So I saw a post on Tumblr that was like 'ugh artists asking for shares are so annoying' and I just want to reply to that, I think OP is 100% entitled to their opinion and this is by no means a drag at them. But here we go.

OP said that artists are annoying for doing that and that artists put out their stuff for free and that it should always be stuff they enjoy. And I agree to a certain degree with that. When I do [non commission] art I just draw what I personally like

To me, I LOVE comments and shares, they give me energy but I mostly draw to get better and have fun with it.

That being said; It's just the case that if you draw what fandom likes you get more attention and many artists do just that.

I see it in my own work, when i draw my faves I get a few notes but when I draw the fandom faves, I get easily near the 100.

That's fine, like what you like. And again I agree with OP bc 'hey just make what YOU want to see'

But there are two problems

Maybe 3;
1. An artist can absolutely ask to share their work if you dig it. When i started drawing in June last year, I started by drawing gelflings and I swear this happened; I barely got attention and followers, that was fine, I had fun with it BUT

then I found out that 'fan accounts' had stolen my work and reuploaded it without as much as a link back to my own socials. It got over 500 likes and I only realised because a mutual of mine SHARED it and I was like 'huh wait that looks familiar...'

So it also is a follower thing for sure, but how do you get followers? By other people sharing of course!

2. Sites just screw you over. If you have low traction with your posts it either gets hidden from search results or it's at the very bottom.

I think at least 70% of people search by populair and not new. So if you have maybe 3 likes you likely won't show up in search results. That's a problem that lies with the sites, not the people.

3. It's just demotivating.

No one is saying 'share stuff you don't like' no one expects you to do that. BUT like I said many times before; it's so demotivating to work on something for HOURS and then it barely gets a look at. It's quite frustrating at times.

especially if a 2 minute sketch of a character the fandom likes that you did gets FAR more attention that stuff you're proud off.

So OP can have their opinion, albeit it being a tad rude, but yeah I don't think it's annoying to ask people to share your stuff