Things that frustrate you about your own work

[RobboAKAscooby]

. . . OH Thank god, for once in my life I'm NORMAL!!!!!

Normal? Us? Here?

[Risky]

. . . OH Thank god, for once in my life I'm NORMAL!!!!!

Normal? Us? Here?

Yeah, consider the source here... that's like going to a mental institution to compare yourself to the inmates to see if you are "just like everyone else".

[McDuffies]

Only a few of us actually LIKE drawing backgrounds (I'm looking at you, McDuffies)

It's a matter of finding a challenge in it. When I stopped treating it like a neccessity to get over with and started putting the same kind of creativity in it as in the foreground, it became much more interesting. It helps collecting pictures of houses, furniture and that kind of stuff, and if there's some kind of landmark in the place where it's happening, or if the comic is happening in a different epoche, that's a special treat.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Getting a trend here.
Consistency of art and characters
Backgrounds
Speed
Perspective (which is kind of a consistency problem)
Shading
Textures
Coloring
Inking
Sketching
Panel layouts
Updating
Writing dialogue
Writing plot
Using tools to convey an idea
Breathing

no one enjoys making comics

[Cope]

I can't understand why anyone would want to make a comic. You'd have to be stupid or something!

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

I can't understand why anyone would want to make a comic. You'd have to be stupid or something!

cope is exempt from his statement because he makes TWO comics.

[Cope]

Well, technically, I only make one at a time. >.>

[DLM X-13]

I like drawing backgrounds.

Well, as long as there are no stairs involved. Falling down stairs is more fun than trying to draw them.

[Adorabledesolation]

Getting a trend here.
Consistency of art and characters
Backgrounds
Speed
Perspective (which is kind of a consistency problem)
Shading
Textures
Coloring
Inking
Sketching
Panel layouts
Updating
Writing dialogue
Writing plot
Using tools to convey an idea
Breathing

no one enjoys making comics

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time (I had a herniated disc and was taking LOTS of percocet.)

[peterabnny]

Yeah, I run into that BG consistency problem, too, when I do serials. I have to keep referencing back to earlier strips to see what I have where in a given setting, especially when that setting is the girls' apartment. If I were any smarter I'd make a map of the bloody place so I don't have to keep flipping through my cartoon books.

[Aerones]

You know what else frustrates me? The burnout factor.

I was going along just fine for two years, never missed a deadline due to art (although twice there were delays due to technical problems), and then at Christmas I was all "You know, I need a little break. I'll just pick up again after New Year's." Two weeks, right? No big deal.
I didn't even open photoshop during the entirety of January. The only work I did in February was for Keenlace. And so far in March I've done three pages, but I wanna get a couple of weeks ahead in my queue before I post again, so...
I should probably start drawing.

[Adorabledesolation]

I was all "You know, I need a little break. I'll just pick up again after New Year's." Two weeks, right? No big deal.
.

It so easy to just let it slide. I was thinking about my next page. Looked up and three months had passed. oops.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

I was all "You know, I need a little break. I'll just pick up again after New Year's." Two weeks, right? No big deal.
.

It so easy to just let it slide. I was thinking about my next page. Looked up and three months had passed. oops.

I've learned my lesson that if I am in the mood to draw or do work, goddammit, I must forgo everything else and use up every last drop of that motivation, because when it's gone, it could be weeks or months before I see it again or before I have time again. Even if I've established a time to not be updating, I should not take a break unless I actually need one.

When my updates resume I really want to make sure I don't forget about this. If I start slacking again it's going to take me far too long to get through plots that should take a month or two maximum to tell. It's not like I have an action or thick plot comic where I can kind of get away with leaving readers hanging for a while. My story moves glacially and I need to keep a fairly well obeyed routine if I intend to hold on to readers.

[peterabnny]

I know what you're saying about that getting lazy part, too. When I have all this other stuff going on screaming for my precious limited free time - especially other fun stuff like working on my garage now that the weather's FINALLY starting to turn - drawing looks like a losing proposition. And in my case, since I have no real audience to speak of clamoring for new artwork, it becomes impossible NOT to put drawing on the back burner! It's very easy to get into the mindset that if nobody else gives a shit about my art, why should I?

[Adorabledesolation]

- drawing looks like a losing proposition. And in my case, since I have no real audience to speak of clamoring for new artwork, it becomes impossible NOT to put drawing on the back burner! It's very easy to get into the mindset that if nobody else gives a shit about my art, why should I?

I know the feeling. I crave feedback. Crave it desperately. On the rare occasions I get a comment, I run through the house squealing. "A comment! Someone commented! They like me! They really like me!" ... then I get suspicious, and accuse my friends of humoring me by posting fake comments. After I calm down I remind myself I'm making the comic for a select few who get it. It just turns out the select few is very few. And I sense a new topic!