Keep Fierce

How to React to the HATERS!

So I finally finished this thing. I made it months ago, but I got lazy about 80% of the way done and threw up a quickly colorized version, even though I knew I wanted to soft render it somewhat like a tattoo style.

This is the kind of art I used to create about 5 years ago.

It’s odd. Whatever kind of art you make, there will always be haters.

Back then, the internet would hate on me because apparently all I ever did was latin phrases, skulls, and tigers.

Scoff, you internet bastards. Do you even know how long it took me to make this shit?!?!?

Then I started to create pop culture designs, and then began the onslaught of “You’re a sell out, a thief! Unoriginal hack!”

Scoff, you internet bastards. Do you know I work for myself and I have to pay health insurance out of my own pocket?

But that’s game of being an artist.

You create, and people try to discourage you from creating.

Certainly, there are many praises.

But human psychology is such that we notice the bad things more than the good things. One crappy comment amongst one thousand is what will get under your skin.

I think it’s because of erroneous evolutionary forces that make us react in automatic unhealthy ways. You survive longer if you keep tabs on the negative events more than the positive. Our lizard-y brain fights our cerebral brain that knows 1000 positive comments outweighs one insignificant troll in the grand scheme of things.

Trolls seem to react to their lizard brains too.

If a troll sees someone else getting socially validated for something, the troll’s scared little lizard brain attacks intuiting the competition will garner more of the resources they’re too damn lazy to learn a skill to get themselves. Go live your sad life back at Pop Copy Troll!

I think to survive as an artist, it’s tough.

You have to emotionally disconnect yourself.

You have to emotionally disconnect yourself when you’re feeling unmotivated and uncertain, and Just Create.

You have to emotinoally disconnect yourself when no one is praising your work, and continue to create anyways.

You have to emotionally disconnect yourself when you’re riding the Big Wave and everyone loves you, because you know, that wave doesn’t last forever.

Soon, you’ll be back hustling, starting over again, trying to create the new piece of art that will strike at the hearts of your audience.

So, this art is just about that: the experience of being an artist.

In a grander sense, the experience of life.

The title is Keep Fierce.

Sometimes you get knocked down. Sometimes life breaks your heart. You can’t let em keep you down, you gotta raise up from the ashes like a mutha——ing Phoenix bitch!

Find me on Facebook. Peruse my art on Neatoshop.

Find pretty pictures and shitty ones on my Instagram.

Also, can I tell you about my cat Mr Eggs?