Justin Milgate

Sharing artwork with others can feel scary at times, which is understandable. No matter how well you separate yourself from your work there is still a vulnerability that comes with sharing your work. However, I think it’s important to find a way to showcase your work in a way that feels safe and encouraging. When thinking of reasons for why I feel this way I’m reminded of something my professor told me while I was studying illustration at college, it has always stuck with me.

“Don’t be afraid to let others know what you love to do. You never know where it might lead!”

-Laura Lasworth

If you never communicate that you are an artist, how will anyone know to come to you when they are in need of one? Furthermore, if you love working in a particular style but never showcase your work, how would anyone know to ask you to be a part of a project that’s being created in that style. Maybe by sharing what you love to do you will meet other creatives with similar interests, or land your next job. You never know where it might lead, but not sharing will almost certainly hinder anything from happening.

So, how can we showcase what we love doing and find encouragement to help fuel our creative efforts? When I was just starting as a young artist this was a real struggle for me, I still struggle at times, but there are some things I’ve discovered for myself along the way that might help you find a comfortable balance.

Don’t Try To Use Every Platform

When sharing your work the biggest thing is accessibility. This doesn’t necessarily mean having your work on every social platform, but rather a place to easily find your work. A personal website is the best place to start so that you can have a portfolio online. Most job applications ask for this and having an entire site for yourself allows you to show what you think relates to the job description while also allowing recruiters to see other work you’ve done and learn more about you if they choose to look around your site. If you are worried about your artwork being used without your consent there are even ways to add passwords or restrict access. Outside of a personal website my biggest suggestion would be to find 1-3 social platforms that you may already use and have a network in or that has an environment that feels like a fit for you and the type of engagement you want to receive and stick to those.

Personal v. Professional

After deciding where and how you will share your work there is still the question of what work to share. People ask if its okay to share their personal work online, or should they only show their professional work. I find it helpful to share both, but I don’t usually share both universally. For example, I use Instagram to share work-in-progress and personal work, while I would use my website and LinkedIn to showcase professional work.

If there is a personal project that has specific professional aspects to it I have found it helpful to include it on my website were I can write about my goal for the project and explain what I learned or how I improved by working on it. Being able to express this information adds value to the work because it shows your thought process, your ability and desire to grow as an artist, as well as an opportunity to explain why you think it’s worth sharing. This is especially important in the portfolio or professional arena because it helps recruiters understand why it’s being shown. If you are an animator but trying to learn about lighting and texturing, you may put a simple looping animation together to show what you have learned. Explaining that you did the lighting and texturing encourages the viewer to consider those aspects first instead of assuming you are only showing the simple loop animation, that by itself may not be something typically on a portfolio.

If explanations are necessary for something you are sharing, it may be worth while when choosing your platforms to consider not only the ability to give an explanation but also the culture of the platform as a whole. For example, Instagram may not be the best platform to share a long text based explanation since it is primarily a visual platform that crops text and most users quickly scroll through without expanding.

Conclusion

To wrap this up, if you are looking to be a professional artist it is vital to share your work. Having a place online that you can send people that are interested in seeing what you do is helpful and convenient. I think it’s safe to share everything you create, but it may help to take some time to think about the type of engagement you want to receive and if there’s a specific platform that may help you get it. Don’t try to use everything, focus on the platforms that you are already active on or that can expand your network. Most of all share in a way that encourages you to create and share even more!