This gives me a sad. :(

I know this mood all too well.

same.

This is why I put that comment next to my name.

I get that with some stories I write.

Even if you don't get that many likes, hearts, or loves. Keep drawing, coloring, or writing. Int he end, even if only a handful of people are interested. At the Core you are doing this artwork because it is part of your soul, it is part of who you are. If you simply stop, or give up, you allow a part of your self to die. Draw because it makes YOU happy, Write because it is what you like. In the end that is all that matters.

This really speaks to me. I'm a small-time creator trying to break into crafting and sewing and I really feel this some days.

I know you are a great artist! I always enjoy your work and art and it always make me sad or give me joy. You are very expressive and I don´t want ever to miss your work in my life anymore...

I related to this so much.

ouch yea.. i feel this very much....

I feel this too

On the flipside, it seems low effort doodles done by oneself ends up getting a boatload furthering the feelings of what's the point of putting in effort when I could just sling a few lines together and get the same or more results.

Drawing for oneself is important, but to feel seen and the hard work acknowledged by others can be a great feeling.

Was gonna say, it's always the five-minute shitpost that gets all the love, in my experience.

I can kinda relate with this, yeah. It sucks. I can't really explain why, it's just a thing everyone on here has to accept for some reason. I'm not complaining about it, I mean... sometimes I get a Fave on a picture I uploaded MONTHS ago, ...but I can surely see where you're coming from. I have experience with this too.

Just how my Sister is on her Instagram.. if it dosent get atleast 200+ likes, she deletes it again because its not good enought

At least you're brave enough to post it in the first place :)

Me as creator: I give a shit about the amount of likes etc. I get.

It's even the other way round: I am more often a bit scared and uncomfortable when out of the blue a lot of people seem to watch/listen/like my stuff.....

Nevertheless: Especially on the big social media plattforms the big names invest enough money to buy themselves clicks, likes and even subscribers. I don't give my money to Google or whatever.

So don't trust the big numbers too much, many of them are just lying when they say "Oh it's all organic"..,

Time to post to social media and test this idea as usual.
This comic more or less directly explains how I feel about posting art and why I rarely bother anymore.

Rebel against the algorithm. Join Mastodon. Be free of toxic tech. Eat cookies.

Your art is loved~

I understand that some people have expectations from reactions and stuff from others.
but personally, I think personal happiness should come after outside validation. that "validation" should only come as a "bonus" not a need.
after all, I think at least, the important is enjoying doing what we do and doing our best while learning to keep getting better.

♥

I know a few who is like this

Oh look everything I ever post ever for the last 20 plus years

yes, i felt that.

i understand those feels ///

Definitely a mood, although given the lack of any algorithms on the social media sites where I'm the most active, it's probably just a timing issue on my part.

Yep, the Eternal Grind

Support all your 'little guys', even a positive comment will make their day ♫

So many years spent dealing with these emotions. Such a mood.

So-called "social" media (from my perspective) fosters comparison of oneself with the often staged snapshots of others' supposedly perfect lives, leading to a false impression of one's own supposed inadequacy, because we know our own shortcomings -real or imagined - all too well. But of the others we compare ourselves to, we only see the tailor-made momentary impressions.

Put simply:
Social media promotes comparison, and comparison is the thief of joy.

Those creators, like so many of us, DO need that compassion and care.. even a kind word about something they've put effort into is so helpful.
I don't know hardly anything about social media.. I just stay off it and try to give my support and a small bit of a caring heart ( ".. thank you mother and father for giving me THAT blessing.. ) for those who I honestly feel, think and need it.
They have feelings and they can put those feelings into their artwork, erotic or otherwise.. SOME of them goes into it.. and in doing so, they share some of themselves with us when they show what they've created. Even if it's a piece that another fur asked / paid them to do.. there's still some of "them" in it.. otherwise it would never be as beautiful as it turns out to be.

If you can't give shinies or such to help them out in that way;
Please..
give them some love and gentle, soft words and honest compassion for what their imagination and their labors helped them to bring to life.
They've decided to share it with the fortunate ones that we are, who are allowed to see it.

Show them we DO CARE.. and hope that they'll continue to get better and better, in both body, mind, spirit and most of all.. "Heart".

I feel this keenly

I feel the same way at times. And it is also why I dislike AI created art.

<:(

Can I trade hugs with anyone? This made me feel sad, too.

Oooft, right to the heart with this one. Much as I try not to be affected by it, I know this feeling all too well.

Artists need comments like any rabbit needs food pellets. We need feedback, good or bad, any sort of reaction to know we made an impact or impression. Yes, likes are nice, but a few context related words do wonders. Did the layout feel paced or hurried? Did you like the background or prefer none? Do tge characters look soft and fuzzy? Do the reptiles look unusually hairy?

What "works" for you in the picture?

For me, I like the heavy silhouette keeping a forced distance between the character and the background. The cheerful optimistic colors then replaced with grey despair of unknowing. It gutkicks you hard very effectively.

Artists really benefit from those observations. I am bad about doing them myself, so maybe it time to change that.

I think it's oft avoided, due to not wanting to give unsolicited criticism? By adding that you welcome constructive criticism & encourage it in your signature for posts, it might garner a higher ratio of that sort of response

Oh yeah....this is all too familiar.

I know the mood. We are all, or almost all, guilty of not stopping to write a comment on all of the stuff we like, are we not...?

Wise words, and lovely art. The disappointment in that last panel hurts the heart.

I always try interacting with small creators for that exact reason. I know exactly how that feels.

I feel that sometimes with my art because I draw several different styles. My Bluey style art get few faves, but holy heck I post a NSFW drawing and I get the most faves and even some watches lol

I love my art. I've grown so much.

This totally captures life as an author and this is one of the reasons why it's been really hard for me to get back into writing on my novel. Regardless how happy and proud I am of what I create, few cares to read my work and the lack of reflections makes my progress a lonesome journey. It's hard to gauge my skills when none cares to assess them...and it's hard to keep your motivation up when there's none to cheer you on.

once there was good and there was popular.. now there is that plus trending, plus whatever the bot algoritm decides for you.. weird times I guess..

..still, keep on pursueing your dreams and passions.. and chasing your muses.. you are awesome !!

This is why I stick to non-algorithmic sites like Mastodon, Cohost, and FA.

Social media is by far the worst place to post art, or anything that you want your fans to see. You're entirely at the mercy of the algorithm, and even if people follow you it's a crapshoot if more than a handful of people get shown your posts.

I’ve learned this too. It sucks, but I managed to make amends with it. Who cares what anyone else thinks. As long you’re happy with it and you think it looks awesome, that’s all that really matters. ^^

Relatable T__T

I know this mood way too well.

I always feel bad when a chapter doesn't get comments or engagement. I try to tell myself there's a segment of people who are silent, who I have no way of knowing were even there, but in the absence of good information, it just means I feel even more uncertainty.

Sure, I write for myself, first and foremost. But I put the effort into typing things up, organizing it, posting it online, for people to enjoy it. When it doesn't seem like people are enjoying it, it makes me want to go back to the days of just daydreaming for myself.

I get that FA is an art site, and people don't want to read books, but it still gets frustrating. The last time I spoke up somewhere about how I was getting no feedback and no interaction, one of the things that was mentioned by a couple people was the length of the chapters and the frequency of my postings. Which honestly surprised me. I feel like I'm intolerably slow, taking around two weeks to get a chapter out these days, which is one of the reasons I keep falling into the habit of longer chapters. Trying to make up for the delay by covering more or going into more detail. (I still didn't intend to go THAT long on the latest yinglet chapter, but stuff happens. Characters just keep having emotions instead of focusing on what I want them to do! ^_^;; )

The comments I do get are generally full of praise, which is nice, but it's the ones that have enthusiasm that I treasure the most. The ones of people making guesses as to what's going on, or analyzing the way characters are thinking/feeling, or anything that makes it feel like I've drawn them into my silly little worlds. Given them the feeling of being in there, as part of it. That's what makes me feel like I succeeded in what I wanted to do.

Yeah man, I mean, I'm only a writer, not a very good one, but I try, and whenever I upload some stuff, or even commissioned art, it doesn't really get much traction. :c

Mood

no idea if your work is trending, but is always great to me. it is also great for my mental health. it seems that it always have great advice. more than once it has been just the right advice at the right time for me.

All too familiar.

I feel this.. greatly. Its very disheartening sometimes. Especially when you're so proud of what you've made.. all the time and effort. And yet...

But hey.. maybe one day. Right? ^^; ♥

Repeat ad nauseam, because we're all too stubborn to quit

Learn to love small numbers. you still made something someone liked. thats how i am with my videos. Do not look at the big picture and compare yourself to people more successful in your category. It is toxic and destructive. I used to look at that and took awhile to accept small is best

And yet, people seem to be moving to and liking those platforms? Rather than the more traditional art platforms?

Oh yeah, definitely. Don't even get me started. Image board source links of artists I like going to Twitter exclusively has somewhat become the bane of my existence.

The fracturing of the community has upset me. Every year it becomes more dilute, more spread out. As each site upsets someone, people move to new places and new places..
And yet, they don't return to the older ones even as the older ones improve(FA is't great, but it's better than it used to be when everyone left.). Only newer.. And thus things spread thinner..

It's the lure of general social media seeming to have the entire world as a potential audience as opposed to the self-selected audience of an art site. This of course overlooks the problem of algorithms and having to upload frequently to be noticed by "the machine" in order for actual people to see you in any significant numbers.

Those sites seem fine for sketches and 'this is what I'm working on', but the lack of gallery systems and that it's always mixed in with lots of other stuff..
The social media sites seem good for posting updates, with the actual artwork stored elsewhere. Like how people use these places to promote their paywall 'here is one version, the rest is up behind money'.

The structure of a mainstream social-media site would seem ideal for artists who become disinterested in a piece as soon as they complete it, since looking through anything beyond a poster's newest works is a chore being that access without direct links is completely linear (and if you don't have an account on Twitt-X, your ability to browse a given account's posts is limited).

That's why I have a 'live long and prosper' view of FA despite its faults, since I do have a measure of reverence for my past works (some going back as far as the 1980's), and being forced to migrate to Twitter by a collapse of dedicated gallery sites would be a nightmare.

There are always negative Nancy's. Be confident in who you are, and your art. You always have fans, and you always have detractors. Do what makes you happy.

this is so true it cuts me so incredibly deep i feel this pain

I for one ADORE your art/style, and can't count the number of smiles you've given me by sharing your work/effort!
I may not always be the best at replying/leaving comments, but I try!

(((Hugs if o.k.))))

Yer a real Dear/Sweety in this genre, and don't EVAH doubt yer appreciated!

:-D

I know this feeling all to well, and while all of us artists want to have our art loved and viewed. But it seems like a popularity contest whether our art is well received or not? :c

Yeah, you can repeat the mantra "it's not about the numbers" only so many times before it starts to get to you.

It's often times the only quantifiable form of interaction, so it's easy to start looking at it as validation or rejection. I don't think I'm a particularly good artist, and I've never been particularly confident about my art, so those low number usually just end up feeding the droning echos that are already in my head.

But if there's one thing I've learned is that those low numbers aren't necessarily an evaluation of the work. It's usually a resonance, timing and/or exposure problem; getting it to the target audience at the right times. It's usually about finding the people that like what you do, or rather making it easy for them to find you.

How to do that between split second front pages exposure, hard to penetrate top scoring pages and endless algorithms, I haven't a clue.

But for what it's worth, I may not fav or comment much, but I've always been a fan of your art. Always adds a little warmth to my day.

Such a mood. One of the hardest things is keeping motivation up when the numbers games hit. You're a great and appreciated artist, even if sometimes the numbers don't show it.

Literally me every single time I do anything. People tell me to just "do it because you want to" but like... I WANT to not have to work a job I hate, but my efforts get so little attention that it's not viable. Plus my art isn't even good, and I can't take time to get better because I have to work. So I can't leave my job to do something i WANT to do because I'm not good enough, and I can't get better because my job takes up too much of my time to improve. Then even if I find time to improve, even just one little doodle a day, it's barely a drop in an infinite ocean and will be forgotten about in a few seconds.

I wish I could make everyone understand this feeling so they would stop giving the "do it because you want to" speech.

Where did you get this IRL picture of me?
😭

It's how I felt about my writing years back. Started out feeling people liked what I posted and then it dwindled to fewer and fewer and eventually I stopped writing. I posted a story a couple of years back but barely broke 100 who had viewed the submission though didn't mean anyone read it. I got zero feedback and in the end I deleted it.

I feel this pic

its funny that this is what happens when i post to some places and others it does great.

*Hug the little one*

Even though I am not an artist I can barely imagine how an artist must feel to have their hard work barely acknowledged, if at all.

Yeah. This captures the spirit of me, and so many others.
Thank you for the awareness~
I've thankfully since learned to love my art regardless, and draw for the individual I'm drawing for, even if it's just myself.
If the intended recipient is happy with it, that's good for me~
everything else is a bonus ^-^

This is one of the factors that took me out of artistry, just all that hard work, and nobody seems to see it/care about it.

yeah I do need to get into the habit of offering other artists feedback :'b

please know that for as many people as you see actually commenting/faving
there's easily triple that number of ppl who lurk and enjoy from a distance!

just the other day I was browsing your gallery actually Xb
admiring in my head without even faving (i am incredibly lazy you see)

This is so relatable it hurts. Support small artists!

Yeah I know this feeling very well. It just seems like it comes down to luck most of the time, all quality and effort being irrelevant. I give as much support to newer creators I see around as I can

I always leave positive affirmations for smaller creators and will also admit that when I get any commissions these days I try and search for smaller creators who are free to commission. I even look through places like FA and discord servers for artwork and will leave positive comments and encouraging words, especially for those getting such harsh criticism and rude and mean comments. Cuz I myself get that way with the work AND commissions I post, heck I get that when I DJ three times or so a week, I see people enjoying themselves and having a good time but in the back of my head I am ALWAYS questioning - ARE they liking what I'm playing/posting?; Or do they hate it and just wont say anything? - I leave the request lines always open and I do get comments saying what I put out is the best but....even with such nice things said, that lingering set of thoughts are still back there rent free.

Mood. Even my NSFW stuff is like this.

I've been drawing for decades and I've received perhaps a dozen comments in that entire time. Create for yourself. No one else.

Its fabu;ous

"It's what you think of your art that's important."

But it's nice to know that others like it like I do too.

This is part of the reason why I stopped doing it as much as before. I'm grateful for the attention I do get though.

And people wonder why I stopped posting here.

Mrmhrm. And, as a writer, this hits hard. You pour yourself into a piece and get virtually no response. (Doesn't help that half the time, I'm already thinking it's terrible - yay, brainworms).

Despite not being an artist, I know all about this. Several of my favorite artists quit the fandom because they couldn't get as much exposure as they liked, despite their drawings being incredible, and having a very active and inventive imagination.

I always try to encourage and shout out great artists I find to everyone who doesn't know them, or just in general, like Silverone, whose art is phenomenal.

It reminds me of something.
I've wanted to make something that uses another person's idea, but when I tell my idea I'm told to make something original.
I've tried to think of something original. But everything I think of is based on something else I've seen, heard, or read. Nothing gets made.

I know an artist that has exact this problem, she has a lot of followers but her art gets barly the views that other artists with a smaler audiance get. =(

I feel this a whole lot, mainly with my non-TF/kink art : P
Its weird cause I end up thinking that Im like cheating by doing art like that even when its topics that I genuinely like, but then my non-tf art never got anywhere, so much so I just.... kinda stopped doing it. At least for the time being.

The same thing happens to me, you reach a point of no return and you lose inspiration with your art.

I really miss the days when the internet was just 'whomever you could find' and unknowns had just as much a chance of being seen as the knowns. When the search systems weren't 'smart' and just gave you what you asked for. When it was just us, all milling around figuring this stuff out, the internet wasn't popular yet, and there wasn't big systems telling you what you should be interested in.

As much as I relate to this, I think it speaks to the importance of judging your art and products by two criterias: how you personally appreciate it, and how your paying customer appreciate it.

Internet buttpats are cheap and volatile.

good does not equal trending.

and trending... does not equal good.

go on though. go doodle a fart.

those numbers are 400-500 plus

this... is something I struggle with... all the time... its rough

Honestly am trying to give more engagement when I get the time now, the internet is very bad at actually showing people things from small creators, algorithms and such, but it's good to engage when you do see it. Weirdly I see people unfairly hate on small artists and young artists sometimes for wanting attention for their art, like it's "entitled", but we were all there once, and in the end art is a form of communication, we want to know it reached someone. I guess we also have to learn to create for ourselves too though and not chase the numbers.

I really feel that way often. I know many say you do the art just for yourself as a hobby artist, but it is only half the truth. As my art is getting better and I really like my art even after some days, I started thinking: maybe I can open commission in the future. But I have a fulltime job and not enough time, if the commission aren't going well, I can't reduce my workload, but I have to reduce it before I start commission. So you start looking at the numbers and notice that they won't grow. Then another skandal happens and you need to change a platform where you finally reached 100 watchers. You look at the small engagement and think: I will never be in this lucky situation, even if I try really hard, my art isn't as good as I think.
This especially happens if you offering free stuff once a month and it doesn't get much attention. It is a free raffle why do only so few person participate, is it so bad? Luckily this month raffle has already way more participants, but I felt multiple times so sad while rolling the winner😅

My friend and I have been experiencing this for years! It gets mentally draining and it's kills the self esteem. (

If it were me, panels 3 and 4 would be just struggling with the description

I'm gonna add to the pile of comics here because even though I'm not much to comment, this feels different.

I honestly feel that a lot, I don't post much here but I would get little engagement, sometimes posting what I had yet to share and getting nothing besides some views or whatever. Even though I don't share other socials besides a Discord account for personal reasons, it kinda stings and makes me feel like I should constantly be active, when I just don't really have that mindset. I can't handle a ton of interaction and notifs in my face, but at least a favorite or two lets me know that I did a piece well, even if I don't favorite other art that I like for my own reason.

It's not a big nag here, happens in other places too, but it sometimes feels...I guess sort of "lonely"? I dunno, that's the best that I can describe it. But that's pretty much it, just throwing another shell into this sea of comments.

I feel this even as someone who doesn't make art but when posting about things thinking oh i will get alot of people talking about it but then nothing happens