Do you ask feedback to someone close to you?

[DiscsNBeats]

Hi! I'm starting to draw a comic but i have some struggle finding out if i'm doing something right/wrong, if the way i'm telling the story it's okay, if im going too fast or if im going nowhere. Things that i think are crucial if you want people to stay attached to your story.

That beign said, how do you do when you want to know if your doing something right or wrong before publishing it or doing final works? Do you show it to someone close or do you go with what you believe in your heart?

[KoreanTacos]

When I'm not sure if a joke is going too far in JODDAS VAPD or if I'm making a special I often get the ok from my wife. So far I have had two comic strips that I flat out never published and five I had to edit, because my wife made the right call for me.

[leoeffizy]

i've struggled with these as well. am a new comic creator and i from my expierence i know that friends and families don't want to hurt your feelings so they give you praise and some vague critique. however these can also be due to the fact that they are just not qualified to critique your work. i believe that the only ones who can really critique your work are comic readers, writers , artist or reviewers.
these is why tapastic is awesome . you have a tons of these people and they can help critique your work way better . just make a forum post asking people to critique your work , trust me you would get tons of answers. i did the same andd i must say the critiques i've gotten has really helped.
long story short , just post your comic to for people to critique . and get some tough skin some of the critiques may hurt a little.
hope these helped, sorry for the long post

[marygold]

Share with someone you know will give his/her honest opinion. Or you can very seriously tell your friends that you are seeking improvement.

For me, learning what to improve on was a combination of seeking advice and seeing what happens. If you ever need quick advice, the forums are a great place never hesitate to ask! I've learned so many things on here.

[keii4ii]

Do you show it to someone close or do you go with what you believe in your heart?

There's a reason why editors are a thing in the industry...

But most of us can't afford the services of a professional editor. Some of us just do it all alone and hope for the best; others ask friends.

For me, the answer to that question depends on what you mean by "someone close." I wouldn't go to my family for this stuff. They're intelligent people and can offer valuable insight, but my comic is just so far out of their taste range. I wouldn't want to make them read something they have no interest in reading for themselves.

I do have some creative friends whom I approach for this sort of stuff from time to time. But they're not available all the time, and sometimes even they miss some errors, too/ are not sure how to improve it! I have to accept that perfection is unattainable, and that I still need to try my best in spite of that.

Also,

before publishing it

Take solace in the fact that with webcomics, you're free to make changes even after publishing it.

[Michelle]

I generally ask my partner for feedback, but that's because he's well-versed in storytelling and drawing principles, and he knows he can be honest with me if something in my comic isn't working.

I generally don't ask for feedback from close friends and family if they don't have an eye for these sort of things. Sometimes it's useful to ask someone who isn't an artist/writer just to get a general "What do you think?", but if I'm looking for things to imrpove, I'm only going to ask people I trust know what they're talking about.

Asking for feedback from strangers is useful too! But sometimes it can lead to mixed messages when people's personal tastes gets thrown into the mix. Of course, it's important to discern an objective critique vs. a subjective one. But the benefit of asking for feedback from a close artist friend is that they have a better sense of who you are and what you're going for in your artwork.

[joannekwan]

Sometimes I'll ask my husband if an idea I have would work, but that's about it. I won't like, show him pages before I work on them or whatnot. It's not like he knows any better than I when it comes to comicking. Also I've gotten my mom to proofread a comic before I sent it for print. But that's about it.

I just rely on my own two cents since the people I'm close with don't know much about comics and the people I know who do know about comics I'm not close with and don't want to bother.

[UzukiCheverie]

Sometimes I'll ask my husband

Huh, I did not know you were married. The more you know!

/hides joannekwan posters >.>

---

I have a few friends who I trust for constructive criticism. Though, they are readers as well so I tend to ask them their opinion after the fact lol

When it's for stuff I don't want to spoil for my readers, I go to my boyfriend. Unfortunately, he's also not great in the criticism department - he usually always likes what I'm drawing lol and i'm like "buuuuut i know there's something i can work on to make this better".

So for the most part, yeah, I'm left to rely on myself x3"""

[dojo]

If I'm unsure of something, I USUALLY try to ask someone their opinion, but this is mostly vague things I can ask without spoiling anything with the story and more have to do with writing than art so far. I want to eventually ask for constructive criticism outside of just "whats your opinion on how to deal with x situation" but I'm waiting until I'm more comfortable with the comic friends I've been making before I start asking for that kind of thing (because I know myself too well and know I'll respond way better if it's someone I trust dishing it rather than someone I'm still feeling unsteady with, and developing that steadiness takes time. Plus, a good chunk of what's wrong with my comics is stuff I forgot about during my 5 years out of the game so I'm also waiting until I've been at it for a few months and I feel like I've refreshed all I can on my own before I start picking the brains of my peers, cuz it's more likely to stick if I'm remembering on my own rather than have someone else remind me. IT'S COMING THOUGH. The great askening for critiquage. It'll be here before I know it. Probably sometime January)

[Mocha]

Noooope. I find people close to me don't actually give any good constructive criticism, that and I get embarrassed to show my stories to my family odly enough. I usually ask my classmates (since I'm an art student) because I usually get better constructive criticism from other artists and people who have actually had some experience working in the same medium.

[agentfink]

I work with my husband on our comic and trust his story telling sensibilities and critical eye-- even when I don't want to hear it!
But I also do the same for him (he's the writer). It's nice to have someone who can challenge you creatively, not just someone to go to for praise.

Now, when I do let others outside the creative team take a glimpse at what we're doing, it's mostly to see if they can follow the characters, understand the situations, and follow the page flow. This is a medium most of my family members are not into, so if they can pick up how to read a comic and follow the story-- I feel like I am doing something right.

When I give the comic to beta test-- I tend to give it to artists friends I know and trust. They often pick up on art issues I may not see and can offer more on visual and story feedback in a more articulate way than family or friends.

More often than not, my husband and I just go back and forth and pick the story or page apart until we are satisfied.

[punkarsenic]

i think its always a good idea to show some friends before posting - im not sure if its better to ask friends who know comics, or those who dont. id want to ask one of each, really.

admittedly, i never do this, which is likely my downfall bc im not the worlds best communicator. i used to show every episode, and sometimes every script too, to a friend who was equally passionate about comicbooks, but he disappeared from the internet

[morganelees]

I don't try to get feedback on every page. I figure I've got to have some faith in what I'm doing, and that would bog the whole process down a huge amount anyhow, especially since that would pretty much require telling people the story ahead of time (I'd be more likely to do this if I was drawing a humour strip).

If there's something I'm particularly unsure about and I don't have time to stubbornly research everything possible about it myself, I usually ask my family. They do tend to give me useful criticism, and most of them are artists or writers in some capacity, so that's better than trying to ask people it might take a while to get replies from. That said, family also tend to not be the most unbiased of people, so I also like to get some feedback from other people when I can.

I know this definitely isn't true for everyone, but for whatever reason, I've generally had good luck getting useful feedback on DeviantArt. Some of the most useful constructive criticism I've ever got has come from people on there. I don't know so much about other community art sites, but it seems like the same would be true of most if not all of them.

[6ooey]

I'm fortunate that one of my best friends is an editor so I go to her for proofreading. She knows my characters well so she'll point out any mistakes.

I think its ok to show your friends as long as they give you unbiased feedback and will help you out when there's any errors!