Say goodbye to Yaine!
Heeello everyone! 😄
This past week, I didn’t work much. I’ve been having a vestibular migraine crisis sinceTuesday, so I didn’t work at all until Friday… oof! 😰 But now I’m feeling better, after resting the whole weekend, and I can come here and talk to you all!
There’s something that’s been on my mind for a few years already.
It’s about the use of pseudonyms.
Should I have one? Is this the best for me? When is it time to let go?
I researched a lot, trying to find what others thoughts of it, but honestly didn’t find much.
So now that I’ve come to a decision to change my online name, I’d like to share it with you all and maybe help someone who’s facing the same dilemma.
Let’s see this now!
Why I started posting as Yaine
It all goes back to 2016, when I was still in Law School and wanted to post my silly animeart online - but no one could find it, or I wouldn’t be taken seriously! 😱
… at least, that’s what I thought back then. Honestly, nowadays I don’t think anyone cares.
Anyway, that’s how I started posting on Tumblr as “yainedraws”.
There's nothing as humbling as seeing your old ship art on tumblr 😂
Funny side note: “Yaine” comes from Yona + Slaine, my two favorite characters at the time lol
Posting under this name gave me the freedom I needed at the time to post whatever I wanted, without judgement from the people around me.
It felt incredible! I was so powerful! Unstoppable! 🤩
And I continued posting as Yaine, and this slowly became a part of me... until it wasn’t anymore.
When it started to change…
In 2021, I decided to abandon Law and become a full-time artist (you can see that full story here.)
As I worked with art, crafted contracts and dealt with clients, something kept nagging at the back of my mind…
Should I continue being Yaine? Or should I change it?
Considering what others thought - again -, I decided I should use my real name if I wanted to be taken seriously as an artist.
In 2022, I changed my social media handles and started posting as Bruna… but that only lasted a couple of months.
Why was that?
The moment I used my real name, I was embarrassed to post my art.I barely drew - or posted anything - for a few months, until I changed it back to Yaine.
I was still trapped by what others would think.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, I decided Yaine is the artist - not Bruna.
(As if Bruna hadn’t been drawing ever since she could pick up a pencil)
So I changed back to Yaine, and decided I would keep this name for the rest of my career.
SO WHAT PROMPTED THIS DECISION NOW?
I would be Yaine forever - or so I thought. But the shift inside of me had already started.
Each week that passed, each month that I worked as an artist, I started feeling more and more comfortable with the fact that Yaine is not a different person.
It’s not that Yaine is an artist, and Bruna is something else.
Bruna is the artist.
And the reason for that shift is that… I’m proud of being an artist now.
I think this was the major change: before, I was somewhat embarrassed of being an artist. But now I feel proud of it. It’s a work I love, I have fun, it makes people happy, and I want to keep doing this for the unforeseeable future.
I realize now that I was hiding behind a fake name.
And while that freedom was necessary at first, now it’s become a burden: I feel ashamed whenever people want to see my art, and I have to say I post under a pseudonym.
I don’t want to hide anymore.
In the end, I don’t really know how to explain this shift inside me. But I know there are others who may be feeling something similar, and I wanted to share my thoughts on how I made this decision.
Should YOU have a pseudonym?
After so many years thinking about it, I think I have a framework about whether you should use a pseudonym or not.
Think about these questions:
1. Are you safe to post your art with your own name? Will there be any form of backlash?
If you’re not safe, that’s an easy call. Please take care of yourself, and use an artist name.
And I mean “safe” in a broad way.
It could be as serious as your government going after you, or as “simple” as you having to hear stupid jokes from the people around you.
If it feels like you won’t be supported and there will be backlash, then consider using a different name. There’s nothing wrong with that.
2. Do you feel like an artist? Would you like people to know it’s you?
Sometimes we create, but we feel like that’s a different person, not us.
That is fine.
But other times, we know deep inside: this is me. Our art represents us, and we want people to know us.
In this case, consider letting go of the fake name.
Overall, it all boils down to:
Will you be freer with the fake name? And is this freedom something you need right now?
There’s no doubt that posting with a fake name gives you more freedom. Waaay more.
But sometimes, we crave for more than that.
Just freedom is not enough.
When it comes to pseudonyms, this is totally a personal decision. No one will judge you for using one - just think of some of the most famous artists online, like WLOP, Guweiz and Sakimi-chan. They’re extremely famous, and their artist names don’t change anything about it.
A new beginning! 🥂
I thought about whether I should change my social media handles, keep them, or start over from scratch.
(Actually, first I panicked thinking “is it too late to change now? I already have 28k+followers on instagram!” 😂)
After talking to a good friend, she pointed out two things:
In the long run, since I’ve already decided I want to use my real name, it’s best to change the handle. It’s confusing to have “yainedraws” as my handle while my name is not Yaine.
Just change the handle, see how social media responds, and consider starting over later if necessary.
I think these are extremely valid points. So for now, I’ll just change my social media handle.
Because Bruna Belfort is actually quite a common name, my new handle across social media will be @brunabelfortartist . Off I go now to change every single social media handle! 😂
So that’s it for today! What did you think of this issue?
Hit reply and let me know your thoughts! I answer to ALL my emails 💖🥰
Cheers,
Bruna
