Popular artists and arrogance: Rant

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Vuurstern
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This is somehing I've been wanting to write about since almost forever but I always forgot what exactly I wanted to say once I opened dA. Which I did now too, but I will try anyway because otherwise I'll never get to it. xD

So what I was wondering is, why is it that as soon as someone has a certain amount of watchers/pageviews/attention/whatever, that people suddenly start to assume they MUST be arrogant?

I've seen this SO often before and it bothers me to no end. People don't even KNOW the artist personally, but they just randomly assume things about them. I've had a few people come up to me being all "wow I thought you'd be arrogant and all until I actually started to talk to you". Which, in some way, really surprised me. I don't really consider myself "popular". It doesn't feel like I am, I don't feel like I'm an artist a lot of people know. I feel like my watcher count is that high simply because I never moved accounts. :XD: A lot of those accounts are inactive now anyway.
However. Back to the point of this journal.
Why do people think certain artists are arrogant? And why do I think that's so wrong?

- They never reply to comments, or only on those by friends/artists they idolize.
This is one I hear very often. But to be honest, I don't think it's a very valid argument. First of all, artists can choose whatever they want with the feedback they receive. If they don't want to spend hours replying to every comment they get, that's their decision and they have every right to do so. There is no rule on dA that says you HAVE to reply to comments you get. Plus, there are many reasons why one wouldn't be able to reply:
- They don't wanna spend all their online time on replies.
- They don't wanna reply with "thanks" a hundred times, so they only reply if they actually have something to say.
- They simply don't feel like it (sometimes I have that too. Sometimes you're just not motivated to do ANYTHING.)
- They are nervous/anxious/etc. when it comes to people and prefer not to start a conversation with just anyone. This is more common than you'd think.
- Other reasons you wouldn't think of immediately. For example, my friend JAHSPURRING cannot reply to any comments except for those left by school friends, because of her mother. This is an uncommon reason but it's a good example of how people sometimes have reasons you wouldn't think of yourself. In the end, it's not really your business why they don't reply.
But they do reply to friends! Again, their choice. If they chose to only reply to people they feel comfortable around, people of which they are sure they won't use them for art or fame, what's so wrong about that? Not everyone is open to new friendships, and while you might think that's a shame, you still have to respect their decision.

- They don't wanna be friends.
When people like your art there will always be types that try to get closer just to get free art and/or to use you as a status symbol, just because you're better known than them. It's not such a surprise that they won't trust people that fast. Sometimes people just aren't looking for new friends, and if they gain them it's more of a slow progress that happens over time. Friendships cannot be forced. Don't try to force them.

- They don't reply to fanart.
I can still find it kind of painful when someone plainly ignores a piece made for them, and I don't find it very respectful either. However, I guess it's not always because they choose not to do so, sometimes artists just get flooded with comments/notes and lose track of art for them. Don't assume too soon.

- They won't reply to questions, or they reply in a somewhat rude way.
The more watchers you get, the more questions you will receive. And the more questions you receive, the bigger the chance that these questions
- are already clearly mentioned and answered on their page, in their FAQ, etc.,
- have already been asked by others a million times, and will be asked a million more times in the future,
- don't make any sense at all and/or are things the artist has no interest in,
- all of the above.
Believe me, it is FRUSTRATING when you try to make things as clear as possible and you STILL get bombarded with questions that already have been answered. Recently I did an art trade journal, trying to cover every single question people could ask, and asking them to post their refs in their comments. As well as mentioning which characters I'd like to see together. And still there were SO many comments not mentioning a ref, asking questions that were answered in the description, making their own combinations out of the mentioned characters, etcetera etcetera. When it's just one comment it's all fine, but when it's a lot of comments you just wanna facepalm and wonder why you even bother to write all of that. :XD: So when someone is being snarky when you asked a question, chances are you're the tenth person asking that this week when it's clearly on their pages.

- They won't do an art trade with me, but they do with others.
An artist has the right to accept and decline trades as they please. If your style does not appeal to them (yet), that's a shame, and yes, it can hurt. But you have to move on. And there's no need to take out that bitterness on the artist and think they must be such a snob just because they didn't want to trade. Just move on. It's probably nothing personal, so there's no need for you to get personal, either.

- Their commissions are too expensive.
An artist decides what they want to work for themselves. It's a personal decision and even if you can't afford it, you should still respect that decision. You can't afford it or you think it's too high? Don't buy from them and move on.

- They don't wanna draw me free art/give me points/feature me so I can get more watchers.
Get out.

Sure, some people may be arrogant, but please don't just assume stuff too soon. Sometimes things are not as they seem. And those artists have feelings too, talking about them like that behind their backs can be very painful for them. It especially is weird to have complete strangers say rude things about you that aren't even true.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, don't judge people you don't know, whether they are more popular than you or not.

Whee
© 2014 - 2024 Vuurstern
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RatchetJak's avatar
"- They don't wanna be friends.
When people like your art there will always be types that try to get closer just to get free art and/or to use you as a status symbol, just because you're better known than them. It's not such a surprise that they won't trust people that fast. Sometimes people just aren't looking for new friends, and if they gain them it's more of a slow progress that happens over time. Friendships cannot be forced. Don't try to force them."

No offense but this is why I think that unless you are of similar skill level of the artist you admire, you shouldn't bother trying to be friends with them. If they've been on a platform for a good amount of time, chances are they probably did get burned at some point by someone who tried to leech from them. In an essence, they've been "ruined" and aren't worth trying to get to know unless you are of similar skill level. Keep in mind, when I say "ruined", it's not meant to be in a vulgar way or anything, just that they've been desensitized  and don't trust people, at least those of a lower skill level. Therefore as far as I'm concerned, it's useless to try to get to know them because the damage has been done and they most certainly don't want to know you, not when they already spent years building their own little circle of equally skilled people (or people they know IRL who follow them on their media).

I think that if the lower skilled person has a question with something they like about a certain more skilled artist, they should ask but just keep it at that. Instead, focus on people of similar skill level and grow together.

That's just my 2 cents anyway.