Never Going to Succeed? (Artist)

[systemcat]

I've been posting to the internet my work since 2006 not counting very small projects. I've worked on virtual series and webcomics. My DeviantArt account had over 2,000 pieces uploaded to it in +16 years before I gave up on the site. Facebook is meaningless ... Instagram is meaningless ...YouTube ...TikTok ... Bluesky ... Nextdoor meaningless.

Is a lifetime of being an artist nothing? No matter how much effort I put into my work. Even when I use popular hashtags that are relevant to the work. Nothing.

I post on FaceBook and Nextdoor asking about commission work and showing examples of what I've made. Nothing. ... I even explain why I need the work. Nothing.

Am I really that bad of an artist?? I was invisible before AI and now it feels worse. ... Sorry ... I needed to rant. I'm very depressed. No matter how much effort I put into my work ... no matter how much I ask elsewhere about work ... it's always invisible.

 

[Fantasy Lover]

Can you post some art? Maybe some posters might commission a piece, but I don't know if it's allowed

 

[Avro Arrow]

Can you post some art? Maybe some posters might commission a piece, but I don't know if it's allowed

Posting art here is fine (we have a thread for that here, plus the entire Fan Art forum), but yes, soliciting for commission work would be against the board rules, sorry.

As usual, though, a small unobtrusive link in one’s signature would probably be OK, as long as they didn’t actively post about it.

 

[The Green Monster]

I've been posting to the internet my work since 2006 not counting very small projects. I've worked on virtual series and webcomics. My DeviantArt account had over 2,000 pieces uploaded to it in +16 years before I gave up on the site. Facebook is meaningless ... Instagram is meaningless ...YouTube ...TikTok ... Bluesky ... Nextdoor meaningless.

Is a lifetime of being an artist nothing? No matter how much effort I put into my work. Even when I use popular hashtags that are relevant to the work. Nothing.

I post on FaceBook and Nextdoor asking about commission work and showing examples of what I've made. Nothing. ... I even explain why I need the work. Nothing.

Am I really that bad of an artist?? I was invisible before AI and now it feels worse. ... Sorry ... I needed to rant. I'm very depressed. No matter how much effort I put into my work ... no matter how much I ask elsewhere about work ... it's always invisible.

It's like this for so many in this day and age...even without the AI stuff, unfortunately. Curious, do you have any professional training/mentoring of some kind? Do you have a professional portfolio/website?

I think this is one of those things where you need to network right.