Hello!
Happy weekend!! Hope you all had a great week?
Let’s jump right in—today’s topic is negative feedback on my art. Now, would you believe someone had the nerve to tell me they didn’t like my artistic focus? No? Good, because no one actually said that. And if they did, it’d be completely unfounded since I also create random stuff every now and then (defends self vehemently).
What did happen was someone said they loved my art (thank you), but I should try to have more diversity and inclusivity. Apparently, all these big eyes, short noses, and full lips characters are a bit much for some people. Personally, I’ve never felt the urge to demand representation in any form of media. I mean, I’ve never watched a movie and thought, "Why isn’t there an African woman, size… I don’t know, 167cm? I am not represented!". So telling this tadpole in a sea of frogs that you want more diversity in their area is a waste of typing energy.
This also reminds me of the time someone called me out for drawing only female portraits where the calling out part is me exaggerating. My response? "Forgive me, O Master Critic, I shall master anatomy and bless you with ‘sessy’ Ikemens ASAP". Oh, and the time someone commented “negro art.” It felt like they were trying to be offensive, shots fired but honestly, it didn’t land. Maybe if I had the right sociocultural context like black Americans, it would have hit differently. As it stands, I just filed it under “weird things people say online.”
Then there was the dude who tried to 'correct' my art, another complained about too much use of black and there was the one who wanted more hair diversity, why always the afros they wondered. Oh wait, that last one was me and I have no counter argument for that.
Oh, and before you think this is a gossip blog (it might be), let me present my first art of 2025: another girl portrait with all your favourite features. Because, clearly, I never learn.
So there you have it folks, I like what I like.
take care and stay safe!