Alright, I have officially had it with Tumblr not giving a shit about their artists. It is extremely discouraging to share a work that you've worked hard on for hours, days, weeks, or even months, only to get a couple likes. I know nobody is obligated to share every work they see, and that’s fair enough, but small artists like myself rarely get any reblogs at all. I have some followers who add likes to my work but have never reblogged a single thing. Ever. While likes are still a nice gesture that I appreciate, nobody looks at them, and most people have that option turned off. I am done pouring my heart and soul into a piece of art that nobody will care about. I didn’t think this was too much to ask for.
To those few who have supported me and shared my work, thank you so much. I see you and I appreciate you. You’re the reason artists get any exposure (for work that we’re offering for free), and that’s awesome.
That being said, I am moving to Instagram. If I am only ever going to get likes on my work, I might as well move to a platform where that will benefit me. I am not deleting this blog, but I will no longer be posting here for the time being. My other blogs will remain active, but I will no longer be sharing my art there, either.
I love sharing my work with other people; lots of artists do. It’s a very human thing to want to show others something you made that you’re proud of. But trying to do this on Tumblr is just shouting into a void. Tumblr, unlike other platforms, works by reblogs. Likes and tags don’t circulate posts as well as they should. If your work is never shared, no matter how many times you reblog it yourself, nobody will ever see it. That defeats the purpose of sharing anything in the first place. I have been told to just share my work because I’m proud of it, not for any attention. But that is the entire point of sharing it online. Otherwise I would just keep my work in my personal library, never to see the light of day. Wouldn’t you want to show people something you created?
I hate having to do this, but my efforts over the years to be seen just haven’t been enough. I can't make anybody understand what this feels like, as much as I’ve tried. Even the PSA posts I’ve shared about supporting artists get more notes and reblogs than my actual art. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s a very transparent way of showing just what one thinks of someone’s art.
If you are still interested in following me, my Instagram name is "steam_draws." It's the same name as this blog but with an underscore instead of a hyphen.
I hope this doesn’t come off as too harsh, as serious as I am about this. I just want smaller artists to get the recognition they work so hard for.
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
