To artists everywhere great and small,
We are all drifting in the sea of creativity some larger or smaller then others. I assure you there is room for everyone. I implore you to realize we are NOT COMPETING with each other for money!! The sea is vast and endless and there is plenty for us all. They print more every day! Just find your destined reef, live and grow! There are so many things to be afraid of in the water like predatory people and unscrupulous galleries who will take advantage of us. People stealing copyrights and the public perception that since we doodle for a living we don't deserve to be paid. Economic crisis, Copic marker shortages, postal increases and so on and so on... WORRY ABOUT THAT if you must worry about something. We are not in the thunder dome we do not have to battle each other to survive.
With our lives to live and our muses to satisfy (and bills to pay) do we really have the time or inclination to pull each other apart?? It takes as much energy to lift someone up as it does to yank them down and I think you should all decide very carefully which will more positively effect your life. For too long I have seen this crabs in a pot mentality where we scramble on top of each other trying to get to the top. The lids off people you don't need to fight everyone else on the way out.
Support each other! Encourage each other. INSPIRE one another and stop this petty childish squandering of TIME and energy. You only hurt yourself when you waste it badmouthing someone or worrying about what artist X is dong. Time is the only thing we can't replenish. That and maybe the goodwill of a community or artist you decide to burn because you are feeling insecure or jealous. Wherever you are in your career everyone has been there or will be there, can't that just inspire empathy and admiration instead of jealousy and pettiness?
Admire who is ahead of you in the race instead of being nasty. Be kind to those below you looking up, and much like Dory in the ocean of art "Just Keep Swimming."