#i gave myself bladder infections and tension headaches and back problems not even trying to make money off my art but just because i

[narutomaki]

why is the seeking of approval and delight in your craft becoming like. wrong to want.

I am a lurker, I know this. I like and reblog and kudos and bookmark but I rarely have something relevant to say and regardless artists are not "put feedback in get content out" machines; but is not the first thing we do when drawing run to show the ones we love? do we not seek to share and delight?

yes, likes act as that. so do kudos and silent reblogs and bookmarks and favorites and other silent methods of support.

maybe I, as someone who gets 1 or 2 likes per post (with the rare outbreak of 100-200 note fandom pieces), don't have the insight that some others seem to but like....

if an artists puts 8 hours of work into something on their own time that they love and are passionate about, that they thrive on while creating, and then posts it and is met with nothing? at all? it hurts. my dude. to use all the "right" tags, to post at the right time, the post on a schedule and still get the amount of interaction I have my whole artistic career?

well it's no real wonder I don't create as much as I could, if a child is met with no approval they will either throw a temper tantrum or silently stop creating.