AKA: Why I haven’t posted in 6 months, and deleted all of my old blog posts.
It came to my attention that I was feeling overwhelmed by sharing my art online. So I decided to stop, and not just for a little while, but for an entire year. My intention behind this act is to take time to “cocoon” myself and my work from the outside world, to just focus on making self-indulgent art, so that I can better get to know myself as an artist.
Someone, probably a YouTuber, said the way to find your style is to just draw the things you love drawing. Style emerges in the way we solve problems, the way we tackle capturing a subject. Because I focused too much on appeasing my audience, I couldn’t find my style, as I wasn’t focusing on drawing only what I love.
Believe it or not, you don’t actually have to be capable of rendering any subject thrown at you in perfect photorealism in order to be an artist. It’s actually okay if you only ever draw anime girls. You can still be a successful artist by focusing on the subjects that actually capture your attention. Especially if you change the way you measure success!
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Note from January 30 2026:
This post was never actually published. I let it collect dust in my drafts. It’s unfortunate that I left without explanation, but I was just so burnt out I didn’t have it in me to finish this post.
(Since I don’t know exactly when I wrote this I will guesstimate 6 months after the post that preceeded it and make that the publishing date!)
To continue off what I was saying and bring this post to an actual conclusion:
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If sharing your art is overwhelming you to the point where it makes you afraid to create in the first place, you don’t have to. It’s okay to keep some or all of your art to yourself. It’s okay to only make “comfort art” and stay in your comfort zone, it’s okay to never actively try to get better at art despite all the pressure from the art community to do so. Simply showing up and making stuff for the sake of making stuff will give you far more than all the forced practice and study that you don’t even enjoy and eventually give up on ever will.
This wasn’t relevant at the time of the original post, but it is now: in a world where pictures can be generated at the click of a button, all human-made art has significantly more value. What you create is special because it is uniquely yours. Just because there are significantly less job opportunities for artists now doesn’t mean we need to lay down our pens and brushes in defeat. Continue to create as an act of resistance. Splatter paint, doodle stick figures, throw random found objects together… All in the name of expression and communication from your unique human soul.
In retrospect, there is something so special about sharing your art with a tiny audience. Find the people that will love and appreciate what you make exactly as it is in this season and don’t bother trying to appeal to the masses. Be yourself and the right people will come.
Touching just one person deeply matters so much more than barely skimming the surface of millions. I have found that the genuine connections I make with a little handful of people is so much more important to me than clout and fame ever could be. The heartfelt conversations we’ve had mean the whole world to me! Rather than parasocial acquaintanceships, I can build actual long distance friendships.
Some of my most favorite songs, illustrations, YouTube videos, etc. come from TINY creators with virtually no following! I am so glad they shared their work in spite of that. And besides, everyone starts somewhere. Sometimes you start niche and then fame happens randomly, but you’ll never know if you never start.
I’m reviving this blog because if I can help even just one person, that is more than enough for me. I have seen it happen, I have done it before, and it’s been done for me. Being niche is not a failure. Sometimes it is even a huge asset.
See you soon!
Ari October Art 