Does knowing the artist change how you perceive his/her work?

noctuidae 2016-08-20 07:50:43 UTC #21

It's a bummer when the creation is great but the creator is terrible. I've had my perception of some works soured by learning of their author's/artist's flaws or prejudices. Usually I'm able to admire the work despite the creator's beliefs or attitudes. If a story about acceptance and tolerance turns out to be written by a flaming bigot, then yes I will be shocked and I'll hesitate to look at their other works in the future. But if they're just grouchy then I don't really care, I just won't interact with them personally.

Same, although depending on the person I'd still like to meet them out of curiosity. When it comes to interacting face-to-face with indie artists i already go in with the assumption that y'all are socially awkward to some degree because I am socially awkward to an embarrassing degree.

Generally, though, I don't expect to get along with every person I come across -- and a creator is still a person.

Chopythes 2016-08-20 08:39:59 UTC #22

Yeah, sure.

I mean, the long answer is this:
I'm able to see when my best friend has a terrible artday, I can see it in her lines and the way she colours.
It's weird since I thought of her as a god when I only was her fan, I thought she had the best linework et cetera, hahaa!
But when you get to know a person, you also get to know their work. What the thought's behind it and all.

However, there's some artists I follow up close of which personalities I can not stand.
They're awesome of getting their way through and I admire them for that. However, as soon as they get criticism they start to act butthurt even though it's a criticism grounded on the best foundation.
They're an amazing artist and they could use the advices given to up their game a little.

And it's so difficult for me, because I enjoy their stuff and want to have it, but I feel terrible for supporting them when they act like they do (and they were very, very rude to my friend so I'm getting a little biased here, even though I try to stay outside the whole thing because it's their issue, not mine).

KSlinger 2016-08-20 08:53:17 UTC #23

In general, yes, knowing a little about a creator will change how I view their work, but I have yet to meet an artist who has turned me completely off their stories just by being themselves. Granted I don't know any fellow artists very well and perhaps if I had a bad experience with one I would hold a grudge, but over all knowing more about creators makes me want to help them more and show them some appreciation. It gives me a better idea of who is sitting on the other end of the line waiting for feedback.

I'm quite active on this forum, as are many creators on this site, but first and foremost I see you people here as peers, not audience members who need protecting from the real me. I wouldn't post half of the things I write here on Twitter or Facebook or Tapastic' main area because it wouldn't be appropriate, and though I understand that readers from the main site can access these thoughts just as easily as any of you I'm willing to take whatever risks come along with that for the sake of having a group of people that I can help with their work (and whose work I thoroughly enjoy) and who will also support me in turn.

Maybe it's just me but these forums don't seem to have garnered much interest from the pure 'readers' of the site. It feels more like a creator's corner and it's a wonderful thing to be a part of. I don't have anyone else to talk to about this stuff- no one in my life does this, most don't even know that I do- so where would I find comfort and support if I didn't reach out to you?

If one of my readers feels alienated or disturbed because I'm Kate and I live near Manchester and play games and shoot shit in the Crossed Keys pub when my friends are in town then that's too bad. I don't want to offend anyone but then I don't want to have to police myself in order to protect people who don't even know me. Whatever happened to 'be yourself, don't worry about what other's think'?

Then, on the other side, there are artists and creators on Twitter who air their dirty laundry online all the time with no regard whatsoever for who will see it- readers, family, employers, colleagues, whoever- and there's celebrities, actors, business people and YouTube bloggers who regurgitate whatever they feel on everyone anywhere. Why? Who knows. And yeah, it makes me cringe sometimes, but not everyone does it and what's more it doesn't seem to change a thing.

TLDR; Where you draw the line is up to you. I try not to judge anyone too harshly for the things I read and see on here unless someone's being downright shitty in which case they can reap what they sow.

purrlpankras 2016-08-20 12:56:41 UTC #24

For me I'd prefer to know at least a little about the artist, that doesn't mean a picture of themselves or where they live, but each time they
upload a new work, I wanna know how what they've been up to, for example, has the work been a pain to create or what the work means.

But yeah even if the artist is a pro I would unfollow because they aren't nice (or their work has turned a different way)
And I wouldn't really want to follow an artist where all they post is just constant random crap or moaning about stuff.

Well for me it's all about professionalism, but still having some fun of course.
I don't post anything personal on any social media, it's all art stuff. I think sneak peaks and polls are my favourite thing to post as people get involved.

About the comic con thing, I'd only went to one and there were alot of cool artists. I had a table there one time and it was really busy. And I'm used to sitting alone constantly so it was really overwhelming so I might of come across rude. I had my friend helping at my table doing all the talking and money stuff (so sorry ;_;) I had some of my fans of Two Faced come, I made an effort to be nice and give them discount for coming to see me.

LoboSong_Hitaka5Ever 2016-08-20 13:28:08 UTC #25

Yep. I have a hard time supporting artists with really bad attitudes or are not very nice to their followers/commission buyers. I especially can't stand those "I'm better than everyone" "you'll never be as good as me" etc types. At that point, they have clearly shown that they are 100% NOT better than everyone else, ah-ha. But then there's a huge difference between always being mean bc eliticism/they're jerks for the sake of being jerks, to just not having a good day (when people apologize genuinely later, they I can forgive) I try to keep an open mind generally, check out their story, check out others' stories, and just figure out who I should avoid and who I can be okay with visiting or liking their work from time to time

I know of only 3 artists that are really horrible people and I just ignore them the best I can for my own sanity (I personally have never had a problem with them, and I'd like to keep it that way)

tsukiko 2016-08-20 13:47:13 UTC #26

It certainly does for me. I once idolized a certain artist because of his style so as usual i dig around his DA gallery to see more but i saw a lot of his selfies there and it degraded my admiration for him, it also doesnt help that i was following his group and discover he was a lazy guy.

I certainly didnt want to feel that way but yeah, it cant be helped

Aspie_Gamer 2016-08-20 18:41:14 UTC #27

In extreme cases like with Bill Cosby and all the nasty things that have come to light about his person regarding rape culture, yeah I speak for everybody when I say that absolutely NOBODY is going to be able to appreciate his comedy or his hit TV show The Cosby Show knowing what a creepy disturbing piece of work he really was all these years.

In other often lesser cases, there's the school of thought that you should simply divorce the creator from his/her work. Also, sometimes the creator has a bad day or is going through a rough less than glamourous patch in their lives for various reasons. Doesn't mean that the creator is like that all of the time.

R.n.P 2016-08-20 19:06:54 UTC #28

It depends on the artists behavior, if he is the serious type that over thinks the series while working I wouldn't like the show anymore cuz I would always be getting high expectations and then it would crash down when I think that after all his planning its only this he can come up with, so I prefer laid back artists that still get their work done nicely.

indagold 2016-08-20 19:09:33 UTC #29

Well I came across an artist in a convention and he was horribly rude to me which contrasted to most other people there who were friendly. I ignored it because I was still interested in his comic back then and thought nothing of it, but then his work just got worse and worse and worse. His comic devolved into all the characters being assholes, him mocking his own fanbase in and out of the comic and finally I gave up reading it because the plot went no where, the characters were unlikable and he had the audacity to show some fucked up x rated stuff in his work I really did not want to see. Let me remind you his fanbase was mostly 13 year olds. He clearly hated them but they kept forgiving him.

Let's just say some people might be right when they say you get to know an author through their work.

Kura 2016-08-20 19:09:44 UTC #30

As much as I wish it didn't it does.

acealmansoori 2016-08-20 20:20:15 UTC #31

I usually find their art repulsive to some degree, and would try to avoid any personal contact. But I never let it affect my life. Some of my friends still dwell about some unanswered questions, and no replies to fanarts they did, etc. That creates a chain effect and sometimes I can see it rubbing on my friends personality; as in I find them acting somewhat how they were treated.

I would try not to engage much with artists I find repulsive and never ever act on someones else opinions of an artist. Never.

Pretty much what I believe

This is really sweet :c omg

insomniascrawl 2016-08-21 02:09:58 UTC #32

I think being an artist is like being like any part of the entertainment world, we share the sides we don't mind sharing, and try and keep the rest under lock and key- for the most part anyway. It would just seem to be more beneficial for a creator to share just enough to create a positive image for themselves and leave the rest to their audiences imagination, whether what the audience is imagining is realistic or not.

When you see the nasty sides of a person, it's hard to tell how much of that is the main trait for their personality, it's easy to doubt if they're genuine even if it's just a bad day and it can change the way they are viewed from then on... So yeah, I definitely think it's better to have a divide between work and personal lives, for the sake of the creators sense of self and their audience as well.

Zanreo 2016-08-21 02:24:50 UTC #33

Depends on what we're talking about and to what extent... I often try to "separate the art and artist", but at a certain point that just becomes impossible. If they're really rude and a huge jerk to others, really bigoted in some way, ect... that would make me way less likely to want to read it. Or at least less likely to support them financially.

SpavVy 2016-08-21 02:27:03 UTC #34

Yeah, some artists have made me lose some respect for them by how they have treated other people. I won't deny that I have lost my cool with people too, but I've seen artists get pissy over such petty things that aren't even worth getting mad about.

miseryhunting 2016-08-21 03:30:03 UTC #35

I've been mostly lucky and I've met more artists who were kind than not. There was just one person on here who was such a rude asshole that I didn't want to see any of his work. An on artists' presence:

This does not matter, people might not know your real name or your hair colour, but your icon and behavior still represent your work.
Personally, I like seeing artists and their daily life to an extend. I don't think there's anything wrong with people posting selfies, HOW does that influence their likability/quality of art? Most people have noting to be ashamed of.

What qualifies as dirty laundry? Are people really sharing deep dark secrets? O.o

carloswebcomic 2016-08-21 06:21:08 UTC #36

I think you may be underestimating people's ability to be judgemental.
If someone wants to become a personality to go along with their work, fine. However, the second you show your face, people will start correlating your work with yourself.
If someone seeks that kind of attention, that's fine, but if an artist wants their work to be judged solely on its merits, perhaps it would be best not show him/herself to the audience.

KSlinger 2016-08-21 08:14:10 UTC #37

Not secrets as such, mostly rants that involve unnamed colleagues, friends, ex's, readers and industry professionals etc. You're typical 'you know who you are' type messages.

J.Lovelace 2016-08-21 08:57:54 UTC #38

I start friendly with everyone. But when I notice that a person is toxic, I try to distance myself from them as far as possible. That goes for their art/works too. Looking at it will remind me of the douchebag, and make me cringe a lot. And I don't want to support that shitty person in any way. Some of them don't even deserve the fanbase they got, by the way they treat their audience.

There are a few exceptions, of course, of people who were close to making me hate them forever, but they managed to change a bit (or at least promised to try and change for the better). So I let it slip, just I am not as engaged in their work as I used to be.

TheVoidchildProject 2016-08-21 12:29:10 UTC #39

Yea it does. To the extent that I've unfollowed/unsubbed to people's comics and social media accounts. If you've got views that are detrimental or damaging to people it's probably going to show in your work somehow. And you'll have lost a follower in me.

Now if someone is just a generally unpleasant person in my view, like being braggy or snooty then that won't necessarily make me unfollow/unsub. I'm not so arrogant that I think I'm perfect and I'd want people to judge the quality of my work on its own merits. Not because they might not like some of my personality traits.

The distinction is whether or not it's a personal peeve or if someone is, for instance, racist/sexist/homofobic etc. I might think someone is self-centered but that's not reason enough to impact my opinion of your work.

RebelVampire 2016-08-22 05:10:10 UTC #40

For me, it largely depends under what context I'm interacting with someone and "getting to know them."

If I am writing a review or something of that nature, then no. I actively disregard what I may or may not think of that person and focus on what the content itself is. In my opinion, the content's value should be considered separate from how its creator behaves, so for something like a review there should be some objective separation.

Now if it's someone whose work I'm just enjoying for personal entertainment, then yes, yes it does change how I perceive their work. It's not to the level that I'm suddenly like, "This work is terrible." However, their work does subsequently become less and less enjoyable to me; everytime I look at their work I just end up remembering their behavior. I especially take notice when their bad behavior was directed at someone else. In the back of my mind, I always have to wonder if they will lash out at me or a friend because they lack the ability to be civil online. Of course, I give everyone a bit of leeway because, hey, artists and writers are people too, and everyone has a bad day. However, if everyday they're doing something then it starts to become a problem. At that point I simply try to avoid knowing more about their personal life and opinions. Sadly, for some people it's impossible to avoid and I, unfortunately, have to unsub/unfollow them to avoid being disappointed everyday.

On the other spectrum, yes, someone who commits an act of kindness can make me look at their work. This is few and fair in between because not every kind act draws my attention. A lot of kindness just goes hand in hand with being a decent human being. However, if I notice someone going out of their way for someone else and doing it in a subtle, non-braggart way, then it can make me want to look at their work. This is not a guarantee I'll follow the piece, but I'll still check it out.