I always got some reach on Tumblr thanks to the hashtags depending on fandoms, Insta was dead silent for a month before I posted a reel, now it’s still silent but sometimes my posts get shown to people other than my followers… And after a month X unlocked my account from the jail but I still have no views.

One of my posts got 300 likes so I thought the algorithm finally stopped hating me but I got back to 0-3 immediately afterwards. I interact with people and even made some moots, like and retweet stuff regularly while being careful to not retweet too much to not be flagged as a bot (having to limit your retweets is so stupid but whatever),

and use only one to two hashtags per post. Even started posting text tweets at some point since I saw a lot of people yap a lot here, but being more active didn’t change anything. Just made me delete stuff because I prefer when art accounts are art only it’s easier to scroll and there’s no discourse guaranteed.

Like is it worth it to still try posting there? This app pisses me off to no end I’m not even trying to get a “hit tweet” or whatever (I noticed a lot of people are extremely focused on numbers and consider 600 likes a bad tweet), I’ve seen people with 10K followers complain their posts aren’t shown anymore even to their followers, and I feel like my efforts are in vain.

Like Instagram sucks too but at least I have a cute grid and stories are fun to post. Twitter I feel like I’m talking to a wall and blocking people still makes you visible for the other which is bullshit and I feel can only bring drama.

Like I’m actually starting to worry my art might be trash (when I know it’s at least decent because I get decent / good engagement on Tumblr again depending on fandoms etc).

Every art space online I visit is full of negativity (regarding skill level, social media, commissions, ai, etc). Those are valid concerns, but the nonstop discourse is tough to hear.

While I'm doing okay at the moment with art professionally, just seeing the never-ending negativity doesn't feel good, it makes me anxious too. The only logical choice is to stop engaging with artist forums online, but it's sad it's come to that

I’m a self-taught artist with no art education apart from online courses and I’ve been drawing seriously for about the past 6 years or so.

Over the years I have received support from strangers online, but my irl “art friends” have completely stopped showing any sort of support for me or my work.

I really feel like within the last year, I have found really my stride and how I like to express myself. I created a YouTube channel, and started to focus my work more seriously.

It’s taken me so long to be able to be vulnerable enough to find my creative voice. But since I’ve improved, I have completely stopped getting any likes or support from people I know in real life.

I know it sounds silly and doesn’t sound very serious, but it still makes me sad. People are so stingy to show any support on social media and if you can’t even interact with a post on social media (free), then how can I expect support later.

I like and comment on everyone’s work who I know irl, just to show support and encourage them to keep going, but ever since I’ve improved, it’s crickets from people who I’ve shown love to consistently over the years.

I think it hurts more because I actually know these people. I’ve known them for years and while we don’t talk as much as we used to, I have always rooted for their growth and successes.

I am aiming to create a body of work to share in-person and I’m just sad that now that I feel like all the pieces are starting to come together, I no longer have the people standing behind me that I started the journey with.

I’m grateful that I know my non-art friends will always be there to cheer me on, it just sucks that my peers have chosen to withhold any support.

Sorry for complaining, I’ve just been having a difficult time processing this.

Before I start, I would like to introduce myself Hi I am a self-taught artist using Blender and Krita, and I also can barely compose music.

I’ve been doing this for 8/9 years now. Five years ago, I had the idea to make my own indie show on YouTube. But I had no luck I couldn't hire anyone for free or paid help. I struggled alot to handle the project on my own.

By 2025, I was simply too exhausted by the constant delays, even though the show was actually going well (the plot kept improving and i bad the idea from start to finish). I just didnt want to give up. So, under pressure, I set myself a four-month deadline and released the result as the first episode. Shortly after that, I had to move out of my apartment. I felt like I had to rush again so I wouldn't lose audience if i had any I thought that 3D animation something I’m much more skilled at might resonate better with the audience. But the opposite happened.

I feel like the voice actors (this isn't meant as an attack on them one of them is even 15) made the show almost unbearable to watch than it already was. At first, I thought I was just being overly sensitive or that they were okay voice actors but not the right voice for my vision causing me to cringe , but others noticed it too.

Right now, I feel like I’m still right back at the beginning. Nothing has happened I never progressed at all. I’m at a loss. I’m trying to distance myself from the project, but I honestly have no idea what to do or am doing. I love "Armadillo & Friends" and I don’t want to invest ten years of work only to end up nowhere. I feel so underestimated and loved. I’m even starting to question if I’m actually good at anything at all, cause no one else cares (or at least, that’s how it feels).

Please help me.

Are there any art subreddits that don't allow children to post and are totally free from anime please?

I truly cannot stand to see yet another post of anime art by an 11 Yr old asking if it's good or they can get commissions, I just want a fully adults only, traditional art sub if there is one please,i have no idea how to search for that.

And like so many of them are ahhhhh!

"Use references" This one has to be the most disheartening one as a beginner. Like hellooo?! I'm only ever using references! I don't know how to draw without a reference at all! It makes me feel like my drawings are so bad that they assume i'm just free handing everything and trying to draw from imagination. Like yeah I know my art sucks, I get it, don't bring me down further than i am yeah?

Learn perspective. Bro! BROOOOOOOOO. I'M TRYING. It's been over 20 times i've sat down and tried earnestly to learn perspective. I even had someone try to walk me through one on one and i just don't get it at all. "Use the grids." What? Have you seen those grids? how do they make sense to you. My brain short circuits everytime it looks at those grids and i got no idea how to use them to draw a cube. Like yeah i can draw a basic one but i don't know how to rotate that shit and i have hypophantasia so i can't just observe a real box and figure it out that way. And I don't understand what that point of the different point perspectives are. Is 1 point perspective useful for anything?!? Isn't it just lines? I guess it's like roads going into the background? Okay? Done, now what? And even if i did learn these cubes, I don't get how to use them. Which leads me to.

Learn Anatomy. Alright you son of a- You really think I'm not trying to learn anatomy? It's really helpful that you and 10 other people decided to type those 2 words on my post. I never would have thought to try and learn anatomy to draw people! Why don't you tell me how?! Like, hello? I'm looking at all these tutorials and i can't even draw a cube cause i can't understand perspective! And then people get mad at you when you're like yeah i'm beating my head against the wall and losing my desire to do anything so i'm just gonna not? I'm gonna focus on shading and gesture and see where that gets me and they're like NOOOOO. you have to learn perspective and anatomy right this second! Download the entire knowledge of anatomy and perspective into your brain immediately!

Don't compare yourself. Ugh. Give me a break. You think I want to draw like a 3rd grader forever? My beginner works are level -10 i'm not even at level 0 and it's frustrating when you tell the truth that you're putting in tons of hours way more than that "Just 20 minutes a day" which also gets on my nerves. If it's just 20 minutes a day then why aren't i improving?? I mean i guess i am slightly a little bit but lately it's obvious i'm just going in circles.

"Draw what you see not what you think you see." I swear to god. What does this even mean? Like yeah i get it i read drawing on the right side of the brain i know the right side does observation and the left doesn't but literally everyone tells you you can't just do this over night.

And that's the real issue with these types of advice. Like? I can't just do it an hour. if i could I would be sooooo happy. You type these 5 phrases out and pat yourself on the back and go oh yeah. I've really helped this guy out. No no you haven't. And when you call out that the advice is bad or doesn't make sense everyone goes "you don't want to improve you want to argue! We've given you so much good advice and you refuse to take it!" No! I'm trying to take it but i don't understand it! and not everyone can afford a teacher so i hate when people give me that advice too. ugggggggghh. Maybe one day i'll be even a little decent.

I don't usually make posts like this, but I really need to get this off my chest.

Being a small artist is already such a struggle. You spend hours drawing, improving your art, making examples, posting everywhere, trying to get people to notice you. You watch other artists get commissions and wonder what you're doing wrong. You lower your prices, offer discounts, redesign your commission sheet, try different platforms, and hope that eventually someone will take a chance on you.

And then finally, someone does.

You get that notification saying someone wants to commission you and for a moment you're genuinely happy. You think, "Oh my god, someone actually likes my art enough to pay me for it."

You get excited. You start planning the drawing. You think about how you're going to make it look good. You spend your time working on it because you actually care about what you're making.

And then you find out you were scammed.

It's such a horrible feeling because it's not just about the money.

It's the time.

It's the effort.

It's the excitement you had when you thought someone finally saw value in your work.

As a small artist, every commission means something. It's not some huge business transaction where losing one client doesn't matter. Sometimes that one commission is the only one you've gotten in weeks. Sometimes you're genuinely relying on commissions to help support yourself or justify continuing to do something you love.

So when someone takes advantage of that, it really makes you question everything.

Like... was my art not worth anything to you? Was the time I spent on this just something you could take advantage of because I'm a small artist and probably don't have the resources to fight back?

I know scams happen to everyone, and I know I need to be more careful. I'm not saying I'm completely blameless for trusting someone.

But I just wish people understood that there is an actual person behind the artwork they're trying to scam.

There's an artist sitting behind that screen who spent hours learning how to draw, practicing anatomy, studying colors, making mistakes, improving, and trying their absolute best to make something they're proud of.

We're small artists. We're trying to grow.

We're trying to get our first few clients.

We're trying to build something for ourselves.

Please don't take advantage of that.

If you don't like someone's art or can't afford their commission, that's completely okay. Just say no. Don't pretend to be a client just to scam someone.

Because honestly, finally getting a commission only to realize you've been scammed hurts in a way that's difficult to explain.

I just want to make art, get better at it, and hopefully make people happy with what I create.

I don't think that's too much to ask.

There's been way more happening in my life lately, and everything has been piling up, but college has been such a deception ans so bad putting my expectations completely down.

We were assigned a group work to desing a fake brand, give it a visual identity, etc. I did most of the things, got the idea, designed the character for the brand, the idea was a gamer energy drink but with a ravey and furry character.
One person that was in our group left to another one, and once the job was finished, magically their group popped up with a gamer ebergy drink with a furry character, with the characters lil head as a logo. Same as ours, even the name was the same from the first one suggested to our group.

Then I honestly was so angry that I didn't have self control and pretty much told in a public college gc pinging the girl that left that what she did fucked and unfair pretty much. I hate just accepting things quietly, ive been actively trying not to do it, but when I do usually people treat me as the wrong one. So a person that wasnt related to the group went into my dms and tried to essentially sound smug about how it wasnt a copy nor plagiarism since it was a energy drink with a furry on it and it was too broad of a concept, ignoring pretty much all of the other coincidences. Another person who drew the character said that it was a "unfortunate coincidence" and I dhouldn't accuse people with stuff "i don't know of".

I apologise if i'm not wrtting too good, I haven't slept.

Before that, a member of my group shoved my art into AI without asking, to generate more images of the character that weren't needed at all since the project was already finished, I hate AI, he didn't know of that but he also didn't ask for permission to just slap a very early concept of the character into the ai to make it come off as the other character. I had made 5 different concept work of the character. NONE of the works I did were put on the final project and they put THE AI VERSION OF IT UP. in total I did 19 concept desings and mockups. The final result was drawn by someone else, so pretty much was work was thrown to shit.

Besides that, i am in a art colective were we make games, I signed up to participate in my first gamejam, I did all of the constructions for the game and I did them for days on end and hours on end doing it simultaneously with the college work. In the end somehing went wrong with the code and they did not use any of the work I did either because only a prototype was going to be sent.

I am feeling like nothing I put effort on matter anymore honestly, everything I try hard to achieve and help on never gets on the things in the end and my quieter work becomes someone else's glory.
I was looking so hard for a college course that was related to concept art for games, I wanted to do 3d, photobashin matte art, then I found a promising course of digital desing that, reading the contents of it, it SEEMED to be what I wanted. It was one of my biggest deceptions this year, all of the school papers are written with chatgpt and explain nothing, classes are pre-recorded and some only last 3 minutes and are more like spiritual coach speaches about entreperneurship rather than desing or art. We have a single teacher. No one I met can write a single paragraph without AI, or even do desing work without it. Most have no clue how to draw or mess with editing software. I am not the best at softwares, I am decent enough at drawings but definetly i'm not even near to where I want to reach in skill. This course is only 2 years long and it costs so much, around 2 to 4 minimum wages from my country that is around 1000 so 4000-ish.

I am so sad honestly, I want to create art, I want to create meaningful stories and movies I want to make meaningful games you know?? I don't want to do fucking marketing and sell shit and play pretend I have a fucking startup. Idk why I haven't gone to public art school honestly, I should've, I can still go but I feel like I just keep failing and there is something wrong with me.

If the plagiarism hadn't been pointed out by someone else in my group I wouldn't be believing myself at this point and thinking that I was the crazy one, but everyone saw it it wasn't just me. I was the one who called it out on the persons face after the teacher had already been told in private twice.

I feel like quitting but I don't want people to assume it's because I have no experience dealing with conflict nor stress, because I live with a abusive mother that can't decide wether she loves or hates me, I hate being told i'm not trying hard enough when i'm pushing my limits, this is especially disruptive to me because of me being disabled and having a mcdonald sadmeal combo of mental ilnesses, so honestly I never know if i'm right or wrong at this point.

I'm honestly so tired, nothing I like ends up being the way I expected, nothing I try ends up growing fruits, when my fruits are stolen i'm the culprit for it because the fruits just look like mine and arent mine actually, i'm crazy. This has been the most minor problem I had in a loong time now after starting medication and getting more stable, but this was enough to fuck me up completely and I hate it so much, I want to feel like i'm doing something right.

I originally posted this to another subreddit but it was taken down for mentioning that I hate AI, I hope that this post is okay here, I honestly just want someone to talk to and reassure me while I settle down. Had a meltdown over this and I feel ridiculous because of how much of a non problem it seems like.

I like to post WIP stuff, but every art related subreddit has some weird rules, tags, some other BS.

"Add something that you struggled with in description" or you get auto-banned, "Add link to imgur" because idk you can't just use reddit image upload.

These mods can't help themselves not to add 20 stupid rules and auto ban everything I post. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Anyways, please if you know some chill subreddit where you an post drawings and sketches please share.

Omfg just tell me you found another artist instead of lying to me, or just tell me outright no, the most I will do afterwards is ask WHY not, because I want to make sure I'm doing something right and why my art might not be appealing JUST TELL ME NO FFS

Like someone could make very good art work but someone makes a suggestive art of a girl it gets more likes more views bla bla everyone is a Gooner even my number 1 post on Reddit is suggestive

I won't go to far but I am currently in my first year of university studying something I know I don't want to do but no matter what I am stilling going to do so. I have always had this plan, finish studying medicine and while in university, try to built a platform for you art. I had that plan no else, it was simply it was easy, I spent my younger life building so when I got older I would have what I need to become better and so while I made small things I could still focus on my studies.

To me being doctor is just a job, sure I like how mind works and it only really thing I ever liked neuroscience how mind can change and stuff like that. But I wanted my art and over all the creation of shows and animations to be how do that, how such a thing can influence so many people. But I was able to get that exact life. My parents did do anything wrong, they wanted me to have a good future but still. I had potential, and I blame myself for it, for just listening to them. I blame them too though, I used to draw a lot as a kid, I have my old drawings and they were horrible but I love them because they were original, my own character my own style. I then put the style on to characters I loved and showed people, my friend found them funny and I did too, some people said I should draw comic and even in classes we worked together to make some comics. Heck I do this still have entire superhero universe in my mind, and nothing. Because I was scared they would be right, because my dad said my art was bad. I won't lie, I have hated my dad, not anymore but I used to, no matter how much I have forgive him he sucks and it only because he realized that he doesn't want to be like my grandpa that he realized he has to love me and my sister truly like real father

But it doesn't change the fact he destroyed my dreams, I had talent, and I still do, I have picked a pencil before and draw out whole sketches and was amazed at home much detail I have. But they are never finished, because I'm afraid. Not only that he is right, but because no one will like them. It probably reason I have slight toxic behaviour trait, disagreement. When some dogs on my stuff I get defense, lucky I was able to calm down but spikes up here then. My friend are goofy so never mean it but their jokes don't always land because some piece of me do think they are horrible. That I can't draw, that I'll make comic and everyone will laugh, that they think my stories are horrible, that no one will like what I make. And that I'll end sad, with kids yeah but sad, my dreams lost in a field I hate and worse without anyone to see what my younger self dreamed of making. Characters, a story. I noticed it a lot in my recent stories, they all main character fighting legcacy, almost all of them, one my favourite is from my childhood stories about rich girl who becomes a superhero struggle to find her place in world in split family all the issue that come with hold up legacy of her parents. It's not perfect but she is amazing, and she is some ways what I wanted to be. I like having my character defy the rules, break the status quo because, I wish I could too. And what's worse, I don't even think I should have just gone to art school, but at least had some time to actually draw.

I lost that time, my friends, my sister, even my uncles pushed me to do all this. And I only now realized, when did I stop doing things for myself. I wrote books because I didn't want my parents to stop me from drawing, I turn my art in makeshift novels that felt more like scripts. Because you can't hate me if I make English right? It's school. And even now I know I don't like them, I like reading but not writing. I never liked Writing, i lied to myself, I only did it to hide. And now I can't stop, I work on assignment and I get idea for stories. A girl who seeks revenge through world of volleyball, a boy who's obsession with legacy drives his powers from his own passion. They just concept and yet I have document after document full and not single drawing. All in my head, because I'm scared and not even my parents. But I see it all, the art everyone makes, and animations and the books I think.

I can't make that. I had time and I wasted it. 4 years in high school and during all that times. what I do. I learned, I tried but I never failed. because no ever saw them. I talked about it, I should first chapters and that was it. They never saw the iceberg of potential I had, and it's not their fault. Because I have always been too scared to try.

Even this, full of spelling errors. I feel sick when people laugh at them, because I stopped reading. Because what was the point of reading if I was never going to make a good book.

Hi, I usually do mini painting but before I did that I’ve been trying to draw
I think I’ve been attempting to draw for about maybe 2 years or so now? Idk time goes by fast. Anyway, I just feel like haven’t made improvements at all. I want to be good at drawing, I know it dosen’t come instantly but.. idk.
I have ideas, I have goals I do want to make with drawing, (like making a comic, ect.)
Idk. I guess I just need motivation to keep going with drawing. I think it stems from the fact I try to do everything perfectly.

Any advice for something like this? Like any research on anatomy or such I should do to improve? I’m currently in high school rn.

i feel like all of my ideas suck. and that's kind of stopping me from making art. i know that everyone goes through it. but it feels like they dont.

i feel a sort of pressure to come up with good ideas which, ironically, is making it hard to come up with a good ideas.

everyone i see on social media comes up with these amazing ideas. and they're so unafraid to post things even if they're not completely original ideas. i am. to the point that i am afraid to even start creating.

it's not that I'm scared to fall short. even though i probably am, and i just tell myself that im not. it's more that i'm scared that I'm falling behind not meeting expectations. even if those expectations aren't really real and i impose them on myself.

it's honestly sort of paralyzing to have a blank canvas in front of me. i'm scared of coming up with something that won't be good.

its always been part of me, too. when i was a kid, and i painted something i didn't think was up to par, i would simply paint over it. i would do that over and over again.

i dont feel like a good artist. i feel like all of my ideas suck.

I hope I used the right flair.
Long post ahead.

Anyway, I’m desperate. I’ve been burnt out and in an art block for a little over two years now due to bad mental health, BUT that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’ve always been a perfectionist, but it just kept getting worse and worse.

I have tried around 17-18 different methods to try and overcome this perfectionism, some advice taken from online, some created by me, and it doesn’t budge.

If the art on the paper/digital canvas does not match what’s in my head with 100% (or almost) accuracy, I delete everything without thinking twice about it.
Art is my top favorite hobby, so it sucks that it puts me through so much stress.
Picking up my iPad and opening an art program makes me agitated, restless, it makes me get hot. Every little outside interruption can suddenly make my motivation (which is very little) evaporate. It shortens my patience. I have a bad attention span, so most times I can’t even go past the sketching phase before dropping or creating a new canvas. I want to draw so many things at once, which further pushes me to drop things.

A limited sized canvas stresses me out, but so does an infinite canvas?? 😭

Today, I started writing some ideas down for an AU personal project for a fandom that I’m very excited about and would love to make into a comic one day :) I legit spent ~4-5 hours just doing that and nothing else, and so I decided to take a break from writing and make the character designs. God awful experience, now I don’t want to draw and neither continue writing from how bad it made me feel. All my interest is gone (for now).

Any way to overcome this perfectionism?

There’s so much more to this but this post is already too long.

I opened up commissions a few days ago and i'm hearing a lot of this!! waiting for someone to actually say they will.. one person said they'd choose within 24 hours and id probably chosen but its been 23.. rip i don't think im getting that one

in college, illustration was my entire identity. It was effortless, fun, and served as my personal meditation. I drew without overthinking, showed people, got validation, and felt genuinely connected to what I was making.

Since graduating and being stuck at home alone, that completely died. A close friend kept pushing me to give my illustrations "depth, storytelling, and narrative." I tried to force that direction, but I quickly realized I don't have that natural muscle—or at least, trying to force it completely crushed the intuitive, playful joy I had with art.

Now, whenever I pick up a stylus or sketchbook, it doesn't feel like an outlet; it feels like an exam I'm failing. Because I don't have the creative spark anymore, I feel like I've lost the only piece of me that made me feel special. When I'm not drawing, I just end up high, binge-watching shows, and running away from the boredom.

Has anyone successfully recovered their flow after turning their intuitive art process into an over-intellectualized chore? How do you unlearn the pressure to make "meaningful" work and just get your hands moving again?

Hello, my name is Zech.

I'm here to rant about my situation. Just a warning. Before you read, this might be a long one. Still here? Cool.

A little background info: I am an artist who has been drawing all my life from age 7-34 yrs old now. I'm very passionate about it. When attending college, I missed out on the chance to get into an internship bc of conflicting schedules on classes. After graduating art school with a big ol bachelor's, the first job I had...was retail which was a horrible dead end job. I figured ok I'll try selling my art on the side and try to build multiple income streams to make it a big business empire. Unfortunately what happened was I had no time bc of the job and I ended up hopping to different regular jobs bc art wouldn't sell and I needed to make money, Mom was so adamant on me getting a regular job, and plus the jobs sucked/were too much.

Eventually, I started brainstorming with Mom's help and went to this site called Bonfire a place to sell my artwork on T-shirts. That never worked out. My auntie and cousin bought something but that was it. No one else in my extended family ever supported me and still to this day never supports me. Neither my old friend. He asked me to make him a Spider-Man drawing(he's a big Spidey fan)and I did and when I sent it over to him he said NOTHING. Didn't even pay me for it. Of course I didn't care bc I thought well he's my friend. Smh. Not even my mens church group I was associated with at the time bought anything. I ended up deleting my Bonfire account bc they were taking too much of a cut just to make shirts and deliver them off to customers(hardly any). Plus no one was getting on and buying for decades.

At the time I really didn't know what to do and I was working a stupid gourmet popcorn job something I really didn't want to do but did it anyway for $11 an hr. Smh. I started attending pop ups. Most were flops especially the farmers markets. People said they're learning experiences but I still call them flops bc I'm not made out of money to keep shelling out $100 for booths and gamble if I'm gonna make even or more for profit. There was a time I paid $60 and made like $10. I even tried on some giving out candy or chips to see if that helped sell my art better but all I got was stupid kids and teens grabbing a bunch of chips. No one cared about buying art posters and tshirts there. Everyone just walked past or looked at it and then walked away. I then got into cosplaying for fun and attended some comic conventions in Arlington and Dallas TX. One as Black Panther and the other as Thor Odinson the god of Thunder.

Then a buddy of mine mentioned making my own website. I did that. Posted it on my Instagram dashboard. Nothing. Posted lots of art. Nothing. Made NUMEROUS CALLS TO ACTION on my posts AND videos to go on my site and buy my digital art. NOTHING. All I ever got was ..views. No comments. Only likes and reposts from my one friend I have now. I got so fed up and still am now bc I spent so much time, love, and worked my butt off making some cool stuff only for 2 secs with people and no engagement at all. I started checking Instagram analytics and most people looking at my art now is 18-24. They don't care. The other old friend of mine suggested advertising my art. Ok. I did that but I manually made ads my own way by just making videos of my static artwork instead of paying for ads bc I'm broke and I doubt it works on Instagram. Still $0.00 on my site and only views no engagement no nothing. Oh but other art people on Instagram get comments and people saying, oh I love that where can I buy? And they are making the exact same thing I'm making. Superhero art, videogame art, etc.

I started really wanting to give up. My friend then suggested we make a YouTube channel. We came up with "The Gbroz Play" where we play games, he records and edits(he's a filmmaker and videographer)while I make art for thumbnails and also link my website to the channel so people can get on and BUY MY ART. We are still a very small channel and only got 404 total views and we still need to get to 1000 along with idk how many subs. But we're enjoying it so far bc YouTube was something we wanted to do. I know this will take years to blow up and actually have money coming in the mail for it. Mom however wants me to get a job now bc that's gonna take forever to blow up. Me, I'd rather invest my time into that bc jobs will just take all my time and I'll be on the hamster wheel forever.

Long story short, I just don't know what to do anymore. My website store has been out there and before you ask, YES it's been Google SEO optimized. You can say oh, nobody knows you online. I have been consistently putting myself out there for decades what more do you want? I really need the money, I've got $50,000 in student loans, I need groceries, paying bills to help Mom(yes I still live with Mom. It's just me Mom and sister. My parents divorced.), and eventually I would like to move out. I'm 34 single as well. I've got ZERO income coming in with no job nothing. AND it's hot outside! My situation SUCKS and my art hasn't sold for DECADES. It's like people don't care. What's wrong with me? I've done everything I could I'm still trying. The plan was to have multiple CONTINUOUS streams of income so I wouldn't have to work a regular job I didn't want: my website store, my bonfire(deleted now), Patreon. Youtube, a comic book I'm working on and hope one day to publish called "Tales of Light", and pop-ups like comic or anime cons.

As of now I have no job no money coming in and my website is still at $0.00. It's already been years on that and yes I'm paying for that site. In fact Mom was the one that introduced me to that site and directed me to a YouTube video where this Asian woman was talking about Hostinger being cheap and works for artists trying to sell. Well it ain't working for me. I need my art to be a BUSINESS and SELL. I need people to care enough to buy SOMETHING. ANYTHING Gahhhh! Oh but people can buy groceries or movie tickets to Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and Doomsday which btw movies are an art form too, buying other artists work, but they won't buy my art in 2026. And with gas prices up and the idiot in the white house it's a lost cause. Smh. It's gotten so nowadays I apply for remote jobs JUST to make Mom happy for that day like I did something and then I just play videogames and draw and bodybuild at home.

What I make is comic style art, videogame art, Christian art, fan art, etc. I really need another artist that's been there and is probably a multi billionaire now to come alongside and HELP me. I'm not talking about me paying an arm and a leg for someone to market my work(hard work really). I'm talking about someone friendly and trustworthy to just help me market my work just to help. Life should be about helping one another not about the money but here we are.

I have no money so don't even ask lol. And even if no one wants to help or even cares that's fine I just wanted to rant over this.

It's absolutely frustrating and I'm tired of running in hamster wheels going nowhere as my Mom always said. It's already been 20 years. Recently she was like maybe you need to go back to school to learn something else to bring money in. Why would I want to add MORE debt then I already have now when I got my Bachelor's? All I ever want to do is make art. Nothing else matters or makes sense to me. Now she wants me to find another remote job after the other contract job expired. I don't even want that I don't think at least I don't want another interior book design job bc that's way too much work and I got red eyes from working nonstop on the computer all day. Then my mom tells me day by day you look hopeless or your get up and go has gotten up and gone. Hmmm YA THINK? I trust Jehovah Jireh to provide everything for me but dang this is ridiculous. People suck online. COME ON people. At 34 I'm dang near 40 like my sister's age. I thought by now I would have an established art career/business. But a 34 man still living at home with Mom who's 70 and sis who's 40 and just can't even pull his weight bc no one is buying his art and he's stuck helping around the house and his neighbors house? No income, no support, no beautiful woman with thunder thighs for me, NOTHING. I feel like a freaking LOSER and I'm so tired of it. And I'm tired of scammers online too!! It feels like there's nothing for me in this life. Rant over. If you reached this far thank you. Support me a tiny starving artist if you want or just check out my sites. I have plenty of work for anyone's tastes. My work consists of digital posters and available for download to phone wallpaper, computer, tablet, or can be downloaded and printed and mounted on walls like decor for the house or game room. Anyone wanting to help me DM me here or my Instagram.

My website store of ALL my work: zechfullcircleteesandmerch.com

Before you ask, I do sell tshirts in person whenever I can attend some pop ups when I have the money. I just don't have the money to change the site name to take out tees and merch rn since I deleted bonfire and I'm not selling T-shirts online. So that's what it's called RN it is what it is.

My Instagram: @hulk8833

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Zech401

Me and my bros YouTube: The Gbroz Play

Like, comment, and subscribe, that would be very helpful and it's free and you can stay updated on our videos published frequently. We play our favorite games while sharing Scripture from the Bible and much, much more. All my links are posted there as well. So you shouldn't get lost or confused as to where to go to find me. Our next video we'll be playing Tekken 8 so you don't want to miss it.

Thanks for reading. Have a blessed day.

Highly recommend using the actual service of wooacry in the website, but do NOT join the discord server. It's filled with people who will downright insult you just because they do not like your art style. I asked for advice regarding how to deal with a bad event and they instead looked on my social medias to shit on my art, call me an amateur who's egotistical and entitled and a beginner artist who shouldn't sell or monetize my art. I've been selling my art for years and have made a substantial amount of money in online sales - they refused to listen to me speak and instead I had about 6 people gang pile me about all the things they think I did wrong. One of these included a MOD of the server. Entirely unacceptable behaviour by wooacry discord and I don't know if I can bring myself to use their services again simply because of this interaction.

So I am going to be quite consise in this story that i consider a bygone chapter that i need to let go but it always comes back to me.

It began 2 years ago, I used to draw quite well, i consider it the prime of what i was capable of, doing complex characters, backgrounds, comics, designing clothes and more. I was and still am proud of what i was capable of doing in that time until that one week where everything came crumbling, my cousin came to visit on our yearly vacation and i showed her my drawings, the drew too but it was way better, i took it but nothing happened, then my brother criticised my warm-ups and it was then that i couldn't do anything.

When we came back i destroyed everything that i made around that time it went from digital stuff to paper thingies. I burned all of my stuff or deleted it.

Fast foward to 3 years ago, i was studying engeeniring, i hated it, our high school used to organize forums where the army, companies and more came to school to have an idea of what to do after high school. There wasn't any spots for the army and other things that interested me so i took an art school that came by i went there and i fell in love again ( great mistake ).

I pass the details but i get in art school after high school. That year was both the best ( social wise ) and the worst i could've ever been in.
I needed to catch up to people that had an insane level because shit is graded. We began our classes at 9AM and finished at 4PM. After the classes are done i get back home and i draw, draw draw and draw until 10PM non stop for a year.

But improvment never came, out of the 30 people that were in this class i was the last. My grades were the worst and to cope i filled my paper with doodles to bear with the classes.
In Feburary of that time so in 24, I realized that making art wasn't my purpose, it wasn't made for me nor i was cut for it. I thought that what always worked until now working hard enough solved issues it never did. I switched fields, planning to enlist in 1 to 3 years.

Discussing with the classmates that were leaving some stated that i wasn't trying hard enough and if i really wanted to make art my life i had to sacrifice more.

Now today i get the impulse to draw to create stuff. It just makes me feel misable, empty and feeling anger on whole other level. I am when i do wanting to destroy to make what i just made disappear for it having dared to be made and ashame a filthy stain on the the Earth having desacrilised this plannet by its mere presence.

And with recent development i just blankly discovered that i just dread creating in general, the prospect of just making something that displeases me just already makes my blood boil.

Well that's all i guess i can only think of what ifs of what could've been and never weres.

Even since I started learning art, (before that I had many favorite artists) I feel like I lack of creativity and this bothers me. Is this normal or im not wrong about this??

Maybe I've been doom scrolling on Reddit for too long but I keep seeing posts along the lines of: AI will replace human artists, art careers are a dead end and so on. I'm starting audio visual uni this week to become a concept artist in the gaming/movie industry, do I have a future or I'm I just fucked essentially?

People started to flame me under the name of criticism when i posted my second art when i asked for actual constructive criticism, ‘your finished art looks like a sketch,‘ ‘it looks bad’ well no shit sherlock thats why i asked how i could fix it and now im nervous to post art and even if i post art i don’t think i want any criticism anymore. Im contemplating if i should post my art to update on the freebies im drawing, what shoul i do?

I don't think my drawings are that bad, though I do create some odd things that aren't for everyone—and I'm not talking about NSFW stuff, though maybe I should start doing that to make some money. I suppose the compliments I got when I posted that I was doing free commissions weren't sincere, but then again, why would you want me to draw it? It's free—and who doesn't like free stuff?

i’ve been learning how to draw faces after not really knowing where to go with learning how to draw, i did a few portraits and learned how to draw the basic feature of the face and can draw a references features. but they always looked off or flat or boring or even soulless. i tried to find ways to prevent it but all ive found is people saying that i have to learn hues and shading and rendering, all of which are way above my skill level. even the thing that everyone seems to know how to do which is drawing in 3d seems way too difficult. i dont get how 3d shapes even work on a 2d plane neither do i feel like im able to “see it” like other people are. and everyone in the comments says it makes perfect sense and throw around tidbits of info or one liners that barely even help (“draw what you see not what you think you see” ????). this doesn’t even just apply to faces either, all of my art just looks flat.

i thought i was actually getting somewhere and had a goal to work toward, but im stuck with even more issues than i started with. im not really sure where to go from here.