art thoughts (Patreon)

Like many others the news about Toriyama's passing really hit home... while I stopped keeping up with the series after GT, I grew up with everything about it previously! You know the whole meme, Mexico goes crazy for Dragon Ball, and it is very true! It has been airing on public TV for as long as I can remember, I genuinely cannot recall a time where Dragon Ball wasn't around, and episodes from Z are still airing to this very day!

Hearing about the death of artists you look up to is never easy, a couple of years ago Kim Jung Gi sadly passed away as well, which also hit me hard, the man was the main reason I tried so hard to improve and train myself to draw with only ink! 

A lot of thoughts always go through my head, am I doing enough? These guys pump out weekly manga chapters like its nothing! Is it worth it to shorten my life in order to endlessly work on things I love? Do I even like drawing.... doesn't seem like it compared to these guys! But those tend to be more on the self conscious/imposter syndrome side of me that often pops up, however a thought that always stuns me is:

How much are artists actually valued?

As bittersweet as it is to see everyone sharing their memories of Toriyama and the influence his work has had in their lives, I cant help but feel a bit of remorse as in like, why didn't I express my love for his/other's works sooner! Regardless if they ever see it or not, but why should that stop you from showing your love? Why did I have to wait until it was too late.... Sure, it's harder to let these giant artists personally know how much they mean to you, but same goes for smaller artists you may follow on social media.

I think it would be nice if everyone (me included) were more open about how much their favorite artists means to them... life is fleeting! We may not be here tomorrow, we never know. A simple nice message may go a long way, financially supporting them, drawing them something, etc. there's many ways of expressing your gratitude towards these people who make our lives brighter, we shouldn't take them for granted...

Speaking from experience, being an artist can often be lonely... I can probably name like... 1 person who I genuinely feel we fully understand each other on a deep level in regards to art, so in that sense it can feel a bit isolating. Some people draw for fun, others to express themselves, others to send a message, exclusively as a living or simply to get popular on social media, and that's fine! But at least to me its rare to feel in sync with fellow artists...

I'm sure I'm far from the only one having these feelings of isolation too, and a nice message can go a long ways to brighten my day. I don't personally consider myself someone who gets art blocks at all, but I was for sure in a funk during the last few months.... but an extremely nice gesture from one of you (you know who you are if you're reading this lol) casted away all doubts and fears I had in me and I was able to slowly get back on my feet.

If an artist I looked up to passed away tomorrow as an example, I would feel awful never having expressed my gratitude... especially if I can easily DM/tweet at them or something! IT would only make a sad situation even worse...

I don't mean this as a pity party or anything, these are just melancholic thoughts I often feel when sad news like this occur... Take the time to appreciate those around you, friends, people you look up to, etc. I'm sure they will appreciate it!