Audity’s secret to success: finding your muse and staying joyful.

Audrey Hopkins (aka Audity or AudityDraws) has built a following by pursuing her love of character design and not taking her art too seriously.

TikTok’s 13.2 million followers revel in her imaginative mashups, including reimagining Disney villains as Disney princesses and human incarnations of Bluey characters. But her biggest muse is her husband Richard Conley. She has portrayed him as a merman, Sailor Moon, Handsome Squidward, and many other creative characters. Both her audience and Conley herself, who collaborated with her on an inspiration app called Wanna Draw that generates mashup ideas for all kinds of artists, were overjoyed.

As someone who has enjoyed Audity’s art, mischievous playfulness, and vibrant online persona, I had the pleasure of sitting down with her at VidCon 2026 to discuss her journey from character designer to successful content creator.

What inspired you to become a content creator? You’re an animator, so you’re a character designer. Why did you decide to do this online and independently?

So, it’s a strange story. A long time ago, when TikTok was just starting out, there was a temporary staffing company looking for people to post more.

They were doing things like paying $100 a month to post every day. Most of the people who were on the program were just presenting something. At the time, I was in between character design jobs. Before that, he worked on other jobs, including NBC. I basically felt it was a shame that my husband was the only one who brought money. And this is what I thought. “$100 a month is just a little bit of groceries. That’s a lot.” So I started the program, but I took it more seriously. I actually wanted to post my work and do something more fun…

And build your portfolio too.

Yes, that’s exactly right. And I never expected it — four months later I was apparently hitting 1 million followers. And I remember getting a call from someone. It was like, “Hey.” I had drawn a comic book a while back, and they said, “We’d love to draw a second one.” I sat there and had to make the decision, “Should I go back to my actual job or should I try this?”

I never thought I could do something like this. And seven years later, I’m still doing it.

And your husband is also very involved. How did he get in there?

My husband works from home, so my husband and I are basically always together. When I first started filming, I remember he would say something sometimes and I was like, “Oh, don’t talk, I’m filming something.”

After a while I decided not to keep telling him to stop and just started rolling the camera. [to him]it often happens every time he says something weird. And he was just so supportive. When I started doing art-related activities in college, even before I saw TikTok, I was working at Pier One at the same time. And I remember feeling very stressed. He said, “I know, stop it.” [Pier One]. We got this, we got this.’ And he really cared about me and let me do a lot of things.

How has imagining him in all these illustrated incarnations affected the way you see him, and the way he sees himself?

Actually, when we first started dating, he said to me, “I always thought you were drawing pictures of me.” And I think, “Oh, how I regret even thinking about that now!” But to be honest, he is, I mean, is it weird to call him my muse? That’s true!

Looking back, what was the first video that made you think you might want to do this full-time?

It might have been when I was making the “50 states” series or when I was making my first fusion video. Because I strongly believe that when it comes to art, you don’t have to take it too seriously.

While in college, I began working as a studio painter and traditional artist. That is, your girl can paint a still life. But everyone else will probably think, “My work expresses the dark side of society.” And I think, “I drew this really, really hot woman. She’s so cool!”

That’s what I was into. And when it came to fusion, I liked that you could just take something weird and create weird creatures that were really cool but didn’t serve any sort of purpose.

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So I think I like those types of videos, but the first one was the first time I was like, “Oh, okay.” That’s why, in fact, [my husband] What we finally built was [Wanna Draw] The app we had was very tasty. He had literally never done anything like that in his life, and he spent about three months sitting at his kitchen table learning and building that app. Yes, he’s the only one still doing it.

That’s very cool. So what is your favorite thing about content creation?

Honestly, I think a lot of people who do art are the fact that you like to make something cool, show it to a few people, friends, etc., and that’s it.

It’s like, “Hey, world, look at this weird thing I made!” And it’s so great to see so many other people who like it the same way. I think connecting with so many different people and seeing how many different people are alike is my favorite part.

We all tend to get stuck in our own little bubbles, but it’s also great to have something like a close-knit community. But isn’t it also great to have such a wide network of similar people?

This is also interesting because when people think of big anime shows, they know the people who created them. But they don’t necessarily know the basics of people or all of the creativity they bring to the table. So it must be exciting to be able to think, “I don’t need to see other people’s projects.”

I think sometimes I miss doing things with other people. There’s another content creator friend of mine who runs D&D campaigns and stuff. His name is Sir Pfeffers and I’m kind of his main character designer. That’s very good. I’m getting a little taste of the experience of still being able to work like everyone else.

Do you have any big fish dream projects that would allow you to take a break from content creation for this?

God, there are so many. There are too many. Actually, I would like to work as a character designer for video games or something. To be honest, my real dream is to drop out, you know?

yes! I’ve interviewed a lot of the team!

It’s very cool. I love them, especially Dimension 20. I want to draw a season of characters.

To be honest, I told them earlier that I would do it for free. We will do everything for free. That’s the really big thing. But at the same time, there’s a lot of people who want to work for them, so I get it…Meeting Brennan Lee Mulligan in a flash was just like —

he is very nice

Oh my god, he’s one of the coolest people.

Agreed. What is the difference between working in a more traditional space and working on the internet?

I think working on the internet can be very chaotic. Because Disney Studios or anything else doesn’t say, “I’d be really happy if you mixed Pennywise and Tinkerbell together.” But the internet is like, “We really want more of it. Give us that.”

It’s like having the most chaotic boss in the world. Because the weirder I am, the happier they are. I think the biggest difference is that I have the freedom to do what I want.

I love it. So here at VidCon, many people have been offering tips on what to do when you run out of ideas. What do you do when you’re hit by a creative drought? You want to draw, but you don’t know where to start.

To deal with art block or burnout, I usually do exercises like drawing random shapes on my face. This is what I like. In fact, eventually I would like to publish a book I wrote called “How to Handle Art Blocks as a Character Designer.” Because there’s a lot of stuff that I’ve accumulated over the years. Tips and Tricks. I can show you some of it in my video, but I want to dig deeper.

But things like that, finding new ways to do things that you’re already doing, are kind of the best way to get past problems like that. Because if you keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, it becomes stale and you don’t want to do it anymore and you’re like, “I can’t keep thinking of ideas for this.” If I want to challenge myself, I’ll think of something weird like, “I can draw with my left hand, or I can only draw a mouse today.” We’re going to make it more fun and interesting, because sometimes it helps to have that barrier, you know?

It gives you a starting point.

Yes, that’s right.

Was there anything that made you feel glad about your work as a content creator?

I’m still waiting on that point. I’ve literally been talking to other animators this entire VidCon, and it’s funny. They all talk about, “Yeah, a long time ago, a few years ago,” and I feel like I’m still new to this.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out in content creation?

There’s no one way to do it. Everyone’s advice will be different, but for me it’s all about creating what you love and doing it. Because you’re a viewer just like everyone else. And if you like and enjoy something, I guarantee you there are others who like and enjoy it just as much. And it’s also just finding fun ways to do things.

Let’s say you really like games and think, “I wish there were people who played games like this.” You will be the one to do so. Try it! Please try it!

Mashable is reporting live from VidCon 2026 in Anaheim. Follow our coverage of creator interviews, panel highlights, the biggest moments from the convention floor, and more.

The above interview has been edited for length and clarity.