watch this before social media RUINS your artistic growth

Posting on social media is one of the most dangerous things you can do if you want to continue growing as an artist. That is, if you ignore my advice and fall into the three biggest traps social media lays out for artists.

Social media can easily wreck your artistic growth if you chase the algorithm and allow it to dictate which art you do and don't make. Creative risks and experimentation are essential components of long term success as an artist, but risk taking isn't incentivized by most platforms, especially if you're already doing well.

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[mint_meringue]

I realized that there is now several "social media / Instagram" art styles where you can barely tell apart the artists from each other. And this kind of art is consistently on top. The same way of drawing eyes, faces, bodies, food.

[Kauczuk]

I find that social media, especially for artists, can be so detrimental sometimes. In my case, I would constantly compare myself to others and that surely doesn’t help with anything 😅 just like you said - you don’t need millions of followers to make it work, but it’s hard to develop the skills actually needed to make ends meet

[Blick_Art]

One thing we've learned from established professional artists- the ones who have sustained themselves for decades- is that the audience you have today is not necessarily the audience you will have in a few years from now. The collectors you have as an emerging artist are not all going to be along for the journey as you achieve more success and higher prices, but the ones who got in on the ground floor are often your biggest cheerleaders, even if they can't afford you later. BTW, Kelsey, since you asked about what folks would like in future videos, we would love to some studio craft! Maybe some support preparation, storage and presentation, a little tour of your paint box and brush kit. Not that we're obsessed with art materials or anything...

[kk]

Here's my beef with social media: I hate that I have to give up my privacy, my ability to focus on being creative to accommodate content creation. I hate the social media companies with their algorithms and always the constant push to buy ads and post new, post new, post new. I hate having to stop what I'm painting to make a video, or take photos and then later stitch all those together to make something that is compelling. I hate that I am judged as a creative by my social media presence. In my area, I can't join a popup market, or get in a gallery without a strong social media presence and following to advertise to.

[SylvesterLazarus]

I feel like I'm in a pretty toxic love-hate relationship with social media sometimes. I just hate feeling that all my best works go to waste with 10-20 likes after 6 years of making art with virtually no growth. I do love that there are about 5-10 people that I know of who actually care about my art and otherwise there won't be a single person who will see my work. It is just so demotivating sometimes while also feeling like it's the only motivation I have to even finish half of my works.

[littletinyegg]

I have had a few things go “viral” on social media and let me tell you, it is an incredibly overwhelming and not necessarily fun experience lol. I always get trolls and weird comments that I normally don’t have to deal with, it kinda derails my art practice while I reply to comments and try to strategically redirect to my shop, and it doesn’t always translate to monetary gain like you might think.
Btw I fully support the not niching thing! I like both the art tips, talking videos and studio vlogs, but I’m finding myself kinda bored w studio vlogs in general lately, it seems like so many creators are making them, and they’re all kinda the same after a while. I much prefer vids like this and voiceover content that I can out on in the background, just my 2cents :-)

[lemonlime]

Bruh. One of my art projects went viral on tik tok a few years back. Got high on the clout and 130k, but it was all for a medium I didn’t really like/use often. The more I would post the art I actually liked, the more people unfollowed and disengaged, and the more my confidence dwindled. It’s so stupid to think that any of it mattered at all in the first place. I don’t post anymore, and I really just want to learn how to create for myself again. :-(

Edit: This whole video perfectly sums up the issue. The burn out, total loss of my inner voice and drive. If any other artists out here just wanna start a little support group, just say the word 😭🥺

[phoenixelizabeth]

Loved this!!! Something I really hated when doing my degree, was that my art teachers would constantly tell me how being a multi-passionate artist would mean all your artworks would be average. They believed that if you focused on one niche only, then you'd be a great artist. As someone with an ADHD brain who really needs variety, I hated that advice. Thank you for encouraging us to be multi-passionate artists!

[BrinkleyComics]

This is a tricky subject to tackle. For artists who want to grow, I totally agree. You should focus on artistic growth as opposed to audience growth. VERY different things. Once you've figured out what you wanna do, then you probably should focus on that and "niche down" when presenting yourself online. For even the most successful creators, the audience determines what works and what doesn't. And I think that's okay. Artists can have the best of both worlds. It's like John Mayer. He was asked about writing songs for himself and writing songs for his audience. He said he writes "one for me and one for them". I think that's a pretty healthy balance!

[aohamer]

I voted on the poll: "I want it all!" Whenever I see YouTubers split into 2 channels, one is always left behind and they seem to burn out faster unless they have a team like Think Media. You mentioned you watched Cathrin Manning, she did the same thing but eventually brought it all back to her main channel. As an artist, I personally have a different metric for success. Mine is sales of my artwork, instead of views on my channel. I understand how this can be different for you if your primary source of income is from your YouTube channel. At the end of the day, energy grows where energy goes. You've put more energy into art business videos so that's what's growing. Personally, I don't think you're doing anything wrong. As you know, YouTube is a search engine so more people search "how to start an art business" vs. "What did Kelsey paint today" 😆 Keep sharing your artwork! We train our audiences AND the algorithm what to expect from us based on the content we put out. Close your eyes to the analytics for a bit and attract your tribe 🌟 Wishing you the best on your journey!

[Meraxes]

I needed to hear this so badly. I’m a new creative who went a lil viral, and I can see my niche narrowing after just a few months. I’ll make an effort to post other things even if they don’t perform as well, while I still have the safety net of a part time job. Thank you so much for making these videos, they’re truly helpful!

[Gensolink]

never really broke through as an artist on social media, but I think one of the worst things about social media (and I just include any platforms that allows to comment on posts) is when you do something, you see people like but that's it, no interaction, you don't get hate sure but it doesnt feel like people actually like your art and makes you think your art just doesnt have any value. IDK maybe that's just me

[atlasm]

My personal hot take for social media for artists is that: folks need to treat social media like a business from the second you make your art account and not like a fan portal. Social media is the middle man and to be to really engage with your audience, avoid potential issues with the social media client, you need to move them into your own space and allow them to experience your content in the way that they prefer. Take your time but be very careful with it, it can be a great resource but it also can turn into a pseudo-friendship bond that may not be the best choice for your art.

I would like for you to post your art on this channel. I understand that it doesn't currently get as many views as you'd like but I like to reference let's players in their business strategy. They make a lot of videos that they're interested in and some will immediately be great hits, others will be sleeper hits where folks will suddenly spike old videos based on discovering your channel and algorithm queue-ing, and then the last videos are the ones that you can be proud you made and have fun making. I wish the best for you!

[jyotiogennavar]

I deeply resonated with your video. I truly believe that artists are multi-dimensional people and very experimental by nature. So making niched content is not something that works in the long run because we would run out of inspiration and motivation. In my case, making niched content for Instagram burned me out so badly that I completely stopped making that type of artwork and went cold turkey with art completely.

[gnomebardftw]

This is fantastic advice for people starting out. I needed to hear the "don't niche yourself into a hole" part. Keeping in mind that experimentation is key to growth has a nice eye opener.

[DarqDominion]

I'm among the "put it all here" group. I like all of your content, and I'm not even a visual artist. I like hearing about your successes, and your struggles, and watching your channel grow. Your personality and the aesthetic of your vlogs is what brought me to your channel, so keep being yourself, Kelsey.

[nickyjamesonarttv]

As an artist who had just re started my YouTube channel I've seen many of the YT gurus tout the narrow niching possible... And I even began following this advice. And as an artist I find their advice to focus on one thing feels like a pair of shoes that look good on the shelf but pinch when you try to walk in them. So my growth may be slow but I feel much better allowing myself to experiment and for my channel to evolve. Good to hear you confirm this.

[Muhammad-Jacobs]

Just in time! I've been contemplating deleting my social media accounts lately. Great tool for freelancers but absolute toxic to my artistic growth. Excited to hear your views!

[graysbygrace]

As a multi artist I would say starting up my Instagram and hearing sticking to one aesthetic or medium was a difficult choice. I only post digital art because the artist I heard say this came from a digital background and I felt it was clean. The bad side to this decision is I post less digital because I use so many mediums 💀 The other thing I hear is sticking to one tradtional medium such as you can only use gouache, you can't mix with color pencils or others. I feel this restricts one from exploring or experiment... ruins the purpose of creating for me.

I also want to share my process, fails and etc I want it to be as natural.
I really love the stories on Instagram because I can share all of this without ruining the Aesthetic on my feed 😭 I feel this video is a confirmation for me to start posting on my feed 🌱 it's an idea I have been thinking about ✨

I love your videos because you don't give templates but rather guidance and that is important. ✨I am here for any choice you choose because youtube to you is a source of income and I love listening to you while drawing.

[aflowerforophelia]

"The reality of finding your identity as an artist" is actually what introduced me to your channel! You're doing great :)