Discovering A New Art Platform
I didn’t wake up one day and think “I want to be a Snapchat artist.” In fact, I had been drawing for a while before I discovered the platform.
It wasn’t until I noticed that others had been capturing real-life photos and and began to draw over them to create something completely unique and wonderful. I thought it was absolutely brilliant and decided to give it a go. At that point, I was hooked.
I started drawing just about anything from popular culture like cartoons, celebrities and anything in-between. Creating something fun from the mundane was an enormous motivation to keep at it. The response was very positive and more and more people started to take screenshots of my work. It’s a great feeling to know you can make your friends smile. It was a sign that people enjoyed what I do.
It’s true that getting discovered on Snapchat can be a challenge. Everyone is looking for the “easy button” that doesn’t really exist. Instead of begging for people to follow me I wanted my work speak for itself.
So I started drawing and sharing.
First Facebook and then Instagram.
At that point, I started to discover and attract other artists like myself. If I’m being honest, I was in complete awe of what some of these talented individuals could do. Again, more motivation to grow and evolve.
As I made more and more connections, I realized that I was generating positive traction because of what I can do on my phone, not because of what I looked like.
In June of 2015, I hit a huge milestone as I was featured in UNILAD Magazine. I can’t explain the feeling of seeing my artwork shared and appreciated by so many people.
Each piece I draw can take anywhere from 1–3 hours. I would love to hear what you think about them: instagram.com/anthonyelgy
Also, I would love to see you on Snapchat! AnthonyElgy
