Imagine being so insecure as an artist that even the cutesy drawings of a little girl could arouse feelings of jealousy and resentment. This is precisely what happened when Shane Hickey, of Chandler, Arizona, tweeted out his daughter’s cutesy pic of a videogame character to the good folk over at Overwatch. “Hi, team! My daughter created a new character,” he wrote. “Her name is Birst. She’d love to know your thoughts.”
Image credits: shanehickeyThe video game makers, sniffing a nice opportunity for some positive marketing, were quick to reply. “Our artists were so inspired by this that they created their own fan art!” they said. “Hope your daughter loves it!”Image credits: PlayOverwatch
Image credits: PlayOverwatchNow for a little girl, something like this would surely mean the world. The encouragement that Overwatch showed could inspire her to become an artist of the future and give her a real feeling of achievement. Wholesome, right? As the tweet went viral people applauded the Overwatch crew for being so adorable and caring to their fans, so it was a real ‘win-win’ for everyone involved.Well, almost everyone. One artist couldn’t stand to see a child getting the success that they felt they were more deserving of, and wrote a bitter post about it. But why? Who knows. Maybe the artist is struggling, have a rough time and is low on self-esteem. Why else would you begrudge a child a little encouragement?
Needless to say, the internet was having none of it and proceeded to take down the ‘real artist’ with some biting responses. Sure, everyone is allowed to vent their frustrations from time to time when having a particularly bad day. But maybe not when there are kids involved?