Are we really drawing for ourselves anymore? 💭

With many artists moving to Cara, I think it's a good time to reflect...
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⭐️ ABOUT THIS VIDEO
Due to an AI policy being added to Instagram, many artists have left/moved to a new social media platform for artists named Cara. With the topic of social media, Instagram and Cara being up in the air right now, I thought it would be a good time for us to reflect... on why we're really drawing... and are we drawing for social media rather than for ourselves?
0:00 IG poopoo 😐
1:25 Social Media is Overwhelming... 😔
3:28 Pros of Social Media 👍
5:11 Cons of Social Media 👎
11:56 Saku's tips dealing with social media 🤯
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🔖 MY CARRD + SNS LINKS

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🎹 MUSIC
♪ Moonlight Sonata Op 27 No 2 - III Presto (Beethoven)
♪ C Major Prelude (Bach)
♪ Moonlight Sonata Op 27 No 2 - II Allegretto (Beethoven)
♪ Kinderszenen - Op 15 No 7 (Schuuman)
♪ Kinderszenen - Op 15 No 1 (Schuuman)
♪ Liebestraum (Liszt)
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🌸 FAQS
Name? | Veda (pronounced vay-dah). My nickname is Saku!
Age + nationality? | Oct 04' liner (do the math!), born and raised in Hong Kong :)
Languages? | Mother tongue is cantonese, most comfortable in english, fluent in mandarin and intermediate in Japanese (N3 JLPT)!!
What app do you use? | Procreate for drawing and animating (Ipad pro 12.9 inch 3rd gen), final cut pro x for editing (macbook pro 13 inch)
What procreate brushes do you use? | I mostly use 6B pencil + narinder pencil for graphics and lineart, and I use flat brush and nikko rull for painting
What camera do you use? | A mix between my iphone 11 and the DJI pocket
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🏷 HASHTAGS + KEYWORDS
Cara / Instagram / Social Media vs Artist / Art Social Media / Art Community / What is happening on Instagram / What is Cara

[SpookyBubblegumArt]

The struggle is real with trying to balance social media and my own enjoyment with art. It's so frustrating! I honestly try to always draw things that bring me enjoyment but that doesn't mean I don't feel the pressure of not posting in a while (and needing to post "consistently"). I know people who aren't using social media to grow their business might not understand the pressure we feel but some times I wish I could just vanish from social media and return when I feel like but I know whenever I do this, the platform punishes me. It's a very abusive relationship. 😥

[Samusfan]

This whole instagram mess finally made me open a website using wordpress. I'm tried of putting in effort to these social media apps, and then some life altering thing like AI or Elon Musk come in and make it worse. Having your art all in a home base controlled by you really helps the "I'm drawing for myself feeling."

[DRS]

I'm not even a professional artist, I just love to create characters and draw them, but even I struggle with how much others like my art. And as you say, I might be enjoying everything about the process of a certain drawing, and when I finish it I could be proud of the result, but after uploading it to Instagram and receiving just a few to none likes, I start to doubt about my artwork, even taking it down so no one can see it. It's very sad how much numbers can impact us, even at a small scale like mine.

[staytiny-su]

i find that sometimes it helps to remember that you have supporters irl too: a loved one who praises your work i feel is always more meaningful than a hundred strangers pressing a button. of course it's easier said than done to just not care 😅 but drawing for your own enjoyment is so important- it shouldn't make you feel down ❤

[tyforester]

This is something I really needed to hear and didn’t even realize I was doing. I’ve been putting way too much thought into what I think people want to see and it has made me subconsciously not want to make art anymore. Thank you for this video 🥺

[Ptphshsbs]

PERFECT TIMING!!! lately i've just not been enjoying drawing at all. I cannot find inspiration to even just pick up a pen, i desperately want to draw but when i start i just cannot push through. Thank you, saku for making this video allowing me to get my thoughts in order! the new hair looks wonderful on you! have a great day<333

[picat]

all this social media ai stuff happening right now is definitely kinda overwhelming, that one thing also about instagram favoring the pretty girl artstyle too is so real tho 😭😭this was really helpful tho, i actually didnt know insta had a turn off like/share count option so i did that too😳right now i feel like im trying not to really care about the numbers and i think i dont as much esp cuz i know the algorithm is really kinda terrible, but its also sometimes really hard when i think about stuff like getting my name out there for possible jobs/commissions and all that, , but thank you veda for making this video it brought some comfort and i think helped me figure out what i kinda wanna do with my social medias despite it being very sucky rn <3 your new haircut is so cute btw!!

[destinymoon]

THAT NOTEBOOK KEYCHAIN IS THE CUTEST AND SMARTEST THING IVE EVER SEEN OH MY GOD????

[lynnboartsdye]

As it is I don’t really post to social media to make money or game an algorithm, I just like posting my work like “hey, I’m here. This is my art” and letting people come and go. With the advent of AI stealing peoples art and infringing on intellectual property I think nows a good time to remind ourselves as artists that the internet isn’t the only place you can show your art. Look to your town or cities local arts councils and galleries, self publish with zines! You don’t have to work for an algorithm or wait for a fancy publishing company to scoop you up and make your dreams come true. I think social media is great for connecting with artists you’d never otherwise meet but we’re leaning so heavily into it that we’re not interacting nearly as much with our neighborhood artists. There needs to be a balance and corporations need to stop stealing artists intellectual property and we need to say NO loud and clear.

[semeyeify]

This video really made me think about my art and the algorithm. I had no idea that insta was using posts to train ai 😢

[lobsterbeats]

This came at a perfect time. An artwork I worked really hard on just flopped and I'm remembering why using twitter made me hate my art. I really enjoy making art but when it comes time to post I get really anxious about whether it'll do well. I'm thinking of maybe taking another hiatus, or waiting a week after finishing art to post it, so that I have more grounded view of it and less expectations

[Ixmxxnlynx]

It's like they want to take every little bit of our joy •••

[bluebelljays]

This is so real. I thought I could keep frequently posting, but I ended up burning out because I was comparing myself to other artists on the platform and trying to make art similar to theirs rather than things true to myself.

[vose_art]

I relate to this so much though I’ve never used instagram. I really love doing lots of different art and often go through months without posting because I know my audience isn’t going to engage with that content or because it’s just something I want to make for myself. And while there’s nothing wrong with that necessarily it is sad to feel like you’ve fallen off or lost to drive you used to have when in reality your life and/or priorities have simply changed. Social media also loves consistency and while some artists can do the same sorts of things over and over and still find fulfillment in that I personally never have been able to as someone who’s in tons of fandoms, is in too lots of different types of content, and has adhd.
I feel like the culture of everyone essentially becoming a product that they market is getting really overwhelming and as you said the idea of young kids being raised like that is scary.
Your idea of turning off likes reminded me of this study I remember hearing about where teenage girls thought pictures with higher likes were better than those with lower likes. I’m really interested to know if a similar theory might apply to artists.
Anyway I agree with a lot of your points made in this video and I’m glad you shared your perspective and experiences with this subject.

[misoramoon]

Im not much of an artist but in terms of making music, this is so true. I dont even know if im making music to appeal to the public or for me anymore. This results in me even questioning my passion in music. FOMO is also so real and wonky:/ thx veda for the vid again lol:)

[Sorearts_]

This video is so true the cons of social media are larger than the pros i love your take on it and how you talk about being “obscured by numbers” thats really what makes me feel like all my drawings are bad as well and yeah i used to just draw for social media but when i tried drawing for myself they ended up being my best drawings honestly its a huge struggle and the new ai wave really doesnt help TvT <3 love your vids saku hopefully you feel better and everyone is happy with their art!!

[johnygamr]

Oh man, I have been trying my absolute hardest to improve my art and grow my following online. But my expectations for my art became absolute bogus out of nowhere! I realized because of how I want people to react to me on social media, I'll feel like everything I make is not good enough.
I'm guessing when you try to do everything for others, you kinda lose the ability to draw for yourself and get happiness from that. But the pressure and expectations you put on yourself only grows.
Some of the greatest artists I've seen weren't pressured like this when they were developing their skill, they just enjoyed drawing. I need to learn from them lol

[matchacat]

i used to be active on social media but never got the engagement i wanted, and especially when i started posting art, i began to feel like it wasn't good enough... i'm still trying to heal from that, mostly by improving my art to a place where i actually feel good about it, but also trying to change the way i view social media (for when i inevitably go back to it as i kinda HAVE to, art career and all that) with videos like these that help remind me, likes and interactions and silly algorithms don't determine the worth of your art, you do!!
(by the way, i started watching your videos recently and let me just say, i love them so much!! <3 they're super cozy and are already helping me a lot on my art journey. so thank you!! i also REALLY wanted to comment that i'm wearing those EXACT pink headphones you have in the back of your room there :33 twinsies!!!)

[SpaceChannelDelta]

Beginner artist here! I was drawing a lot for a few months but then injured both my wrists and had to stop for 3-4 months. It was really upsetting not being able to pursue what I felt was a genuine newfound passion HOWEVER! it did force me to sit and reflect on my approach to how I was learning art. I felt pressured for everything I made to be post-worthy which, as a beginner, resulted me spending an excessive amount of time on drawings that didn't really need it. I'd improve faster, I think, if I spent less time on individual drawings and more time sketching and making "messy" art. I think going forward, at least until I've developed my skills more, I'm going to be spending less time on social media worrying about posting.

[twizzlindoodz]

Ah thank you for making this video!! Ever since the instagram update, I've been thinking about my social media use as an artist A LOT. It was really nice to hear you talk about your experience, and I really relate!