Do you tell offline friends you doing comic?

[Utamee]

OMG, I can imagine. My husband simply know I'm doing it. that's it. LOL

[IndigoShirtProd]

Yea, I've shared it with my closest family friends and new friends who are also into art. They're all really supportive so I'm grateful for that!

[TheGentleArtist]

I have and showed a few, basically 4 people XD.

[WinterFall]

Hm, not quite... I don't really tend to tell people about these kind of things...

I'm planning to tell some people later on. Only some of them, though; I want to tell people who share the same interest with me, or if they ask me themselves. Plus, I only have a few close friends, haha... I don't think it's quite necessary to tell people who aren't really interested. As of now, I'm currently just a new and small novel author! I'm also planning to separate my online life from my personal life, so...

[Shanny8]

If they are interested in small press/independent comics or webcomics, I tell them.

[ar-ninetysix]

I want to talk about writing a comic with my friends, and I know they'd be cool with hearing about it. A few might even encourage me to finish it or show them stuff ahead of time! And my parents, well.. I can see myself getting a lecture for not making it Christian or making too dramatic lol but either way, it's something I feel I should avoid talking about for now tbh

I've announced quite a few creative projects in the past to friends, and fulfilled almost none of it. Real talk, it's got nothing to do with their opinions. I know that if I start talking about it and hearing feedback immediately.. I'm just gonna lose interest in making whatever it is that I'm making.

There's this idea that talking about your goals before arriving there can trick some people's minds into mentally feeling rewarded for something unfinished, and with that reward comes the feeling of completion. I.. actually relate to that a lot. So I try not to talk about it at all, just to stay creatively driven. I've made a rule of not announcing anything creative until it's mostly done or to only post something as soon as it's finished

[Azifri]

Oh yes, pretty much everyone around me has at least heard of my comic or other artsy stuff I do. This includes my family, friends, students, supervisor, etc Chances are, if someone has small talked with me, then they probably know I draw a comic.

This is quite opposite of how I was in my teens and 20s, where I would even hide my drawings from others. At some point, I probably got so busy with other things in life, that worrying about insecurities or other people's opinions became irrelevant. Besides, even if not perfect, I like the stuff I create.

[Rhonder]

Hey, that's really cool that you're getting back into drawing again tho The pandemic has definitely been a bummer in some ways, but I think it's been an opportunity for a lot of people to either rekindle old hobbies or try new ones!

I definitely agree though, being outright about it with your IRL people definitely isn't for everyone. It works well in my case, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a little more private about it either~

[saffasas]

I’m posting it on my insta too, which all my friends can see.
I thought that at best people just wouldn’t care about it, but actually I was really pleasantly surprised by the amount of friends that I thought wouldn’t be at all interested who messaged me and left comments about how much they were enjoying it!
Like someone else already said, it’s a good way to get over that cringe feeling where you don’t know if you should be making what your making! If they’re good friends then they will support you even if it’s not completely to their taste, and if they’re not then their opinion is unimportant!

[Puck]

First time I told it to people was when I was 8.
I never wanted to be popular or anything, it´s just something which is
a part of me, I´m a 24/7 artist. I write stories and songs, I draw comics,
I play instruments, I record, mix and master music, I design. I´m not interested
in other things and so it´s natural for me to talk about it when I meet people
when they tell me about their jobs, relationships, hobbies, houses, their dogs,
income, what they like to eat and drink and where they will spend their vacation

[siluscomics]

Aaah, I don't really tell anyone unless they're into it, like my friends who still actively read and write themselves. I might occasionally put a link up on my socials, but if I were doing a more er, sexy comic, they'll never know about it hahaha!

[darthmongoose]

It'd be pretty hard to keep it secret. I'm from a small rural town, so the local paper has interviewed me a few times when I've placed in national comics competitions and run workshops in the area. My family and old school friends are very supportive of my work even though they tend to find manga and geek culture bewildering.
It'd probably be trickier for me if I made explicit/mature-rated work and not fairly family-friendly action and adventure stories.

[FritzC]

Uhhh idk what you mean by not young anymore, that's a vague description... But most people in my life (outside of online friends) know that I make a comic, not a lot of them read it because they simply have no interest in comics or webcomics for that matter. That's fine though, I don't really mind.

I don't like when my friends or my partner tells other people about my comic though, since it's an lgbt romcom and I don't want to have to deal with answering questions about it to people who don't see the point, for example if he mentions it to his older family members. He has also not read my comic though, just knows it exists.

[alextsarace]

I'm an adult, jobless, never attended any art school/course, not famous at all and I'm telling everyone what I'm doing because I don't care. And they don't care too, no one cares actually, everyone is too busy with their own lives, so I'm 'enjoying' my comic all alone.

[skippyjoeskilling]

Yeah! Though it's one of my biggest insecurities tbh. I don't know why it bothers me so much more to imagine my mom reading my work that however many hundreds of strangers. But pretty much all my friends know I at least have a webcomic, and a few that already read comics read mine fairly regularly. I kinda use Tham as beta readers too, since it's nice to have someone you can ask about the story in depth. But if someone has no interest in comics or art I don't tell them cus like.. why would I?

my one rule is that I don't talk too much about projects that are still in the works to them. So none of my friends know how the comic is actually gonna end. Except one who I told like three years ago when the idea first popped into my head, though I doubt she even remembers lol.

[Kaydreamer]

My friends, family and colleagues all know that I want to make a career change into illustration. So yeah, I tell them! Especially if they're curious about what type of illustration I aspire to do. Just today I was speaking with one of the other voice teachers, and she brought up how one of her daughters is a reluctant reader of regular novels, but will devour graphic novels. She'd seen me sketching a page and was really impressed.

It really hit home today that the field of illustration I want to work in is like a gateway drug to reading, for children who otherwise wouldn't enjoy reading. Feels good.

[Eiranyx]

My direct Family knows it and some of my few friends -- they're very supportive in their own ways ^^
Some of my friends who have the same interest with me helps me in a way that they also share it among people they know who might be interested.
My direct family like my parents and siblings don't mind even if my comic are nsfw or the genre is a bit heavy ( I mean its BL lol) , they just support me to continue on or give me advice too.
My other relatives, supports my art (I do different types paintings, murals, and do graphics btw) however -- they don't know about my comic (because you know some relatives can be a bit judgy sometimes and stuff) so I don't let them know my pen name/ artist name
but all in all, I feel thankful for them for supporting me in their own ways ^^

[frgmnt]

A few people I know irl do know I'm an artist but I've only shown some of my art to one close person. I don't really plan on changing it. (Actually, when someone wanted to see my work, I kinda panicked and had to think hard of an excuse why I won't do that... ) I like to keep my hobbies, interests and online life private, even if there's nothing to be ashamed of. Just introvert things, I guess.

But I'm also scared of being judged. My art is nothing impressive or something you could show in an art gallery, it's just silly gay cartoons and animes (the gay part could be debatable, but it's getting gayer these days, and that's one more reason to not show it irl - it's... not a very LGBT-supportive environment here). Also my stories are very personal to me, which makes the fear of being judged stronger.

[pilot-obvious]

I would say only a handful of my closest friends know I'm doing my webcomic! My boyfriend shared it on Facebook when I first started and a lot of mutual acquaintances/his friends commented on the post but none of them actually stuck around for it, so they know it exists but they don't know anything more.

My boss and coworkers all know about it. I work heavily in content creation/social media marketing so I've shared some of my experiences. It's a very relaxed environment so I felt comfortable sharing with them. I don't think any of them have actually read the comic but they follow me on Instagram and see some of the art related to it. They're all super supportive! My boss and supervisor is convinced that I'm going to get famous from it and end up leaving the company some day. I laugh at that but appreciate the confidence boost.

If it blows up, I might share it on my Facebook, but I don't really want irl people to know anything about me.

[Puck]

I know exactly how that feels.
Most of my friends are not interested in comics at all, they don´t know what I´m talking about and
they don´t even listen to me anymore which I can understand because they have zero interest in the
topic.
That´s why I use pages like Tapas to find people to talk about comics