Artist Identity is #1 for long-term success as an artist.

Bonus marketing tip: I saw some art on Artstation last weekend and was CONVINCED it was from another artist. I won't say who...but it presents another benefit of focusing on what you enjoy/are good at: If you keep at it long enough, any time someone that tries to copy you, others will just assume it's your work instead! Boom. More free advertising.

hey Josh, one of the things I enjoy about your content is that you speak about the mental/philosophical side of art. You take us through the thought process of being a creative, I feel like you're filling a very important niche that's needed in the community 🙂

Finding your artistic identity is like "finding" your breathe. It's always there, you just stop noticing it.

This viedo means so much to me. As an artist on the verge of going fulltime to pursue my passion, I find that I may have lost some passion along the way. Finding ideas I'm exited about is getting harder and ... I beleive it's important I go back to what made me strat drawing in the first place and that I talk about it ! Thank you.

How did you know I was struggling with this??? Are you in my walls??

I've noticed myself slipping into that change. I noticed that I stopped drawing for fun and kept trying to draw the things I've seen other people like. It causes me to have long art blocks and I barely post anything now. I'm trying to change that and draw what I like the way I like it 😅

Creating an artistic identity means everything to me.

As a hobbyist I'm definitely a different angle than perhaps a lot of the viewers of your channel in that I'm not looking for a career, just personal expression, but nonetheless I love your talks and retrospective self analysis. Some of my favorite pieces I've painted since I started my journey I woke up and got to work on with a coffee in hand without references or planning. Consequently they often have many mistakes and poor anatomy and coloring/shading and over time I'm getting better at instinctually making better decisions when in the flow state. But I love them because they are purely representative of me, for me. I usually don't share them, or only share them with my SO who was wondering what I was working on while listening to blaringly loud music with intense focus for the last two hours. And there is an element of external validation when I create still because in the end I am trying to express my inner thoughts and invite people to share in that, something especially difficult for people on the spectrum like myself to accomplish normally. But social media definitely has a rough way of giving you a negative feedback loop that will cram you into producing what is already identified rather than creating an identity. When I do share things I make I make sure it is things I feel good about. I've posted things in the past that I felt good about and then felt terrible seeing no response to it. I can take that two ways; that I posted it somewhere where people aren't willing to engage with my perspectives and expression, or that I failed to make something worthy of acknowledgment, a trauma many people resonate with and carry. And I do this as a hobby. I can only imagine the crushing pressure to try and do this as a career.

I love art. ❤

Much love to you bro. As an artist for a few years, I love art because it brings new worlds and lives that people create, allowing viewers to visit. I won't make this long but I know you understand the feeling so thank you for being you and not giving up completely.

Im really loving the consistency Josh. I really missed seeing your videos often❤ so thank you

This is helping so much rn. I've always fought against myself when it comes to my own stuff and comparing with others who "made it", or finding an art style or general passion about what I'm doing because social media can be such a downward loop when it comes to comparison etc. Thank you for this talk! <3

I really love that you've been talking about these kinds of topics and opening up these discussions, especially because it feels really overwhelming on social media lately but I've had a hard time figuring out why. This video and your last video have allowed me to reflect in ways that I was having a hard time doing before, simply because I felt like I wasn't being honest with myself as to why I was feeling so overwhelmed - and I think part of that is because sometimes it feels like I'm the only one feeling some type of way (even though I know logically that isn't true) and it felt like admitting that would be admitting some kind of weakness. I guess I'm just trying to say thank you for your vulnerability and for helping me see that I'm not alone, and that even the artists I admire can struggle with the same things I do!

Truly loving these longer videos <33 They keep me company and advise me as I....complete work as a design student. Thanks dude x

Needed to hear all that, thanks a lot Josh!!

This was a really insightful video. I really love listening to you speak about your experiences, both because I resonate with what you're saying and also because your voice is super relaxing haha. This and the previous video have made me rethink my approach to art and my own journey with it. Thank you for your wonderful videos! And your art work is absolutely wonderful I love how you capture various poses and in general how you draw the human form.

Hi Josh. You allow yourself to be vulnerable and talk about the things that affect you (even though you know they shouldn't) as an artist and how that drags over to your life and your mental health and that's really, really brave. It's really hard to detach from external validation when it comes to our art, we want everyone to understand and feel the time and emotion we pour into every single piece, but just as we're living our lives and come across a lot of content that doesn't mean that much to us, the person behind it took their own soul into it too, and we'll never get that sense either. It's not personal, or about us and out art, just not everyone will understand, so we shall stick to the ones that do. It's a process, to look at metrics and know they dont determine the value of our work, but to get to that point, where you do the art that fullfills you regardless of the response, is to be free. Finding a balance between business and soul is the hardest, but we must get on that journey if we want to have both. Personally, as a fellow artist and part of your metrics, if you keep doing art and pouring your heart out, I'm happy. Do you, your identity is already conquered and you deserve to live it freely.

Oh my god yes. Thank you. I’ve been thinking so much about this recently

Oh. Oh wow. I needed this. Thank you.

Fantastic video and such an important message :)