What's your opinion on keeping your personal opinions and artwork separate?

[emmyengberts]

I don't. But I write things that can be seen as controversial anyway... Writing about two girls falling in love and their love story ending happily. Writing about ADHD and autism in a positive light. Writing about people who aren't perfect but also are simply human.
Because I'm human. I'm a pansexual, I'm not cis, I have ADHD (inattentive type) and I also have autism, I suffer from severe depression on a regular base. This is my world and I refuse to give any of that up, to hide any of those elements. They make me who I am, they the scope through which I experience the world and the world experiences me.

Yeah, I speak up. When I see people hate on other people, I can't not speak up.
I also write stories about people finding love with other people and not being hated for it, making them actually find the happiness that the real world may not actually give people like them. I will fight for happiness!

[R.n.P]

To me I hate putting my personal opinion directly into my comic, the best I could do is elude to my personal opinions in such a thick layer that any normal person reading a comic wouldn't notice so I wont have to deal with people that haven't heard that not all people share their own opinions
plus that hate speech stuff in my opinion is bullshit, to me words are words, its not like a word grows a knife n stabs me in the gut, unless someone is actually saying that people should harm me that I would raise my eyebrows to a word that some random individual says

[joannekwan]

My political opinions stay far away from my comics. And I rarely ever discuss politics in general on my art tumblr.
But yeah, if I was following an artist and they spouted stuff like that I would definitely unfollow no matter how good their art was. Because every time I'd see an art piece from them, I cannot unsee all the shit they've posted and I'll forever connect them with hate.
It's like dude, if you're spreading generalized hate like that (in the example of the original post), you're just as bad as alt-rights.

I'll just say it here, as a very left-leaning moderate woc who's very sympathetic to LGBT+ and other minority issues, I don't mind if you're Republican and/or voted for Trump (I may be a bit disappointed though, haha) but as long as you aren't actively racist/prejudice/minority-phobic and attack people, and don't spam me or others with your political views, you're okay. Like I don't like the man, but I don't think all Trump supporters are bad people.

[punkarsenic]

I personally believe that art is a great way to express yourself and your opinions, however I personally think that their are some unspoken boundaries of what is acceptable (hate speech for example is disgusting).

basically this.

i think every artist has a right to get as political and as personal as they want in their art, but theres a way to conduct yourself and some stuff maybe should be kept to yourself (esp in the personal.) not just for your like reputation, but to protect yourself and keep your following healthy and safe as much as possible. you want to be approachable, especially about your opinions - that doesnt mean you cant stand your ground, but you need to know how to keep your cool when things get really personal. which is a really hard one. i think there are times to get angry, and visibly so, but theyre few and far between.

so like, yes, talk about your experiences and opinions as much as you want through your art! but keep it respectful and safe.

on the flipside, i think people have more space to get really angry and say slightly outrageous things when just venting in personal spaces (like a personal blog for instance) but thats a lil different.

[modrawmanga]

Like @ratique has said, it really depends on many factor like age and life experience.
The 'greener' the artist, usually they're more blatant about their personal opinions, because most likely they have not gone thru enough life experiences to know what negative effects of this kind behavior would lead to.

I would suggest to keep artwork and personal completely separate, especially if you're still trying to build an audience,
It also depends on what r u trying to do with your artwork as well
If the artwork meant to convert people to certain opinion then you can't separate the two

[indagold]

I rarely post my political opinions and rarely it's only outside of forums or chat servers or with friends. I like to keep them out of my main accounts and especially my work itself. Last thing is making my work a mouthpiece, especially a fantasy comic that takes place in a whole other world would be a little hilarious to say the least. All work does reflect some of your viewpoints in the end, it's just you choice whether you want to be modest your work.

As for other artists I lost touch with basically every friend who left deviantart and moved to tumblr because that's all they ever posted was the whole "die cis scum" "ew white people" "ew straight people" crap. It gets even worse when it leaks into your stories because you might not even know who these people are and you lose immersion once you realize it's not a story anymore, just a political rant. You admire their art but in the end you don't want to listen to that.

[Strontium]

I'm very careful expressing ideological opinions and sensitive details about myself online. I don't want to alienate any readers, and neither do I want to give potential bullies ammunition to hurt me. I was bullied a lot growing up.

However I don't mind talking about my life online, on places like Twitter and Tumblr. I might talk about classes or trips or other interesting occurrences, like getting a cool package in the mail. It's nice to share good times with your friends online, and it's also nice to know I have some internet friends who would lend me their ear in a time when I'm in need.

Mostly I just post my art and webcomic, and talk about books and tv shows I'm enjoying.

[gateofselidor]

I try to avoid sharing any political views on pages that represent me, like my comic or social media pages. I'm not completely apolitical, but I don't get drawn into drama or post anything too controversial. I share my comic with people I work with (I work in a creative field, so people are actively interested in what I do), and it could jeopardise my career and professional relationships if I waded into online drama where everyone can see it.

Before I first started sharing my comic with people at work, I also went through my social media and removed personal posts that were a little too personal, or that would reveal private information I wasn't prepared to share with colleagues (like the fact that I'm trans). I now limit personal posts and author comments to more general things, like being busy at work, or trips I've been on.

Sometimes I miss being able to share my often strong opinions on political matters, but it's not worth damaging my image for.

[insomniascrawl]

Yiiiikes, I think there's definitely a way to express your opinions and ideas in a way that's tasteful, and not so specific that it offends anyone through art, because let's face it, a big part of art is to challenge people's thinking. I think it's fine to share your opinions or put light on injustice in the world that people try and push in the shadows, but when people start to act like 'agree with me or you're trash' that's a problem, that's where I depart from that ride, you know?

[lunaartemisasama]

I think it really depends of the type of artists. For example there are artists that their art revolve around their political ideas or points of view, a good example is Bansky. But he doesn't have an official acount so lol.

I also love Calle13's songs and they have some political songs, and you can see that they are pretty close to the left, but still I like them because they share their thoughts.

Others are just not interested in that stuff and I respect that.

But I also understand that there are some boundaries that people might not cross for example hate speech is just bad. But some people do it. On the other hand some others just love to argue.

I follow some comics artist and I think they things they care about the most, are lgbt rights and equality, against sexism in general. I think #MakeMineMilkshake is a good example.

So that's it, for me all is good as long as you don't promote hate...or something illegal.

[Amecha]

I'm of the belief that nothing is apolitical, because people are political. Even a neutral stance is a stance. If I have a character who abuses, either physically or emotionally, their significant other and I frame it as not being a big deal I've just said something. Even if I didn't mean to. Even small innocuous things say something.

I do think it can be in bad taste to outright throw your beliefs into your work. It depends on the work though. At the end of the day your political beliefs are going to alienate someone. If you're making a story about, say racism, you're creating a platform to talk about it. If you're writing a story about two kids playing ball and you start preaching about racism on it though you're going to give your audience whiplash. No one was talking about racism, it's not even part of the plot, but you're brought it up and now it's out there and that's on you. If I was reading something that had nothing to do with a belief that I had and the artist started using it as a platform to talk about that thing, even if I agreed with them, I might stop following them. I wasn't trying to sign up for thinking about this stuff while I'm following a story that's completely unrelated. I won't say they can't do it though, it's their platform that they made.

[shazzbaa]

I think the question is a bit muddled by the example, honestly. This was someone lashing out and being hateful, regardless of what their particular political leanings were -- and it seems like the hatefulness is more off-putting for most folks than the politics.

So if you were to ask, "is it bad to speak hatefully outside of your comic, and should you keep that sort of behaviour out of your online presence?" then my answer would be an unequivocal yes!

But, "should you keep politics separate from your art" is a more difficult question, because I don't think it has to be inherently alienating or hateful to speak on your experiences. As a person with a small following, I want to be authentic but also thoughtful. Sometimes that means I do talk about my feelings on things that are happening to me and the people around me in the world, and sometimes that means I think it over and decide that what I have to say is better vented about with a single friend in private messages. I think the answer of where that line's at is going to be different for everyone, because what's most authentic for you is going to be different for everyone.

I have run across artists that I unfollowed because the things they were passionate about were stressful for me -- but like, that could be true of anything, right? Draw tons of pictures of dragons, and you'll attract people who like dragons and lose folks who are sick of dragons, and maybe get some of your followers interested in dragons when they weren't before. Talk a lot about your experiences in feminism, and you'll attract folks who care about that topic and lose folks who are sick of it, and maybe get some of your followers interested in feminism when they weren't before. There's a lot to be gained by being kind, thoughtful, tactful, thinking before you speak, and not feeling the need to jump into every argument or weigh in on every issue. But there's also a lot to be gained by finding a way to be thoughtful and kind and still be your honest self.

[eleviken]

I do follow politics, but I try to keep shouting my opinion to Internet strangers at a minimum. I've definitely come upon artists who have so much talent!!! But their "tumblr opinions" (hate directed towards white/cishet people, etc) would start to overshadow the art, so I'd leave.

feels like the original poster's artist in question is someone young, so I guess that's more understandable?? But it's definitely the more professional thing to do if you avoid topics like religion and politics. ;w;

[XzynderVexymous]

I have the same opinion, Keep it separate or you'll be viewed differently.

[Luminosophy]

At the end of the day I don't think it's possible to keep politics out of art even if you're writing fantasy/ fiction comics. Your personal beliefs will somehow always snake through and embed themselves into the work. A basic example would be most people on Tapastic care deeply about diverse characters, so even an a-political story they create would have a heavily mixed cast. In a way, you're always making some kind of political stance and I think audiences intuitively pick up on them so it's hard to avoid.

That said I don't think I could follow a creator, who even talking about the most benign topics, is all they ever talk about. Sometimes it gets to the point of obsession and it's a headache to constantly read. However I also think it's very important to show your personality in some way shape or form. Fans should have an idea of who you are and given that, it can create a strong sense of loyalty in your audience. But I think the key is to really have your story do most of the talking for you, if possible. I have a large story I'm still writing and the hope with that is to actually open up a discussion/ debate about certain topics, rather than just preaching to the choir.

[Migue]

I agree with many who had already said that it's imposible to separate your work from a personal opinion. Eventually it would bleed into your comic, afterall it's a personal work of selfexpresion, you can actually learn quite a deal about a person when you read their comics and some of their outake on life if you can read between the lines of their work.

I'm tottally on board of sharing your personal opinions in your work, I mean, if you are doing something, the better is that you have something to say with it. But something that tends to be forgoten is to take responsability of what you are saying and what impact it may have on others. As well is the responsability of the consumer on what he is reading and to think and be crititc of whatever he is actually supporting.

The thing is there is no right or wrong answer for this, I think the only way to know if what you are doing is right or wrong is to take a deep look at yourself and your principles and try to see if what you're doing is not building more hate in the world.

[Alamino]

That is very unfortunate.... But if it makes you uncomfortable you should just leave. It's not fair to try and push an opinion like that on your subscribers... especially things that come across as super offensive like that white cis people should die or can't be poor.... That's just bull manouse right there.

Personally, when I subscribe to an artist, I am subscribing to their art or story... not their views (Unless this story/art is their views and I enjoy it. Always exceptions lol). So when their views start to come into their art and it's not something I had intentionally subscribed to I weigh the options of 'do i enjoy their art enough to stay and is it only once and awhile?' ... I have actually left many artists because they suddenly did a 180 and their art/story was no longer what I had subscribed to...

As I said, if their views are in the art/story from the begining and I'm fine with it I don't mind them expressing those opinions because I knew they were coming and have already decided I can handle it and will be watching/reading anyways... but when I didn't subscribe to see that and it starts to appear a lot... Yea I leave. Especially if it comes across as racist or hateful towards any group >_>

[TGping]

Original hate filled example aside, injecting your story with your own commentary is what makes the story unique. I'd argue that stories without the author's commentary are flat and boring.

Other than that, it's up to the reader to put up with or discard the rants of an author outside of the story they are telling.

[DMBrigman]

Who we are, our life experiences, and our political views all inform the art we create, and we can't really separate ourselves from what we make.

That said you can curate an online presence that shows different sides of you. I personally take the mindset of: if I wouldn't discuss it in my office, with my real life coworkers, then I shouldn't be posting about it. That is because I am an artist by trade, people are hiring me for my work, but also because I can fit in with an existing team. If I put off the appearance of being angry, prone to rants, and intolerant, then that will reflect negatively on me, even if my art is amazing.

This also applies to building an audience, people will support you because of who you show yourself to be, or avoid you. It is a risk you take. Personally, I advise keeping an anonymous account to get your true feelings out and don't mix it with your art one. It is similar to how we act differently at work, with family, and with close friends. Know your audience! Something we often forget online.

[sandpaperdaisy]

I try to keep my personal opinions out of it as much as I can, simply because I can't be at all certain my opinions are right, but I'm definitely certain to alienate some percentage of people with them. Since my whole desire is to be loving and nonjudgemental and also to share my stories with everyone I possibly can, I don't see the value in doing something that will shut people out.

I do think that your strongest and most basic beliefs will show up in your work, as others have said. Your comic will show if you think people who are different are beautiful and valid beings or objects of fear and ridicule, based upon how you treat these characters. It will show if you think people can resolve disagreements non-violently, or with wholesale bloodshed. It will show if you have hope, or cynicism, about life's problems.

So I think, let your work speak. I know my stories will be more eloquent than my floundering ill-researched social ideas, and it is my stories I want to stand or fall by.