I have spent three days prepping and cooking spaghetti sauce. This is something I do with a certain amount of regularity because the best things in life take time, and because as an Italian American I cannot and will not eat it out of a jar if I don’t have to 😉.

I share the spaghetti anecdote because I feel like it relates to my own path as an artist. I have spent years taking the long route, talking myself out of a formal art major in college, or convincing myself I am not talented enough or good enough at what I love to make it a career. But quite frankly I am sick of that sh*t I am sick of worrying about follower counts and social media and all the things that make me feel like a talentless wanna be artist. I am an artist and whether or not others agree with me or not I don’t think I am that bad of one.

I want to make artwork I love to make and I would love if people want to buy it but if they don’t than that is fine too. I hope people would want to buy my art but I can accept that I am not going to be a success overnight.

I have artistic ambitions, I want to be commissioned by big companies to design art for their company, I want to illustrate for children’s books or even better write and illustrate my own. I want to work with companies who need art or logo or any other design and they like my style enough to ask me to do it.

I don’t know if these things are in my future or not but I do know this I am tired of chasing the social media algorithms of hell. I am tired of kicking out fast doodles for a challenge that maybe get 50 likes on the high end and only seem to gain me followers that won’t stay followers unless I follow them back (sorry I won’t unless I like your work too). I am especially tired of thinking that one more drawing for one more challenge is going to be the thing that gets me noticed and becomes the key to my success.

This is not to say that I will stop creating, far from it. I was lucky enough in June/July to begin a volunteer graphic design job at Mugglenet, and I spent much of my summer making logos for a number of companies through a program at Jottful. That said I think going forward I plan to continue to make things but on my schedule or ideally my clients schedule not some internet challenge or because Instagram, Twitter or any other social media will deem me irrelevant if I don’t “post enough” or “pay to promote my work”.

If you like what you see on one of my social media outlets or on my website, give me a follow (I will not follow for follow but if I like your work I’ll follow back) but I do appreciate all of my followers. There is also a contact form on my website, and I promise that works and I’ll see your message (as long as your not spamming me).

Thank you for taking your time to read the ranting of a struggling artist.

As always thank you for taking the time to read 💚. Know that I appreciate you and wish you all the luck in the world on your creative endeavors.

Till next time, Happy Designing 💚!