"The more one consumes, the less creative one feels." I disagree. I think some forms of consumption inspire you, you just can’t do empty consuming, like how people do mindless grazing, not even really noticing the taste or amount of what they’re eating. People should try to cultivate their tastes as they consume. We don't exist in a vacuum. Inspiration has to come from somewhere, and for a lot of artists, it's from consuming others' work and thinking, "I want to draw like that, I want to do that," as well as inspiration from our day-to-day lives, or nature. As you mentioned, it's about balance, so that you don't cross that line from 'artist' to 'art appreciator.'
Agree lots with this sentiment! If you smartly curate your social media, the networking/supporting other artist intersects greatly with consumer. And it's often inspiring to see how others interpret the world. It's important to be both artist and consumer, especially since you would ask "what do I want to see? Why hasn't it been done? Why don't I do it then"
Am I the only one that got so sad when he said "declutter" your galleries? I am always so unbelievable heartbroken and sad when artists do that. I most of the time do not notice it in time and will never see the artwork I liked so much again. ;____; I can only have oh so many flashdrives with folders of artists work.
Me to. One of the bigger reasons I think I'll stay a hobbyist. I hate the wipes and sanitary feeling decluttering art profiles create amd tend to search out others with messier layouts. But I also don't have money or purchase much art, so I'm the last person people should target I guess.
I like having my old stuff kicking around too, as it gives me a sense of my own improvment. At least on DA you can move old things to scraps so they don't disappear forever, but most other sites don't have that option.
I kinda disagree with this one a bit. For example I love seeing on instagram old post of illustrators and see how much they improved. But again I do not have knowledge as much as Chris
Yeah, I actually do feel sad about this too because I don't want my IG to look like a polished, curated account to look perfect. But I think Chris here is thinking about this from a client perspective. If a client were to look at my instagram they'd want to see the goods right away. But yeah, I also loooove seeing artist's old works, as a fellow artist. Because it shows that they're human and that we all went through a stage of improving themselves. Although, there are some industry exceptions! Like if they're known to be good outside of social media already, they can post whatever they want on their accounts. Thus no need to declutter!
"Don’t open a Social Media app unless you’re promoting your own work, supporting the work of your peers or connecting with industry pros." Good advice. I've had trouble with Facebook being a time vacuum in the past, which is why I have it on a timer now. Sometimes I also worry that if I use social media too much or if I'm on too many platforms, I'll grow addicted to the likes and start creating *just* for that positive feedback instead of making stuff I care about (or actually has a shelf life instead of following a trend). My personality has never aligned with attention-seeking or people-pleasing, but it's hard not to look for some kind of recognition if you think it could help your career. I guess when you get down to it, it depends on who that recognition comes from: A small group of passionate fans and folks with industry clout vs. a multitude of nonchalant bystanders who dish out the likes but don't take any active interest in your work. I'd take the former over the latter any day. :) (And speaking as a CCAD alum, the bit about art school homework was #relatable)
I undestand you. but I can not say I receive many likes and I really don't seek them anymore. I really don't have much feed back at all and I still don't understand why but that it's other issue. People on my pages really don't say 🤔 much . I also understand for what I have read in other feeds that those likes won' t end up in customers.
@@LoriFahy I get that. It can definitely act as a breeding ground for rants and drama, as well as a shallow highlight reel for people's best moments rather than their lowest points (which kinda makes sense; I don't want to bring others down with my issues or turn my profile into a pity party, but still, it doesn't tell the whole story). I like staying in touch with friends and seeing them succeed, though. If you keep things in perspective, Facebook's okay in small doses. Emphasis on *small*.
I post everyday on various art platforms. So far it's actually pretty good! I give one day to rest and then I tackle the rest of the week again to prevent burnout. I was able to get thru over half of the month of april since I've started and I don't have any signs of stopping anytime soon! I will be careful tho. I've burnt out many times before each time I tried that challenge. This time is different and I feel great about it!
This is fantastic advice and something I automatically do - mainly because I've realized we've all only got so much time. You could spend 5 years drawing one picture and no-one sees it OR you could prioritize your time and efforts so you gain as much as possible in those 5 years. Keep re-investing in yourself, it always pays off
The only reason I post crappy animations that are "quantity over quality" is because I basically gave up on my "art career". Too poor to afford Cal Arts, so I taught my self how to animate in Flash, youtube asked me to partner with them to get ad revenue, and now social networking is a nifty little side income for me. I work full-time as a caregiver, and while I do like my job, it is not the job of my dreams. I have settled for less in life only because I have to. Either way, it's all working out somehow.
Sir Isaac Thats great, keep up art for yourself regardless of a art career, still you never know where it could lead. Also its not necessary to put “self taught” on your profile.
"artist" and "I draw stuff" have literally been my twitter bios and I don't know how to feel about it. :D Also the video is very insightful - thank you so much.
:) There's an entire section about bios in "Dream Machine," so there's a LOT to discuss there. But you can be specific in lots of ways, depending on your career goals and your current level of skill. Regardless of where you are in your journey, clear goals are crucial. Thank you for sharing!
I feel like the Nameless Networker, and The Whale types are common on Deviantart and RU-vid and I always notice they start off getting a lot of Dailys and followers, but then lose them over the course of a few years and don't seem to grow. But there are tons of The Whales who follow the solution to the Nameless Networker and suddenly theyre featured and loved everywhere and on patreon. Sometimes without even trying too hard by bombarding tutorials. I myself am the Hermit type. Too much of a perfectionist and I'm slowly learning to overcome it by watching great interviews from pros and more of your videos after this one!
I'm so quiet. I oft feel bewildered by social media. I usually don't post much cuz I donno what I wanna say. I can't even DO the post every day cuz I'd just blank out. I mostly just post my work or speak about whatever the hell I feel passionate about at the time.
I am exactly the same. I don't feel like typing anything on social media. It's not like I don't have opinions, I just prefer sharing them with people I know or those who I know will be interested in my view. Heck, even right now I almost didn't write this message, no offense. I don't even want to describe my art to people. The piece should speak by itself. And I do know that creating a brand around yourself is vital and being silent won't get you far.
I am every single one of this. And It affect me in a phycology level and I had a start of depression because of it. I'm a lot better now and this tips help a lot with keeping my love of art alive and healthy
Sometimes I fondly remember a quote by Robert Henri, "being an artist is not just about learning to draw/paint". Nowadays social media drives me crazy. It's much tougher than you think. But it can't be helped. As Ronnie Coleman once said, "Ain't nothing to do but to do it". Thank you for those advices, Chris! 🙏🙏
I wear many hats as a freelancer and I'm having trouble having meaningful connections on twitter because I'm working on album art one day, a pet commission the next, and then character designs for board games. Do I need seperate social media for these? I'm wondering if my lack of followers is because my career is a bit disjointed, even though I really like working on all kinds of things...
You might. All of the creators I love who do lots of different things have at least 2 profiles of thier prefered social media. It's hard, and normally 1 or multiple accounts suffer, but its how you play the social media game.
It's a bit late, but... What if you try to post the art with announcements. Like "Worked on commission! Next time it's a new dnd design! Look forward to it!" Or maybe trying to upload not chronically but how it fits? Like posting dog commission, and then the fantasy creature that's a Month older and so on. Stuff that works together I hope you have find a way on your own, that made you feel better tbh
#9 unbreakable negative self talk (an over active negative inner critic/inner parent) is most likely C-PTSD related. This is a big problem i see with most people in general, not just artists. Check out Pete Walker's book from surviving to thriving on audible.
I think one of the problems of the noisy neighbor is that they often are the kind of person who would feel comforter sharing all there embarrassing information with every person at the studio. Those kind of people exist in real life as well and they are not different online. However, may be you have encountered more people who do this online who would baulked at the idea of doing it in person, I do not know.
Thank you, Yozegami. I'm glad you found the lesson helpful. And thank you for commenting. The ArtCast never went away, actually. If you join the email list at ChrisOatley.com, you'll get notifications for every episode!
Super valuable content, Chris - thank you for putting this out there. Navigating how to structure not only a life, but also your art making and creative growth is tough enough - but now we need to manage our personal image, our brand, our data, analytics, email lists, how and who we network with, not to mention all the dozens of tasks of just running a business and interacting with clients or juggling work/life - I mean, come on... how much more can we allow to have piled on top of us before we break? It's insane! So any little bit of clarity in one or two areas is very helpful.
Great information! I'm almost all of these. I've tried to start an art career 2 or 3 times and online stores many more times than that but the bad habits have always gotten in the way. This is one of the best videos I've seen touching on the topic of artist habits and social media. Clear and straightforward. I'll definitely re-watch this when I launch my Etsy store next month. Thanks for your concise delivery and useful information! (And the illustrations are adorable.)
The sound in the backyard, the elegant soothing style of narration, the subtle metaphors are very tasteful; and the message, advice, and revelation that each sentence of this wonderful video carries are so empowering, yet, serve as strong working for those (I included) that identify that themselves are making these mistakes. I'm glad to find a RU-vid channel of such caliber and that a video as important has been made for us beginners/dreamers.
lol I guess i'm a pottymouth and a little bit of a bean counter.. luckily i've been able to stop giving a crap about numbers since they dont pay the bills..
I've kept my current project in the dark for the most part because I'm terrified that if I talk too much about it, that I'll lose the motivation to keep going. See, I'm a terrible procrastinator. I've been taking steps to get better, because I'd like to create my own stories some day, but I'm still fighting against old habits. It's taking everything for me to not quit, and the thought of its surprise unveiling is about the only thing keeping me going. It's very tempting to talk about my project to my audience, and I've nearly slipped up more than once, but I don't wanna lose the hype of finishing it by spoiling too much. It doesn't help that I don't have a large or involved following to begin with. So even if I did post about my project, if I got no response about it, that also might demotivate me.
i had like every bad habit here. And i was kind of aware.... Gotta be hard to change all of them. I wll save this vid and revisit it when i feel something is going wrong
Thank you so much! I just got the idea to make my profile a little bit more simple. I will be more direct about what I like to do. I'm not even aiming to be a professional artist but it will be nice to get more attention and to raise other artists up as well. :)
welp, good thing being a professional hasn't really been my goal in the first place. my twitter is a mess, but it's my personal mess, and if i ever intend to go professional, i'll just create a separate account for it instead of restricting my personal account. why did i watch this? mostly out of curiosity. someone on twitter posted a link.
I always get trapped by #3, which turns me into #7 and then #9. I get super salty when I make a random funny comment on a art piece that gets 30+ likes on twitter, but I post something on my own channel I worked hard on and it gets....nothing lol. It makes me feel i'm not good enough so I do the pottymouth at times
I found this video incredibly helpful. I don't paint or draw, but I do make videos about movies and my ultimate goal is to be a film editor. All of the tips in this video were insightful and got me rethinking my strategy. Thanks!
I can completely relate with The Bean Counter. However, I felt there was one habit missing that's also very much related to me: the overly-perfectionistic OCD Artist. I am constantly reposting the same work just because I see a little detail I want to fix. Because there is no option to edit in Instagram (which, in my opinion, is a shortcoming), my followers see the almost same drawing again and again. It’s a problem I have and, if there is any solution to break this, please do tell ;) That’s all. For the rest: thank you for this very informative video.
..Shit I`m a hermit. This is the first time I heard a list of this nature with actually anything that describes my past of 12 years social media. Guess I have something tangible to work on now.
Thank you, Komodorhino! Yes, the Characters don't represent any real people. I created them to help us identify, clarify (and hopefully laugh about) our own artistic struggles. We're probably all a mixture of more than one these.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video Chris, it's really valuable in re planning my social media strategy, it covered so many of my bad habits!
This was great, thanks so much! I'm a strange mix of a few of these character types and doing some right and some wrong from each but really useful to have it organised and explained like this!
Great Advice! I'm always posting to social media aiming people to my RU-vid gallery channel. (videos seem to show the sculpture work better than a bunch of 2D pics). To keep people interested, as it takes so long to get a new sculpt complete,
I've been hiding as a hermit for years, lol. This year I decided to break out and focus on a project I'm passionate about. No idea if it'll work, but I know I need to put myself out there more and that's what I've been doing. And like you said, there's no reward without risk. So I'm staying positive, posting regularly (but not to my own detriment), and trying to communicate the excitement I genuinely feel about what I'm doing. This was a very encouraging video and you've definitely researched all the "characters" of social media. I identified with traits of a few of them, but mostly the hermit. Anyways, thank you so much for making this! :D
Kathryn Whiteford Art This is very encouraging to hear! I’m happy to know that you have found so much clarity. You’re in a great position too! You can begin to explore your own creative take on social media *starting* with focus and efficiency!
Relevant and well put. Excellent advice. This really helps me have clearer direction for my instagram strategy and gives me hope for my youtube channel :) patience is key!
This is very practical and a great video to be more aware and efficient. I really liked the reminder to be cautious of how much we consume instead of produce and to be mindful in our approach and to aim towards proactive professionalism. Thanks Chris!
Great and funny breakdown. I would object only on the "potty mouth" Char though : if i feel something didn´t work - which happens once in a while...c´mon...-or i feel blocked etc . i honestly write about that. In my experience the community- on Insta that is- in this case is very helpful and supportive . And i can totally relate to that, i´m not interested myself in geniuses who never fail or artists, who always stay positive. If you are such an artist: great. If you are not: don´t be afraid to show it. Stay true to yourself and your audience and allow yourself to share this sometimes. ( Emphasis on Sometimes)
I'm in a bean counter hole because I really feel like you need a large following to be successful. It makes sense to me that recruiters would want someone with more followers as they'd have a better 'track record' if that makes sense
Thank you so much for this! I have been having a hard time as to how social media works and this helped immensely. Now I know I have to break out of the hermit shell, commit to my goals and share my art with more clarity to the community.
"...And Kevin?! How Did His Work Get Featured?! He Posts Nothing But Furry Versions Of Famous, British Octogenerians!" Looks Like Kevin's A Furry. Oh Dear.
This makes me depressed, frustrated and makes me think all at the same time. I've lost what I want in my art field and lost sight of my goals. I got consumed by social media and the drama and it sucked everything out of me. I'm finding myself watching movies, scrolling on Facebook or tumblr more than actually drawing. I want to draw, I see myself drawing and have that fire but the actions are at a halt. I was posting on tumblr but than got discouraged and more depressed and sick of the drama of fandoms. On Facebook the political crap. So I stop posting alm together. Started on Deviantart years ago and was doing good until the demands of fanarts and notes, favs, watchers etc. Just consumed me. So I'm a silent follower. Pretty much given up on posting anything or sharing my art, even though I want a career in the arts. I love character designing, doodles, and animations. I love cartoons. But don't even know where to start. To me, my art feels stale more than creative. Hopefully these tips will help.
Monica Vallejo don’t let it get you down. It’s good you’ve realized all these negative things. Now you can change them for the better. This is to put the fire back under your feet!
Some good advice, I always wonder about daily art challenges like march of robots and inktober, they are going to be quantity over quality because you have to post everyday but they also make you feel more part of a community.
Not him, obviously, but from what I've seen: There's a lot more demand for stuff than what I would have believed. Not only as in types of art, but also price range. Amateurs can consistently land commissions if their art is anywhere near passable and they don't go crazy with prices. You won't see them providing illustrations for that new D&D manual, but if I need a quick portrait of my character for an RP board and have like, $15 to spend, maybe I won't care that you can't draw hands, or that you only offer plain colors. A lot of people that need art made not only cannot afford top-tier stuff, most times they don't need it. There's a market for everything. STILL that doesn't take away from the fact that those same artists could be doing a LOT better if they just practiced more and communicated better. There being clients at the bottom doesn't mean there isn't much better money at the top or even the middle of the mountain.
Hello Chris How are you? hope everything is great! This are the little guys I saw in your stories and I asked about them! This is just perfect today and left me thinking. First of all I decided to create a new account...yes I leave 1200 followers to start brand new...with a little recap of past sketchbooks but just submitting the best work But now that I listened and discover that I have bad ha bits I am thinking of stopping the recap. I need to focus in what I want to go as a professional and put that in my feed. So I am taking out things that don't cover that purpose. I wish I can be an animator but I am not very good artist yet I want to publish my cómics and books and maybe be a backgrounds and character designer in a studio, I know it sounds very "noisy and messy" but I think is what I want most. So I should just put focus in that kind of material? Dont even put my little Sculptor practices? I dont want to be a bad habit incarnation and screw my art career...If I still have hope. Thank you for this podcast was really useful.
Have studios stopped taking applications? I don't understand. Because it would seem that the odds of a major studio hiring some random artist via social media are about the same as, if not less likely than if they sent in a great portfolio. Can you weigh in on this? Thanks.
Studios aren't the only clients :), and often publishers and add agencies hire freelancers for a one-time job. Not to mention non-artistic clients who still need art. But regardless of who your desired clients are, even big publishers, studios and agencies most likely receive many applications, and often those applications don't come with easily-searchable tags. Social media websites do. And sometimes popularity will carry an art-piece (and the artist) to the front. And sometimes a random artist will be the only good artist who tagged their black-and-white scratch-board moody illustrations properly :P.
Hey, Chris! For a artist who is an art educator too, do you think that suits best to have separated social media accounts, one for educational stuff and other for actual art pieces? Thanks for the elusive video.
All of this makes sense, but it's weird for me. I get most of my work from my one social media where I don't care and literally post anything, even a 10min MS paint doodle before later posting a masterful painting that took months. Sometimes I give these posts really professional captions like how it was made and how much it would cost for you to have me make a custom one for you. Or I'm just being the potty mouth, although I've gotten alot better about that. And then on the social medias where I work really hard and post only my best work with good captions and tags, nobody cares. >n< Uggghhhhh social media so hard and doesn't make sense!!!
I can relate to this. I'm all exited about some art pice that I have put a ton of work in and theres no reaction. Other times I make a silly doodle that gets a ton of attention and I'm all "You have got to be kidding me."
Omg I needed to watch this I am a Rando and need serious help having a goal I mean I want to be a master animator that’s my main goal but I just don’t know where to start or what exactly to post for.
Fantastic breakdown Chris! Such a thorough study of the social media behaviour. I often feel like seeing your content more often, but I know that it takes time to create relevant and quality content, so I'm willing to wait for it. Thank you for all your efforts- really enjoyed your insights on this topic and also the illustrations :)
Thanks, Ramya. I know my subscribers want more ArtCasts more often and I do too. Just like I talked about in the "Wisdom" section, however, there's balance to be found. ...and also like I talked about in that same section - I don't want to commit to something where I can't consistently deliver my best. The challenge lies in how the episodes take soooooo much time (not to mention physical energy and mental effort) to produce. ...so it often comes down to, simply, "There are just not enough hours in the day." (For example: This episode took about 80 hours from inception to completion.) I've been considering launching a Patreon to help support the production of the episodes, but if I ever do one, I want to really do it right. So yeah, I'm sorry I don't have a clearer answer about that right now but it is something I think about literally every day. Right now, the priority is the Dream Machine launch - and after that, the priority will be the Dream Machine students. ...so increasing the number of podcast episodes is more of a backburner thing right now. It's not wrapped up in the freezer - haha - just sitting back and simmering while I'm focused on DM. Does that make sense?
@@ChrisOatley Absolutely!!! Having been associated with OA for a while now, I can for sure see the effort you and your team put into creating quality content. And you're one of those rare artists who don't just complain and rant, but also provide solutions and the latter takes time and as you said, lots of energy! On top of all this, there's life to live!! :D Totally understandable :) My best wishes to the DM launch. I'm sure it's gonna be awesome, as always!
I was a Potty Mouth for a long time, Imm trying to change that, I was a Burnout before, it didnt last long, its tiring and I’m too perfectionist. Trying to find a balance. Recently I’ve stopped opening IG, I guess I’ve become an Alice... But i have been focusing on re building my account into a professional one
I honestly found myself in a few different characters, especially the bean counter ( I do admit to attaching numbers to how well I'm doing), and it's certainly something I need to break. Also the negative self talk
