Be better than the people you admire. Watch them over time. Do they have a huge online following? Okay, you may never get there, but pay attention all the same. Some of the largest toy and miniature based instagram photography accounts remain stagnant.
While I’m not calling anyone out, know I’m referring to a couple accounts who work outside of the toy photography community. They’ve managed to gain a much larger audience. The work they post today is very reminiscent of what they posted a year ago, two years ago. They’ve gotten complacent. They know what their audience expects and they keep producing it. They’re not learning and growing as creators, as artists.
This may work for them for the long haul. And if it does, that’s great. But this is the exact kind of working practice that often leads to burn out.
When you’re only creating for others and no longer for yourself, your work suffers. The passion dies. And this can only be maintained for so long.
So get that audience, make that money, but constantly analyze yourself as a creator. Is what you’re posting a part of you or are you simply a creation machine? Is your creative practice something you can sustain overtime or will it wear you out and bore you? Are you proud of what you’re posting online or are you fully requiring the approval of others to tell you what you made is good?
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