Stuff people have told you/asked you as an artist

[hushicho]

That is pretty hilarious. I would mention the novelty painters who use various parts of their bodies to paint, but...I'm pretty sure the people asking you that question don't know about, say, Pricasso.

Questions like that just tempt smart-assed responses.

"No, I drew it with my mind. Haven't you ever heard of telekinesis?"

"No, I had help. I have a whole office of assistants. They're invisible gnomes. They're invisible because they're nudists, aside from the little pointy hats they all wear. They're actually quite shy."

[GesuGesu]

(mostly positives)

Mom points at anime on TV, "isn't that the stuff you draw?"

Sis points at anime on TV, "that looks like your art style"

Mom: "You're good at drawing the cute stuff with the big eyes, right? And your sister is good at drawing the realistic stuff"

Mom: "You're drawing that for money, right? You shouldn't be wasting your time if it's free"

Sis/bro: "is that a commission lol" me: no (cries internally)

Sis: stop drawing furries das gross

Aunt: You wanna teach my daughter drawing? You're already teaching her classmate!

[Shanny8]

@Mocha @dojo @Bloomer I get that Disney thing too- coz EVERYBODY who knows how to draw should go work at Disney. They hire people off the street who like, know how to draw, everyday!

"You should draw portraits of people"- coz ALL MY LIFE I have been working towards the ultimate end goal of drawing pencil portraits to gain endless riches...

[AnnaLandin]

"Ooooh, can you draw me?" is a standard one I think we've all gotten.

"You draw comics? What, like Donald Duck?" (yes hi in Sweden Donald Duck-comics are super-popular. And the answer is no, I don't draw Donald Duck-like comics)

"You should do portraits!" (I do! Pay me.)

"Your style looks so much like [x]! You've copied them, haven't you?" (no, coincidences do actually happen - and the person you're comparing me to does NOT have a similar style to mine, actually. I just checked.)

"This character looks just like [character y]!" (.... thanks? this is not actually a compliment? at all?)

"You could get rich off this!" vs "Oh, so when are you going to get a real job?"

"You're such a good artist! We should be friends! (plz will you draw this thing for me?)"

"You should draw [detailed request of something I would never draw, without even a please and thank you]" then gets pissy when I don't.

"Oh I wish I had your talent - but I wasn't born with anything like that!" (newsflash, boyo - neither was I; you're looking at literally decades of practise and hard work)

... on the positive side, though, I was reading a newspaper article about Moebius/Jean Giraud once, and my dad glanced at it over my shoulder and went "Oh! Is that your comic?"

which you know

immensely flattering.

"Can you do a mural for me?" F**k no..!

I've gotten that one! My standard answer is "Yeah, if you pay me." Sometimes it even works!

[mariusthered]

You know I have a friend whos practically broke because hes an artist"

yer that would be me then!

I also get sick of "can you paint dinsney stuff on my kids wall?"

[CPY]

Well... This.

"Why're you wasting time doing things that don't earn money?" (Parents/relatives)
"You should take up art lessons."
"it's your style."
"Who'd that you're drawing?"
"Is that you?"

Basically haven't gotten much positive stuffs lately.

"Wow! You can be an artist when you grow up!!" <--- N years ago.

[Bobler09]

They: You can draw so well, why do you just draw manga lately?

Me: Arrrgh...
1. I draw, what I enjoy the most a.t.m.
2. IT IS NO MANGA! I take from every artstyle what i like the most and implement it into my own... just because i like a lot of manga-assets I don't automatically draw manga!

Sorry, for the caps, but got that question today again, so there was a lot of build up anger

[J.Lovelace]

• "Do you draw from memory or just so?" (as in, if I drew already existing characters or my own OC's, I think...)
• "I can't believe you drew this. Draw it again or I won't believe you" (it was a drawing of a kitten sitting on a pillow)
• "Can you draw this for me for my art class?"
• "Commissions aren't a real job"
• "I would like to commission [insert fetish art description here]. But don't tell anyone that I ordered it. I would like to stay anonymous." (proceeded to say "don't tell anyone" for at least 6 times in the same email)
• "Why don't you draw more boobs?" (as in why I don't draw more naked women)
• "I don't like that style, draw it in a normal style"

[igneriss]

From friends, collegues or random people I just met:
"I wish I could draw like that, but I have no talent at all!"
"That's so pretty!"
"Can you draw me?"
"How much time does it take to draw something like this?"
"Can you draw something more realistic?"
"Why didn't you go to an art college???" <-- I got this one A LOT when studying
"Can you draw XYZ for me?"
"Can your draw XYZ for my friend?"
"Can you design a logo for me?"
"You should illustrate fairy-tales!"

From parents:
"You should stop wasting your time"
"That's ugly"
"You're drawing those dolls again, like a kid?"

Ha. Ha. Ha.
; _;

[hushicho]

I forgot to mention earlier, one of the things that meant the most to me that someone said to me in my entire life, my entire career as an artist, was when I was at the bookstore with my grandmother. We were just milling about, browsing some of the books. I gravitated, naturally, towards the art books, to see if they had anything I'd enjoy. They happened to have a very nice book on art nouveau and, since that's my favorite art movement, I was enthusiastically perusing it.

My grandmother wandered over and we were looking at it together, and I said I think I was going to get it. We got it home and looked through it together, and she was very enthusiastic about it. She likes art nouveau too, even if she doesn't recognize it in an art history sense, but more in an "I know what I like" sense -- anyway, we finished with the book and I left it with her, because she said she'd like to look at it again.

A little bit later, after she was done with the book, I went to collect it and we had a really pleasant discussion about art nouveau. And I showed her one of my favorites, "Zodiac" by Mucha, which has always been very precious to me.

And she mentioned that she liked it too, and then she said "you draw better than that" just as plainly as if she were mentioning the weather.

I have always kept that close to my heart. Of all the things people have said to me, that's one of the most precious things that have kept me going.

[Mharz]

To be honest though, I used to be one of those guys. My initial dream was to be an animator and work on an animation studio and after working for 3 years in a local animation studio I woke up to the hard truth and got burned out as a result.

---

I just remembered another stuff that I was told before.

*after you finished a portrait of someone and gave it to them: "This portrait doesn't look like me." (well why don't you just take a photograph of yourself and slap a filter on it.)

[hushicho]

Yeah, a few friends have made that choice, and unfortunately it's never been kind to them either. I was fortunate enough to be warned away from it by friends and through circumstances or trust, just did not make that decision.

Oh good lord, yes! Some people are so obsessed with photorealism that they might as well just do that!

[Shanny8]

"This portrait doesn't look like me."

One of the MAIN REASONS why I dont do pencil/sketch portraits anymore. I waste my time & energy and "it doesnt look like you"? You dont look like Beyonce- get the FOH.

This actually happened.

@AnnaLandin sometimes for me, it's not even about "the money"; it's that said project would be a waste of my time & energy and I have no interest in doing it. Then 9 times out of 10 they dont wanna/cant pay me the amount that I feel the project & energy is worth, so I just nip it in the bud. Where I live, there are several "reformed graffiti artists" who do murals; it's just a matter of them trying to get me to do a massive project for the low- pass...

@jutawi I have a fellow associate who's kind of like that about "boobs". He asks if I've just drawn [I guess] naked people in comics, and I'm like "yeah," but it's no big deal to me. I could draw naked people all day if I wanted to- I dont care to.

@igneriss I WOULD like to actually do art for a childrens' book- especially if it hits and becomes popular. That would be the coolest thing, but I'm also picky with those opportunities. I dont wanna go through the haggle of doing art for one, never hear from the person/they didnt pay me all the money, and then I gotta go through [legal] mess coz they tried to down-low publish my art without honoring our contract/agreement- so if I ever get that chance I'm gonna make sure I'm protected(legally) before I do any work.

[igneriss]

Me too, even if the book doesn't become a hit ( : it's really motivating to have something you've illustrated published! I take those 'you should illustrate fairy-tales' as a compliement!

[J.Lovelace]

Good for you, I don't mind drawing naked people either, but the main thing about it is that I got a lot of pervs following me, some being really disgusting. So it's not about the drawing themselves, it's about the recipients being shit.

[SpavVy]

Here are some frequently asked questions.

Questions that annoy me

"Did you draw that?" No shit.

"Do you take requests?" No

"Will you draw my manga?" Noooo!
I should seriously put a statement on my profile that says "I won't draw for you" because all of these requests are coming from freakin' Tapastic!

"Wow you're a girl?" I actually get this one often, I don't know why people think I'm a dude.

Questions I don't mind

"What brush tool do you use for your line art?" This one actually makes me laugh a bit because my line art is done completely by hand and with dip pens.

"How do you make your lines so smooth with the G-pen?"
Lots of practice and you gotta find the sweet spot. Once you do this thing becomes your best friend

"Why do you use dip pens and not just regular microns?"
Dip pens are more versatile with pressure and I quickly get the lines I want whereas with a micron I would have to go over it more times and the lines still wouldn't be as nice. Viewers may not know the difference but I sure do.

"What program do you use?"
Clip Studio Pro.

"What tablet do you use?"
It used to be a Bamboo Splash tablet but I recently upgraded to a Cintiq.

[mintycanoodles]

"that character is totally based on me right?" and/or "you were thinking of me when you drew that right?"

...no

[Vanesalisa]

people in high school
P.E couch/art teacher : I'm joining you to the art contest
Classmates in group works: you should draw the designs
College student in the convention : you should go to our college there's some art courses
friend of mine : why the long faces (old anime guys with long jaws are cool at that time)

Family
you should draw some fashion
you're in fashion school
we're not pressuring you
you're always secretive sometimes
Hey help me with my project dich

me
What should I draw ?

[Martlu15]

"Cute!" -Everyone

"Nice job!" -Parents

"What are you doing? Stay focused!" -Jeremy

No one mentions my comic in person but one friend who I share it to in person because he doesn't have any social media account.

[idamessygirl]

''Did you draw that?"

NAH, my name on that means nothing.

''Draw some real people for once?"

''Wow, it looks copied!"

''Stop drawing anime so much.."

''Is that anime style?"

''I don't like that style, do you have other styles?"

''Who's that?"

No one really....

''Is that you?"

''Is that me?"

''Your character looks like this other character!"

I want to cry....

''Hey hey... draw me"

''Teach me!"

There's a big difference between doing and teaching. I can't teach. ;-;

"Why they naked?'

I'm not done..

"Why they bald?"

I'm not done...

"Why their eye like dat?"

I'm not done. ;-;

"You and your androgynous freaks"