A Handy Dandy Rebuttal

For anyone who has been told their art was rude, offensive, controversial, upsetting, or disrespectful.

Part of the reason I think I know I'm getting better at what I do is because more people lately have been stepping in to tell me how I'm doing it wrong. And expecting me to apologize for it, for some reason. And I don't think much of the stuff I do is particularly edgy, really. I write sarcastic blogs and draw and write fantasy.

For especially those young artists out there: people who won't like your work have a problem that BELONGS to them, not to you. And people who want YOU to control how THEY respond are dysfunctional power-grabbers. I have a problem with fanart. Yeah, I do. And you know what? It's MY problem and I own it fully. I expect people who have problems with my work, and your work, too, to own it. And if they can't, you don't have to accommodate them. That's not your job.

Your job is to be an artist.