When you draw something "great" and it flies under the radar :((

[eristeine]

Ahhh, i can relate. see, what i think that happens is less on account of your skill (which is phenomenal btw, do you have an insta or twitter? it would be good to post a link here, you may get more eyeballs on your work) and more on....people latching to something familiar or they have a certain attachment to. it's why fanart does so well, because people are already familiar and have an attachment to that entire universe. when viewing original art, they see something pretty, but not anything else because they don't know the concept and time and work behind it. it's horrifically discouraging, and even if you get popular using fan art, fandom life is on a limited shelf, for both you and your audience, so really, i'm not a big fan of doing fanart. too much. (though i guess this can also apply to original works? oansdakjshdas anyway:)

but going back on topic it's okay to seek gratification, really. its something to treasure, to find other people who love your work like you do. but it's best to find that gratification inwards - it'll last you far, far longer than internet points, as you say, because the latter will never leave you satisfied. it'll leave you wanting more and more and never enough. i'ts honestly really sad.

(anyway, you're doing really nice. is there a thread where we can all post our art social accounts? i feel like artists banding together to support and promote each other could really help with this kid of issue with original art, but that's just me speculating XD )

[Akhdas]

Unfortunately no one cares about "great art". Although if you think it's getting better, wouldn't that be at least somewhat better for you?

[SilentHamster102]

Well, I never encountered feelings that you have. Because a - I can't make something great or even good enough IMHO, b - anyway I don't care about others think about my art, I'm doing it for my own amusement.
Of course there is another question appearing - why if I don't care about others and still showing my art to public, and I can't answer this (I'm really thought about this many times but still don't know why). And anyway I don't show most of my art anywhere and probably not going to show.
So I think that if you don't care about others and doing it for your own amusement, you'll save some nerves if you worrying about it.

[Cavechan]

Yeah... people care more about a quick little joke with stick figures than an illust you've spent hours and hours on.

It just happened to me too. I shared my latest illust on my Facebook. As usual, only my husband liked it.

Then I made a post about this exact thing... and got some people commenting on it. Like, why couldn't you just click like on my illust? I spent 3 weeks on it, many hours, and it was at times difficult to work on, even crying at some points because I was frustrated but I persevered through it and completed it... for nothing. Doesn't make sense to me. When my friends draw something, I always try to at least click the like button.

And sadly the complaining post gets more attention... is it any wonder why people then complain when the complaint gets more attention than the art? Seems much easier imo. lol

[Azifri]

Just adding to what's already being said. In my art Instagram, the posts with most likes per number of subscriber at the time are sketches (it makes me so mad), pieces that tell a quick and simple story (regardless if it's finished or wip art), or things that were part of a trend with a popular hashtag.

Edit:
I do think there is a separation in what people like on the internet vs. reality. I've posted photos of paintings and they hardly get any attention on Instagram, but I've shown them at rl events and even won some prizes. Humans are weird.
@Mari probably the internet is not ready for your art.

[Zaboem]

Hard truth incoming: The internet is useful for many things. Emotional support is not one of them. The absolute best emotional support that the internet has to offer is both unreliable and shallow.

Grumpy Old Man Zaboem has said his peace.

[IdiotWithPencil]

I think this video might also help many here =D
it explains a bit about what people on the internet like in general and why many "Great" pieces are left under the bridge to dry XP

[Tobirone]

sigh...yeah. I used to swear I'd never do any fanart (a because I feel like doing it once every blue moon and b, all my fanart got stolen and reposted on tumblr anyway so never got any traction out of those). Maybe I should just do more. Just add 50 watermarks.

Though making fanart (I use a shortage for that name though: "fart" ... yeah, very eloquent of me) cannot be the answer can it? I figure many people do those to gain a name, which I somewhat can understand. People make like 1000 fanarts about Avatar, Star Wars etc and then when those fans get hooked to that fanart they hope that those fans will hop onto their oc-ship ... which works but probably as well as with your BL-related pictures, I guess (and I really like them. I looked at your dA just yesterday and scrolled through your folders).
I too sometimes try fanart ... but very often I only make OCs INTO that franchise I sort of fanart in ... which then again isn't real fanart anymore. For Star Trek I do not draw Cpt. Kirk but MY chars. For firefly the same, for star wars ... wait I do not watch star wars ... but for The Orville I am planning to do the same.
And when I do fanart about a game it mostly is an MMORPG anyways in which I draw MY chars who then again are OCs...

So ... fanart ... meh ... fanart is good, but as you said, it gets stolen too fastly.
Your art is good. Very good to be more precise. It's just a matter of "notice me sensei" I guess :S
And all I can say to you in that moment then is: Sisu!