quoting_mungo
Well-Known Member
Thing I’d like to note: sometimes posting “political” things may not so much be about an artist wanting to spread their own political views/ideology. When you have a platform (and this applies more to artists with a sizable following), using that platform to lift the issues faced by vulnerable populations is something that some people feel is a social responsibility. Which I guess in itself is a matter of ideology to some degree, but not so much in a political sense.
There’s also an issue of the potential hit to an artist’s reputation if they feature art for people known for less than positive things. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, note, especially if it’s paid work; guilt by association sucks. At best repeat gift art can be a hint about what company someone keeps. So for some artists making very clear that they hold certain values may actually make good business sense, as it may discourage people who may end up hurting their reputation in the long run.
I don’t think there’s a tidy answer to any of this. There’s too many reasons to do one thing or the other, and how one ranks those reasons is individual. If it were as simple as “maximize number of potential customers” artists wouldn’t have “won’t draw” lists, either, or at least not ones containing things that are relatively speaking pretty innocuous (if you want to factor in the possibility that being willing to draw certain content may drive off more customers than it attracts).
There’s also an issue of the potential hit to an artist’s reputation if they feature art for people known for less than positive things. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, note, especially if it’s paid work; guilt by association sucks. At best repeat gift art can be a hint about what company someone keeps. So for some artists making very clear that they hold certain values may actually make good business sense, as it may discourage people who may end up hurting their reputation in the long run.
I don’t think there’s a tidy answer to any of this. There’s too many reasons to do one thing or the other, and how one ranks those reasons is individual. If it were as simple as “maximize number of potential customers” artists wouldn’t have “won’t draw” lists, either, or at least not ones containing things that are relatively speaking pretty innocuous (if you want to factor in the possibility that being willing to draw certain content may drive off more customers than it attracts).
