maybe not how to make it in the business or industry, but ALWAYS listen to an older generation on HOW TO, when it comes to art process, creating ext. I think your first statement while it has SOME merit, it should be rephrased. 1. Tying an art style to an artist: Some people need to stop saying..."That's my style"... that's an excuse not to improve. I've seen some artists that could improve, and the excuse...is ..."That's my style." 2. Career jealousy happens all the time, even if it's not career related, but with art styles... if someone does a same art style as you, and lets say you're more proficient in it, they do get jealous. 3. Drawing pretty girls, I don't have a problem with, because nobody should tell anyone WHAT to draw. People are free to draw what they want, if someone has a problem with people JUST drawing pretty girls all the time, then maybe that person has some personal insecurities. Personally, I draw a lot of horror, and monsters, but I also do portraits, manga, super heroes, fantasy, ext. I think tho, you're right about just constantly doing it, sometimes you have to grow beyond it. 4. Political situations, people should mind their own business, you're absolutely correct. Artists aren't required to give their opinions. 5. Making money...I make money from my art, and I think it's great! You're absolutely correct!
I recently watched atot, and while watching it, I noticed SOOOO many things that inspired artist in their 20's. So I saw things and realized, OH THATS THE MISTAKE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! So yeah, might look closer to other artists 😅
I haven’t seen anything toxic about the art community, in fact, art channels are the only channels I can get away from toxicity hate and blatant racism transphobia homophobia etc., watching art videos and doing art are my only time to relax and have peace without the toxicity that I see in all other communities and channels.
Hey, pretty cool channel here. And I just bought one of your books just now from Amazon. So, I'll be reading it later. I'm an indie comic book creator myself. On the whole different art thing. It depends on what the artist does I guess.
I really liked the point you had about Asian American stories, because I'm Asian American and queer, so my character are also that way by default, but I like to write about death and the supernatural and mental illness, and I feel like when the queerness and asianness is in the background, I get a lot of "but why are all the characters gay and asian???" Because they are! They them be!
My only problem with pretty characters I usually see is... they are the same. Just clones with hair and clothes switched. Body type, face, height the way to represent "pretty" - no changes at all. I want to see different types of "pretty", they can be so unlike each other yet "pretty". Yes, anime games, I'm talking about you.
Funny thing when I turn characters into more of basic shapes like Shin Chan, the ppl always judging them as either: A. Comedic show/cartoon B. Incredibly deep character in a dark series commenting about either society or political nonsense There's no in-between or it's just a plain background character.
Although this was in the 90's (and I'll probably have other things to say on the other points) is to not listen to art teachers if they say that your art isn't very good because it doesn't meet their expectations or standards. I loved doing art as a child and in my early to mid teen years but I gave up on it after the age of 16 for 20 years! because one of the art teachers I had didn't like what I drew and made (she taught embroidery and clay, as well as drawing, painting, etc...) and was the bane of my existence in my teen years when it came to arty things. I was good at science, biology in particular, so it didn't sting as much as it could have but I loved art and she sucked all my enjoyment out of it. In 2014, I started doing art again more out a way to get me out of a slump of depression and I really started getting into it in a big way during Covid because I couldn't get hold of aida and evenweave fabric for cross stitch and embroidery (my awful teacher didn't get to ruin cross stitch, thankfully.) Try different things. There are lots more arty things around now than there was in the 80's and 90's and lots of ways to get into it and develop it. Do what brings you joy, make art about things that you love. You will find a subject, style and a medium that suits you.
I would like to add that I understand about the politics angle, because it has happened to me with fanfiction and roleplaying. I just wanted to write stories about a fantasy dwarf girl/woman who likes to explore, draw, learn things and look after her pets/animals in need that she encountered, and wanting a family, or at least a group of friends to share that with - nope. Instead, I came under pressure to get into political things that I wasn't really interested in or had much experience of to even have an opinion of. Don't do it, folks, because although it may mean a lot to you, it just alienates people against you and doesn't get support for your cause. It's OK to use your art to support your cause, or reflect your political beliefs, etc, but don't expect or force other people to. Similarly, if you come across people who are the opposite, leave them be. If you get harassment from people because you show your political stance in your art, report and block them but don't do what they do.
sorry to info-dump but if anyone can give me some advice - I've been trying to step out of my comfort zone of only drawing pretty things/girls, and I tried showing some of them to friends but they shamed me for drawing a man (I won't go in detail of what he looked like, but the drawing wasn't "internet pretty" or what people perceive to be pretty online). And after that I felt like I couldn't draw anything other than pretty girls/hot guys (don't get me wrong - it's like eye candy but I really wanted to try something new and it made me feel really bad about my art)
Start by using references from other sites where you have more choices, like Google images! Sites like Pinterest where things must be "aesthetic" stop you from discovering more. Then slowly make your way and include more and different features as you go, have patience 😆
I know you despised that art community, you’re not alone, I was in the worst community for special needs, I don’t think you’ve heard of them, it’s a program for special adults taking art and it’s overwhelming!, I don’t even like “Self Advocacy” at all especially getting out of the house every Monday thru Friday, it’s bullshit, some of the staffs are secretly narcissists. I’m glad I’m not there anymore, those people are nothing but (Toxic and even selfish)
I'm Black , but in a way I can really relate to your point about not wanting stories to only center on your cultures generational trauma. As an animator myself, I just wanna make animations where black kids are going on crazy adventures in distant fantasy lands, yet there always seems to be this push for artist of color to make deeper stories that say something profound about systemic issues and Its kind of annoys me. Not that i dislike stories that talk about racism or other tougher topics, but I just wish people would let us minorities simply make silly cute stories that have no deeper theme as well.
Thank you!!! I am going through the same. I just want to make entertaining stories😢 and I’m glad to say I am following that path and not caring anymore
As much as I would loved more media talking about the problems of racism and colorism for the sake of awareness, I would preferred if it’s NOT the only thing that is brought up. I just wanna see POC characters having cool adventures and mystical powers.
Is the black community really pushing that on black creators? I'm black, and I don't want to only see movies about our trauma.
Same that's why I want to do it myself or at least join those who've started!!✨✨
As a animator from Brazil who is looking forward to make a manga
I prefer using my characters emotions as the main part of my stories, it basically goes like: "What happened to them?" "How did they react to it?" "How they feel about it now?" "How would they react to X event?" "What are they personality"
I usually make the desing first then think about their history and after that i change their desings to fit more
The most of histories i've seen from here is just some thing about talking about politcs etc... I JUST WANTED TO SEE A SLICE OF LIFE WITH PEOPLE DOING SILLY THINGYS 😡🤬🤬😡😡
Non-artists: you can’t make money from an art career
Also non-artists: you’re making money from your art? How dare you! You’re not suppose to make money!
They are the same people that want you to draw stuff for them for free or cheap.
I'm not artiste and I don't say that lol
@@kikoumonage412 then this doesn't apply to you
My parents demand me to spend money at home but proceed to act like i dont have a job
and we also have:
Lol Ai is taking over now so why make art if you can't sell them lol lol
Like do those nonartists thinks that artists always draw art for money?
(i encountered that kind of person last time saying that Art doesn't have a point if you can't make money from it)
“Hate is a strong word”
As a kpop fan, ssbm player, and anime fan, I can tell you it’s a light word for the communities 😂
This got me to chuckle 😂
As someone who just wants to have a good time online, hate being a light word is so true :(
@@shadowdemonaer just try to show up and enjoy your thing with the community but they make it tough 😒
yeah I'm a kpop fan and an anime fan too and it's interesting
@@awstenkniight the fandom definitely his hard to engage with
The last point drives me insane! Are we expected to simply draw every day and expect money to magically appear in our bank accounts? It's absurd to think that in this day and age, art is still looked down upon and discouraged as a career choice. When you consider the countless possibilities and the potential to make a good living through art, it's mind-boggling. I am eternally grateful that my Mom supported me when I shared my dream of becoming a comic artist. Her encouragement and belief in me meant the world.
Yeah as someone who is close to graduating and heavily considering going into a career based in art I FELT this comment. It’s hard to be in a constant state of anxiety on whether I should do art full time or get a ‘real’ job.
For real, people have always been pretty much SURROUNDED by art so it's kind of astounding how much it's looked down upon.
They will tell you to get "real job" and then procede to play video game which besides programers is made by ARTISTS, and then they will sip their MtDeew which's packaging is designed by ARTIST, only to catch up to the latest show that is written, storyboarded, recorded, sound designed, acted/animated by a bunch of ARTISTS, like do I even have to hammer the point further? Artists ARE doing real job, what people usualy scoff at are teenagers on the internet but then they asociate all artists as the same
I wanted to be an artist, but gave up on it because my mom told me i wouldn't make any money off of it, and its not a real job, soon she started becoming more supporting of my wanting to do a wacky cool career, like i wanted to do cosplay, and she supported me- a little😅, but i jist strayed away from art as a career choice. I now dont know what i want to do, but i hope its not a "real job" and something exciting!
Tbf art based jobs aren't super sustainable from what I've seen
„Why is she white?“
„It’s a pencil drawing. Paper *is* white“
The only drawing pretty girls thing is SO real on Instagram
yep yep...
And with Kooleen. Her tip is to “only draw hot people”
soo true man
I mean, people just draw what they like and thats ok
It's quite different to only being able to do one thing, and liking drawing one thing the most; it just happens to be Pinterest pretties now like it used to be anime a few years ago 😊
As an artist from Ukraine the political thing hits me so hard. I used to draw country humans art, mostly messing around with slavic history, sooo guess what happened
I don't want to draw that anymore, lets say I do not like being sent photos of people dying over a drawing about being a refugee.
A shoker for some people, drawing my experience and acknowledging that it's not safe in my country does not equal me wishing death or suffering on people of a certain other country like they love to paint it--
I hope you go back to drawing whatever you want.
@@jht3fougifh393 I hope russia stop existing soon
If people are sending you gore, you need to report that. You can get them banned for it. I'm sorry they are hurting you. I hope you can go back to doing what you enjoy someday. Sending love.
The topic of artist with a different art style who gets rejected by the others in art school was a point that really resonated with me. I’m older I drew with pencil and paper my whole life and I first started using digital art when I started school a few years ago. I’m older than everyone and my hand shakes on the display but it’s not awful but different enough it’s made it hard for me to stay on student films. In fact earlier today I found out a film I did keys for didn’t credit me because they redone the keys. They were on model when I gave them to them and they look identical to what is in the film currently. It hurts always feeling like I don’t belong, so I just want to say thank you, because I felt really alone on this.
Them not giving you credit EVEN if they remade the scenes is evil. I’m so sorry about that.
The "drawing only hot dudes/girls" affects me irl, man. When I draw them, they praise me. But when I draw the "non hot" ones, they somehow offend the crowd. It's so hard to make at least pretty average man with mundane features as at least a background character these days. And that's not when I make overweight characters. There WILL be ALWAYS some people who think me drawing them carry ugly political message as if being exist is a political matter. Some will even justify with petty little excuses to make the character political and the other nonsense.
I mean, okay. Drawing Farmer with Shotgun & Buu from dbz are now delivering political messages?
That’s not true at all, people appreciate all art styles. I draw realism portraits and people don’t have to be “pretty” for the art to look great, people like to see all types of people drawn. Don’t listen to the people who don’t like your art, simple, because if it’s any good there’s a demographic that does
@@Rosemary46840 I think it's better if you draw realistic art, because only having pretty people would "break the immersion" of realism, if that makes any sense.
But more stylised artstyles are a bit like YA novels. Have you ever seen the hearthrob hunk of the week be an underpaid high school teacher, have an average height or even have 'dateable' background characters who don't fit the mold? People tend to view the outlets of imagination as escapist fantasies, and just like they want to read about the rich, handsome guy they want to see the pretty pictures.
Of course that doesn't mean that there are noone who would appreciate average or ugly character designs, but I can see how some people who has an issue with it.
When I draw hot characters, it also offends the crowd. What do y'all mean the 'tits are too big'? I draws it how I likes it!
This is why I dropped taking art class in HS, against my art teacher's wishes.
I wasn't bad, I just HATED being told what to draw. "Draw yourself, use a mirror," "Draw this glass vase with stuff in it," "Take three objects from the closet and arrange them, then draw them." And it all had to be realistic with specific methods used.
I just wanted to DRAW. And learn how to HONE my personal skills.
I got an F in art classes because of this, lol. I hated those classes.
yeah being told what to draw is the worst, but at the same time who knows, maybe we'll learn something from it, I HATE tracing or drawing something based off of someone else's thing, but honestly, it really does help with practice. anyways I still agree being told what to draw is the worst.
But I mean…that’s how you learn to get better. I hated drawing that stuff too when I was in HS. I just wanted to draw anime. But now I know those projects are important.
The whole point is about learning specific styles, and if you’re looking to be an artist for a career then you’re going to have to learn to draw what other people want
Gotta learn the basics. No ones telling you cant draw what you want on your own time.
Getting into the art community in my early teenage days on DeviantArt, honestly this community has always had the worst opinions. We were told "referencing is cheating" by absolutely everyone despite none of those people being professionals. Similar attitudes have arisen and they are always by toxic people and the less successful. And I cannot stand the "art style" thing. Nobody professional teaches "style" in the way the online art community fawns over it.
>Everyone?
You mean fellow 13 year olds
Two things I started to notice about the internet regarding art is that digital drawing is objectively more popular than hand made art on paper. Like the artists who draw by hand that are popular have to be on a really really high level almost hyper realistic to gain traction, while the digital art can be stylized and simple and if it's good will be popular. And this thought got me to the second thing, which is art being successful or popular doesn't correlate to it being good or bad, that's still subjective, should be obvious but young artists may be discouraged and stop posting if they see their art doesn't get likes or comments, making them think it's bad or not good enough
oof as someone who mainly draws on paper. i feel this.
Easier to distribute digital art when the distribution method of choice is 'teh internet'. No need to scan paper and clean-up or color-correct it before uploading it somewhere (also, the 'undo button'). If face-to-face sketchbook touring was the norm as it once was, on-paper art would be dominant. But as a practical matter, one's potential audience would be drastically limited if only people you met in RL could see your art. Double-edged swords and all that.
@@RailRide even if you go through the trouble of scanning and all that jazz. People still just don't care.
In fact i have seen digital arts posing as traditional art get more traction than actual traditional art pieces.
The latter just feeling really fucking unfair.
One thing that goes with this exact trend you are pointing out is how expensive it is to get into digital art, one mid tablet costs up to 700$, it feels kinda like pay to win situation when you can only afoard cheep notebook and graphite pencil, all of the popular artists on instagram are young attractive people with rich parents and all they draw are pretty anime people, worst case scenario its just a bunch of anime portraits that are super boring because there is no nuance in anime faces like in traditional realistic portraits, also yes I am that poor artist with notebook and pencil, thats why am "butt hurt" lol
I think something that works really well for traditional art isnt just posting a picture of it but a video. That attracts a lot of people because of the satisfying look of the work :]
As an artist from HK who studied and is currently residing in the US for work opportunities, I definitely felt like my own perspective as a Wasian made it hard for me to relate to a lot of stories in the media and kind of felt like my own voice wasn't as important since most stories (in film, television) only touch on the Asian American experience but I do feel like we're going in the right direction regardless. I hope that we see more variety when it comes to different types of Asian experiences!
Ahh thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts. I agree, I think we're headed in the right direction, but hope more space for more ranges of stories from all different asian experiences (and other communities) open up too!
"Tying someone to thier art/style" Is one of the many reasons I believe in separating the art from the artist, because it's not always reflective.
as an artist.. when I stopped drawing "pretty and hot" people and started to draw more unique and more bodyshapes and getting out my comfort zone. People started unfollowing me and comment things like " ew why is she fat" " his nose is ugly" or " this is scary" just because the characters doesn’t match the problematic beauty standards or what’s acceptable by the society. And I think that’s not just toxic in the art community , it’s generally toxic.
I LOVE drawing unconventional traits and deviating from the shallow norm!
maybe they unfollowed you because you call an aesthetically pleasing beauty standard "problematic". that's alo a toxic mindset. beauty standards exist for a reason, since the beginning of mankind. you may draw your characters ugly, if you have fun doing that, that's fine. but don't expect that those drawings will suddenly change the world and that every person on earth now will be totally horny for big noses and fat arms.
Genuinely how do people find only one out of the MANY body types pretty it's actually insane
Keep doing what your doing if we all start doing this they'll get used to it and realize no one's body is made for there specific liking
I think this video has a BIG point about life as an artist. Because this is all true, all of us been there and I love that more and more artists are talking about being TOXIC ( the sad part is that moust of the people dont know they are actually hurting somebodies feelings )
yeah... as expressive and emotional art is.. it can also have its dark parts when being an artist 💀
And then there are some who do know and just don’t care because they think you’re here to cater to THEM
@@HinataElyonToph They do that, because they are jealous of you and they try to hide their jealousy with saying its bad. They just dont have the guts to say that they are jealous of ya. You are all the best at what you do and theres no right way how to make/do art. Art is beautiful cause everybody makes it different by adding themselves. Remember this❤
There was a period where people were trying to use someone's lack of response to politics to be "violence by silence" between that and ai pressure and general toxicity I've seen alot of artist just unplug and wipe their internet presence .
Block all armchair activists. Same goes for people asking for free work. People just need to stop caring about strangers on the internet.
Michelle is actually one of the artists who is pretty outspoken about politics. Even she can be burnt out from it..
Or piss them off more by being polically incorrect.
"Violence by silence" in the context of randoms online and corporations especially just seems really dumb. I'd rather people just not speak than put out half-assed responses that come off as apathy.
@@ArbitraryOutcome Or worse, crybullying and pandering.
I agree that taking outdated advice can hurt your art. personal story, when I was young, I learned from outdated advice videos on YT and wish I had found these videos sooner. This video can save any first learning artists from permanent art mistakes as well as inspire correct choices.I dig that. 👌
yeah so true... i still say the things some teachers say to me in my head when approaching my art and im just like NO..MUST..IGNORE..
What's an outdated thing you felt you were taught? Just curious
@@glowingcrowns1692 probably drawing real life accurately. I used to view older videos of people saying that to make your best art, you must do research on the source.
Though now, most drawings you see are more creative and funky. ✨
@Trippett Family i had to take an art class for college (recently dropped out) and the teacher only had us drawing objects from life in graphite. Bro made me hate art and feel so unmotivated. It didnt let me be free and creative and i hated it. Also a thing all artists youtubers say that pisses me off is "just practice" well obviously practice but theres so much more then just practicing. Imo "just draw" is a better way of saying it. Im also one who learned on their own and never actually practiced anything. I just drew and its gotten me to a point where i like how my art is. Another thing is how "beginner habits" (hands behind back, not drawing hands, covering the other eye/not drawing the other eye) are considered "beginner habits" and that you shouldnt do them once you can draw them. I still draw these things. I can do the other eye and hands, etc but i like how bangs cover one eye i like how it looks when the hands are behind the back or covered by something.
(Sorry for my confusing rant)
Its not outdated advice if it works
Something i always hated is that art is supposed to be about freedom of expression but lately its like all im getting recommended is people talking about it like theres all these rules you HAVE to follow or you're doing art wrong. If you're not making what you want then you're just doing a job for money with no passion. Am i crazy?
Same with being Black (and haitian) i dont want only struggle stories and just exist with all varieties. Beef on Netflix was nice to see since it was just all sorts of asians being different, them selves and human (of course its netflix so plenty of exaggeration).
The political thing is so true. My sister had an arts and crafts account and when the unfortunate situation about george floyd happened people were commenting and forcing her to post something about it and questioning why she was "silent" about it. She just didn't want to post political stuff in her account but people even called her "racist" just because she didn't say anything regarding the matter. I mean it's an arts and crafts account why do you have to get political if you don't want to. It doesn't make sense to only post art and all of a sudden you have to change your arts account into a political account just because people want to?
I think the problem lies in the term 'political'. Someone being murdered isn't just political, it's a human rights violation. No one has to say or do anything, but unfortunately in the internet sphere, if people don't see you doing or saying anything, whether you are or are not doing anything behind the scenes, they feel they need to call you out on it.
Definitely unfortunate. Honestly I think it hurts just as often or even more often than it truly helps.
@@melody4444441 The sad part is that there are so many people who met unfortunate ends just like him, but do people talk about every single one? No. It seems hypocritical to me to only talk about who will give you clout and nobody else.
@Ruby Y. you also have to keep in mind the fact that so many people are unjustly killed by cops, it's just that Black people have a storied history with racial violence at the hands of authority. A lot of the time society looks to Black people to be either the activists or the unwilling martyrs.
@rubyy.7374 How many of those deaths are caught on camera and are as brutal as what happened to George. This has nothing to do with people jumping on a bandwagon, it has to do with the context in which it happened.
I 100% agree with you about people pushing artists to talk about political topics. And sometimes that person might talk about it and not say exactly what people want and then end up being ridiculed for it anyways.
Also, I'm pretty guilty of only drawing pretty girls lol. I've started venturing into drawing guys for now and trying to not be so obsessed with my characters looking pretty.
Kinda related to the pretty-girls-only thing, it's disheartening when artists feel trapped within the "niche" of art that they have to cater to when posting online, be it due to audience or algorithmic influences. It can be very stiffling to one's artistic journey, but I encourage all artists to explore what they wish anyway, regardless of what your followers or algorithm will think.
Thank you for the political one, I've actually gotten flack for just telling people that my art account [back when I tried to be present on social medis] was more just supposed to be comfort and fun, especially since my art consistent of big cartoony men and my love for DnD. So the fact I've had people tell me as an artist I have an obligation to talk about what ever political topic is because "all art is political" ideology infuriated me.
Yes an artist does have beliefs and all that which can definitely find itself in their work or words. But I wish people wouldn't try to push this kinda mindset onto us. Especially when I'd be called horrible things all because I said "I'd rather make an alt that deals with serious topics" cause there's definitely gonna be a whiplash from seeing a buff Dragon sea witch with his kids to suddenly art depicting the horrors of war especially since I never spoken about it before like that.
I understand wanting support and validation but I think things like these deserve more dedicated care/need to be handled in a more mature sense and I'll say this my account would have been the wrong place for that lol
Thank you! I still dispise this small group of people who think everything is political (and I am a very left-leaning person). This is one of the reasons I have had art block for a few years.
@@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfo oh same, I'm pretty left leaning myself, but for me I always found it weird that they wanted me to post political stuff like... Uh yeah hello, if you want political art, then make it yourself. Like I understand wanting someone who you think has more outreach but people forget artists have their own thoughts and feelings
It's even worse when they try to call you a supporter of genocide/violence even though you are just uncomfortable with posting art related to current political events (which really diminishes the meaning of those words). Honestly the same people who try to turn everything they come across into some sort of snarky political message
I recently stopped talking to a "best" friend of 10+ years because she frequently treated me as lesser than artists on IG who had art she liked more.
For example, she never finished art trades with me (literally wouldn't even start most of the time), didn't consider me as a potential collaborator on any projects unless she could make money off my work (and despite how we talked for years about collabing on art projects together), would comment on and repost every single post by artists she liked except me, etc..
Before cutting her out of my life, I had actually won an art contest she hosted by default, she tried to extend the deadline because I was the only person who entered, after that new deadline passed with no new entries she didn't announce me winning publicly (like she usually does for others who win her competitions) and actually deleted the post about the competition. THEN SHE TRIED TO COMMISSION ME TO FINISH THE ART PRIZE FOR THE COMP BECAUSE SHE WAS LAZY. Like I knew she wouldn't pull that shit with others because that's fucked up but she legit thought she could get away with that with me.
My best friend for 10+ years... There were more reasons why I had to cut her out of my life, but that one was a big one, ngl. And it did ultimately boil down to her caring about clout so she tried to buddy buddy up with artists who drew only aesthetic things, while I'm an artist who enjoys drawing art of "ugly" things and horror art.
Man social media and the lack of interaction between artists hurts a lot badly, I do remember distancing myself from an ex friend back in the DA days because she was jelaous of me bc of my bf, she also never finished her part of the trade, I deleted mine immediately, not going to deal with this stuff anymore. You're better off w/o her
Holy crud that's a whole train of crap things to do, I've been guilty of not finishing my part of art trades myself but that's just bc irl stuff got in the way of doing anything else..... Purposely not doing it is just, hoo boy, I'm glad you cut off that "friendship" though!! You deserve so much better than that fr fr
Also brö I love horror-esque art, I'd like to see some of your works if you don't mind 👁️👁️
That sounds like a friend issue not an art community issue
I’m an illustration+animation junior in art school but I’m also coming back as a 30 year old. The classmates in my group are very obsessive over anime/manga styling and as someone who hasn’t ever drawn in that style, it’s a little isolating because they don’t know how to critique my work and I’m not sure how to do theirs in return.
I went back and studied Animation when I was like 41.
It doesn't cost anything to compromise and research on styles we are unfamiliar with. Typical anime styles would have pointy/small chin or nose, big sparkly eyes, youthful anatomy, etc. They often have weak shading, repetitive/nondynamic composition, weak sequence. Nontypical styles would be closer to western comic style: heavy shading, detailed/accurate anatomy, dynamic composition, strong sequence. They often break standards of the classic anime style. Ofc anime/manga are diverse, but "typical" and "nontypical" would be two ends of the spectrum. It'd be good learning experience no matter what.
Actually your comment reminds me of an episode of shirobako that I loved. It's a TV show about people who make an animation tv show. In several episodes they show an older man who has been an animator all his life, and although he is a very good professional, he struggles with the new styles. But at some point, in one episode, the knowledge of his younger years as an animator ends up being really useful to the newcomers, as the only person who can help them animate the animals correctly.
as a very young artist myself, this video feels like a good push in the right direction through my art journey! i found myself relating a lot to being sucked into only drawing "pretty people," and that point was definitely something i see with Instagram artists i follow. thank you for the video! :D
There's always going to be naysayers, if people are going to unfollow you, there isn't much you can do to stop them. At the same time they didn't have to announce it like an airport departure. :/ I can see you put in a lot of effort to respond and react to people, and are always thankful for support. Positive vibe all around. Jealousy unfortunately is a thing, but we all can be better than that. Sorry to hear you have to go through some of these frustration, just know you have more supporters that matters though.
I draw pretty anime women because I like pretty anime women.
If someone draws pretty characters just to game the algorithm on social media plarforms, thats their problem.
Also, who cares if someone hurts your feelings? If you dont feel like talking back, ignore/block.
I think artists tend to struggle with managing their jealousy and bitterness towards other artists because it takes a lot of work to get good at art. It doesn’t just happen over night, so seeing other people doing “better” than you can really sting. Artists have a lot of pride (as they should), but it becomes negative when they feel threatened by “competition”.
I hope in the future the art community will become a supportive space with no unnecessary gatekeeping. If you ever find yourself feeling bitter because of another artist’s skill/status, just remember that they probably worked as hard as you did to get where they are now. Most people have had a journey of their own on the way to finding their art style.
I can relate, my style has admittedly been amateur for years, but i have improved through probably months of anatomy practice. I'm mainly into drawing more cartoony, rubberhose types of character design. My friends have helped me improved through critiques and somewhere along the line it made me feel like the way i was drawing is wrong.
It didn't help that i tird my artistic worth to instagram likes as well. I would see sketches, just sketches get thousand of likes while something i worked and put effort in would only get 5 or 7 likes.
Either way I'm not giving up. The critiques jurt sure but it has helped me spot mistakes and observe my work more proficiently. I've also secided not to put so much emphasis on getting likes, I just make stuff i like and put it out for the world to see. If it make someone smile or brightens up their day just a bit then I'm good with that for now.
I’m not a beginner in Drawing but I side get many more likes than that either. Best to stop caring and focus on finding people who you trust to give you good critique
(can’t edit previous content for some reason) I’m not a beginner in drawing but I still don’t get many more likes than that either. Best to stop caring and focus on finding people who you trust to give you good critique*
Likes don’t matter do what you like
This is something I noticed about the way Us people write stories vs Europe.
In my experience, editors and people from US always told me to choose a theme: OR there is a political theme/racism/generational trauma/strong themes in general OR there is an entertaining story.
Like they told me these two things are separate and who wants to read heavy themes are not the same target as people who want to read an adventure story.
In Europe we are used to insert even very dark or heavy themes into common adventure/love/slice of life stories. Maybe just a bit, just a subplot, only a glimpse of a bigger stronger picture that serves as background for the main story.
Not too much focus on it but not even totally missing for the sake of a lighter plot.
I dunno about you this is my personal experience maybe I'm wrong about it!
Last two are the most toxic at times:
1. Forcing art into political. (I understand when it is about artist survival for example the No AI art phase, but not related to art is not wrong) especially if you do not have a stance on a topic and people peer pressures you.
2. Shaming artists for money. (Blame hyper-materialism, hyper-consumerism, hyper-capitalism, fracture reserve banking, monopolies, and trans-atlantic companies hegemonies, but no. Because people are less educated on how today's economy became a thing today, it is easier for people to blame artists).
Really annoying!!
People complain about our prices and us trying to make money, while at the same time saying our prices are too low 😑
It happened to me, more skilled artists thought I suck , cuz my skills were weaker , so obviously i "suck" as a human being 😂
I've been recently getting back into art after 6 years of being in a slump.
The artists that i have been recently following have been saying only "draw pretty people". That does make sense to some extent....
However i realised, after i came across another artist channel its starts with a "P" that i dont need to follow that advice. I want to up my game in drawing and restricting myself to only pretty people will do more harm than good.
Drawing average people or even the conventionally "unattractive" person is actually interesting. It feels real and tangible. I'm not saying pretty people dont feel real, its just that after *so many*, they start to feel doll-like. Humans are interesting and unique.
And i also have a bit a of a perfectionist mentality. I want to be able to do anything 😂
Totally agree with the political one too. Came across another traditional artist recently talking about art and activisim. I honestly have the opposite opinion that many currently might have (on both sides). I love art too. And i feel like its almost like gatekeeping art? If i have these conflicting political opinions i should still allowed to be part of this art community right? Even if i don't express them.
(I'm starting art again from scratch. I'm self taught. I'm (was) really good at replicating exactly what I see. However I skipped all the fundamentals of art.
The foundation is weak and the building looked lovely. The earthquake of self doubt and imposters syndrome destroyed it...hence my slump. Just a small analogy)
I guess it helps that my perception of "pretty" isn't the same as "conventionally attractive".
The idea that people are expected to include political commentary in art is infuriating. Especially since most of these people who tell you to be political, probably only ever sit in front of their screen, going on political forums and screaming at people over their screens, without actually doing anything about the political situations that make them so upset, besides yelling at people who disagree or won’t talk about any of it. Not to mention how people react when you disagree with them on the internet.
1:46 I don’t have a specific art style to be honest. I just draw and go with whatever “style” fits what I have already made. 😊
As a beginner artist myself I really love seeing different artstyles I love it when people have different styles other than yassified girls or anime. I personally feel art can be anything and i love it when it is diversed.
The first one happened to me except they outright bullied me in 12th grade. I made more anime like art, they liked anime just hated mine. A college teacher also told me to stop with my style because I would never go anywhere with it. Granted she's right, I'm a failure but anime is thriving.
I love this, i feel like these are toxic things, that we all need to try and stray from.
Also could we talk about sketchbooks being too pretty trend???
Like am i the only one that thinks there should be a clear line between fully drawings and sketches?
I tend to see a lot people doing "sketches" but then suddenly then bust out the brush and then they end up with a fully rendered scene(?) Like there's nothing wrong with that, but it's just not a sketch anymore, and i think that creates impossible expectations for newbies.
I'm sure ama get a lot of hate for this 🤣
But F it, normalize ugly sketchbooks!! 😅
I have this sketchbook from a friend that i haven’t drawn anything in because i dont wanna waste the pages with ugly drawings
@@meria2082 This is exactly what i mean, i think social media has created this belief that you should draw something good, or else is not worth drawing(which i think is counter productive)
i beg of you, as a fellow artist, go an fill that sketchbook with anything you want, rough sketches, doodles, memes, heck even stickers!
I struggled with this for along time, until i finally realized, that i needed at least 100 "bad" drawings in order to get 1 good.
Harsh reality, but the earlier you understand this, the more you start to see growth, and the more enjoyable drawing becomes :)
otherwise it will take 10 years to fill out a single sketchbook (i'm exaggerating ofc)
If you only wanna fill it with pretty and fully rendered drawings.
I just accept those pretty sketchbooks as chalenge, the better I draw overal the better sketches will be on average, I too am guilty of drawing "pretty pages" for show off purposes, still I agree that young artists should not be given this false idea that "everything must be pretty in sketchbook", because behiend those few pages are thousands of "ugly" ones with scribles and doodles
I remember watching someone fill a page with 'sketches' and they proceed to draw a character's head in different angles with almost no mistake,no erasures and most importantly DID NOT RESEMBLE A SKETCH
And im over here with unfinished drawing and weirdly shaped faces😭
When people do that it's because the sketch sparked more creativity in them. I have thousands of ugly sketches but that magic moment when you realize you are onto something so you push yourself to finish it is the best feeling!
One thing that I don’t like ( not really hate) is when EVERYBODY is expected to learn realism and proper anatomy, in my opinon if you don’t plan on making money from art and only intend on doing it as a hobby you shouldn’t have to learn or be pressured to learn realism and proper anatomy if you don’t want too. I will literally stumble across realism and get upset about it just to realize OH WAIT I’m not even going to do art as a job so who cares
This video helped me so much, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I feel like I really need to improve at the "only drawing pretty girls" one because for a long time drawing anime girls has been my comfort, for years I pretty much only drew it, but if I really want to improve I must try new things. Your videos always makes me reflect on my insecurities and the fields I can improve in my art career, I promise I'll do my best!
I am a very slow learner and am turning 19 soon.
Still, I would say I am on the skill level of a 12 year old nowadays.
The ones that have access to all these UA-cam videos and are already very fast when it comes to learning new things.
I remember being very jealous.
Over the years, I have grown to not care anymore.
They are just kids, it is not their fault that I am slow lol
I am in no communities, both in person and online, deleted a lot of social media and avoid them.
So thankfully, I have not gotten any hate yet.
Because I do not know anyone.
Still, I know I would get criticised for not improving faster.
My family already does that when it comes to other things I have not learnt yet.
I have grown to learn that people gain their skills in their own pace.
It took me several years to finally understand that and since that realisation, I feel a little better about myself.
Some people take 3 months to learn something.
I take 14 years.
And that is ok, we are all different.
I mainly have distanced myself from the art community because of how cantankerous it has become. Telling you what you can and can't draw, or how you ARE supposed to draw when it comes to characters, the defensiveness of spreading creativity through paywalls (like species formats or what have you) or just being extremely defensive over "taking someone's style" when it's only a few elements (and let's be real, creativity can only go so far; I swear everyone's art style just looks similar because we are influenced by popular media *cough cough* anime *cough cough*). Like, I occasionally get recommended videos on drama from the art community about how problematic this one artist is (whether it's true or not, idc.) and it's like, I JUST want to give/listen to advice and share what I drew without this constant highschool drama tainting everything that I love to be a part of. Whether it's Fandoms or hobbies, everyone is out to get everyone the moment they step over this imaginary line of what is and isn't okay (and I'm talking about problems that aren't even problems). The art community is supposed to be this friendly and supportive place, but it just isn't anymore; it all feels so fake with how "genuine" they are trying to proclaim themselves now. /Rant over
Haha thanks for mentioning the pretty girls thing, such a pet peeve
I honestly believe that people get angry about artist promoting their work or books are the same people that want artist to do commissions for free or dirt cheap. They're the same people that want to continue the cycle of artist being starved and only a select few elite making it. People art is a LUXURY you are not entitled to it. The fact that people can enjoy so many artist and artforms on this platform for FREE is amazing and they get mad when the artist wants to make a little bit of money from all the work they put into their online persona.
Since I was a teen, many decades ago, I've had this struggle with artists using their fame to push agendas. It's a tough balance to manage. Take a musician / band, if they sing about a problem it can help bring awareness to that issue. Then, as many big artists do, they reach a point where people get sick of hearing the speeches at a concert. *cough*Bono*cough* So how does an artist send a message without pushing a personal agenda?
I really agree with what you said about poc stories being cultural immigration stories, or even about experiences and struggles of poc in a prejudice society. Which, yes, dont get me wrong, awareness is important, and so is putting in real world problems DEPENDING on the story. But I typically am not really into writing like that. I like writing adventurous stories with deep world building and lore. And im big on diversity, but its kinda hard when other artists are shoving down my throat to integrate real world problems. I just want to make a poc character without all the added expectations of how I should be writing their stories. Even more so because a lot of it just doesnt fit my universe. A lot of people wont agree with this, but I personally eliminate racial, religious, and lgbt prejudice from my stories in near entirety because it isnt relevant to my stories. The most prejudice you get is between different fantasy species, and even then its minimal. I have other focuses for my art, and I am not going to stop drawing diverse characters. Sometimes stories are meant to be a good time that lets you escape, and relate on a general level. Not constant social awareness.
Interesting about "Drawing pretty people only" and the feeling of it not being good art for not being pretty. I have literally never thought it that way but if you said it, maybe others really do.
I draw pretty woman because it's what I like to draw and that's about where it goes c: I personally don't care for growing on social media or building a following or anything, it's just for me so it works for me. But I do try other things here and there to expand as a artist
same!!
Keep drawing what u like. Fk ppl
She's so real for this
thanks!!
Then how many are fake?
honestly, i couldn't agree more about this. I've been into art and the internet for almost 8 years and the fact that people want to befriend you because you have a certain style they like is honestly pretty sad. whenever you're in amino or Instagram, I always got that kind of online mate who befriend me just so they can get my art for free. and some of my friend who doesn't have that kind of "Pretty & Handsome" art style have always been pushing aside by a lot of people.
I agree 100% with your last point regarding shaming artist for promoting products or services and simply wanting to earn a living through there art. I noticed this via gram I recall a large thread in which an artist was shamed for wanting to gain attention for there work so perhaps they might earn a living, someone said don't post art for likes or something like that, ugh I was so irritated reading that because it's not about the likes it's about gaining visablity for your work, how else are we going to be seen via these platforms If we don't signal the algorithm so that the content can be seen? stop trying to guilt trip artist away from wanting to earn money would you prefer starving artistry? would that be considered a "real artist" the entire thread was attacking the artist I felt bad for them because I understand how hard it is to become a full time paid artist even with access to social media as it takes a lot of savvy and years of skill to get to a stage of being able to earn a living. the last thing we need is to be given a guilt trip or told we don't love art because we want to be able to support ourselves through what we do, bravo! for the honesty here ❤️
I used to do really good art... I think. I even went to college and got a degree. When I was going through the process of trying to get a job, I got turned out A LOT. It was very disheartening. I lost confidence in myself and I've been finding it hard to continue doing art. I'm trying really hard to get back into art, but it's not easy
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Superb video! Thank you from your newest subscriber from New Jersey. Soon to be Upstate New York, in the heart of the valley. We just purchased our first home and im itching to getting back to creating art! Thank goodnessI came across your fruitful page .
Heyy, I just clicked on this video, having no idea who you were before watching the beginning. I read your book! My sister borrowed it from the library and I read it for fun, as did she. We both loved it a lot so I had to show her this video and she thinks you're very cool :) I love your art and your book ❤
about drawing only pretty girls i could expand to the question of character design. It's something I was talking about with a friend, where I find most female designs kind of boring. All the characters are sexy or pretty, I don't know, I'd like to see more varied female characters (and that weren't villains, because in the minds of a lot of people, beauty and morality are two things together).
I’m not Asian American but I love Learing about all the folk stories and stuff!! It’s really interesting to me since American stories all kinda I guess sound the same, the mythos and stories overseas always light a spark in me :)
Very much informative on such topics within the field
I'm glad it's informative! :)
Yeah it gets rlly frustrating when I go on pinterest to find references of people for studies and theres nothing but stereotypically pretty girls. Im trying to stray away from that and learn other body types (specifically very muscular men or women). It gets hard to find reference photos I actually like because theyre all flooded under pretty girl references.
If you want a cat existing in space, you should read the book series cleopetra in space
I have no issues with Asian/Asian-American stories being based on generational trauma and immigration as there are popular media about that. Yet I can understand why you worry about telling stories that aren’t about those.
In terms of basing someone off of their art style or being disappointed when they don’t turn out like that, it’s dumb. Art styles don’t always represent a person. Especially if you draw pretty girls or whatever you’re notable for.
And with the political page too, it usually depends on the situation (like the BLM movement in 2020) but overall I don’t mind when they don’t talk about it. Usually they’re not online all the time or they don’t want to get into conflicts. Going to complete strangers about it makes you look bad. Keep in mind when I say it depends on the situation.
And shaming artists for money like… you see art in media such as animation, gaming, picture books… they cost money. Art is a luxury as it is, and it takes effort. And people need to survive, too.
Artists shouldn't have to be a part of or supporter of any movement. Armchair activists need to get the fuck over themselves and stop bullying everyone.
In the last year i discovered many things i hate about the art world:
-Elitism(in particular in the fine-art world HOW IHATE THAT)
-Individualism and low profesionalism in many areas
-Not strong syndicates
-Outdated programs in art school
-Many artist students dont take seriously the career
Individualism?
i can relate to that where family suggest me to do political satire or wu xia art relate, while i had no knowlage of both then they called me narrow minded
Regarding the Asian American story thing, I FELT THE PRESSURE MAN. I’m ngl, I changed my entire thesis film to reflect my experiences of being adopted bla bla bla BECAUSE I knew the school would give me a better grade, the board would favor it as an “emotional personal piece” etc. I was highly praised and even received a reward for best film but I am not proud of it at all, and I felt pressured to make a story like that because I felt anything else I made wouldn’t be as significant.
This is really helpful for where I am in my career in general, specifically having a new path that doesn't exist yet and forging it
Im going to Sheridan for their animation program this year! So lucky to be going, but considering I center 90% of my work around dragons I never thought I would be good enough because every single peer of mine in my portfolio class drew people. Im lucky to have found it helpful because I was basically learning from scratch instead of falling back of stylistic crutches pertaining to human art. But it will be difficult going forward not because of drawing people being hard because its easier now, but because of my artistic focus and assuming I will not achieve because of what I like drawing. Because Im "not doing art right" (love all my portfolio classmates tho ur awesome)
I used to only draw pretty girls, I found the male face extremely difficult, but one day a few months ago I said I want to LEARN how to draw dudes also, now I only want to draw dudes 😂 draw what you want, ppl will judge you anyways 😊 but I do not like the trend of "fixing other ppls art and drawings" ppl need to follow their own path of improvement, they don't need their art fixed😢
You touched on the two most overdone art topics on social media: 1) sexualized content, 2) political content. I intentionally stay away from those two topics in my work.
SAAAAME
Did I miss something? I don't remember her saying anything about sexual content, just making characters that looks hot. Hot doesn't mean naked or anything like that, it means looking at pictures of people with attractive faces and making your art based around images like that.
@@shadowdemonaerAgree. A person certainly doesn’t have to have sexualized art, but that was not what she said.
As an emerging artist who hopes to turn their work into a college career, I have to say that a lot of what you talk about is super important. While I have encountered some doubt and hesitation about my choice to develop art, I fortunately have a lot of support from family and friends. I do agree with a lot of your other points, and hearing your perspective on certain aspects of the art community (the “only drawing pretty people” and “trending is the only way you can get popular” are issues I see a lot, and I completely agree with you that a lot of people tend to turn a blind eye to the damage this causes not only to others but also impressionable young artists). I’ve learned a lot from my experience on the internet, and I kinda gave up on trying to please the internet.
My advice to young artists out there is to not care so much about what others are doing. People improve their art skills at different rates, and not everyone is going to draw the same things the same ways, and it doesn’t matter if your art doesn’t look “real enough” or mimic popular styles. If you feel dissatisfied with your work, don’t be discouraged by it. Take it as a learning curve. The only way you are going to improve is through practice and diversification of what subjects you study (draw. I.e. if you mostly draw cats but you want to improve how you draw humans or organic scenes) practice. Sometimes you need to step outside of your comfort zone and draw whatever comes to mind, even if it takes a while to warm up to or reach the results you were expecting. For a while there I was stuck in my own little box of creative restrictions and refused to touch anything that involves human anatomy, perspective pieces, or complicated poses, and the art friends I had felt the same way and our group chat felt like an echo chamber of opinions and like-minded styles and preferences. But after I challenged myself to try new things, I found that I really enjoy drawing things that always seemed too hard to do.
Kudos to you if you read the whole thing, I got a little carried away there. But returning to the point, I hope that others recognize the bad traits of the community and take them as lessons to improve from and encourage better methods. The toxic side of the community will never disappear, but don’t let it consume you, either. Your art isn’t bad, it’s just where you’re at right now, and that’s okay! Your skill level doesn’t represent who you are as a person, it’s how you act towards it and towards other people’s works that counts!
Have a great day or night! :D
Giiiiirl I hear you. Every "trending" race or group goes through this until our artists gain enough power and influence to control their own projects. Hopefully it'll pass. That's why its good for everyone to support each other.
Also, I kinda disagree about the political take in one situation. If your page was never political then cool. But if you go hard for human rights for one group but stay mysteriously silent when another group needs support.... that specific silence speaks volumes.
The "only drawing pretty people" irked me too for a long time but let's be honest: As an artist, you do NOT have to be versatile.
I know it sounds ridiculous at first bc us artists get bombarded left and right to be perfect in all kinds of things; but it's just the truth & I am kind of getting mad at other artists forcing their peers into that position.
If you only ever wanna draw "pretty girl x", then you can just do that.
If you enjoy doing it, that's all you need.
Not everybody is striving to be an allround talent, or be the next "mindblowing new thing"-artist. Not everybody derives joy from trying all kinds of different things, painstakingly learning anatomy or perspective drawing or intricate light and shadow scenarioes and I need you people to understand that. Everybody is different.
Your point directly feeds into the "misguided/outdated advice", in that yes, for the art idnustry, you had to be versatile to have better chances of being employed.
That's just not the case anymore today. If you are able to amass a following that financially supports you for only drawing "hot guy #324", then good for you. Seriously, live your best life.
Like, is there some kind of mysterious, underground statue you win by being super versatile? Does the money you own by drawing the same thing over and over not count as real money? Does being a "one trick pony" somehow lessen your quality of life or the love you have put into the piece? Are those artists somehow stealing money out of other artist's wallets?
No.
The answer is no.
I get that you might not like it personally, but that is a you-problem. It was a me-problem too but it literally doesn't hurt anybody.
Does it still irk me sometimes? Sure but then I take a step back and am happy for them, that they have found something they enjoy and like doing.
I'd avise you (and anybody, really) to look into why you can't stand that kind of thing too. Does it stem from internalised perfectionism that you project unto others? Is there jelousy? Why do you feel like they don't deserve to be where they are for "just" drawing pretty people? Why do you see them as "lesser" artists?
I can heavily relate to the "being treated differently based on the art style" - it's not like I was openly bullied during art college times, but... people were still treating me like a weirdo for not applying the "Realistically Totally Correct Way To Draw Stuff Everyone Must Do" in my art. Like, I loved using bright colours, bizarre shapes, making the art fun, and even if the outcome wasn't good, at least I spent time doing stuff I like and gained some experience.
So, never heard anymore from those who treated me "differently" back then, or they quit art completely after college, or they now have some problems with doing art themselves - like I was back when I almost lost my own "art spark" that had to be re-discovered later. Not making fun of these individuals, I'm just dissapointed of how it has been unfolding through the time - I just wanted to meet new friends.
thanks for sharing! I loved the little doodles along the way
Great outlook, I appreciate that you word things so well and everything you say helps nourish artists without slammin the people that spread toxic comments. Keep it up!
Experiencing the political point firsthand here. The issue I pointed out ruffled a LOT of feathers but I'm fully aware of the consequences. While I can look at it as a filter for quality people, the hit to income has been depressing ngl.
I was just binging some of your videos, perfect timing👀
Haha thank you so much!
Wow this is really good to hear. Thanks for sharing your insights. :)
The drawing pretty people thing reminds me a little bit of Milo Manara
interesting!!
@@domenicoruoppolo5875 of course. Manara is a master cartoonist and general artist. He can draw anything to a level beyond master but he particularly specializes in drawing pretty women with certain expressions. He would probably agree with that slightly humorous assessment.
Bleuuugh as as an AuDHD artist with motor-skill issues the first one hit hard because it was my teachers ( middle school all the way through university) who treated me this way. Of course learning to draw from realism is very important to grasp but because I couldn't catch on as fast as my peers I was derided and quickly cast aside. And because of this I wound up too worn down & discouraged, now I've hardly made progress with my illustrative art even though it is my passion. Then I got brain damage and essentially forgot how to draw. Now that I'm older and teaching styles seem to have changed I desperately want to go back to school and re-learn illustration both digital and print.
10:36 I hate this trend sm- maybe it’s due to how I’ve seen how fucked my own generation is with social media, and how that’s affected self worth, my goal with my art is to get good at drawing diverse body types, even if they aren’t seen as “pretty.”
Also to talk about the first point, I agree. I can’t speak from an ethnic perspective because I’m white myself, but I am personally queer, and I want to make stories that don’t just have the coming out of the closet as the entire story.
Super sound advice, love this video!
It's the same in every community. There are always going to be good, bad...the entire spectrum. Humans are prone to be negative and competitive feelings towards one another and we need to think outside of those to nurture and encourage without feeling like everyone is attacking you.
When I was on DA I was part of the Senior Mentors, senior artists who were giving their free time to hrlp others. Occasionally you got people who wanted help but refused any advice or we instantly on the defence thinking you were personally attacking them when they had come specifically to you for advice. I left when it got very toxic towards anyone who was willing to help and everyone started to just attack anyone remotely offering any criticism. The point of the website for me was gone. I wanted to learn & improve and without the criticism I wasn't learning anything. Now? Barely anyone is willing to give any on any platform and it has created stagnation with many people's work.
Something that bothers me about the art community is this "I'm better than thou" attitude that many artists have tbh, and the need to do things always perfectly (which is fine if that is what you are pursuing, but people should not impose that need into those Who only want to be good enough)
The grammatically correct sentence is "I'm better than thee", sry if it sounds like grammar policing
I just wanted to use the right version of thou.
I feel the same way about being a trans gay man that you do about stories about migration, I don't want to read stories about oppression and coming out, I've experienced enough of that in my day to day life, those stories are more for cishet people than they are trans and gay people, just how basic stories about migration are probably more for white Americans to feel good about themselves for learning about migration by watching an inclusive movie rather than being for people who actually did migrate. I just want gay and trans people in a story, the story itself does not have to revolve around their identity and backstory, because that's all something like migration and coming out is, a backstory. The cool and interesting stuff happens after all that
OMG! The name sounded familiar but I didn't make the connection that she was the one who created Succubishez until she pulled out the drawer! X-3 I rlly loved that comic! More on the video tho, I agree with all the points and am glad u brought them up!
Ooh surprise upload!
hehe yep! ;)
1:26 This! I went to this school where you had like….talent tests? So there is this elder woman who is organizing this whole test and she gives me a peace of paper and tells me to draw some things she put infront of me. I’m not into realism, but I’m fine with it since in svg we do realism only. She said that I’m really good and if I ever thought of going to art school etc and then she asked me to show her ky sketchbook. As she opened it she went “Well you can do cartoon and anime in your freetime…don’t be suprised if we won’t take you” not to metion she let everyone else choose whst to draw while she didn’t even give a chance. And so she sends me to this elder man who is PRO painter and calls him “the man who likes to draw spooky monsters” bc he paints fantasy😭 well the man said he’ll take me for sure.
I have an issue of painting only pretty/ hot people like IG. And I am so afraid that I can't draw overwheight people because of the way how pretty my art style looks like, even though I really want. Funny story, I have decided to take one of my characters and give them a bit round belly, to show who they are and how they are. And that, I personally think is how I actually made it. But still, the issue is still there and I just don't know how to start getting over this!
Your videos are always so mature and honest, keep this good work because thinks like this are what really helps ❤
The point made about artist's tying their identity to their art style is poorly made. It's confusing the method with the cause which is a dangerous notion. Art style is directly correlated to identity. Art style is made of your likes and dislikes, you experiences and your knowledge. That is a HUGE part of someone identity and the foundation for making an art style. The problem described in the video is people being prejudiced and close minded. That can be the case in any circumstance and not specific to people tying their identity to their art style. This video makes it seem as if tying your identity to your art style is the cause of the issue, when the actual cause is people being prejudiced or close minded. Art style was ONE of many methods to judge and belittle people.
"You should not be listening to outdated advice from people who are from a different generation." This is not entirely true, and should be rephrased. An older generation of artists CAN give you good advice about ART, maybe not how to make it in the business or industry, but ALWAYS listen to an older generation on HOW TO, when it comes to art process, creating ext. I think your first statement while it has SOME merit, it should be rephrased.
1. Tying an art style to an artist: Some people need to stop saying..."That's my style"... that's an excuse not to improve. I've seen some artists that could improve, and the excuse...is ..."That's my style."
2. Career jealousy happens all the time, even if it's not career related, but with art styles... if someone does a same art style as you, and lets say you're more proficient in it, they do get jealous.
3. Drawing pretty girls, I don't have a problem with, because nobody should tell anyone WHAT to draw. People are free to draw what they want, if someone has a problem with people JUST drawing pretty girls all the time, then maybe that person has some personal insecurities. Personally, I draw a lot of horror, and monsters, but I also do portraits, manga, super heroes, fantasy, ext. I think tho, you're right about just constantly doing it, sometimes you have to grow beyond it.
4. Political situations, people should mind their own business, you're absolutely correct. Artists aren't required to give their opinions.
5. Making money...I make money from my art, and I think it's great! You're absolutely correct!
I recently watched atot, and while watching it, I noticed SOOOO many things that inspired artist in their 20's. So I saw things and realized, OH THATS THE MISTAKE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! So yeah, might look closer to other artists 😅
I haven’t seen anything toxic about the art community, in fact, art channels are the only channels I can get away from toxicity hate and blatant racism transphobia homophobia etc., watching art videos and doing art are my only time to relax and have peace without the toxicity that I see in all other communities and channels.
Hey, pretty cool channel here. And I just bought one of your books just now from Amazon. So, I'll be reading it later. I'm an indie comic book creator myself. On the whole different art thing. It depends on what the artist does I guess.
I really liked the point you had about Asian American stories, because I'm Asian American and queer, so my character are also that way by default, but I like to write about death and the supernatural and mental illness, and I feel like when the queerness and asianness is in the background, I get a lot of "but why are all the characters gay and asian???" Because they are! They them be!
My only problem with pretty characters I usually see is... they are the same. Just clones with hair and clothes switched. Body type, face, height the way to represent "pretty" - no changes at all. I want to see different types of "pretty", they can be so unlike each other yet "pretty".
Yes, anime games, I'm talking about you.
Funny thing when I turn characters into more of basic shapes like Shin Chan, the ppl always judging them as either:
A. Comedic show/cartoon
B. Incredibly deep character in a dark series commenting about either society or political nonsense
There's no in-between or it's just a plain background character.
Although this was in the 90's (and I'll probably have other things to say on the other points) is to not listen to art teachers if they say that your art isn't very good because it doesn't meet their expectations or standards. I loved doing art as a child and in my early to mid teen years but I gave up on it after the age of 16 for 20 years! because one of the art teachers I had didn't like what I drew and made (she taught embroidery and clay, as well as drawing, painting, etc...) and was the bane of my existence in my teen years when it came to arty things. I was good at science, biology in particular, so it didn't sting as much as it could have but I loved art and she sucked all my enjoyment out of it. In 2014, I started doing art again more out a way to get me out of a slump of depression and I really started getting into it in a big way during Covid because I couldn't get hold of aida and evenweave fabric for cross stitch and embroidery (my awful teacher didn't get to ruin cross stitch, thankfully.) Try different things. There are lots more arty things around now than there was in the 80's and 90's and lots of ways to get into it and develop it. Do what brings you joy, make art about things that you love. You will find a subject, style and a medium that suits you.
I would like to add that I understand about the politics angle, because it has happened to me with fanfiction and roleplaying. I just wanted to write stories about a fantasy dwarf girl/woman who likes to explore, draw, learn things and look after her pets/animals in need that she encountered, and wanting a family, or at least a group of friends to share that with - nope. Instead, I came under pressure to get into political things that I wasn't really interested in or had much experience of to even have an opinion of. Don't do it, folks, because although it may mean a lot to you, it just alienates people against you and doesn't get support for your cause. It's OK to use your art to support your cause, or reflect your political beliefs, etc, but don't expect or force other people to. Similarly, if you come across people who are the opposite, leave them be. If you get harassment from people because you show your political stance in your art, report and block them but don't do what they do.
sorry to info-dump but if anyone can give me some advice - I've been trying to step out of my comfort zone of only drawing pretty things/girls, and I tried showing some of them to friends but they shamed me for drawing a man (I won't go in detail of what he looked like, but the drawing wasn't "internet pretty" or what people perceive to be pretty online). And after that I felt like I couldn't draw anything other than pretty girls/hot guys (don't get me wrong - it's like eye candy but I really wanted to try something new and it made me feel really bad about my art)
Start by using references from other sites where you have more choices, like Google images! Sites like Pinterest where things must be "aesthetic" stop you from discovering more. Then slowly make your way and include more and different features as you go, have patience 😆
I know you despised that art community, you’re not alone, I was in the worst community for special needs, I don’t think you’ve heard of them, it’s a program for special adults taking art and it’s overwhelming!, I don’t even like “Self Advocacy” at all especially getting out of the house every Monday thru Friday, it’s bullshit, some of the staffs are secretly narcissists.
I’m glad I’m not there anymore, those people are nothing but (Toxic and even selfish)
I think identitarian movements always cater to toxic people and end up led by narcicists, no matter what the identity is.