Post Convention Musings
I often get asked what other webcomics I read. Not many, I’ll admit that. Why? A couple of reasons. First off, lack of time. There are a zillion and a half webcomics out there and trying to keep up with them all is a job in itself. Secondly, most of them are…… well,… let’s generously say I’m not in their target demographic.
But there’s another reason – I have nothing to learn from them.
Learn from them you ask? But they are comics! Enjoyment! Escapism! Right? Not entirely.
This past weekend in NYCC I heard from several fans, artist wannabees and fledgling creators about how they like to check out other webcomics to see ‘what they are doing’.
Looking at other webcomics is like looking sideways not forward. I need to look at art that challenges me to understand how things are accomplished. I see other disciplines at work to solve visual problems I may never encounter, but in imagining them I exercise my imagination and the skill of the critique. When I turn that back on my own art, it keeps the bar raised ever higher and encourages me to strive for improvement. In striving, I search for newer artistic venues, and artists, to inspire and challenge me. The end result of all this is that I, hopefully, improve as an artist and continue to enjoy what I do.
Any artist worth their ink learns the difficult skill of the critique. More specifically, this is constructive criticism not bad-mouthed opinionated whining. In learning to crtique we most especially learn to edit our own work with honesty. The best way to do this is look at everything you like or dislike with a discerning eye. In that observation you can understand why you think the way you do. By understanding that, you then can learn from it.
For example, I may like a Picasso. I seriously doubt I’ll ever paint like him, but in critiquing it I can understand what it is that makes me like it. Perhaps it’s the colour or composition. I might want to borrow the palette for something of my own. I might want to remember the vigour of his strokes to create textures or the balance of values. I might just want to remember that it’s a picture that makes me happy for no reason and I can look at it when I need the escapism. That’s okay. After all and it’s why most people look at art.
But I am not most people. I draw comics.
Let’s redefine things a moment. Unless you are truly taking advantage of the infinite canvas possibilities of a webpage, you are just drawing a comic. I draw two. They happen to be on the web, but they are formatted in a traditional print manner. I draw comics.
See what I did there? I just stripped away a bit of the fiction that those of us who publish ‘online’ are somehow special. We are cartoonists, illustrators, writers and storytellers. The medium of our choosing isn’t anymore different than a painter using oils vs one that uses watercolours. I’m not a ‘webcartoonist’, I’m a cartoonist with work on the web. I’m not a ‘digital illustrator’, I’m an illustrator who works in Photoshop. I’m not a ‘manga-ka’, ’cause that’s pretentious and just fucking stoopid. I draw comics.
It’s so much fun that at times I wonder how it can be legal. I never ever want to be bored by it or bore my readers with my work either.
