Support Your Favorite Artists!
It’s International Artist Day, and we want to say thank you to all of the Guild Wars 2 community artists who bring so much joy to the fandom (and to us here at ArenaNet!). Whether you’re just starting to practice art or you’ve been honing your craft for years, we’re so happy that Guild Wars 2 has inspired you. Keep creating–we’re cheering you on!
If you enjoy watching artists work, or you’d like to learn some new techniques, you can find all the previous episodes of the Guild Wars 2 Art Show and Sunday Class Stream here on Twitch.
Want to find some amazing Guild Wars 2 art? Today’s a great day to visit our Creative Partners’ sites and check out their work!
Here are some of the ways you can support your favorite community artists:
Reblog or retweet their work. It’s important to share it directly from the artist themselves, unless they give explicit permission to do otherwise. Re-uploading their art to share it in places they haven’t authorized can actually hurt their visibility!
Leave comments to let them know how much you enjoy their art. Many creators check the tags on their work, too–even on a piece with lots of reblogs, it’s encouraging to read personal reactions to something you’ve put your heart into.
You can buy art of your characters from artists who have commission slots open, support them on Patreon, or check to see if they’ve set up a tip jar link (like Ko-fi) on their page.
Be positive toward artists who are learning and experimenting. Every creator starts somewhere! Give constructive criticism only if it’s requested, keeping in mind that lots of fan artists draw to relax or have fun.
Treat artists like the people they are. If a creator you admire seems awesome and wants to make friends, reach out and get to know them as a person! Being defined by your skills can be isolating. Creative work is still hard work, and even someone who makes it look easy might be feeling discouraged.
Remember to support yourself too, no matter what level of skill you’re currently at. If you haven’t found a big audience yet, it doesn’t mean your art is bad (in fact, the conditions for a post or tweet spreading far and wide on modern social media are rarely as simple as “good work goes viral, bad work doesn’t”). There are many paths to success, and no expiration date on learning–it’s not uncommon at all for artists to hit their creative stride at every stage of life.
You’ve probably enjoyed art that wasn’t technically perfect, but captured your attention and imagination just as easily. Artwork resonates with viewers for unpredictable reasons; an individual might fall in love with a piece because it includes their favorite colors, or conjures up a personal memory, or features their favorite characters. None of that is under an artist’s control. But you can build yourself up by knowing your artistic comfort level, progressing at a pace that won’t burn you out, and cultivating the experiences that make art a positive part of your life.
No matter how fast you’re growing,
blakekathryn
titsay
annaxmalina
areudirty
2087
jbbartram-illu
kianamaiart
tangentwithtanner
