Artist attitude - pet peeves?

Just so it's clear, I'm not dissing Tapas here. I think sharing ad revenue is good, and so is having premium comics. Giving readers the option to watch videos to earn coins is also a cool thing. But tipping, by itself and as a concept, is not something an artist should seek out if they want to maintain a certain image.

I mean, it's one thing to have money thrown at you wherever you go and another to have in hand the digital equivalent of a tin cup.

Not to diss street performers either. I respect the skill and effort they put in, but the business model is basically high-effort begging. And it doesn't necessarily transfer to the online arts scene. Street performers and waitresses have tradition, social pressure, and face-to-face interaction on their side. Digital content creators don't.

Without a Patreon, readers can assume that they're the product. That is, that the artist makes money from advertising. But with a Patreon the artist is basically admitting that payment is optional. Which means it's as good as free. And what is free is worthless.

I feel a bit better about early-access. I wouldn't use it though. I cycle through my bookmarks every two or three months like a nomad going from pasture to pasture.

I haven't thought of it that way.

Although, what's a writer to do if he cannot draw "el sketches"? XD

I have quite a few pet peeves regarding artists and creators. But one of my biggest -- I think is one that isn't talked about very often at all because its so intrinsic to our industries. My pet peeve, is the idea of support or companionship in the industry. Especially in comics, and writing novels. Theres alot of threads listing how we do things and discussing tips and tricks but its hard to find one on one contact or group contact with people who draw comics or write novels. Sometimes its because many of us are introverts, othertimes its because our contracted work makes us work in secret -- keeping the product from others eyes, and others just can become hyper focused in their work.
While all of this is fine, personal choices are personal choices, I hate this false sense of support from writers and artists at times. Because people aren't there with me at 2 oclock in the morning while I'm finishing painting a comic by myself. Not even through a chat. I wish that people said what the meant or meant what they said in this regard. It can feel pretty isolating when you think one thing from a person's words but get another thing entirely.

aww~ I wish I would have known about this, I actually like your art

Oh, I agreed with that first one on 'artist who seem to spend way too much time on the internet"

My personal pet peeve would be artists who take on loads and loads of commissions, feel stressed by their workload, and end up not drawing what their clients wanted in a timely fashion without multiple messages or simply disappear with the money without a refund. Then they would pop back up again, and open more commissions, only to repeat the process of

1) I'm dying under my to-do list of commissions
2) opens more commissions slots
3) people don't get their commissions done or it takes more than a year to finish
4) refuse refunds / pretend it never happened.

Please don't be the cause of your own stress: don't take on my work than you can handle, and communicate properly with your customers if you are unable to get their commission done in a timely manner.

--
The other one pet peeve is yeah, the call-out culture. I've had a friend of mine from Deviantart go to the farthest ends to try and claim that one artist stole design ideas and was a tracer. Some of the overlays to prove that something was traced was just barely credible. I don't think anyone, even if they did trace, deserves to be attacked by another artist and their legion of friends/fans and have their reputations smeared enough that the delete themselves from the community. This isn't positive behaviour.

Yes, I dislike that 'call-out'-thing too. No matter for what reason, it's not right to mobilize your fanbase or followers to gang up together against an individual.

The whole 'they stole mah stuff' attitude is also kinda distressing. Let's be clear, there are people who do indeed rip off other people's work. And those people should be addressed and dealt with (in a peaceful way tho)
But some folks are so, I dunno, paranoid about their work. As soon as they see some other character with the same hair color as their OC, they threaten with lawsuits and who knows what. That's ridiculous.
sometimes poses, artstyles and certain elements do simply look alike, even though the two artists behind it may have never heard of each other.
I think it's better to keep calm about stuff like this until you find solid proof that someone did indeed steal from your creations. And even then, stay classy and don't start big drama. There are peaceful ways to resolve problems like that...

I suppose there's this feeling that we can't make it too easy for newbies because hardship is part of the process. Not only does it filter out those people who aren't determined enough, but it also helps the lessons stick.

Like, there are secrets in the craft that we worked hard to obtain. What would happen if we just revealed them to whoever?

• They might not understand, in which case we wasted our effort.
• They might dismiss it and actually make it harder for them to learn the lesson on their own.
• They might understand, but lack the wisdom needed to apply the insight in a positive way.

It's not like we're deadly kung fu masters here, but I still wouldn't give away for free what took me years and tears to learn.

Both interesting, valid points I hadn't considered. I suppose the hardship bit I can kinda link back to my first post in this thread about the 'overnight success' artist. I would never keep those sorts of people out, but yeah at the same time I'd never want to delude someone or make them think that it's all easy. Unless they asked me for specific feedback/bought up this point, I'd just let them find out on their own.

I normally don't give away my 'secrets' unless I can tell the person is genuinely interested in learning/feedback and asks me specifically. To be fair though, I don't see what we'd lose by 'giving away secrets'. Considering your cases: I personally feel it's not a wasted effort unless you think you lost time/energy/whatever by telling them, even if they couldn't apply it right away. I simply pass on knowledge and it's up to others to use it however they can. They might not be able to apply it right away but they may come up with something eventually. It's sorta like you're sowing seeds by spreading the knowledge.

It's all done in context and with an understanding that the recipient is interested. If I can tell they're just a hobbyist/not interested/too conceited/delusional, then I usually dial it back.

As for me, I dont have an issue helping an artist out with tips and such- but if it gets to a point where I feel like I'm "holding your hand" through every process and I'm reiterating the same sentences over & over, it kinda gets me irritated. Sometimes it feels like there are artists who "expect to get it right on the first try"- and when that doesnt happen, they get all depressed to the point of "I'm never gonna draw ever AGAIN", instead of getting up, dusting themselves off, and get back on that horse again. I try to stress a lot that making comics is NOT a walk in the park, and you can learn a lot through trial & error- and PATIENCE. You're not going nail everything on the 1st try- if you're going for a certain effect/shot/result with your art, read comics that influence you; watch movies that influence you. Dissect & study them for insight that will inspire or help you. I know lots of times I felt like giving up on coloring(at times I still do feel like it), but I stuck with it(and continue to) because I know eventually I will get to the level where I wont hate my coloring so much.

Yep, this is true. I suppose I should've elaborated that I normally share very specific tips and even then, I agree with the guide, not spoonfeed approach. Otherwise they don't learn anything. Still, if I know exactly what a piece of work needs and purposely withhold that for my a 'you're not getting my secrets' kinda vibe, then I consider that a disservice.

The broad strokes as you've outlined here are always gonna be true and that's definitely the first thing to tell newbies. It's a fair warning, really. In my experience, I'm finding that yep it's a hell of a lot of trial and error but if I gave up now rather than seeing how good I COULD get, then that's the biggest mistake of all.

So I suppose it's preparing them for that reality. Controversial opinion - I'm not a fan of the overly self deprecating artist. The one that DOES post and say 'ugh I hate this so much' or 'ugh everything I draw is crap.' I'll encourage up to a point but if you're gonna approach it like that then a) personal issues and mind blocks need to be addressed before considering this path and b) no one likes working with people like this who are too wrapped up in their own mind-drama. That's when it becomes a wasted effort as such.