I used to hide my digital art from relatives until last Thanksgiving
I always kept my digital paintings to myself, thinking family wouldn't understand them. At Thanksgiving, my niece spotted my tablet and asked to see what I was working on. I showed her a fantasy landscape I had just finished. She got so excited and made up a whole story about the creatures living there. That made me see that art can start conversations and bring people together. Now I share my digital pieces with family more often, and their ideas inspire me. It's cool how a simple chat changed how I think about showing my art.
Did you only show it to your niece at first? I showed my brother one small sketch as a test, and he ended up wanting to see my whole portfolio. That small start made sharing with everyone else way less scary.
Hey @anna_ward, that's a smart move for sure! I had a similar thing when I recorded a song I wrote. Only played it for my buddy because he never judges my stuff. He ended up putting it on in his car with his friends around, and they actually dug it. That little bit of outside praise made me way more okay with sharing my music later. Funny how one person's reaction can flip your whole outlook. Your story about the sketch totally reminds me of that.