Do you prefer drawing privately or sharing your work?

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Well, shit, this seems to hit kinda close to home for me. Though, I think it happened a little more in the reverse order. I was perfectly content in drawing in a certain way, essentially a comfort zone, for a good period of time and posted almost everything I drew. As I got better though, and probably more aware of the mistakes I was making, I got more and more picky with what I decided to post, to the point where I've almost completely clammed up now and draw 90% for private use.

>>2981119
Are you me?

Farming tumblr likes is definitely addicting, and to some extent, I was only drawing because I thought that all the tumblr followers actually wanted to see me draw.

The novelty wore off and I just drew when I felt like it, and I stopped posting. Now I post just for myself so I can keep track of when / what I have drawn.

>without worrying about it looking bad
I just post everything I draw, sometimes it's shit, which helps maintain reasonable expectations of the quality I produce.

>>2981119
I relate to this so much. back in highschool I used to be somewhat good at drawing portraits so Id just draw portraits of celebs then post them on instagram for likes and attention from cute girls haha

for the past few years though ive been trying to draw more from imagination though. I actually ended up deleting the old instagram and making another one.

also, did you draw those drawings? I like them a lot!

>>2981119
Blog??

What do you guys put for tags? I never get noticed :(

>>2982129
I'm not op but like apparently everybody else I can relate. Thanks for the warning as a younger artist going through that anon

>>2984795
Same. Like my art isn't the greatest, but I see people post stick drawings that get more response than anything I've done.

>>2981119
I've recently started to upload my shit to my personal Instagram and get ~20 likes/pic from friends and family.
I actually don't really like the attention, since I think I'm crap while the ones I know think I'm amazing. But by uploading it I sort of make the drawings real (threes falling in woods, and whatever), and that includes making the mistakes real. And it makes me deal with my flaws in a different way than if I would keep the art secret in a drawer.

I started pursuing tumblr fame about a year and a half ago. The validation you get from amassing followers and getting more and more notes feels nice, but eventually it all starts feeling superficial. Probably because it is.

Playing the note game is a way to push yourself to make more and better content in order to please your audience. It probably helped me improve a lot. But I'm coming up on 9000 followers now, and it's really more of a burden than anything else.

I feel like my improvement is stagnating because I'm afraid to leave my comfort zone. I built my fan base on a niche, like anyone who wants to be popular would do. I enjoy my subject matter of course, but sometimes I feel like I'm obligated against doing things that are totally different. I can't experiment as much as I'd like with my art style because the results might not be good enough to post. Sometimes it's hard to draw for myself instead of for a pack of strangers

The only two good things about it are A: making lots of cool Art Friends, and B: socially inept people asking to give you money. Depending on your financial situation it might be worth it, but it's definitely not all sunshine for anyone who really cares about their work

>>2985257
What tags do you use on tumblr? I generally do creature art should I just sell my soul and only do pokemon fan-art for getting a fanbase going?

>>2985257
>I can't experiment as much as I'd like with my art style because the results might not be good enough to post. Sometimes it's hard to draw for myself instead of for a pack of strangers

You can experiment and not post, you know. No one is forcing you to post everything you do, try shit out, it will not look pretty on the first (or second or third) attempt but at least try.

Drawing for external validation is a bad idea since you place the appraisal of others above your own value judgement. In this way you will live only as a slave to others, leading to an unsatisfying existence.

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>post art online once
>got critique
>don't post art online anymore

I don't think it's bad exactly. Especially for a beginner artist it can be hard to stay motivated. Getting some external validation and encouragement can help you keep going. Sharing it can also help you find other artists which can also motivate you more.
It's just a matter of keeping your head above the praise and keep working at art as well.

>>2985302
drawing in a vacuum is a bad idea since the entire point of art is to share impressions and feelings in an aesthetic manner

>>2985729
nah ah,

"the aim of art is to glorify beauty."
mucha says so

My art is too shit to post online, so I only do it for LASsies, or when I want to get some critique. If I were actually good though, I would post some things online.

>>2985259
If you build your following drawing fan-art, many of your followers will leave soon after you stop drawing their fandom. If you're gonna do that, I'd say start drawing only Pokemon and add in your own ideas very gradually.

>>2981119
I doodle a little bit and it's a really cool feeling that people can tell what you've drawn and make sense of it. I don't know why but it's really neat.

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>>2981119
would agree with everything you said op. i way prefer drawing private work though I think the most important thing is just to draw a lot and when i draw private stuff i just like to fuck around and not worry about the end result its more fun

>>2985729
Of course art depends on an audience, but ultimately your productive work should be to satisfy yourself, not depend on others' constant approval, to the extent that it becomes the only driving factor

>>2985257
I tend to just post whatever Im working on at the moment. It doesn't get me many notes, and I have less than 200 followers, but it lets me play with style and subject matter without feeling like im letting anyone down

I would like to share my work someday, but I need to work on stuff first, people can be mean on the internet sometimes if your work looks bad as a beginner. But sometimes I want to keep stuff to myself. I drew some busty animal characters for a friend once, and mym mom happened to se this and wanted me to draw busty animal pinups for a calender. And I was so embarresed having my family see them. The drawings weren't that great and everyone thought they were cute, so maybe I'm overthinking things.

I'm not good enough yet so no I do not share it. I work in a school, not art related, and showed one of the teachers in that department. She has encouraged me to keep going and says I should be putting my work out there. I think she was just being nice though.

>>2985259
Original works on tumblr probably won't net you any exposure at all, especially compared to fan art, it's just a bitter truth of how the site works. On the upside, the few followers you have will be fans of your work and not fans of whatever fandom you draw

>>2985266
> no one is forcing you to post everything you do

No, but if I stopped sharing art with my friends and followers to go make strange and ugly things instead, there's a certain part of me that would feel bad. I know that sounds stupid because I know giving a shit about strangers on the internet is stupid, but I can't help but hate the prospect of letting down everyone who likes my art

The obvious answer is "just do both dumbass" but I hardly have the time to do one or the other, so of course I pick the one that actually looks good

Share the good stuff.

Don't post every crappy doodle I do online.

>>2981119
sometimes I'm needy and impulsively share something. The reaction will most of the time make me feel regret.

Then there are pieces which I've worked on for a while and gotten loads of positive emotions out of it already. When I post those online I give much less of a shit. So a positive reaction is a plus, but not needed.

I mostly share wip stuff privately with a few select friends. I stop sharing with those who make me feel worse for doing so. Often takes me a while to actually become aware of that.

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>>2985729
I guess so. It's fun to see what's in the air even if you don't take to it.

I enjoy those sites where it's public but not really social like drawr or tegaki, like it's sort of a community.
On tegaki people can leave you comments but there's no likes or reblogs to think about

I envy all of you seeking other people's attention, I just wanted to get past erasing everything out of hatred of my creations. I can't imagine being confident enough to actually think people would like your work.

I also want everyone to die in a flaming ball of explosive gas.

>>2990224
>I also want everyone to die in a flaming ball of explosive gas.
Rude.