Tag: #humankindbeboth

How My Art Got Over Ten Thousand Views On A YouTube Short

*UPDATE AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE*

After years of hard work, some doubt about the algorithm, and posting consistently (posting up to a few videos a week), one of my YouTube shorts finally got over ten thousand views. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a few days, but it reached twentyfour thousand views altogether. It’s my most viewed video to date. It’s not exactly a viral video, but it is to me!

You can watch the video here and please feel free to subscribe. It helps with my dream to be able to support my family with my art. Thank you.

“Inner Strength” is a abstract mixed media art piece created by award winning artist, Misty Lemons of Designs By Misty Blue Art. It’s made from watercolor paper and paint and polymer clay.

The video is ten seconds long and starts with me putting watercolor paint onto the rim of a disposable cup and finishes with a photo of me holding the completed art piece. I used a popular sound that would be familiar to many. I used text overlay on the video and made sure to have a detailed description and hashtags.

The beginning of the video was just a small snippet I took from my previous YouTube livestream that I sped up for time. The quick movements capture the eye and holds attention.

In my description I detailed the name of the piece (“Inner Strength”), the art materials used, and some of the process it took to create it. I also connected the livestream video where I worked on the piece as a related video.

All of this combined with consistency and a little bit of luck are what I believe helped the video get the views it has. I also recently reached over 1,000 subscribers and have heard this helps open up the algorithm more as well.

The algorithm on social media platforms can be incredibly daunting to overcome for so many, myself included. It seems fickle at best. Some people get lucky and strike gold immediately. Others can work for years with little or no returns. I always said if I can figure it out, I wouldn’t gatekeep, so I’m sharing what I learn and hope it helps others. I by no means of any stretch of the imagination have it figured out and can offer absolutely no guarantees, but this is what I’ve learned and believe it has helped me.

Above everything, stay consistent, but remember to add a description and several tags. I hope your hard work pays off for you. I’m wishing you the best and I’m rooting for you!

*UPDATE: A few days after having two shorts hit over 20,000 views in the same week, my views tanked. This happened immediately after YouTube wanted me to promote my channel. I’m thinking this is no coincidence. They seemingly opened my views to only shut it off to entice me to promote my channel. I believe this is what happened. The timing of it makes sense, unfortunately and I’ve heard of other social media platforms doing the same sort of thing to people. But I will do what I always do. Carry on. It’s a let down, but not surprising. My advice, remains the same, though. Stay consistent, but not for an algorithm. Do it for yourself. Do it for the love of your art and content. Do it because you wanna make a positive difference. Do it because it matters and means something to you, whether you have a large audience or not.*

To Learn More About Me, Shop My Art & Commissions, Please Visit My Link Tree. Thank You.

*For Educational Purposes Only

Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy Or Reproduce

#howigotovertenthousandviewsonyoutube #art #artist #mixedmediaart #abstractart #mistylemons #designsbymistyblue

Protect Self-Expression By Supporting Artists

What if art, artists, and self-expression were to disappear tomorrow? What do you think the world would look like? Would it be drab, joyless, passionless, boring? Would the clothes you wear be bland and basic? Would packaging on products be unremarkable? Would movies, music, and art be created from AI that corruptly procured from the human artists that came before it? Would said “art” be wonky, weird, disjointed, and have multiple digits and appendages? Would art fairs disappear and be a thing of the past? Would art galleries shutter for good? How would it affect critical thinking and problem solving or empathy and emotional regulation? What if books no longer had pictures? Would concerts cease to exist? Would you miss art and artists then? Would you miss the human element and nuance?

Artist Misty Lemons poses with her watercolor painting “Hopeful Romantic”

This isn’t hyperbole. This is happening right before our eyes. Social media platforms are effectively misappropriating artist’s work and are essentially telling them it’s not good enough to pay them for, but it’s good enough to train their AI with and use for ads and marketing for the benefit of their company and its shareholders. They’re exploiting artists.

These platforms are not giving creators a means to opt out and are implementing these cruel, unfair policies into their terms of use. Artists are losing communities they worked incredibly hard to create, due to the artists having to flee these hostile platforms. They’re losing precious income that helps them and their families survive (especially if they’re disabled and this is their only means of work and income). The world is fundamentally telling them art isn’t essential and that they are unnecessary. Even though the art and content the artists have created entertain, educate, and inspire people and their work inherently helped these platforms grow. Not to mention, the taxes they pay helps the economy.

Art even has practical healing properties. Art is therapy. Art stirs the soul and creates connection. It kindles a fire in people’s minds, hearts, and spirits. It creates community. It helps patients with alzheimers and dementia. Studies show it prolongs and improves elderly lives. It helps people with anxiety disorders, PTSD, autism, and ADHD. There’s even been countless studies on how the arts improve executive function and motor skills in students that participate in artistic activities.

Artist Misty Lemons (Designs By Misty Blue Art) using art to cope with and heal through the grief of her mother’s passing and her childhood trauma (painting a pumpkin in watercolor outdoors)

I believe that art is a necessity. It is sustenance for the soul. It calms, relieves stress, creates connections in the brain and in communities, and is even a great historical record. Just look at cave paintings! Please, don’t take the power of art or artists for granted just because it’s seemingly everywhere. It doesn’t cheapen its worth. Art makes the world a better place by improving the lives of those who create it and those who appreciate it. Art is invaluable!

Supporting artists can be as simple as sharing their artwork and information with your friends and family, by attending your artist friends events, by purchasing their work, and by expressing to others the benefits and importance art has on society.

Thank You For Supporting Me (Misty Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Art) Through Art Commissions, Tutorials, Shop Link:
Link Tree

*For Educational Purposes Only! Statements made here within the blog are the opinion of the blog’s writer/owner, but we encourage you to do your own research into the benefits of art, the role society and social media platforms play in (allegedly) harming artists, and what you can do to help. No specific platform was named and any similarities are coincidental. Blog owner/writer not liable for any opinion stated therein.*

Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Art Do Not Copy Or Reproduce

The Value Of Human Made Art: The Human Element In AI Art

Everyone deserves to collect a paycheck from the work they do and just like any other industry, you pay for material, labor, skills, and time. Whether or not one can budget for something doesn’t make it any less valuable. And though you typically can’t eat art, it provides sustenance to the mind and soul, which physically supports the body, especially during trying times. A good example of this is that art therapy helps heal and soothe minds. It helps calm and regulate the nervous system. Art is a tool used by therapists and psychologists to treat patients with Complex PTSD, anxiety, grief, and a whole host of other debilitating issues. Art gives purpose and hope. It also fosters community and emotional intelligence. Both of which, benefits society.

After my mother passed away, I used art to process my grief and heal childhood trauma. Here I am painting a pumpkin during a visit to my favorite park.

Simply by acknowledging people can “just use AI” to create “art”, proves how necessary art truly is. It proves how invaluable art is. That art in general fulfills an important purpose and role in society.

It’s apparent that AI’s easy access will and has already taken jobs away from artists, that huge cooperations want free labor to boost their profit margins, and that it hurts regular people, hurts families. It’s taken away vital money from human artists and their families, making it more difficult for them to live, survive, and thrive in an already challenging society.

To place little or no value on the importance of art is uninformed at best, callous at worst. Art is everywhere. It’s on the shirts we wear, the packaging on our favorite products, it’s in the cars you drive, the decorations we put in our homes, the movies you watch, the music you listen to. All touched by human hands at some point. Life is art and for many, art is life.

In my opinion, it’s foolhardy to believe AI “art” could or should ever truly take the place of human created art that comes from skilled hands, minds, and souls. Art that comes from lived experiences and deep wells of emotion and thought. Art is passion.

AI “art” lacks humanity, nuance, and soul and was built off the backs of human artists by being trained off of stolen art from human artists on the internet. Artists not paid for their work by these questionable practices. Art they’d tell you has no value or meaning and yet, they absolutely need it to feed their machine and make money off of.

Supporting AI “art” is supporting theft by the predatory corporations who are pushing it out to the masses. Not to mention how destructive AI is to the planet by gulping up one of our most precious resources, water, to cool the servers and all the power it needs taxes an already heavily taxed, fragile power grid.

AI may not be going away, but it absolutely should be regulated to protect humanity and the planet. Everyone needs to be made aware of the impact it has on themselves, their friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

For Human Made Art & Tutorials, Please Visit My LinkTree

Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy Or Reproduce

*For Educational Purposes Only. Statements Made Here Contain Opinions. To Learn More, Please Talk To Artists. Do Research. Thank You.*

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