Comparing yourself with other creators… How to overcome this?

I think that nomatter how many readers a creator has they can still doubt themselves sometimes when they compare their work to others.
I also think the most important rule of creating a comic is to ask yourself this question: Am I doing this because I'm having fun with it? I think having fun doing what you do is the base. Also, when you're 'upset' with your latest page because it didn't turn out the way you want it, just promise yourself the next page will be better and you'll improve along the way.

Recognise your feelings, acknowledge them, accept them, move on.

It's fine to envy and it's fine to fret, but coming to a standstill because of those insecurities won't make those feelings go away. More over, punishing yourself or anyone else because you feel temporarily inadequate isn't fair to either of you.

You're human. No one is 100% confident all the time. It's okay to feel rubbish and doubt yourself- natural, even- but remind yourself that it's a cycle and it will pass. In the meantime, go do something that makes you happy. Indulge a little. You'll feel better when you come back later. 👍

When I encounter this feeling, I don't channel it into 'I'm a failure', I channel it to 'I have more to learn'. That's when I kick into detective mode and try to spot things that they're doing (that I admire about them) and go after learning how to do it.

I've learned that beating myself up doesn't make things happen for me any quicker, it's not effective, STOP IT. It also make no sense to be angry at myself for not knowing how to do a thing [whatever it maybe that this other artist is excelling at].

Comparing yourself with other artists isn't logical, isn't practical, there is no good side to it unless you're doing it critically in which case you aren't beating yourself up, you're analyzing how to improve.

All of us are not created in a vacuum nor do we come from the same backgrounds. Each person has learned art differently and has had different experiences. It makes no sense with that in mind, to take what another artist has over me personally. I can achieve certain milestone levels by simply learning and doing. Doubt and jealous will only sour the process and impede progress. Don't compare yourself with others.

TLDR- Don't compare yourself with others. Don't compare yourself with others. Don't compare yourself with others.

I'm not so much a creator as a reader (I have my own novel in progress but no comics) but I do know that a big part of it is realizing that no two people will have the same style. They might have similar styles, but not the same style. I'm subbed to 289 comics, and every creator has a different style (many of my series are by creators with multiple series, so obviously the style for those comics are going to be the same....)

It's perfectly alright to admire and want to draw like someone else, that's a part of life. The thing is realizing that no matter how hard you try, your art will never be the same as theirs. (random comparison time) It's kind of like handwriting in that regard. I think that many kids try to copy their parents' (or older siblings or teachers or etc) handwriting and rarely try to develop their own. In the course of trying to copy the other handwriting, they develop their own which is just as good. I know that I tried to copy my father's handwriting (and still wish that mine was a little more like his but meh) My mother has told me how similar our handwriting is, and upon looking closer I can see the similarities, but it is so much easier to see the differences....which leads me to another point (I'm rambling guys, sorry...it's 1 am for me)

If you can't help but compare your work to someone else's, look for the similarities instead of the differences. It will make you feel better about your work, I can all but guarantee it.

I'm going to go to bed now...let's see how much sense this actually makes when I read it again tomorrow XD

I noticed that people generally seem fine with comparing their own art with art by seniors and big names who have been at it for years because they aspire to be like them some time in the future. But when it comes to people close to their age or younger who appear better at drawing, that's when some people fall into this spiral of self doubt. Thoughts like "Am I not doing enough?" and "I've been drawing as long as the other person. Am I simply not good at it?" may pop up.

I can't exactly tell anyone to stop comparing themselves to others because that's a very hard thing to do to some, and everyone is wired differently. Comparing is a pretty natural thing we do whether we realise it or not -- it's part of our learning process.

What to do then? Well, if it ends up crippling your progress, try to avoid looking at the other creator's work completely but temporarily (until you feel confident again). Instead, look at other works of art (doesn't matter what media it is) that have different styles as yours so it's not easy for you to compare your work with. Who knows, those might be a good influence to your art.

It's hard but all you need to do is look at your art from a few years ago, and then look at your art today. The only thing that matters is the progress YOU'VE made as an artist. Whenever I am feeling like my art isn't good, or that I'm stagnating, I just look at something just from the previous year and I can tell I've improved.

People grow differently. Your experience is completely different from anyone elses. You WILL get there. You just have to keep striving to improve. Look at their art and instead of saying "I'll never be that good" say "I WILL be that amazing some day and I WILL surpass them". Its great motivation. Let them motivate you to do better.

I never wanted to become a comic artist until a year ago. I was just a dead-end artist living a content life and a 8-5 job. Until I had a story in my mind I wish someone would tell. Then I realized, I have the time and negligible artistic skills to visually tell it myself. The truth is knowing my specific and unique reason for wanted to create a comic and valuing it has become the driving force behind improving and making comic art as opposed to achieving a dream that's already been sold.

You just have to go at your own pace, this is your comic and we have over billions of people in the world. Not every single one is going to like it, but just as many people would dislike your work. The other half are going to praise it, enjoy it and want more. Looking at other people stories should be your attempt to see what they do right, but not to copy them. If you feel your work is beneath what you want it to be, there will only be self conflict.

Just keep moving forward with your story, make it the way you envision and never stop to change it just because someone wants to see something different.

Personally I look through other comics because I enjoy the tale they spin, but I want to do better then them. No matter how many people say it's the best comic/story/etc. I want to write an even better tale, a challenge brings out the best in the person is what I believe. So it's how I usually overcome this with a good old fist Fight!

When ever I start to compare myself with other people I remind myself that I have no idea how long they have been drawing / making comics. With more practice product is obviously going to get better. Seriously, sometimes I go all "Oh...!" when I read a post and realize they have been making comics longer than I've been alive. That is quite a bit more experience than my about 2 ½ years. Besides, checking out my old pages sure reminds me that I've progressed a lot since the start and will continue to do so.

Another thing is that most of the time I look other people's work as goals / ways to learn and improve myself or simply as a fan. If someone has amazing way to compose panels or use colors I try to figure out what makes me like it so much and then try to combine it with my own style. Sometimes it works, sometimes I realize that it's not what I'm after. But it makes me learn new things.

I'm not worried about comparing myself to others, I'm worried because I know everyone else will compare me to others

I just don't. I don't read other people's comics except the first one that lured me to Tap, and my friend's comic.

The first one is simply popular because it's long-running and an early comic. It's relatable and I don't feel jealous towards it.

My friend's comic is definitely 5 times more popular than my own comic, but just the same, she started hers way before I started, and she's much more sociable online so she gets subs from friendly shoutouts in other comics.

I only pay attention to my own comic's popularity, so I don't really know or care about other comics on Tapastic.

I just focus on doing my own thing. Comparing yourself to others just weighs you down in the long run. Instead of wishing you had more subs like your friend does, do something about it so that you have more subs. Providing updates even once a week is a good start as any. Mingling with other creators even new ones who don't have that good of art skills definitely helps as I've been told my art for my comic Life of an Aspie isn't particularly good by any stretch, but I've found especially back when I barely had any subs a few months ago is that subbing to a series that you see is struggling to get recognition often gives the creator of said series that boost they may need to their self esteem and encourage them to put out more comics and if you yourself are in the same boat, they may return the favor.

Of course, don't sub to random series just to do it. Commenting and liking on a person's work, Engaging them in a conversation shows you aren't just a bot behind a computer screen.

Do your best to look at amazing artists and their work as inspiration. If they could work hard for many years to get to do that: you sure as hell can too. All you need to do is get back to it. It's more FUN to create art when you're doing it simply because it's what you LOVE to do.

Don't worry about it.
Try to do your best and get better, but always remember that many comics have become very popular despite looking awful.
If you have something to say, that's the most important thing.

This world is big enough for everyone

Ohhh... there's a lot of stuff like that its normal. Youtube: So Many Artists Better Than me4
Take a look at this vid. Apparently, this feeling has been encountered by Pro artist as well - Adam Duff is a senior concept artist, art director, advanced concept art teacher and visual storyteller based in Montreal, Canada. Hope this help.

Personally, I never feel discouraged when I see someone else is doing well, or someone else is at a place I would like to be. Rather, it's exactly the opposite for me. It's encouraging to me. It's a sign that it's possible to get to that level. If I see someone else did it, I know that I can do it, too, if I apply myself and work really hard toward it. I look at the other person, and see what they're doing that I am not, and if that is working for them, I implement it in what I am doing if practicable.

So, in short, I look at the situation totally differently. I look at what some others are doing for ways I can improve myself, rather than be discouraged.

I understand where you're coming from. Just starting off myself it can be intimidating sometimes. But a lot of good points were made by the others. Learn, grow, appreciate your own work ,be you and hold on.

All right, hopefully as one of the older creators on this platform (or so it feels like) let me tell you - when I spent a long time especially in a competitive Arts Bachelor (Animation) comparing myself and wondering where I would be and who I would be employed before.
Now I've been in the industry for six years as a concept artist, an animator and even as a manager and let me tell you - everyone else has literally zero influence on your success unless you're a bad person. If you work hard, and push yourself as hard as you can go without burning out (please take care of yourself) you'll succeed. It might take longer, it might take shorter than others, but in the end the product you present is your work. It's not your work, co-starring everyone else who was running against you. In the end, everyone is just trying to be their best version of themselves, and the way to do that is to just work on you.
Good luck, you'll get there.

Channel all that nervous energy towards yourself! Pour over your past work, identify the weaknesses, and become someone who your past self would be jealous of. I stuck to that method for a while and now some of the people who seemed impossibly better than me have around the same amount of subs as I do! Just focus on your own growth, it's all you need to do. c:

I think it's one of those things where every artist does it, but something I came to a realization about was that I was comparing my work to people whose work I didn't really like. "I don't have the style of that artist," I'd think. "They have a distinctive style. I don't like it." But for whatever reason, I kept riding myself hard because I didn't consider myself at that level.

But I was. Even technically speaking, I was always doing fine. It's something that even now I struggle with, the temptation of comparison -- it's toxic, more times than not, and as others have pointed out, sometimes you have to just step back and just stop looking at others if you're going to be tempted to compare yourself unfavorably.

Artists are almost always our own harshest critics. And people are almost always their own harshest critics too; artists get it double! It's important to realize this and let it go, appreciate that you will be developing your style throughout your life and just keep doing that instead of comparing yourself to others who are likely struggling with the same insecurities.

You can do it!

Indeed, this is a real struggle! It's especially troublesome with an art style where you don't know how they do it. At least some art styles you can try to copy and learn from them, but when you're clueless, it's easy to say "I'll never be able to do that!" Something I do when I run into this problem is I compare my favorite artists to EACH OTHER. Some have simple art with beautiful colors, others have fancy realistic painting, and some have really good stories! They're all different, but it doesn't make them better or worse than each other.

Remember that you can ALWAYS change your style or technique if you're not happy with it! Try something new, even if it doesn't seem like "you" yet. If you like it, give it a try and figure out why you like it! No one is on point all the time, and it's okay to change. In fact, if you were satisfied with your art all the time, it might mean you're not growing as an artist!

If I'm really overwhelmed, I do what @shazzbaa and @avimHarZ do and just STOP LOOKING! It confuses me until nothing I draw looks right, so I take a break. I make some tea, watch TV, read a book. Then in a few hours, I try to draw without looking at anything. I'll get something that is only mine in its purest form, plus it's usually faster and easier than before! Don't think too much about it, tell yourself "I don't care how this turns out, as long as I do something." In my experience, these doodles are some of my best work haha

I usually just compare my works to other creators, and yes I admit I have those negative thoughts of giving up, but then again those creators that I look up to are the kinds who either just dump their works and call it a day, some just develop a "lazy" art style but original OR those artists who won't even bother making a living out of their talent and just create stuff for the enjoyment of people.

Tho nowadays I just browse into pixiv, but instead of getting disappointed, I kinda ended up being inspired since I can somehow see what they did on the shadings, strokes etc.

I agree with you: as creators, we need to come together and encourage one another wherever possible!

Personally, I struggle with comparisons too, although I've been a lot better about it in the last year or two. What I have to remember is that my style is different from another artist's, my approach is different, my stories are different; I had a major breakthrough when I realized I wasn't really being honest with myself. I'd look at another artist's work, another comic or what have you, and feel immediately bad about what I was doing.

Then I took a step back and asked myself, "is that really what you want to do?"

It wasn't. It never is. Even if it's something similar, it's not the same. Even if it's along the same lines, I would realize it differently, I would develop it differently.

It's still very hard to look at things sometimes if I like the style or approach, but something important to remember is that every artist has a different style. Like Judy Garland said, be yourself -- you'll only ever be a second-rate someone else. There already is one, after all!

We all have the things we're doing, and they're fantastic. We must hold onto them and keep working to develop our own personal styles. We're so familiar with our own work, our own output, that it often doesn't give us the same feelings or effects that others' work will. That's just natural. But it does give those feelings to others who enjoy our work. We are always going to be our own harshest critics, in large part because we are so intimately familiar with every slightest flaw due to working so long and so intimately with our art.

I'm always better at it when I'm giving someone feedback or critique they've approached me for, but I've finally started to remember it for myself: in art, there really is no "better" or "worse", art is expression and there is no handy scale for absolute figuring of quality. Photorealism for example is not superior, and it isn't a goal for every artist, or even most artists -- which is a huge thing for some people to realize. We must walk away from terms that set certain specific stylistic approaches above others. There is no better or worse, as I said; there is only "different".

We can always develop, and we will be developing the whole time we are creating art. A good artist, I think, continually develops and tries to become the best possible at any given time. It's perpetual learning. But as artists, and as audiences that appreciate creative work, I feel we must reach the point of understanding that every artist and every style is -- and should be -- essentially different. We must appreciate our abilities and skill that we have worked so hard to cultivate.

I just remain focused on my goal. And keep going and going and going.

Sometimes I compare my work to others, but I've kind of avoided doing it as I kind of felt like an asshole for doing that. I would compare my work against others I felt were inferior, and pondered how my views/subs would be less, but it wasn't really worth it. Getting critique about my art was even more annoying (with the exception of anatomy comments which I actually have been working on). Someone compared my work and I just said forget it. My works fine the way it is, it's my style and my subs like it.

If you compare yourself to another artist just remember you two are very different people with different skill sets. It's how you use your skills that matter.

NEVER COMPARE! But learn from them and others to help grow your own styles and skills

I catch myself doing this- "I can't draw as well as so and so," "I'm not as prolific as..." "I'm not as funny as..." and "I must be awful because I have only a few subscribers, " Then I tell myself "You're not gonna get any better by whining. Stop complaining and start drawing, dummy."

Ugh I compare my art and storytelling capabilities to other people all the time and whenever I do, my art and writing gets WORSE until I cut the crap and just create without thinking too hard about it =_=

Look at their first page/strip compared to their newest. Do the same for yourself. This helps to show that everyone starts somewhere and that you're capable of improvements as well.

I think this is something most comic artists struggle with but in different ways. Some people envy how good another person's art/story is, some envy how successful it is or other things. It's best not to expect anything so you don't let yourself down. I worked so hard on making my new comic but only got 10 followers. I love my story so I keep on making it. Just remember you're making comics for fun and to improve your artwork and story telling. Try not to compare yourself to others if it makes you feel bad, channel it into making yourself work harder.

as a first timer it can be a little scary when comparing yourself to bigger artists/ comics and you start to feel kinda bad about the way your comic and art is going but sometimes it's good to see others pieces and be inspired and to know that you're having fun with your creation than just putting yourself down and stopping all together.

I used to compare myself to other artists a lot, and boy, was that a real setback - for periods on end, I'd be drawing nothing, and whenever I did, I'd just scrap it because it was (honestly) pretty trashy. One day though, I kind of snapped - I just accepted that I'll be wherever I am, and that I wouldn't really ever get too big.

Ever since then, I've been drawing in a sort of furious, hazed state, like a madman really - drawing without thinking. It's kind of like I know failure is the only thing that's awaiting me, but I don't know any better but to keep drawing the best I can - I concluded that it's much better than stopping now.

I guess the best thing when it comes to this predicament (I really like that word) is to focus only on what you're trying to convey, be it the message or the story, whatever the hell it is. In a way, being self-indulgent is the only thing that's driving me at the moment, especially with the new webcomic I'm working on.