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the_gneechGoing to conventions, while fun, makes my little Artist Ego squeal, spark, smoke, and shrivel into a little black pool on the floor that goes, "I'm melting! Meeelllltinnnggg ... Whataworld, whataworld, whataworld..."
To put it politely, compared to many, many other artists out there, I am a hack. And that sticks in my craw. It also gives me fits, because I have no idea what to do next to get my art to improve.
Thing is, I've got to get to the point where going to these cons pays for themselves, or I won't be able to keep going to them at all. AC is probably the most affordable of cons for me, and it was a considerable drain on my finances as it was, between the hotel, the rental car, actually spending a little money at the con on artwork, and ungodly expensive hotel food. I split the cost of the room with HantaMouse this time but, with all due respect for my old friend, never again. I got nothing approaching decent sleep. I need my own room -- and when you add that to the cost of travel, you're looking at a minimum of $500 just to go to AC. Add, say, another $300 for plane tickets to any of the other cons out there, and it rapidly becomes an impossible dream for me to just soak the cost.
To pay for the cons, then, I need to either make money while at them, or take on paying side projects that can have their funds set aside for con travel. Unfortunately, I shopped the comic style page I recently did around to a few folks at AC, and got a general consensus of "Yeah, that's pretty good, but we've already got all the artists we need." Still, most people I spoke to had at least heard of me before, which was at least a little reassuring.
I am going to try to be more disciplined about doing stuff to sell at cons, such as in the art show or at a dealer table, in advance. All my talk about t-shirts notwithstanding, there is stuff I can afford to make and/or do in the meantime, and if I can just force myself to do the work instead of going home and vegging in front of the computer at night, I might actually start to get somewhere.
Of course, I've got to get those silly commissions out of the way first ... which starts tomorrow. Tonight the priority is getting files to Dave Allen (now that I'm finally clear on what files are needed). The First Printing of La Vida Panthera is now completely sold out, and he can't start the Second Printing without stuff from me -- so I've got to fix that!
I'm going to have to work out a schedule for myself ... SJ gets THIS block of time, NN gets THIS block of time, general support stuff (including website work and con-prep stuff) gets THIS block of time -- and then I get Sundays off. (I must have a day off somewhere!) Damn, I wish I could draw faster.
-The Gneech
To put it politely, compared to many, many other artists out there, I am a hack. And that sticks in my craw. It also gives me fits, because I have no idea what to do next to get my art to improve.
Thing is, I've got to get to the point where going to these cons pays for themselves, or I won't be able to keep going to them at all. AC is probably the most affordable of cons for me, and it was a considerable drain on my finances as it was, between the hotel, the rental car, actually spending a little money at the con on artwork, and ungodly expensive hotel food. I split the cost of the room with HantaMouse this time but, with all due respect for my old friend, never again. I got nothing approaching decent sleep. I need my own room -- and when you add that to the cost of travel, you're looking at a minimum of $500 just to go to AC. Add, say, another $300 for plane tickets to any of the other cons out there, and it rapidly becomes an impossible dream for me to just soak the cost.
To pay for the cons, then, I need to either make money while at them, or take on paying side projects that can have their funds set aside for con travel. Unfortunately, I shopped the comic style page I recently did around to a few folks at AC, and got a general consensus of "Yeah, that's pretty good, but we've already got all the artists we need." Still, most people I spoke to had at least heard of me before, which was at least a little reassuring.
I am going to try to be more disciplined about doing stuff to sell at cons, such as in the art show or at a dealer table, in advance. All my talk about t-shirts notwithstanding, there is stuff I can afford to make and/or do in the meantime, and if I can just force myself to do the work instead of going home and vegging in front of the computer at night, I might actually start to get somewhere.
Of course, I've got to get those silly commissions out of the way first ... which starts tomorrow. Tonight the priority is getting files to Dave Allen (now that I'm finally clear on what files are needed). The First Printing of La Vida Panthera is now completely sold out, and he can't start the Second Printing without stuff from me -- so I've got to fix that!
I'm going to have to work out a schedule for myself ... SJ gets THIS block of time, NN gets THIS block of time, general support stuff (including website work and con-prep stuff) gets THIS block of time -- and then I get Sundays off. (I must have a day off somewhere!) Damn, I wish I could draw faster.
-The Gneech
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Scott
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Date: 2002-07-15 02:33 pm (UTC).Rae
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Date: 2002-07-15 03:45 pm (UTC)I personally don't like that either. But art alone isn't the only reason I read your comic. I read your comic because I like the art AND I like the story behind it. The same with NN. It was always fun to just enjoy a good story. The artwork was jsut a nice bonus. :>
Really. Some comic I read aren't the best drawn, but I read them for whatever reason. The humor, the story, the feeling... And I can't wait to see NN get started, or at least see the hamster wheel moving inside it soon. Weeeeeeeee!
Oh well... I guess what I should have just summized with this was... Feel good about what you DO well, and know that there are a lot of folks who DO like the way ya draw. :>
--Rhan
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See if you can "car pool" with a certain celtic fox. :=3
Or if you wish, you could take the train and I could pick you up at 30th St. Station. :=3
I'm sure tyhingds will work out so you can attend next year's AC. And I'm sure it'll be a profitable year for you also. :=3
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Date: 2002-07-15 06:01 pm (UTC)Know the feeling ever so painfully. I attended one of Heather Bruton's panels on sunday, and watching that woman slap paint on a canvas and come up with such a lovely image in 1.5 hours was incredible, and painful both.
Iff'n it makes a diference, I don't think you're a hack. So there. :)
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Date: 2002-07-15 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-15 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-15 08:37 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-15 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
The term "hack" is not only inappropriate for you, it is not a relative term. It is an absolute. My friend The Gneech, a literate English geek, would natter at you for this. ;)
You might make judgments that are based on comparisons between you and others, but your opinions should consider the evidence formed by all of our opinions.
My journal entry on this topic -- on you, in fact -- spent the day with the link to you busted. I have repaired it -- and it's been a most interesting day for me in the meantime...
It is interesting that you focus on Bill Holbrook. I am familiar with his work, of course, but I don't consider Kevin and Kell vs. The Suburban Jungle to be an obviously disparate match. If anything, I rate your own style as smoother and more compelling.
K&K is obviously a cartoon. It is possible with your work to see past the strip and into the people involved. I have thought much about the psychology and relationhips of Leonard, Tiffany, Leona, Drezzer, Conrad and the gang -- and you've endured my overlong ramblings on such topics.
But I have never given this sort of consideration to Lindesfarne, Kevin, Kell et al -- I know the characters, but I do not think much about their lives. They are pictures to me. I have read all of the archives, and you know me well enough to guess that I know those materials pretty well. But they have not quite "grabbed" the part of me that reacts to a well-told story and well-rendered sequential media. I like K&K, but it is not the same...
It is not just that I discovered your strips first. Other later strips have engaged my attention in this fashion, including 21st Century Fox and Gene Catlow -- both of those worthy gentlemen put up with my ramblings in their worlds.
Speaking of Gene Catlow -- his large-page format may be worth considering. It will give you more practice with that comic-book-style arrangement, and I understand that it's actually faster to draw. Scott Kellogg has also been using this format, and might comment on it. I've heard it described as "liberating". But by now I've probably taken enough liberties with your forum...
Goodnight, my friend.
===|==============/ Level Head
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Date: 2002-07-15 09:16 pm (UTC).Rae
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Date: 2002-07-16 03:55 am (UTC)And while one lion's meat may be another dragon's poison, I must disagree re: Bill Holbrook; he is a consummate professional. Yes, his art style is very cartoony, but it a consistently high level of quality. With K&K particularly he is deliberately echoing the late Walt Kelly who, until he wandered into politics and got stuck there, created one of the great furry strips of all time -- before "furry" was a genre. :)
There aren't many cartoonists developing a realistic style these days, because comic strip panels are generally printed 2" tall. The only one who comes immediately to mind is Gary Trudeau (sp?), and he is not particularly someone I want to emulate. :)
I am considering doing Sunday-style double strips as a regular thing for NeverNever. The problem with doing comic book-proportioned strips, however, is a production one: they won't fit into those oh-so-handy-sized books produced by Plan Nine, and putting them into an odd size hurts sales.
(Yes, I am a bit obsessive on the books. :) In the [very] long run, that's where my success or failure will be, I suspect.)
I have in the past made an idiot of myself for ranting in public about what I saw as flaws in K&K and I'm not going to repeat that mistake here -- unlike Leona, I try to learn from my mistakes. ;) Suffice to say that I do agree that there are areas of story crafting and artistic vision where Bill and I have different goals and methods, and this is a good thing -- the last thing in the world I want is to be Bill Holbrook Junior, so to speak. But in terms of producing a high volume of quality work without those irritating gaps, interacting with his audience, and managing to make money without being obnoxious about it ;), I've got a lot to learn from him.
-The Gneech
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Date: 2002-07-16 04:52 am (UTC)But ya see, I'm working on it, and as long as your working on it, its all good. Then again, I don't draw a comic, so I guess that explains why I don't draw as much.
Hey, TG, You know... I've seen others do this... but... any chance we'll ever see a 'How to draw *Insert character here*' guide from you? If nothing else, you could do it just for yourself, and then see how you change the way you draw *insert character here* over time. Just a curiousity if anything.
--Rhan
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Date: 2002-07-16 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-17 12:42 pm (UTC)