How I Feel About Social Media These Days

A Wimbledon art piece I recently shared that’s getting some love on my Instagram lately.

I recently got a question on Instagram. Shoutout to Emilie (@babybird.fr)! I wrote an article back in 2021 about How I Really Feel About Social Media as an artist. Emilie was wondering how I feel about social media years later, since I’ve been using it more than I used to.

First, I re-read my article to see if I still agree with what I once said. We’re all constantly changing and sometimes I read something I wrote years ago, and I’m like ‘who is this person? After re-reading the article, I still agree with what I said back then (for the most part). Bottom line, I do think it’s helpful to develop a mission statement for how you want to use social media. Also, it’s a great tool for accountability, community and impact. I still agree with all that.

However, I have so much more to add to my original blog post, just because I’ve been at this for more years now. A big thing happened in 2021 after I wrote that article - I was able to stop freelance graphic designing to pursue freelance illustration full-time. My print shop took off and allowed me to do that. Basically a dream come true! As a full-time illustrator, that’s changed how I see social media more because art is no longer a side hustle.

The main way I use Instagram now is as an online working portfolio. Also as a way to learn from and connect with other artists. There two kinds of accounts I’m there to connect with - artists and brands I could potentially work with. Art collectors don’t feel very present in my audience. I don’t tend to sell many prints just because I share something on Instagram. That happens more through my website, Etsy-generated traffic and Pinterest.

The nice thing about doing illustration full-time is that I have so much more work to share, hence my uptick in posting. Instagram used to be more dangerous for me because I wasn’t sharing a lot and every time I would log in, I would just be taking in other people’s content. It was dangerous because it would distract me from making art and would also sometimes be a bad influence on me. It would bring out my perfectionist tendencies.

Now, I simply post my art, like a few creative’s posts, and close the app. I’m much more disciplined about how I use it. I post way more than I consume (probably an 80/20 ratio). I think that’s how all artists should try to use it. It’s taken me a while to get here, but this feels like a good balance.

So a good question for you s is - how are you using social media?

If you’re consuming way more than you’re posting, I urge you to delete your app for a while and get busy making art. Don’t get the app again until you have lots of new art lined up to post.

And another question is - do you feel confident looking at other artists work or does it make you feel bad about your art?

When I first started making art again in 2015, it was bad for me to look at other artists work. I wasn’t confident in my art and I was prone to copying if I looked at someone’s art too closely. It took me years to find my own style and to be confident enough in my work to follow other artists closely. Now I simply look at their accounts for business advice or material recommendations. Every once in a while, I can pick out little bits of inspiration, like a nice color palette I like, or a layout idea for one of my pieces. However, I try not to pull too many ideas from other artists work. Instead I pull from more obscure sources like interior or graphic design.

If you’re still in that place where looking at art on social media makes you feel bad about your work, I urge you to delete your app for a while and again get busy making work.

As an artist, I wouldn’t expect to make a lot of money from social media. Not in the way you’d think. Maybe if you’re selling programs to other artists or using affiliate links on your supplies, a little income is possible. And you might have a few brands discover you on there. But to make a living just from Instagram as an artist would be hard. You would need to be a full-time content creator. And then when would you have the time to make art?

Selling your art will probably happen in other ways, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to use social media! It won’t make or break your career. It’s just one of the many tools in your tool belt. If it’s causing you more harm than good, you can choose not to use it and still make a good living as an artist!