What is Big Twitter Artist?

It is a label for any Twitter/X artist with a large following, usually around 10,000 or more, and the memes attached to that label are made by smaller artists about one-sided interactions with those accounts.

Where did Big Twitter Artist come from?

Posts about big artists on art Twitter started gaining traction in 2020, and the format took off after @Cheesymanfredo's four-panel comic on September 16, 2021.

What does Big Twitter Artist mean?

In the memes, it refers to a popular Twitter/X artist whose behavior toward smaller accounts, especially liking art without retweeting it, is the target of the joke.

How do you use Big Twitter Artist?

Smaller artists make comics or image macros depicting lopsided interactions, often borrowing templates like Abby Choke or Loss to show the big-versus-small dynamic.

Is Big Twitter Artist still popular?

The format had a strong resurgence on X in May 2024 through viral comics by @ThaE_Slug and @TirtTheThing.

Big Twitter Artist

2020image macro / comicsemi-active

Published October 20, 2026

On September 16, 2021, artist @Cheesymanfredo's four-panel comic about Big Twitter Artist accounts liking smaller artists' work without retweeting it sparked days of debate1. The format of smaller creators drawing complaint and gratitude memes about larger accounts had been building since 2020. By May 2024, a second round of comics from @ThaE_Slug and @TirtTheThing revived the format on X with hundreds of thousands of combined likes2.

twitter memes fandom discourse memes webcomic memes frustration memes social media culture memes

Overview

The Big Twitter Artist tag describes any art account with roughly 10,000 followers or more, and the memes attached to that label almost always come from smaller artists documenting lopsided interactions on the platform3. A typical post is a short comic or image macro in which a bigger account skims a smaller artist's work, taps the like button, then moves on without retweeting it. Other versions flip the tone, with smaller artists drawing earnest thank-you illustrations after a huge account amplifies their art5.

Visually, formats span four-panel comics, object-labeled diagrams and template edits borrowed from other meme formats, including Abby Choke and Loss10 8. Captions are usually blunt and vent-coded, with lines like "they liked it but didn't retweet it" or confessional art about watching bigger accounts quietly scroll by. The humor sits between frustration and self-deprecation, so it reads as inside baseball for art Twitter.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter / X (viral spread)

Creator

@Cheesymanfredo

Date

2020

Earliest known meme posts in the genre go back to September 29, 2020, when artist @JMG_PartyBean tweeted about feeling honored when a bigger account retweeted their work, picking up over 17,700 retweets and 111,500 likes in a year5. On December 26, 2020, @rosy_maple_moth posted an object-labeling meme on the same theme that reached over 11,100 retweets and 74,900 likes9. These earlier posts set a template of smaller artists narrating what large accounts do or do not do with their art.

The term and discourse crystallized on September 16, 2021, when @Cheesymanfredo posted a four-panel comic claiming that big Twitter artists like small artists' work but refuse to retweet it1. That single comic received over 1,000 retweets, 1,100 quote tweets and 6,700 likes within a week, and days of back-and-forth followed between creators defending or criticizing the behavior3.

How It Spread

Frustration posts had already caught on earlier in 2021. On August 31, 2021, @leecantdraw tweeted a complaint about bigger accounts' interaction patterns that received over 8,900 retweets and 77,500 likes in a month6. @Cheesymanfredo's September comic sat on top of that tension, which is why edits followed within a day. On September 17, 2021, @Kardboardian posted an edit that drew over 2,300 retweets and 24,500 likes in a week7, and by September 21, @WassNonnam added an Abby Choke template version with over 1,500 retweets and 16,100 likes10.

@Cheesymanfredo kept the joke running with three sequel comics starting September 18, 20213. Discussion quieted until May 1, 2024, when @ThaE_Slug posted a new four-panel comic about a small-versus-big-artist interaction that received over 2,600 reposts and 36,000 likes in two days2. Later that day, @TirtTheThing added their own comic with the caption "that's what usually happens. Ant it's the worse," reaching over 7,100 reposts and 64,000 likes4.

Fresh edits followed on May 2, 2024. X user @goofbell posted a Loss meme version that gained over 5,000 reposts and 46,000 likes in a day8, and @obscuritea posted another take that reached over 2,300 reposts and 15,000 likes11.

Timeline

2020-09-29

@JMG_PartyBean posts an early gratitude tweet about a bigger artist retweeting their work, reaching 17,700 retweets and 111,500 likes within a year.

2020-12-26

@rosy_maple_moth posts an object-labeling meme about big artist retweets, reaching 11,100 retweets and 74,900 likes.

2021-08-31

@leecantdraw posts a viral frustration tweet about bigger accounts, hitting 77,500 likes in a month.

2021-09-16

@Cheesymanfredo posts the four-panel comic that defines the Big Twitter Artist discourse.

2021-09-17

@Kardboardian posts the first viral edit of @Cheesymanfredo's comic.

2021-09-21

@WassNonnam posts an Abby Choke template edit that reaches 16,100 likes.

2024-05-01

@ThaE_Slug and @TirtTheThing both post comics that revive the format, together reaching 100,000+ likes in two days.

2024-05-02

X users @goofbell and @obscuritea post follow-up edits, including a Loss meme version.

How to Use This Meme

Smaller artists typically make a short comic or image macro showing a one-sided interaction, often with a bigger account liking but not retweeting a drawing. Common conventions include labeling the two characters "big artist" and "small artist," borrowing an existing template like Loss or Abby Choke, or writing a caption that vents a specific frustration from art Twitter7 8.