i have a lot of thoughts on this subject, but don't want to spam you too much so that's about it lol

now whats keeping me sane is sharing works in small online art communities (discord, telegram etc) and directly with other artists. ive come to understand that discussing art with fellow artists doesnt quite scratch that need of a broad dopamine rush like posting does, but satiates me more deeply

yeah, posting something more experimental or personal for the piece to not get the numbers other works did, just to realize its because its not as horny as the previous ones feels genuinely shit. it did fuel self doubt, it largely made me give up on posting art on socials and hit my productivity too

(in my eyes at least) with your skill level you will always find a large audience, (as long as you stick to a consistent subject/theme to appeal to the same growing audience, currently its muscle men enjoyers (me)) because your execution just has strong appeal. is creating pleasing works cheating?

the same really could be said about any piece that is generally appealing and not outright hostile to the audience. and even then works like that can attract a niche following that sees the hostile as something comforting.

imo neither are really cheating, its serving a niche and appealing to an audience that happens to be more active online. If getting Likes because the piece it being erotic makes the viewer engage with it feels like cheating, then-

do you mean cheating the other artists who draw sfw? so nsfw works getting more likes and attention than sfw creations? or you mean cheating the person looking at the work, and nsfw being the “easy” way to please the viewer?