A Golden Mean

[rynling]

Last night I posted a narrative illustration on social media. As I was working on it, I knew it was going to get very little positive feedback and cause me to lose followers, and this in fact did happen. Still, I really enjoyed creating the piece, which is very polished (for me, at least) and expresses something I care about deeply.

There are a lot of similarly “difficult” illustrations I want to make, by which I mean I have a collection of nested folders full of scripts, notes, and visual references. I’ve refrained from actually working on these pieces because I don’t want to alienate people, but it was incredibly liberating to stop caring about that for a few days.

I know myself, and I know that consistently getting negative feedback on social media isn’t going to feel “liberating” in the long term. Also, I genuinely enjoy working on “easy” projects. So I need to figure out a good ratio... and also maybe what people like to see on social media? I don’t see this as selling out so much as an interesting challenge, and it’s good to be honest about the importance of external validation and community support.

Comments

[renegadefolkhero]

I think the term "selling out" must have been coined by people who do not create anything ever. Finding the balance between creating art you enjoy and creating art to market so your work can actually get exposure is essential.

[rynling]

It's true. You're right and you should say it.

Also I saw on Tumblr that you've set up an easel. Godspeed friend!