watch this before social media RUINS your artistic growth
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- 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.
📅 Book an art business strategy session with me: 1-on-1.com/kelsey
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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○ How I've achieved my RUclips growth so far: • How To Grow An Art You...
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○ Why I Quit Trying To Grow on Instagram: • Instagram SUCKS for ar...
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You asked about the content on your channel, I love seeing it all on one account 💖 thank you for making awesome videos!
i remember watching this not too long ago, it was genuinely a great video!
I would really appreciate another account please! :D Thank you for all the inspiration and knowledge you share.
Man, you're right! You finally show up on my feed for the first time with this video about the Biz instead of your actual art. This is sad for all of us with a creative mindset. 😐
SO TRUE!
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.
That means it's about to be boring, and a new trend is going to replace it. If you try to replicate trends, you are always behind ☺
I you want to see art, look at censored exhibitions, galleries and museums. What you're talking about is just people drawing. And being good at drawing has nothing to do with making art. Art is all about what you draw and why.
I've noticed something similiar! It's kind of a shame. I always love to see different art styles
@@spiralmoment Is that elitist?
I truly agree with you!!+
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
So true and it's especially destructive when you start comparing not just the actual artwork, but the number of likes and follows. I always try to tell myself that the number of likes and follows don't matter, but it always finds its way into the back of your mind where you start to believe that you're not good enough because you don't have high numbers like others 😖
I remember back when I was in game art school. Our main "social media" was ArtStation and it was just like you said: comparing ourselves to others. I ended up giving up, depressed (to the point that my bf had to bring me to school and I'd just cry in his arms because I was terrified).
It took me 6-7 years to finally go from "You're not as good as this 15yo artist. You're worthless." to "Hey, maybe this young artist could be a good inspiration!". And even now I still sometimes doubt my art skills.
Now, I post when I want and try to not compare myself to other artists. I feel so much better. Who would've thought, huh?
What is even the point? You get 100, 1000 or 10.000 followers/likes and so what? Somebody puts up a cat video gets 100.000 likes. This doesn't mean anything. IF, however, you are good at what you are doing then maybe social media can help you get some kind of gig. But honestly, this happens very rarely.
Btw, there is nothing wrong with trying to get likes/followers. It is human. We are social creatures. But this idea that social media can help you other than that is totally inflated.
if you don't compare yourself with the best, how do you know what level you're at, and if your work is worth other peoples time?
yeah but it is also good for artists. It's marketing. It's really difficult to make money as an artist. Even this channel. Her money doesn't come from being an artist it comes from talking about how to make money as an artist.
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...
another thing we've learned is they almost all with only a few exeptions went to an art academy.
omg it's daddy blick! lol
I was an associate for nearly 4 years, I left for another (sadly, not art-related) job a couple of months back. Learned a lot working with you guys, and definitely expanded my art supply collection during that time too 😅
@@kierusekai Hi there! Yes, bringing home art supplies is definitely an occupational hazard for all of us on the team. Glad to hear from you!
🖤
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.
The need for a social media presence (esp a large one) to join irl events is such a huge pet peeve of mine too, omg. And for payment processors online, it's so hard to find smth that DOESN'T share your personal info with people?! PayPal shares your name and info, Stripe shares your phone #, Ko-Fi shares your email address at the very least... And don't get me started on needing a LinkedIn for jobs. Like, why would I ever want to be THAT out about my entire life on the Internet for any stranger to see.
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.
This is literally the exact reason I rage quit Instagram. I had my art page for 3 years and only was able to get 200 followers and each post got at most 20 likes, while I would see art that is pretty much the same level of "good" as mine with similar aesthetics that would get hundreds or even thousands of likes and their follower count would be at least a thousand or close to it. It hurt me so badly and I haven't made art in 6 months because I was just so convinced my art is trash and no one wants to see it :( I still kinda feel that way. Like I'm good, I'm not a master or pro or anything but I am better than the average person so I really don't understand
@@thesaddestpikachu I'm currently at 117 followers, so I lost 3 in the past few days (guess bot accounts getting removed). I started this page in 2018 and I have 281 posts right now, with about 200 individual smaller or bigger artworks. The thing is that I'll upload stuff so the same few people who always come by can see them while I'm personally growing in skills and maybe the account will resurface one day and reach a few hundred followers.
oh hi me! fancy seeing you here
Saaame I had my art account since 2018 and I only gotten to 550 followers while others only had their account for like a couple of months or a year yet they grew really fast. Someone told me it’s because Instagram is more interested in newer accounts or something 🧍🏾♀️
@@thesaddestpikachu Thats because we constantly have to fight algorithms... Its really sad ):
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 :-)
Oh gosh, the trolls. What drives me nuts is when their comments have nothing to do with the art itself. A lot of women artists I follow get troll comments about their hair, hands, and even their accent. It drives me nuts because it has nothing to do with their art. Like, if these trolls want to critique something, at least critique the art. 😆
I get soooo many of these, someone once gave me this super long list of everything "wrong" with me, from my teeth to the way I speak, it was verryyy creepy.
While I haven’t had the viral experience, I don’t make just arts and crafts videos. I also film random vlogs, have made short films, etc. I don’t want a million channels yet also don’t want to just have one kind of video or topic for my channel.
@@KelseyRodriguez sorry that happened to you may this not ever ruin what you enjoy ever again .
👍👍
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!
Great quote but I thought Mayer said he made one whole album for fans and one whole album for himself?
@@randybetzner276 ah you may be right!
In videography it’s always “two for the meal, one for the reel”.
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 😭🥺
same. I post shit I don't like and it blows up. When I put months into work and research for a project if flops and I have to push so hard and borderline beg to get it to be seen. At least a few people like my work I guess...the general public on social media loves it when I post generic shit. It's so ughhh....
I voted on the poll: "I want it all!" Whenever I see RUclipsrs 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 RUclips 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, RUclips 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!
Boom! This is a great comment 👌✨
Well said. Love your work by the way.
@@ENUFbyMNT Aww thanks so much! 💖
@@shmickcreations I appreciate you! ✨
I agree with you, except one thing: that youtube is a search engine. This is not true anymore. RUclips has recently transitioned to be mostly a recommendation engine, just like Instagram. This means less growth for most creators, just like we see now on IG.
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!
Omg this is me too! Thought it was just me that felt like this..
oh wow, thank you SO much for the super thanks! I always feel kinda vulnerable making these types of videos but the comments I get from folks like you who are in the same situation makes it all worth it. Hopefully you'll be able to find the balance you really need to create long term!
Exacctttllyyy the same as me! My gosh, all in the same boat!
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!
... but is it really great for freelancers? Honestly. Put your stuff up on a homepage and use that when you apply. If people cant be bothered to look at your homepage then they are not serious anyway....
@@larslarsen5414 it can definitely be great for freelancers
I deleted mine. It’s not worth it. I’m lazy and easily depressed. When I don’t have the account, I work harder.
I deleted my art account(s) and it was pretty good for my mental health and self-esteem. Stressing about the algorithm and that shit isn't worth it.
I ditched Instagram and tried out Artfol. It’s a lot more “chill” and not necessarily conducive for building a freelancing career…but, oh, is the peace and quiet of no stupid algorithm to compete with sweet 👌✨😂
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!
Dissuading students from learning several things at the same time seems so odd to me. I think in general in life, the more you learn, the better you get at everything because all of the knowledge and skills that you gather for something will help you with something else
Literally the reason I declined my acceptance into art school 20+ years ago... if you're an artist, you're an artist to the bone... you will find your way without or without "professional" training and following a "curriculum". Being self-taught, experimenting, allowing my gut and my passion drive my art has always been far more fulfilling and rewarding than any art course... and WAY cheaper. If art school was the way to go to become a successful and professional artist, then we'd have tens of thousands of them every year... instead, we just get a pile of people who are in debt for the next 20 years of their life with little to no passion for the arts they once thrived on.
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!
I agree. There is this trap that a lot of artists get into that goes "in order to succeed in social media, you (the artist) have to be relateable", and it's this "relateability" that eventually gets people into trouble. Audiences only want relateability on a surface level, they simply want to like you -- and that's easiest to maintain if you keep it professional with your art being front and center and being personable.
@@NelsonStJames "they simply want to like you" big facts there. The parasocial relationship between artists, and audience, can really sometimes boil down wanting to liking the person who makes the work you like.
Learn it in hard way, three times. Different issues but all come from one: parasocial relationshio gone wrong. Now I have to be more careful to be friendly..
I initially started watching you for the art, not business issues. Now that I am looking to try and sell my art your business side is starting to overtake the art. I am going to bounce back and forth for a few days and see what it is that keeps me coming back to this channel. Then I’ll make a decision to lean one way or the other with an occasional fling to the other side to see what is cooking over there. Truth be known, I’d most likely follow your presentations regardless of what you do. Keep up whatever it is that makes you the happiest. In the long run that is most likely the true way to go. Thanks again for all you have presented so far. Stay safe and healthy. -OkieSkercher1949
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.
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.
Same here! I'm an artist with many different skills like portrait drawings, Painting Landscapes and portraits with watercolor, Acrylic, Oil Pastels and then again I'm also quite good at drawing stylized portrait........and I've also tried to stick to a specific niche on Instagram which ended up burnt me out. It's a constant battle between what I love VS what my audience wants and ofc the Instagram algorithm too.
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
I can definitely relate with that. For me it's the most crushing thing about posting art online. It almost makes me wanna disable comments. I guess we just have to remind ourselves that a lot of people don't leave comments
@@aphreyy i've kinda ditched social posting for a while and making art has been more enjoyable for me ngl
I think the problem with social media is that our art posts gets lost into quadrillions into other art post and as you know about social media you have random people say ‘share this on this and that art page’………and end up charging a fee.
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.
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.
"The reality of finding your identity as an artist" is actually what introduced me to your channel! You're doing great :)
I think the reason why I was attracted to your more "business" type videos is because I got to see someone finally acknowledging struggles that others never acknowledged. You tackled issues that were specific to creating as an artist on the internet, but not _too_ specific that I couldn't relate. Being someone who isn't technically an artist, I didn't have to understand drawing or painting to understand what you had to say or what you went through. I could still see myself in the stories you told and take what advice you gave and apply it to my own creative journey. You make these videos in a way where anyone who makes anything can relate. I kind of view your channel as a very valuable library that is all things Kelsey, all your growth, your thoughts, your strategies, your art. And although I'm not one for watching art videos, I know for a fact if I ever start to develop a taste for drawing, this is the first place I'll be coming back to.
As an artist who had just re started my RUclips 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.
I think many people are here for your personality. I really think that people will stick around if you start making whatever you’re drawn to making. Of course, it is difficult when this is your job, but I really enjoy your studio vlogs and philosophical videos.
When you said going viral can be the worst thing that happens to you as an artist, I agree. I never went mega viral but I had a video really take off in 2020. It was about specific tips for beginners to using graphite. I thought I should make some similar videos to kind of complement that one successful video and those started gaining traction too!
I gained subscribers but they didn’t want to watch my new videos. I kind of put myself into a box. Everyday my subscriber count and views would go up but I didn’t want to continue posting tutorials/tips only, and my new audience didn’t watch my other content. When I would post a new video it always did poorly compared to my subscriber count, but those old videos kept racking up the views.
Finally, when the original video reached about 60k views, I said enough is enough and I unlisted all of those videos from my channel. Maybe 6 or 7 of them. Views, new subscribers went down significantly and my revenue pretty much cut in half! But it’s okay. I hope I can just gain a new audience/work on the audience I already have that are interested in my other content. Lots of my existing subscribers come from those old “viral” videos but I’m relieved knowing now when I do gain more, they are coming from videos that are more relevant to my channel as a whole. It was really hard to have any motivation knowing my growing audience wasn’t interested in most of my content and I might have quit RUclips in general if I didn’t go back to unlist those videos, even if it did cost me!
you CAN post exactly what you want. It's scary. you do lose so much of what you had very quickly but you gain it back SO fast once you show yourself and show everyone what YOU want to do. You've grown before, you can do it again with this new knowledge. don't let fear of losing followers and revenue hold you back because you will feel so much worse posting the same thing over and over again. you really have to rip the bandage off but it is so worth it.
As an artist and video creator too, I've definitely struggled with everything you talked about in this video. And I've heard so many other artists express the same types of feelings on and off over the years. I think making the informational content is so tempting and sometimes does better in ~the algorithm~ because it's about things that people are actually "searching for" - people are constantly typing into the youtube search bar things like 'art instagram tips' so of course those types of videos will do better, but that doesn't necessarily mean your other videos aren't as good, it's just less likely something a huge group of people is actively searching for. For me, if I want to achieve any mental peace I have to completely divorce any metrics from the idea of a 'good' or 'bad' video or piece of art. The metrics still exist but i refuse to let them define my value anymore. ❤
Amen. You are not a less valuable person if a video performs badly. Not even if you make bad art.
you not an artist.
I'm interested in everything you wanna do, you as a person inspire me & my art journey! YOU GOT THIS!!!!
I'm struggling not caring about the likes my art gets on Instagram, I used to get more when I limited my color scheme to have that nice color palette on my feed, but now that I changed it & experiment with more dark and rich colors there has been SUCH a decline my likes... I'm soooo much more proud of my art now & love how it looks, but it hurts to see my account "die" .
I understand this feeling to such a deep level, it may not be the color changes but what I did have in my case instead is making fanart and original content, my fanart would rise so much in likes and views and it would blow up like crazy but when it came to the originals no matter how much more passion and work i put into them they only end up getting if not 1\4 of the attention i get from my fanworks
and I understand thats the way things work , im not asking for it to change to my own accord but that can be a real bummer honestly .
Nowadays i try not to care about the attention my artwork gets as well , i do it for fun , but i definitely relate having it happen before multiple times ,-- you rise to fame and once you do something you like, something NEW , the glory dies down
Honestly, the thing that I like about having no audience in social media is that I can really just post whatever I want without worrying about anything, I don't know what I would do if art was my job tho
Whoa, girl! The point about creating rather what you're passionate about instead of what gets the most attention just hit me hard. You are right that it won't work in the long run. That's what happened to me. Constantly forcing myself to draw whatever people liked made me eventually hate the process. I guess I'm gonna give it a second chance now and just draw what I enjoy the most, which are handsome muscled men haha. Thank you so much for inspiration! Keep up the good work.
Hi, As a fairly successful artist of 30+ years, I absolutely agree. I've been there as well. Experimentation & taking chances is everything if you want to keep growing. I'd say ignore social media & just be you. Don't ever adjust your art for others. You really can lose yourself. Since getting off social media completely, I'm so much happier with both my art, & myself.
Whatever any of you ever do with your art, or in life, Have Fun with it!
Very timely video thank you. I've struggled lately with this too. A sculpture I did recently took me two months to complete. Then creating the video. It put me way behind schedule. So I found myself creating smaller easier sculpts to "catch up" I'm not going to do that anymore. I really feel I'm compromising. Going forward I'm going to create on my time line and publish... when I'm done. 😁 Thank you again for a very helpful video!
This is exactly the advice I needed to hear right at this moment. I've been struggling with spending time on other things I want to do as I felt it didn't feed into my current social media. I just want to do what I want to do especially in these early days.
I think you are spot on here, Kelsey! I know a lot of artists view social media as a necessary evil but maybe aren't sure how to articulate why. We know deep down inside that social media presents a constant temptation to create the work other people want to see, and not necessarily what we feel we should create. But I think the role of a true artist is to stay true to their own art and let go of other people's expectations or wishes. We need more artists who show us beauty from their eyes, not give us what we think beauty should look like.
Right On.
As someone who's taking a break from social media, this is so relatable. Being on art social media really made me very self-conscious about posting and art, and it took me a long time to start making the content that I wanted to make. Thank you so much for making this video!
For me the struggle is just finding people who care. I was so proud the other day that I found something that people liked on instagram and I enjoyed showing my art studies because the whole purpose of showing them is to keep me motivated. Watching this just makes me realize i'm falling into that niche trap and kinda bumbed about it and not sure where to go next with my work.
This came just in time ,lately i have been feeling like I'm being pushed into a corner with my art ,,I keep finding myself saying "what would get me views rather than what I love " .I have always been the experimenting type but I find when I branch out it gets less reach and it can be discouraging I won't lie...Thank u for the video,,I really did need this...
Many (not all) bands hate their "greatest hit" because its all people want from them. They want to try new things, experiment and grow. For me, this is why I love Radiohead, because they try different things.
Thank you Kelsey! Such an important topic in today's day and age. Social media has been such a difficult thing to reconcile as an artist. On the one hand it gives you the collaboration and community of likeminded people, but it can be so draining and demeaning when the negatives are introduced. Making the content that works but isn't something you're as passionate about or excited about is really frustrating. I've basically given up on growing the quantity of followers, and just post what I'm inspired to make now. 😅
This video was MADE for me. I went semi viral on IG for my resin art pieces and I was NOT ready. I’m still trying to figure out what to do and where to go with my art/page. I don’t even have a website lol I’m so anxious all the time and likes has consumed me. So thank you soooo much for this. Now I feel free to really double down on my decision to just post what and when I want and focus on what I want to work on. 💗
I can really understand your hesitation to decide how your channel is going to evolve, and I just want to say that I’m here for it all! You have a wonderful personality on video, and I’m equally into art business content as I am daily vlogs, behind the scenes, studio vlogs etc. I’d love to see more of your art as well. And look at Cathrin Manning, she had two channels but decided to take back her main channel for vlogging, and that turned out really well as I understand it. :)
honestly i'll follow you wherever you go, kelsey! i personally adore all of your videos and find them really fun to watch, even just the normal art showcases or sketchbook tour videos, along with your more informational videos, of course. (i'm still working on getting through all of them!) ALL of your videos have opened up so many doors for me as a very young artist, and i'm very grateful for that! thank youu!
Hi love your videos. You inspire me to get interest in starting a RUclips channel
do it!!! you've really got nothing to lose, and there's never a better time to start than right now
@@KelseyRodriguez thank you 🙏
You’ll never run out of topics! There’s always going to come up something and it will be relevant to that moment (current events).
There’s 52 weeks, it’s easy to come up with a list for topics and note them down. If you list them, you’ll realize you have more than 52 items and that’s over a year of topics. Business related, art related, socially related, it’s endless...
people are drawn to those that are ahead of the curve, thinking ahead and they regardless of whether it’s art or business will be interested. If you create a separate channel for oil or gauche paintings, people will be curious to learn techniques. 💕
I pretty much deleted Instagram because not only is it hollow but also a giant time waster.
yesss very true
Same lol
I knew that the video is gonna be absolutely amazing just by the Thumbnail and I'm genuinely happy that I subscribed to you.
Also I've been waiting for years for an artist to talk about this topic in depth and I'm crying right now because YOUR WORDS ARE EXACTLY HOW I'VE BEEN FEELING FROM THE PAST FEW YEARS to the point I've gotten so burnout of social media due to being a mix media artist and not being able to see my account grows as compared to someone who have a specific art niche.
I remember writing something related to this in one of your video comment section and I never thought that you would make a video about this but seriously THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! This was such an eye opening video that every artist should hear!!
Also I think that you have a good number of subscribers at this point and I believe that if you'll keep making art vlogs or studio vlogs then you might also gain a new audience who are interested in that. Idk about others but I could see your personal growth as well in the past two years which makes me realize that putting ourselves out there can also increase our confidence level.
I've seen most of your painting videos and your skills are absolutely amazing + it portrays a very calm vibe which I really love so, feel free to do whatever that works for you. The reason I subscribed to you is because of YOU. I love many artist but there are very few with whom I can feel a genuine connection and you're definitely one of them♡
Once again: THANK YOU SO MUCH for being so honest and transparent. We love everything about you so do whatever you want with your channel🥰
I'm here for Kelsey Rodriguez, and whatever you feel compelled to experiment with (and if you do split channels, I'll watch both). I found you through your art, but I also find your social media tips interesting to learn about. I'm an older hobby artist who decided to keep art as a hobby and get a 9-to-5 dayjob because I had to start supporting myself long before social media existed. Had social media been an option back before I'd pumped 15+ years into building a non-art-related career, I might be dealing with all these frustrating and heartbreaking issues around content creation and appeasing the algorithmic overlords. I'm glad you're putting that information out there to other young artists because I think it is important (and paying your bills is also important!), but it also breaks my heart if you put your art aside entirely to do it. I want both for you. I love seeing your art, and I'm here as your audience for you as a human making mistakes and trying new things; I see a lot of the other commenters who are here for that, too. Best of luck on this difficult path--I have no doubt you will find a balance!
This is my favorite video of yours I’ve watched and it hit the zeitgeist of my mind so hard. I would love to hear you make videos about you expirimenting with different mediums and ideas specifically - like “oil painting artist tries pole dancing” or “oil painter draws manga” or literally anything you want to do. I love your channel and binge watch your videos because you bring a levity, sense of humor and thoughtfulness to questions I struggle with as an artist that everyone seems to be sugarcoating. 💖 I’ll follow you to any channel!
I feel like because our field is so competitive alot of us want this to be the one and only thing that make us money. I went to school for animation. However, I'm also doing a software engineering boot camp. I understand that animation is a small community and I still need to eat. So, getting a job somewhere else that is steady, instead of praying that my channel blows up one day or hoping i get a job as an animator isn't paying my bills.
It is OK to work at a regular job and going home and making art for pleasure and maybe profiting off of it. You won't get burnt out, or get caught up in the social media likes and views
I do agree with you! Being a youtuber is not easy. It requires lots of patience, time and efforts and in this fast changing world we all strive to become the best and want to achieve our goals as fast as we can.
How is the bootcamp going? I keep wondering whether to do a UX/UI design bootcamp next year. I've been trying on and off to be a self employed artist/designer for several years now and mostly it hasn't worked so far, financially anyway. It's always been my dream and it'd be wonderful to achieve it, but worrying about money is stressful and I'm at the mercy of landlords when I want to be financially independent. I think as long as I give this one last shot, my best shot I'll know that I at least tried. I wish society was different and we could all earn from doing what we love but so many of us struggle.
Really good video Kelsey, I was afraid to start my channel because of this exact reason 😭. I am really happy to see more of your creativity and I feel that you should just be all of you and the ones who understand that you aren’t a machine are here to support you and your unique journey!
Social media is a headache. But I'm doing my best to sort of follow it along and post what I can. At this point I have two accounts - one for more professional stuff, one for more casual sketches etc - and that seems to be working so far. So here's hoping that continues!
I honestly love your content and how not scared of sharing stuff you are! I personally would like to see also the art side of your content. The paintings, the process, the thoughts behind ecc. I find it interesting to see what's the idea behind a piece! For these video in particular, I do agree with you: social media can be a real pain and brings a lot of stress. For a lot of time I too stopped to look at the analytics because they ruined my mental health. Now I started to look at them again because I STUDIED social media and now I find intriguing to see! But sometimes it still hits me, sometimes I wonder why a drawing didn't work out as another one, and can be frustating. For me it's important to notice when to stop and just draw!
Kelsey!! (First of all, my apologies for the upcoming long paragraph hehe) You have no idea how much I needed this video. First of all, I've been following you upon recently but your content has been super helpful so far. I appreciate this videos because they're really good tips for artists and those who want to grow as one. Now, this video touched the problems I've been dealing with social media (specially instagram) which it has become a sore problem where it just gets frustrating and minimize creativity. It creates a block. Also wanted to point out the narrow niche topic where I highly agree with you. I'm a artist who likes multiple areas (like writing, visual graphics, character designing and making doodles) so in my case I CANNOT just make a narrowed niche if I like doing many medias. So due to that problem in social media, I kinda forced myself to narrow it down and it's hit me negatively is creativity aspects. Because I thought it would gather a audience but boy I was so wrong. It just affected me instead and prevent me to post anything. In all honesty I don't want that.. I WANT to change that.. Therefore, I'm glad that you spoke this topic because, maybe not all but some could be dealing with this dilemma and we cannot let the social algorithm limit us to do what we love. So I'm going to take your tip and just do my thing without worrying of gaining followers and algorithm in mind. If I gather a audience, then it should be from to what I like to do.
I'm so happy that you talked about the pressure to choose a limited niche to grow on social media! I have been thinking whether I should do that but I soon realised that it would limit my freedom too much... I really like to draw and paint different topics with different mediums so I would only make myself miserable if I had to choose just one! And also, experimenting and having different topics helps to learn different new skills and so on, so it would also reduce my potential to grow my skill set. Anyways, nice video! 💪🏻
thank you, i needed this so terribly. I've been focusing on my growth constantly and I'm at the point where I haven't enjoyed painting as much, finding myself analyzing every single thing I do (especially when recording the process). this helped so much.
Thanks for making this. I appreciate your honest sharing! Watching people actually GO THROUGH the process is so nice to see. That's something I plan on sharing as well and you give me hope that I can actually do it well!
i must say i found your channel & appreciated your truthful & genuine videos & have been inspired by you & i watch all your videos. As an artist i feel like i look at this channel from a different point of view than someone learning how to make art or purchasing or shopping for art/commissions/partnerships etc. There is a huge wave of entrepreneurs right now, bigger than ever. I feel that you're leading a much bigger movement beyond the art realms. (even though everrryything is art) hehe. i feel its' coming in the shape of your art journey although others watching you might not be artist & want the inspiration or realness on starting something alone...i love your content you're super lovely. your art style is soft & beautiful & looks very professional as your vids are; they do really go together because its you💜
Amazing video! I've had several videos go viral and gained 50k followers in three months. If I sound like I'm bragging, I'm not. It's extremely overwhelming and you hit on not only the problems I've faced since April, but also the exact thought processes I've had while trying to move forward. I chose to stick with one account for my reels and my other art, but I'm still working on balancing what's popular, what makes money, and what makes me happy. I really needed this video, if for nothing else, to know that I'm not alone. Thank you!
I love the Nerdforge couple for this. They just do whatever they find fun and exciting. They make paintings, murals, armor, grimoires, dioramas etc. They just make whatever and they have a loyal fanbase who always comes back to their art styles and personalities.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the advice that you post on RUclips. I come from a multi generational family of artists that are happy with just creating art as a hobby, but I want to learn to share my art and possibly sell my art to people.
i feel like jazza is a good example of someone who does tons of art in different mediums and has a huge following with it
This is something I've been trying to struggle past - I've constantly been trying to realise my dream of being a professional artist and one of my first goals in mind was to boost my presence online but I always gave up due to getting so few views and likes on social media like Instagram. I constantly gave up and restarted..
But thankfully due to watching channels like yours I feel I'm finally getting somewhere and breaking through that barrier that kept pushing me back
I love how you talk about the stuff thats in my head but no one else really mentions out loud! Especially the niche topic, I have been so stressed about that for ages and it's stopping me from sharing my art. I'm trying to make it a hobby and not over think it at the moment. I never even considered making two accounts. I hope you find lots of clarity :)
Thank you for making this video! I have recently done this hard pivot. I am going through the dip. But I also find myself happily creating again. When I first started I was drawing. I experimented with other arts…sculpting and crochet….I made crochet hooks with clay then somehow ended up just crocheting. While doing this, I was able to do something related to my drawings. I did this for FOR FOUR YEARS!!! Then it all caught up with me…I was so unhappy even though I made sales. I ended up just dreading finishing the next pattern. I literally had to take a break. Then make the change back to making what I love. Fortunately a lot of my followers who followed me for a while and knew drawing was my main passion in the first place. But truly now I’m so inspired again. And feel so much happier creating.
Thank you so much for talking about this, currently also feeling like im just a content creator at the moment. I currently do art part time while i work a 9-5. So the time i have for art has been used to packing orders and hopping on the easy reel trends just so i have something to post lol I'm grateful ive been getting consistent order on my etsy shop, but then that means less time for art :') I really appreciate your videos Kelsey!
IKR! It's such a tricky thing to make art while consistently growing your audience to reach more people and then we feel like that we're slowly becoming from artist to content creators + we only have 24hrs in a day and it gets extremely hard to balance making art, selling originals and prints, making content for social media to keep up with the algorithm......sometimes it gets so hard tbh:(
What great tips! I have a hard time understanding data and the algorithm (as you know 🙃) but I really want my channel to show my progress in art, and that’ll include my progress in filming and editing!
What you mentioned in the beginning is exactly how I feel- I want the people who choose to follow me to do so out of genuine interest in my content.
I’m really appreciative of your channel and the perspective you share!
I think it’s really cool how honest and transparent you are and this vid is the most of these characteristics. Thank you.
Totally needed to hear this, thank you so much!! I'm now going to keep all of my content/artwork under one roof, no matter how big the change will be :D
My original plan was to start a youtube channel. So, I started posting photos, drawings, and collages on Instagram, thinking that it would help to build an audience for the channel. I think I wasted a lot of time on that instead of actually creating something.
Promoting my art and posting frequently is what almost destroyed me, and I got very burnt out from this. No matter how much I posted, I was still going nowhere. I've taken a break for months now, and I feel a lot better. I decided to stop trying too hard and just post whenever now, and a lot less than what I normally did. It might destroy my view count, but resting is more important.
same here. I even post less these days since I have a show coming up.
"Your niche is you as an artist." Love it.
This was such a helpful video. I’m struggling a lot with knowing where to focus my attention as an artist who sells digital brushes for procreate but also wants to license my artwork and build a following for my work alone. I don’t know that I really want to create educational content but in order to target customers who want to buy my brushes, I feel I need to show them how to use them. I like how you said we don’t have to have everything figured out at first. Social media moves so quickly, it can feel like being inside a blender at times. It’s good to pause and take a deep breathe and remember not to lose your soul and what makes you yourself for the sake of building a following.
Road to a hundred thousand 🤩🤩🥳🥳
we're almost there!!
@@KelseyRodriguez Yep 😄Do you have a special in mind?
I've been wondering how different my creations and my views towards my own art would be if I wasn't exposed to social media art since I was 12 y.o.
Even as a really young kid, who was into arts, I already was way too hard on myself. Way too young.
But the positive side is that I always liked different medias and never locked myself on the same spot, art wise. And I'm still continuing to learn and especially respect my own creations. Taking inspiration from others, yet not comparing to each other. But yes, it's hard sometimes.
To artists who struggle with exposure and get low likes and beat down yourself for it: try imagining the likes as people in the room coming to view your piece in real life. 5 , 15 or 20. That's quite the number of people. And pay attention to the followers who are actively engaging with your posts, they are the ones that should matter.
I definitely needed to hear this. I've always felt like I was making terrible decisions for having such a varied amount of subjects that I draw on my Instagram. But hearing this makes me truly appreciate that, yes, well I might not be in to the Ks for followers, the ones I do have truly love and respect how my art journey is unfolding and seem genuinely into my work.
It is just so common for people to tell you that you have to find a niche in your art in order to attract people. Like, drawing the same thing over and over again. I'm just glad this is becoming a little less important as time goes on.
You're the voice that silently tries to get my attention but one I just really needed to hear spoken out loud. Thank you so so much for making these videos.
Yeah that “niche” talk been around even before social media…I refuse to figure out my “niche”. Why put oneself in a box when you’re more than just a box. I mean there is audience for everyone. If there are people into watching people pop pimples there is room for you!
People do follow you for you btw! I would love to see more art from you and I’m sure many others will too. Easier said than done but you should prioritise the content you want to make first and then the content that does well second - if it’s one and the same then even better. I believe this will be a more fulfilling and meaningful approach which is kind of the point of following your dreams as an artist :) Just try not to get too lost in the numbers and just enjoy making the videos you want. The right audience that accepts it all, WILL find you :) xx
It is very refreshing to me to see content creators being honest and vulnerable. Thank you💗 And don't split your channel up. Go with your gut with what you want to discuss or create on your channel. You will grow an audience eventually that is truly there for you as an artist and will be with you while you build your art business. This eventually will turn into loyal customers who will want to buy your art. Just keep at it and don't lose your authentic self on your journey.
i used to get disappointed about not getting a lot of attention on social media but when a couple of my videos got big i realized that i didnt want to simp for the algorithm just to keep strangers happy. of course, if i wanted to sell my art it would be really hard to get people interested, but right now i just want to make things for myself
Thank you for this video. I’ve been watching your videos to help my own channel grow so this helps a lot for me to not loose sight of the why I am am doing YT: for the art
This is so helpful especially the focus on our audience. Lol I'm all over the place I love to experiment with different art mediums. BTW I love your editing style!
100 000 subscribers!!! I saw one of your videos a few days ago and I couldn’t stop myself from binge watching a lot of your content. I’m just starting my art creator journey (on Instagram lmao) and I really wanted to understand what I should expect, how I should approach things and how I could grow and start a RUclips channel in the future. You have been a great inspiration and motivation.
I was just watching your video on how to make more time for art and saw the 100 000 subscribers mark, in all its glory. I had to come here, to your most recent post, and congratulate you. I know it’s just a number that has meaning because it’s nice looking and that it doesn’t really have much impact in comparison to engagement and other kind of goals you have set for yourself, but it’s still a huge milestone that only a small percent of people reach, so congratulations on that!!
This video is the most accurate summary I know of artist's struggle on social media.
One mistake I made was severely underestimating the amount of work it would take to juggle two channels at the same time. If you want well-edited consistent uploads across two or more channels, that requires a TEAM of people. Keep it all on one channel. Your centralised audience will help to smooth over the bumps in revenue because some of the dedicated followers will stumble into your less popular videos despite the algorithm, and they will find that they actually like it.
Subscribed! Thank you!
The “artist to content creator” stream is something I have been watching over and over. Another way I see it manifest is artist with a style who then evolves to teach others how to make that style of art.
These two streams happen so often that I wonder if it is even possible to make a living making art, period. Not teaching others how to run an art business and not teaching other people how to make your art.
Visual art seems to be the only industry I see this happening to such an extreme.
For myself, I have set the challenge to crack the code to creating a business from my art, and not becoming a teacher of art business or a teacher of making art.
Can it be done? Your thoughts?
I mean, I make videos teaching stuff because I genuinely like it, I just want to do it slightly less. Leigh Ellexson just makes studio vlogs and makes six figures, people like Erin Hanson and Jess Franks have their work in galleries and also do fine. Art youtubers are just super visible and so it seems like you need to be an educator to perform well, but you really don't
The thing is probably that the ones that just make it aren't that much on the radar
I think you need to look outside of the internet to see if it can be done. Personally I've met artists of both kind since I left the social media sphere, and I don't think teaching is a bad option for artists, and certainly not a 'second grade' option. It's a great oppotunity when they need to retrieve from constantly reinventing themselves. You get to look at whatever you know in a new light and breath in some fresh air. Teaching the younger generation can often inspire the teacher as well - if they are truly good teachers who interact with students rather than just tell their students what to do. There's nothing stopping artist turned teachers going back to art, and I see that in many artists resume, teaching, then exhibition, then commercial project, then teaching, then maybe years of exhibitions and commercial project, suddenly teaching again. Frankly, if an artist want to narrow their potential income source to only sell art, then the big risk is to be slaved by the demand of the market, consumers, and trends.
I know what you mean. I've always found it troubling how a lot of artists become teachers, who create more artists who then become art teachers and the cycle continues, with most artists not actually making money from their art. But clearly some do make money from selling art and designing for people so I don't think the two options you listed are the only two ways available for artists. I'm trying to figure it out myself, I've decided I'll retrain in a different field next year if I can't get my design business off the ground in the next 6 months or so because I don't want to keep struggling financially.
I have a close friend who's a professional artist. They do CGI for TV shows/movies. I don't think they do social media at all, and they're definitely not involved in teaching.
hi kelsey! thank you for this. i’m a recent sub! while i was watching this i got a few ideas for solutions! 1) studio vlog footage overlayed with audio discussing art business tips 2) having a sort of intermission between different topics where you’d showcase your art! if you’ve done this already you can disregard this, but maybe something like this could work! anyways thank you for these helpful tips, i really appreciate you! 🤍✨
oo that would be cool! :) Yeah, like 'Draw and and chat with me" :)
As someone who went through an ART DEPRESSION for over 2 years, it's not worth it. Of course it wasn't purely my intent to just grow for the likes/views. It's a passion to draw and seeing the likes/views go up got my art drive up, but since I wasn't taking care of my passion and started to focus more towards my growth-- I developed this spiral that I'm now currently getting out of. I know this might sound lame/silly to some people, but I actually started to get out of this due to BOTW (breath of the wild).
At one point I got my electronics taken away and it was hard for me to draw since traditional art wasn't helping, so when my dad let me use his switch and let me play botw, my GOD it was like a whole new ass world for me. I know the graphics/shading is a bit off sometimes but it opened me to a new world of inspiration. I almost completely gave up my art passion that I developed for about a decade and because of this game, I felt like I finally regained my love for drawing.
Now I'm not saying that botw is going to help everyone (but still play the game pls oml it's AWESOME), it's because of this new interest I've gained is the reason why I just got back into it. It's considered my first introduction to legend of zelda but my god I'm so happy I've gotten into it because of my detox.
what I'm trying to get at is find that reason why you've enjoyed art in the first place. But please keep in mind this shouldn't be a forced type of search, I was trying to force myself but just left myself even more burnt and upset. Maybe watch a new show or play a game that sparks a bit of interest without looking up more about the game? Just keep in mind, it's going to come along one day and make sure you take a day or two of an art break so you don't burn yourself out.
(sorry this is long) BUT my final type is do NOT compare yourself to your previous self. Doing this might cause another burn out. Remember, you've haven't drawn in (however long)-- your skills aren't updated and that's okay. If anything you might be like me and develop some new one's that you've never thought of trying before! For whoever reads this, I hope your journey goes well and make sure you treat yourself well :)
I often see on social media, artists who might say something like ' This is how to draw this... or that ' but what they should be teaching is how to see, the most important thing in art.
One person may draw or paint something in one way while another in some way different.
How you draw/ paint something is about expression and style, something that comes over time as you mature as an artist.
If you know how to look at something through the eyes of an artist, your world of imagination and creativity open up so much.
When it comes to style, i see too many who draw/ paint like one another because they have learned some way to do something, using some kind of technique, which is fine but they need to understand why they are using it and when to use it effectively.
People get stuck in a specific style or subject, which is fine, but you have to be careful that you don't become a ' Has- Been ', someone who's art style has been seen many times can becomes dull or samey...
Keep growing, experimenting, trying new things, changing things up in both style, subject and even Genres!
Hi Kelsey, I hope you are having a wonderful fulfilling day.
I heard your words and I couldn’t avoid to write to you… I am Nahomi Luna, a 25 year old girl that loved making art since I was a baby girl. Since very little drawing was a passion for me, I did it all the time and I study it by my own for several years but I never went to school for it, we were very poor but non the less I was always encourage by my family and loved ones to make it my profession (since I come from a family of “ruined” artists) and after so many years of listening to this I decided to give it a try but I needed community (followers) and in my most pure of intentions I went all for it following my dreams, I did my deep research about social media algorithimgs, the engaging, social users, trends, art trends, when are users active the most, how to gain attention, you know, all in the book. Once i had clear what to do i gave it a try for almost 5 years from my 17’s to my 22nd and the conclusion? I must say that it was one of the worst soul hurtful things I could’ve done to myself in my life.
What everybody put there that educates about “How to be successful in social media as an artists” is what I now call “How to be part of the Art Psychosis”
I was drawing every day even if i couldn’t (no time or inspiration) but i had to do it!!
I was posting every day even if i had nothing to share (or if my mental state wasn’t good for me)
I was categorizing unfairly my art by # just to be found
I was putting attentions to the comments and feedback even if i didn’t agree (you need to give them what they want)
I was following and repeating what engage the most (even if i didn’t like it)
I was constantly on social media hunting the last art trends to be part of it (even if the where not of my attention or had no time, you need to do it!! That’s how she got found!!)
I was part of legit art groups in which you art (and your persona) gets tear apart by people whom forget you are a human with feelings.
I was posting stories like crazy even if I has nothing left to say.
I wanted to quit but i was so good at it to just quit after all my sacrifice.
Like you can tell, all this was a recipe for a disaster. It hurt me deep in my psyche, in therapy my philosopher told me that the focus of this instructions to follow is to create a “BEING” a persona that fits into what people think an artist should look like and act like and not on “CREATE” what a real artist focus on.
With the ups and downs, this art psychosis journey lasted several years and it did what it promise, it give me several thousands of numbers, it got me several jobs, it got me validation, it seems like i was making it… but never in my entire life (oh boy, I’ve had a rough one) I have felt so incredibly miserable, sad and depressed.
I quit doing what I loved once the most because It was killing my spirit, I ended up hating it, I could not see myself reflected on my art anymore, it was some stranger.
Its being several years now of working on myself and the person I want to be aside from my family’s expectations, slowly working on grabbing a pen a pencil again but only when my soul cries for it, I know I will get the guts to come back to painting again soon, I really hope so.
I was in RUclips for years before all this, and I wanted to share my experience with today’s young artists in potency so that they don’t fall into this traps specially with platforms like TikTok and the still evolving instagram but my experience was so painful for me that I can only write this letter to you, expressing how proud I am that you got to wave your way trough it and share you experience with the world.
Be always true to yourself
I love your creations
-Nahomi Luna
The amount of knowledge and experience this young artist shares for free is quite mind boggling. Some would argue, not even universities would share these powerful tips. Social media has truly changed how we as a race interact. For me personally it's quite inspiring and scary as fudge at the same time.
And even more so with AI generated "art". Where should we draw the line.. I'm torn. I love AI art but can one really call oneself as the artist for some prompts ?
This comment escalated quickly lol wasn't my intention.
Thank you so much for this I truly needed exactly this, I've been stuck for so long as an artist and I can't find my way back. This made some things clearer I can't describe how thankful I am. thank you
So I'm currently trying to build an audience, and maybe I'm just unaware but I don't feel like it's stunting my art growth? If anything, it's forcing me to create art when I haven't for years. And, god, I have missed it. I missed drawing and painting so much. I missed how I felt doing it. I won't lie, there is some pressure (not so much with RUclips, but more so with Instagram) to have things to post regularly. I enjoy RUclips a lot, and I have quite a few ideas for the next few months, but I'm trying to do a mix of video types from the beginning so I (hopefully) don't have any trouble down the road. One of my biggest fears is niching down too much because I am a multi-subject and multi-media artist.
The only thing I wish I had more time for is my actual self-taught art education? I have Skillshare and NMA subscriptions but don't have the time between working 40 hours a week for work, helping the family out, doing art, creating videos for RUclips and content for Instagram. I am amazed by the amount I have been able to do (2 videos a week on RUclips, consistently), but I just wish the full-time job wasn't a thing. Haha.
But thanks for this video, Kelsey. I know of the pressure to post, especially on Instagram. Fortunately, I've been quite patient with myself. Starting a RUclips channel and an Instagram AT THE SAME TIME is a lot of work, and I'm just focusing on RUclips more right now. Also, my art takes some time to finish, and I'm ok with the fact I'm posting MAYBE once a week on Instagram. It's better than not posting at all. I am also super eager to hear about your two-channel experiment. I want to introduce vlogs on my channel eventually, but I fear they won't be received well. I'm excited to learn from you, as I always do.
Thanks again! Good luck with the second channel. Definitely will be subscribing to it (because I love your art videos too).
I have a question? Is there any benefit on growing on Instagram as an artist? Like do artist get paid on Instagram without needing to have an online shop or taking commissions in the similar way creators make money just from youtube through Adsense, affiliate links, sponsorships? I never understood the concept of wanting to grow on Instagram
@@makizenin1840 You can definitely get sponsorship and affiliate marketing deals on Instagram. I don't know at what point (how big your following has to be) but people do make money that way off Instagram. Also, Instagram (I just found this out recently) will pay you money if you get into their program for reels. I don't know much about it, but I do know Dhanisha talks about it in her video here: ruclips.net/video/z6JJy96rBkI/видео.html. It doesn't seem like Instagram pays much. Where you make the money is through brand deals and affiliate marketing.
Really resonated with me about creating without expectations. I’m at a turning point where I’ve found growth as an artist and am moving away from commission work to creating works for me in various mediums as opposed to just one. I feel so Much more motivated and like I’m putting my soul in paper rather than just painting something that’s personal to someone else. And I now have regular content that I can post because it’s not top secret! I’ve begun to sell some but it’s a long road and I have goals and strategies and I know my target audience so it’s just a case of pushing on and up. Thank you for your posts, running an art business is a lonely road.
Thank you so much for creating this video and sharing your experience and observations. This was truly helpful for me. I’ve been struggling as of late because of the constant comparisons I’ve been having with my art others. Especially the amount of content they put outta compared to me. I’ve been kind of paralyzed and unmotivated because I’m of this. Once again, thank you and stay blessed.
I feel like tiktok is exactly the epitome of what you explained. People follow and like the accounts that are showing how to make money and how to get more followers, and those account owners try to tell you that you can be like them. However, it's not as easy to grow an art account since there are way more people out there who want to learn how to grow their account vs the amount of people who want to see art 😕
While I like it when people like a specific thing I make, I mostly prefer those who like more than one thing I draw. It feels pretty limiting and it unnerves me when people only compliment one thing I draw. This is mainly when people compliment my pixel art over my regular artwork. Or people preferring specific characters or genre I make.
Nothing wrong with people having preferences (even I have preferences), yet I put equal effort in the mediums I do. And I do try to show interest in other stuff people do too.
In terms of numbers, it depends. Usually it’s for using social media as a job, or people using it for validation when it comes to what they make. It’s a double edged sword and usually it’s best to focus on your own enjoyment more.
Thank you for being such an inspiration, Kelsey! I always appreciate how candid you are. Keep up the incredible work! x
Hi Kelsy thanks for being so transparent in this video! and I think that like you said there's people that watches a creator just because the creator despite the content and I consider myself that I watch your channel because of you not a topic in specific so a think that you shoould do what ever your heart feels because here we are the people that wants to be with you no matter what!! have a nice day and keep rockin it!! :D
I kinda agree but I also disagree in some respects.
I truly believe that picking a niche is going to be the best way for any creative looking to grow quickly and / or monetize their work as quickly as possible. The double-edged sword of depending on social media for your income is that you'll need to be prepared to appeal to the wants of your audience moreso than your own sometimes -- at least in the beginning. HOWEVER, I think there needs to be a healthy balance. You have to acknowledge that SOMETIMES, you may have to make content that you may not be super passionate about in order to grow. But if you keep making sacrifices like this at your own expense, you WILL burn out. Right now, I know the niche I'm targeting, however not all of the artwork I want to do is relevant to that niche, and I couldn't handle making 2 channels when I can barely handle one lol. My hope is to either find some way to make the art I want to do relevant to the niche, post the work separately, or save it for a rainy day after my channel has grown a bit and I can afford to diversify my content by putting up a second channel.
Honestly as an artist, I both like and HATE social media. I remember back when I was grinding so hard to grow on Instagram and it was just so miserable. Even at my best it was impossible to see any real growth without doing fanart, or getting shoutout by a bigger artist or something. And it seemed to me like popular art on instagram had a certain "look" or "vibe" that I just could not replicate with my own work. It never looked right. Never looked "aesthetic" enough. I couldn't figure out how artists I followed were able to make these beautiful, amazing compositions that performed so well on instagram and I just...couldn't. It was extremely demoralizing. I burned out just as I was starting to gain some a bit of traction and abandoned social media for nearly half a decade.
However, I think that a lot of that pain can be mitigated by properly and intentionally niche-ing down. If you can find a niche you enjoy, figure out your target audience, and can find ways to make a lot of content for it, it may eliminate some of the headache. I'm trying to be a bit more strategic about my content this time and have avoided being active on instagram so that I can avoid the peer pressure.
So I don't necessarily disagree! I'm in the position right now where my interests actually are fairly narrow, but I realized I was niching *too far* down such that it was pretty detrimental. I think over time as our skills develop and interests evolve we kinda naturally stumble into a niche in terms of medium and subject, or at least find a fairly coherent style over time, but really trying to force yourself into a box that you don't want to be in can be ruinous.
Going forward though I'm hoping to post these more chatty videos and art focused ones at an equal ratio, to both cater to the audience that I'm targeting and building while still being personally fulfilled. I could have maybe given that part of the video slightly more nuance, and if I cover this topic in the future I'll definitely bring up your points!
Hey Kelsey. Been watching your videos for a couple of months now. I happened upon your channel through your '$6k per month' video.
You seem to be somewhat struggling with why your business related videos are doing well, while your person art/blog videos aren't doing as well. I hope you don't mind me weighing in, because I don't think it's that complicated, although I apologise in advance as it might be a bit of an harsh observation.
I think the reason is fairly simple. The number of people who care about you personally as an artist will pale in comparison to the number of people who want to be a successful artist themself and hope that you can help them achieve that. Please don't take this the wrong way - but I'm totally one of those people. I think I've only seen one of your art/blog style videos, and I'm currently looking over your thumbnails and they're just not really for me. I'm a 3D artist and I'm very interested in your videos on business, making money and success on RUclips. But I'm not personally a painter and don't really want to be.
So I don't think it's anything you're doing wrong. Your business related videos are just always going to do better because they appeal to a much wider audience, whilst still being relatively niche.
And I really hope that isn't too harsh, as you really seemed to be pushing the idea that "your niche is you as an artist"...and I'm not really sure that's true. When business people talk about your niche they're usually talking about your *customers* niche, not you personally. It's about what your customers get out of the exchange, not what you do. Which is an extremely capatilist way of seeing the world and doesn't necessarily gel with artistic experimentation. But, that does seem to be what you're struggling with.
As to how you get around that and cultivate an audience that cares about your art and not just what they get out of it - well that's the million dollar question isn't it? I wish I knew that answer.
Very good points. I personally hate the idea of myself becoming the selling point instead of my art and what I produce. If your personality is the product, it can be a recipe for an unhealthy parasocial relationship with the audience.
I'm so glad you posted this. I've always let social media serve me instead of letting social media rule me. I create in watercolor, acrylics, embroidery, tatting, etc, so I have separate social media accounts for each medium. I don't know anything about algorithms and I'm not trying to learn anything about them. I create, I post, I reply sometimes, and then I rinse, lather, and repeat. I don't follow anyone on my personal or professional accounts who cause me to feel bad/insecure/uncertain about myself. Generally I follow amazing artists whose work are very different from mine.
So many people are challenged with insecurity and no sense of self so they look to social media to tell them who to be and then validate their existence. They need comments, likes, and attention to be okay and they jump through more and more hoops to get those. Then they're destroyed when it doesn't happen. That's not what social media is for me. Social media is just a way for me to connect with like-minded others and if that's one person or a million people it doesn't change who I am within my real life. Too many people are using social media as a substitute for living in reality.
Hi Kelsey! Thank you so much for making this video. I’ve slowed down on posting my art on social media because I felt I needed a “niche” and it totally killed my want to create. I felt limited when I knew I didn’t want that. As a result, I just updated my insta bio to include “My creativity has no boundaries”. I think this will set the expectation for whoever comes around my page and will allow to feel free to do whatever I want 🥰.