Stop waiting for the "final_final_v3.jpg" to post. Honestly, the obsession with a polished, pixel-perfect outcome is actually killing your engagement. If you’ve spent any time on ArtStation, Twitter (X), or LinkedIn lately, you’ve probably noticed something weird. People are obsessed with the work in progress image. They don’t just want the shiny 3D render or the completed brand identity. They want the wireframes. They want the messy sketches. They want to see the "ugly" phase where the character's eyes are floating two inches off their face because the rigging isn't finished yet.
It’s human nature. We’re nosy. We like to peek behind the curtain.
When you share a work in progress image, you aren’t just showing off a half-baked file. You are building trust. In an era where Generative AI can spit out a "perfect" masterpiece in twelve seconds, proving that a human actually labored over a project is the new gold standard for authenticity. People can smell a prompt from a mile away. But a screenshot of a Photoshop layer stack with 400 unnamed layers? That’s real. That’s sweat equity.
Why the brain loves an unfinished mess
There’s actually some psychology behind why a work in progress image stops the scroll. It’s called the Zeigarnik Effect. Basically, our brains are hardwired to remember uncompleted tasks better than completed ones. When a viewer sees a piece of art that is clearly mid-process, their brain tries to "fill in" the blanks. They wonder how it will end. They become emotionally invested in the outcome.
Think about the video game industry. Look at the massive leak of Grand Theft Auto VI footage back in 2022. It was clearly early-dev stuff—debugging code on screen, untextured buildings, placeholder animations. The internet went nuclear. While Rockstar Games was understandably frustrated, the sheer volume of conversation proved that fans are desperate to see the "how" just as much as the "what."
It feels intimate. Like you're in the studio with the creator.
The death of the "Big Reveal"
The old way of doing things—hiding in a dark room for six months and then having a "Grand Reveal"—is mostly dead for independent creators. Unless you’re Apple launching a new iPhone, the silent approach usually leads to a giant thud.
Marketing has shifted toward "Build in Public."
If you're a developer working on a new app interface, posting a work in progress image of your Figma board every Tuesday does more for your pre-launch sales than a $500 ad spend would. You’re warming up the audience. By the time you actually launch, they feel like they helped build it. They’ve seen the struggle. They saw that one version where the button was neon pink and everyone told you it looked terrible, and they feel a sense of pride because you changed it to navy blue based on their feedback.
Dealing with the "Is it done yet?" crowd
It’s not all sunshine and high engagement, though. Sharing a work in progress image can be terrifying. You’re exposing your flaws. You’re showing the world that you don't actually know what you're doing for about 70% of the creative process.
I’ve seen artists get slammed by "critics" who don't understand that a 3D model looks like a grey blob before the lighting pass. You have to have thick skin. Or, better yet, you have to label your work clearly. Using hashtags like #WIP or #Process is fine, but telling a story in the caption is better.
"Everything looked like a disaster until I figured out the perspective on the left side" is a great hook. It invites people into the problem-solving phase.
The technical side: What to actually show
Don't just take a blurry photo of your monitor with your phone. Well, actually, sometimes that works because it feels raw. But generally, you want to show specific stages:
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- The Thumbnail Phase: Usually just blobs of value and light. It shows your composition logic.
- The "Ugly Middle": This is where most people quit. Showing this phase proves you have the grit to push through.
- The Detail Zoom: People love seeing the tiny brushstrokes or the clean topology of a mesh that will be invisible in the final export.
Interestingly, many professional illustrators, like Loish (Lois van Baarle), have built massive followings by making their process just as famous as their final pieces. She often shares step-by-step breakdowns that start with incredibly loose, gestural lines. It demystifies the talent. It makes it feel attainable, even if it’s definitely not.
How AI is changing the value of "In Progress"
Let's be real about the elephant in the room. AI tools can generate a "work in progress" look now. You can literally prompt an image-to-image generator to make something look like a "sketch."
This makes the work in progress image even more critical for professionals. To stay relevant, you might need to share more than just the image. You might need to share a screen recording of your brush moving. Or a time-lapse. In 2026, "Proof of Work" isn't just a crypto term; it's a creative necessity. If you can't show how you got there, a certain segment of the internet will assume a machine did it for you.
That sucks, but it’s the reality.
I’ve talked to designers who now keep "process folders" specifically for clients who get suspicious about the speed of their delivery. A work in progress image serves as a receipt. It says, "I spent four hours on this curve, and here are the six versions I rejected before landing on this one."
Community and the feedback loop
One of the coolest things about sharing unfinished work is the hive mind. Sometimes you’re too close to a project. You’ve been staring at the same work in progress image for six hours and your eyes are crossing.
You post it.
Within ten minutes, some random person in a Discord or on Reddit points out that the character has two left hands. You're saved. You would have finished the whole thing, rendered it out, and posted it to your portfolio before noticing that. The "WIP" community is basically free quality assurance.
Actionable Steps for Documenting Your Process
If you want to start using the work in progress image to grow your brand or just keep yourself accountable, you need a system. Don't make it a chore. If it's hard to do, you won't do it.
1. Set an "Export" Hotkey
If you’re in Blender, Photoshop, or DaVinci Resolve, make it a habit to hit a quick screenshot at the end of every session. Don't worry about it being "good." Just capture the state of the union. Use a tool like Greenshot or the built-in Windows/Mac shortcuts to dump these into a specific "Process" folder automatically.
2. Focus on the "Why," not the "What"
When you post the image, don't just say "Working on a thing." Tell people why you made a specific choice. "I tried three different color palettes for this UI, but I'm leaning toward the muted greens because it feels more 'organic' for a gardening app." This invites professional discussion rather than just "nice!" comments.
3. Use the "Side-by-Side" Strategy
The most powerful version of a work in progress image is the comparison. Show the sketch next to the final. Or show the 2024 version of a project next to the 2026 redo. This shows growth. Everyone loves a transformation story. It’s why those "glow up" videos go viral.
4. Don't Over-Edit Your WIPs
The moment you start color-grading your "unfinished" work, you’ve lost the plot. Keep it raw. Use the UI of the software in the frame. It adds context. It shows you’re actually in the trenches using the tools. Seeing the layers panel or the node graph in a work in progress image gives other pros a chance to learn from your setup, which is high-value content.
5. Protect Your Intellectual Property
A quick word of caution: if you’re working for a client, check your NDA. Some clients are totally cool with you sharing "behind the scenes" content because it helps market their project too. Others will sue you into the sun if you show a single pixel before the official launch. Always ask first. If you’re under a strict NDA, you can sometimes share "abstracted" WIPs—a close-up of a texture or a blurred-out wireframe—but even that's risky.
At the end of the day, the work in progress image is about vulnerability. It’s about admitting that the creative process is messy, frustrating, and occasionally ugly. But that’s exactly what people want to see. They want the human element. They want to know that behind every great piece of work is a person who spent way too long staring at a screen, wondering if they should just delete everything and start over.
Show the mess. It’s your most authentic marketing tool.