Thriving as an Artist in Turbulent Times

As a creative person, you’ve already got a lot going on, all of us have personal circumstances and things on our mind, there’s the goals we set for ourselves, the striving to improve and get better, and any number of the doubts and discouragements that can hold us back- that’s all before you incorporate the monster of the week.

Brookes Eggleston On Social:

[cheiftainvulpix]

I love drawing for myself and slowly work on projects. Sure, I wont get a lot of attention most of the time since its pretty random if that trends or not, but I enjoy what I'm doing and if they like it thats great too. :D

[aizakkukun]

This video is really timely, I'm trying to build an audience on twitter so people will consider commissioning me, I opened my commission sheet back in July and I asked myself what is wrong with my art? Why people won't commission me, is it my art style? Then I asked my friends of they have criticisms about my art and they didn't really say anything though they asked why I asked all of a sudden then I told them I'm trying to find why people won't commission me, they said that it has definitely nothing to do with my art and that I shouldn't conform to what people will like, and that really struck me hard cuz I have been really insecure with people around me seeing that they get commissioners and stuff, I should really be patient about it and let it take it's time

[godahlrogue]

Gonna add another comment: I'm actually very much looking forward to the "Let's make an animated pilot" series of videos--I'm probably not ever going to go down that road myself (I'm more into comics than animation, as a creator) but that does sound like a FASCINATING process that I'd love to learn more about (and I'm looking forward to Stormfellers itself also!!!)!

[graceoartyo]

I have a small tip!! If you really do want the joy of seeing people like your art but aren’t getting that engagement- show it to your friends! My friends reactions to my art are worth so much more to me than the random people that follow my art account on instagram.

[Story_paint]

Having personal projects that are JUST FOR YOU is so important. ♥️ Thank you for this reminder. You are seriously one of my favorite YouTubers

[unsearchable]

Comments for the Algos Rhythm. I love your artist wellbeing videos.

[spaceocelot]

Having projects to work on definitely helps me a lot! For me this usually takes the form of holiday themed drawings for Halloween, Fourth of July, Christmas, etc. It certainly helps motivate me to iterate on my characters given the deadline. In some cases, even unforeseen events have provided inspiration.

[godahlrogue]

When you mentioned the stormfellers making of video series, I literally said "OOH" out loud and got weird looks from my coworkers lol.

I definitely feel the statements about the anxieties from following art news--i sometimes kind of wish I could take a pill that would make me stop caring about this stuff, but I know that's unhelpful.

Projects saved my life, no lie--i'd be nothing without my ambition to make games and comic projects. Good advice! (Tho lately all my project ideas are imo not really pushing me to improve my art much--ack)

[salvidomum]

I have been struggling with this since starting Grad school a few weeks ago. I've been scrambling to get my footing again, and the one thing that's helped with my assignments is themeing them all towards the same story. While it's not quite a Project per se, I at least know what I'm working towards as the semester progresses

[fmbray_]

The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. I'd rather "indulge" in my own projects because it's better to do something you're keenly interested in and I can engage my imagination anyways.

[sylvanshroom]

This is something I and especially my fiancé definitely have been thinking about a lot lately and I rly appreciate your thoughts! I feel even more confident in pursuing my own projects now

[RainstormCheetah]

Ooh, definitely looking forward to that making-of video series! I'm actually intending to start an animated series of my own - just as soon as I finish a couple of smaller projects first for practice - so it'll be really helpful to learn from those ^^

[kaleido]

Also what you said about doing something YOU enjoy has been what I have been thinking about for several months now. I'm glad to see another artist mirror my thinking...

[YrmRashad]

It is hard trying to continue making my series, especially dealing with things in my social life, I've been having to take longer breaks or step away from drawing altogether because of it. But thank you for this message 😊 I will definitely be on the lookout for your series as well.

[JeffSans]

Projectlessness is aimlessness. I partly agree to this as someone whos been designing and just sketching for months with no real direction, but it did help me thru the design process, learning of what i need to improve and become a better imaginative creator.

[FemtoKitten]

Hey I needed this right now! thank you so much, gives me even more reason continuing the illustrated book I'm working on, even if I made it as a means to escape the algorithm ("This way I won't have to feel guilt or hated for at least a year or two while I hash this out"), and it's really been fun to just focus on the world and characters rather than just whatever trend or commission hunting is going on

[coyoteclockworkstudios]

I had someone yell at me about how AI art was going to make the industry harder.
I used to work in the industry. It sucked. Everyone but two people I graduated with are still in it. I pointed out that if Life of Pi is winning awards for it's CGI, while those same artists are outside the awards show picketing in protest because they lost their jobs and their studio shut down, how could AI art possibly make that worse?

[Mjumiman]

Incredibly excited for the making-of videos <3
Thank you for sharing these thoughts on creative mindset, they always hit a spot. Recently I've noticed that I need to take time to just create things for myself, out of sheer fun, not needing to worry about a target group, or who is going to like it. It has been a healthy habit to get back into!

[thevibeott]

Perfectly said about AI Art… it’s truly awful. I’ve made many a similar point amongst my peers about the crappy direction it’s going to lead us to.

It’s a shame so many people argue “its just a tool like 3D” but it’s really not… 3D, photobashing, digital art all still take skill. Typing prompts requires none.

[smm]

I'm so excited about the animation series! I'm coming to the end of a multi-year comic project and I've got an animatic in my brain that I'd like to try, but I've never animated anything before 🤔