Social Media Isn’t Really My Thing

If I'm being completely honest, I have very few social media skills.

And the funny thing is... I don't have much interest in learning them either.

Every time I hear about a new trend, a new strategy, or the latest thing I'm apparently supposed to be doing to grow on social media, I find myself thinking the same thing:

"Or... I could just go draw that bear."

Maybe that's terrible marketing.

But it's the truth.

I've never been the person who gets excited about algorithms, content calendars, trending audio, or spending hours learning how to make the perfect reel.

When I have free time, my mind automatically goes somewhere else.

Back to the drawing desk.

Back to the wildlife references waiting in my inspiration folder.

Back to the commission that's slowly coming to life under layers of coloured pencil.

Why spend an afternoon learning how to make a reel when I could spend that same afternoon drawing?

To me, that's always been an easy choice.

The challenge, of course, is that artists today are expected to do both.

Create the artwork.

Photograph the artwork.

Film the artwork.

Edit the artwork.

Post the artwork.

Promote the artwork.

And somehow still find time to actually make the artwork.

Sometimes it feels like being an artist has become two separate jobs.

One part creating.

One part marketing.

And if I'm choosing between the two, my heart will pick creating every single time.

That's not because I don't appreciate social media.

It's because the thing that lights me up has never been posting the drawing.

It's making the drawing.

The hours spent studying an expression.

The excitement when a portrait starts looking like the animal.

The quiet satisfaction of seeing a piece slowly come together.

That's where I want to spend my time.

So if you've ever wondered why I occasionally disappear from social media, the answer is usually pretty simple.

I haven't fallen off the planet.

I haven't quit drawing.

I haven't run out of ideas.

I've just been sitting at my desk doing the thing I love most.

Drawing. 🐾