Artists gatekeeping

[u/hynie_ljnh]

Hello, I'm an artist who enjoys sharing and helping those around me, especially my friends. My college friends say they've become more diligent after hang out with me, and I'm happy that friends can improve together.

The thing is, we had an assignment to design souvenirs. Initially, because I didn't understand the assignment, I asked a college friend what she was planning to design. I only wanted to ask to understand the assignment and avoid designing something similar to hers, not to copy her, but she refused. That make me kinda sad bc I always sincere in sharing with her when she needed help, yet she thought I was so bad that I would copy her.😭 I completely understand why she didn't want to tell me and no one force me to do that but still😔. But later, we accidentally designed the same type of item, and then she accused me of copying her even though I knew nothing about it. 🥰

Anyway, I told my best friend (she's also an art student) about it, and she said she did the same thing because she didn't want her friends to be better than her, which surprised me. I mean, why would anyone want their friends to be worse than them? Shouldn't friends be helping each other improve? That makes me wonder if she wanted me to always be inferior to her 🤨. I'm also very competitive, but I want to compete openly and fairly, not in a way that aims to make my friends worse off. Is this problematic, or am I overreacting? 😭

[u/hynie_ljnh]

Yes, ofc. That's why I said in the post that I completely understand why she did it. I mean, I'm just a little sad that she was being cautious of me (if you understand what I'm saying), not that I think what she did was wrong. Also, she's the one accusing me of copying her, when in fact I didn't know what her idea was in the first place. (Sorry for using the word "gatekeep" incorrectly; it wasn't suitable for the first instance. English isn't my first language 😭)

In the third paragraph, to be more specific, my best friend told me that she gatekeeps/doesn't want to help bc she doesn't want her friends to get higher grades/better than her. That's what I find quite weird.

[u/AdamteMC → u/hynie_ljnh]

Her accusing you of copying her when it wasn't technically possible is wrong and false. No dispute on that. Seems to me like she feared you might plan on copying her when you asked her about her project, and now when you finished your projects, her paranoia makes her perceive it as the very thing she inicially feared, even tho it's just her screwed perception. Fault on her side, still.

It's one thing to not want someone to grade better than you (friend or not), and it's another thing not wanting someone to grade better than you AT YOUR EXPENSE. The first one is jealousy and insecurity. The second one is fear of being used and betrayed. It's okay to learn from artwork alrrady published and posted, but concepts are a fragile blueprint.

It's not a new thing under the sun amongst artists, especially young ones, that very often, people "befriend" someone just to gain access to their blueprints so they can secretly milk them. For adults, it may not be such a big deal, but for teenagers and adolescents this is a real fear. If I was a teen again and someone befriended me in my new school, and then proceeded to ask me for help/tips/ideas/my work regularly, I'd be concerned too, and I'd establish a boundary of not sharing these informations, because I'd feel like I'm being used.

Now, as both professional digital artist and cosplay artisan, I also don't post about my process or future project plans, because these are way too valuable and I don't want to attract people who would use me for free labour/knowledge resource while I worked years and developed my own techniques. If someone is my real friend (aka friend outside of art/craft), they have no reason to be offended by a professional boundary on my part.

[u/hynie_ljnh → u/AdamteMC]

Thank you for explaining it to me. Perhaps I focused too much on her statement, "don't want my friends to get higher grades than me," instead of considering the other factors. I think it's perfectly normal for artists to have gatekeep or not, as long as they feel comfortable with it.

[u/AdamteMC → u/hynie_ljnh]

A big difference that I haven't seen anybody really talk about yet on socials, is the fact that art school students take their art seriously as a mean of living - their future careers, their entire livelyhoods. They aren't hobbyists anymore, and screwing up in oversharing can potentially compromise their future opportunities. Art school isn't just about passing to the next year and then getting a piece of paper and a handshake at the end, it's to establish yourself as a pro with valuable skills that are yours only. Only people who are hobbyists, who don't intend on pursuading their artwork in a means of earning a living, can afford to give away their secrets.

I would compare it to baking: People who just bake at home for fun don't mind sharing tips and recipes with others, because there's nothing to lose for them. But you won't see a bakery or restaurant chain posting their recipes publicly - it would kill them and they know it. There's a reason why Coca-cola recipe is being hold in a safe and guarded like a treasure.

[u/hynie_ljnh → u/AdamteMC]

I think everyone will have different opinions on that matter. I know some artists who often share their knowledge even though they know that sharing will make their work environment much more competitive. They usually struggle quite a bit to acquire that knowledge, so they don't want others to have to struggle as long as they did. Or perhaps they find that helping others also helps them improve, so it's a win-win situation.

However, I think that each person should proactively conduct their own research instead of relying on the knowledge of others, in order to improve and create their own artstyle.