Personal Statement

Hello,

As you can tell by the title, my DeviantArt account has been deactivated. I have made an appeal, however I doubt that it will be reactivated, but that’s okay. Let me explain why:

First of all, I have made a new DeviantArt account under the name BubbleBoope, so if you want, you can follow the new account. I will be reuploading all of my older work that I know full-well does not violate any of DA’s terms and conditions. However, this is not what the point of this statement is about.

Over the past 9 months to a year, I have felt quite directionless and burnout as Bubble-Boop. Whilst I feel the quality of my artwork has continued to improve over time, my passion has diminished and this whole situation has helped me to understand why.

I started posting artwork over 3 years ago on my old DeviantArt account because I had something to prove to myself; to prove that I could make good art. More so than that, it was fun, but over the course of 3 years it has steadily become more like an obligation, somewhat akin to a job. Posting a new sequence and its alternate gallery used to be a thrill, and I was able to monetize my art due to the amazing support of my followers. It was during that time that I felt the happiest I had as Bubble-Boop. 

Getting back to the matter at hand, I have now most likely lost my old DA account, where I started this whole journey. At first I was panicked by this, but after the dust had settled I asked myself, ‘why am I getting this stressed?’ My artwork was meant to be a fun outlet of creativity with no strings attached, yet now it is having a negative impact on my mental health.

After DA deleted 90% of my work it changed to a page where I could promote my work on Patreon: my new main posting website and the only platform I use to monetize my art. The point is; my artwork should not be the source of any stress. Life is stressful enough and if Bubble-Boop isn’t helping in the way it used to and is in fact becoming a factor in my daily stress, then it’s not worth holding on to.

After writing that I want to clarify that this is NOT goodbye. I have no immediate plans to retire, however recent events have made me realise that something has to change.

I have put way too much pressure on myself to complete ‘The Inventing Room Ripe Remake’ sequence/comic I have been working on. My artwork, from initial conception to the posting of the final piece would not last more than a month or so. This remake series has been in the works for over 9 months. Granted I have been working on and off on other smaller pieces, but the majority of this time has been dedicated to the remake. This is due to a few factors, like initially the series was far more ambitious in terms of its scale. I have since dialled back from my original ideas and it has helped with the speed of the production of the series greatly. In all honesty, this single remake has been the main source of all of my woes as Bubble-Boop, as I feel like I have stagnated with it. I am close to finishing the series now, so I will continue to work on it and eventually post it, but after that I will be taking a step back in order to focus on making my content creation in a healthy way.

I’m at my happiest when I am challenging myself to make the best piece of art I have ever done and I think that mentality works best when my sequences are 1-4 images long, however I am trying not to think about anything after the ripe remake series. Best to take it one step at a time.

Over the past few years I have seen other artists leave the community due to similar reasons and seeing them take that step in order to put themselves and their mental health before content creation has been so inspiring. It can be hard to admit that something that was once so great may not be so anymore, but I think I am ready now.

To you who have read thus far, I thank you. To all those who have supported me and still continue to support me, financially or otherwise, I have to let you know that I am not competent enough to string together the right words that would truly express how grateful I am to you. Your generosity is never forgotten.

With all that sentiment out of the way, I just wanted to clarify that this is anything but sad news. This is the fresh start I have long been waiting for. All of this also coincides with matters in my personal life that I am addressing too.

After the ripe remake series and its alternate gallery have been released, I will probably write another statement about my content going forward, so stay tuned for that.

Till next time,

Bubble-Boop