Somehow I didn't think of gushing all of my art thoughts here until today. That changes now. To be as simple as possible, art is creation with the purpose of reflecting some sort of aspect of humanity in the viewer. This can be subjective, hard to spot, or uncomfortable at times when having to parse different forms of art. If you feel something when you look at an artpiece, congrats, you're human! You solved the 'puzzle' so to speak of an artist trying to ellicit some sort of emotion.
I consider myself an artist, but not to the extent of making money, or fame. I think there's plenty of art that many artists are trying to whip out (and let's not dig into prompters) but don't scratch that relatable itch that I have. Vibes-wise, I can get close, but I can't put my 100% on something because of something or rather. Explains where the effort to draw comes from, but...
Being real, I started to want to draw because I had this crush on a girl in 1st grade that knew how to draw well. I drew stick figures in comparison. So in an effort to build some sort of relatibility, I put box clothes on my stick figures, and is probably the first conscious moment of wanting to draw art. Later on my crush dissapated after I learned that she turned out to be quite the handful, but that latent creative potential still stuck with me.
I guess it was because each doodle, figure, and topic had me wonder what made me 'me'. It's like mentally looking at yourself from an outsiders perspective, how do you gauge yourself in comparison of others? None of my hobbies fit quite right, I pretty much was a carbon copy of my older brother, and even I can't write about myself. If you compare this to my Deev portfolio, it's not going to be good, or thoughtful, but it contains kinda what I felt like expressing bits and pieces of myself at.
Now, I draw because I haven't seen anybody else do what I thought, and I felt it was necessary for me to give that thought some reality. Furries, Limp Bizkit, Guns, Art referencing music perpetually living the glory days of the 19-2000s, I did it because I wanna. I chose deviantart as a joke, but half of it is also because I wanted to witness archives of people being very active in themselves. No number-go-upping, no cash on the brain, not even societal brownie points, they did it because that's them, foo! Not like I could participate in things like SheezyArt or Flipnote Hatena, because both iterations had or have been defunct, and honestly I would much rather create my own present than to drown in the memories of people past. Maybe some hypocrisy on my end, but hey.
I think that's why I draw, but obviously there are some reasons as to why I keep myself to my own dank armpit of the internet. So what are my artistic...
Well, one, probably refusing to spiderweb my media to other more popular social medias, because engaging in the big ones is like having to get flayed on the thighs each time. I get people wanting to look at the media in their own turf, where log in walls aren't there, but jesus on a stick that's too much for my milquetoast scribbles to be shown to the masses. What, do I have to beat the porn artists and the people who pay to algoboost their work to get one human being to stare at it for a little while and leave? Sorry. It's just a huge can of worms for me to even want to entertain the idea of doing that. Have to face against hivemind mentality, mob mentality, self confidence, the definite fact that if my art is good enough it's going to be poached by the art compilation people that do it for the money, it's not fun, but nobody said it's that easy.
Another limit is probably just the way the art world is, there's way too many art pieces existing already for people to give my stuff a shot. That's why you gotta tag, hustle, and whatever deplorable acts to get it onto peoples eyes in the first place. To be famous is to either be dead or to have connections to friends in high places. Since I'm not looking to be fawned over at, that's not an issue, but I'm not exempt from the extreme flow of art. People have to get selective because in this day and age it's like a landfill of crap. You can't be like the early e-artists and rely on word of mouth and general suprise finds for people to glance and appreciate.
Another is a self-admitted one, but I don't want to go pro for a hobby that I enjoy. Art industry from what I've heard about it is miserable and cutthroat, and very likely to burn you out. I still take the lessons to heart, like anatomy, how to 'cheat' at making art faster, and what to consider in orienting your drawing. However, to actively improve your skill, you just have to grind away at it, and there is no definite mark. I don't consider art my end all be all, and I would rather engage it in conjunction with other stuff, like skateboarding when I go out. One hour in the sun later, and my legs are either sore or I'm sweating buckets of sweat out of nowhere, and now it's time to schmooze some dream trance and draw crap.
I have heard through the grapevine that drawing smut has it's black magic benefits, but I can't draw that. Jus' boundaries, and also I think that it would fuck with my drawing artistry irreversibly. My main cheat code is to go to a mall and start looking at the crowd for design practice.
This is what I unfairly boil down to what I think of having to parade my art for the off chance of getting people to see. I don't want to piss people off by shoving this into their feed or whatever, and I'm sure that there's not going to be a classroom full of real fans to appreciate my stuff. If you stumble upon it and fw it heavy, that's great. If you like it enough to favorite it, more power to you. My real cherished possessions are the people who leave comments, because it's quite the dedication to decide something's worth saying, even if it's just one word like 'cool' or something.
I guess it just have to do with me treating my art like a secret. Never show your entire hand type stuff. I also have to state stuff like art envy and self-impostor syndrome to artists that dedicate themselves more to their craft. I gotta be on good terms to even want to show my art, but not outright, more like a peer-over-my-shoulder thing. Whatever, my art is weird and so am I, do what you wish.
Also, make sure your art is in .jpg format if you're going to build a gallery into your website, or not if you're a supporter. Not like there's going to be much traffic if you shun the mobile phone crowd too much. Another tip before I leave, you gotta give the people something if you also want something. You want engagement, give an artpiece, or a new page encouraging discussion, or even have some fun subpages for them to chew on something. People aren't going to engage if they find it a waste of their time, so make it worth wasting their time.
If you're a human being and somehow reach this, RP chat yourself throwing a tomato and send the message to my profile page, thank you.