Staying True to Your Vision
Creating art is very personal. It is also something you want to share with the world. Often times. It’s difficult to bridge the gap between those two facts. You want your audience to connect, but you also want to be true to your vision. It’s not always easy, but I’ve found a few ways to make it happen, even with an active Instagram account.
First, be honest with your audience. Most people can tell if you are a thirsty bitch trying to make ansell. Let your audience known who you are. People relate to the art sure, but they also want to know and support the artist. The theme and vision you embody will shine through. For example, it’s clear that my art is colorful, ironic, slightly twisted, and filled with plenty of sexual references. You can tell just by a quick scroll through my images.
Unfortunately, when I was in high school, the Columbine school massacre occurred and had a massive effect on the attitude of school teachers and administrators. It also affected the “security” of our institutions by tightening dress codes and political speak. It seemed they believed by making us tuck our shirts in, and refrain from talking about the systemic failure of gun control and mental health in the country it would somehow prevent these things from happening. We see how well that plan turned out. Anyway, in response to the tragedy, I drew a cartoon cell that featured a student in the school bathroom hanging from the ceiling. She was wearing a blink 182 shirt, and you could see the suicide note beside her that read, “Please tell mom this is not her fault.” This was a reference to lyrics from “Adam’s Song,” which was believed by adults to encourage suicide. In the image, a teacher walks into the bathroom to discover the hanged student, and the thought bubble reads, “Oh my God, your shirt is untucked.”
Many of my pieces moving forward had a similar attitude laced with dark humor. After the 9/11 attacks, I drew a patriotic plunger, adorned in stars and stripes. The piece was a direct comment toward the pigs who would capitalize on a national tragedy through the sales of patriotic memorabilia.
In my portfolio, you’ll see another image of a pig, stirring a fellow pig in a cauldron. This is a recreation of a picture I saw painted in a restaurant. The piece is my interpretation of the inherent cruelty that is completely ignored in the animal processing industrial complex. A good 75% of the work I create is sarcastic in some way, and the rest are probably puns. I think puns are funny and most people seem to agree.
When it comes to social media, it’s easy for an artist to feel disappointed or hurt when a post doesn’t perform well or receives negative feedback. Every painting is your baby to some degree, and nobody wants to hear that their bundle of joy was called ugly or worse, to be ignored. The key is to persevere and have faith in your work, no matter how well it is received online. There is always someone who will have something negative to say, regardless of how incredible your work may be. When you are trying to build a bridge to your audience, there will always be trolls bbn living underneath. For every creation you share with the world, you will find a group of likeminded people who will love it and understand your outlook. To learn more about my satirical pieces and like them for yourself, visit my page at https://www.instagram.com/carebeartattoos/.