Has Anyone Tried To Dissuade You From Doing Comics?

[elixiadragmire]

Lira your story is quite powerful. I'm glad your on the track and achieving so much out of all that in the end! Its a great story and I'm glad you've got recognition for it too.

As for me my mum was very supportive, I was also very determined to 'draw' for a living. My career advise had a shock. he tried to deter me by questioning my expectation from my choice thinking I'd be niave and asked 'where will you be in 10 years time?' I said 'renting a flat above a Bargin Booze, driving a 10 years old car lemon yellow car that wont start the first time, drawing on commission for a living' that stunned him.

I actually ended up buying a house and having a 9 to 5 paying job sitting at a desk drawing characters illustrations, graphic design and playground concepts and doing art/comics on the side when I get home .... still ended up with the 10 year old car that wont start the first time but its actually silver.

[Ikeyasu]

Not explicitly. Not like "don't do manga! you'll die in the gutter", but more this general feeling and comments that it's so difficult as a career you gotta be a real masochist or workaholic to wanna be a mangaka.

They were kinda right.

[rekumaku]

@lira oh god i feel you =w=
My father pressured me to continue my career as a pharmacist, claiming that comic-making is just a hobby and i should differentiate a hobby and job.
D8
I haven't worked there but i already hate it. Having to smile and be polite to everyone. I haven't forget that lady that told me i never smile and told my upperclassmen about it. I bet she is going to tell my underclassmen too.

I'm afraid the only solution i have right now is obey my father and pursue a pharmacy career while trying to dig path to comic-making and quit pharmacy when i'm financially stable (i should have built that career since my early college days, or maybe since senior high school). But how many years will it take? How many years would i spend regretting what i've done??

And so I'm in the worst mood right now.. god, give me your miracle TTATT

[SpavVy]

Well personally no, people actually support me which makes me feel good, my dad wish I didn't draw it in anime so much though.

[yuliusefferven]

@rekumaku My experience is similar to yours, and if you feel strongly like me and lira, there is a definite chance things will turn out a similar way, sometimes, when the yearning inside of you gets too strong it will wreck havoc until listen to it.

If you can do pharmacy for a few years, have some savings so you can survive for a little while, and then just full time do comics then set that up as a goal and you will feel a lot better. It's always better late than never even if you're late to the game.

Before that happens I suggest you educate yourself as much as possible about what you'll be in for once you quit your day job so you're prepared mentally and have a plan. Don't give up and get depressed if you ever need some support, we're all here for you!

[perfectioninpro]

hahaha my parents lol. but my parents are dissuasive for a particular reason - they don't like aspirations, they like results. if my art isn't amounting to anything they think it should be on the backburner until other things (like uni or work) get priority for a while. But when it's successful they share in my success - as a hobby. It's really tough finding a happy medium, since I like to make them happy, but no one would go to the extent that they do to help me succeed (like traveling with me to help at conventions)

[perfectioninpro]

is he like mine? anytime he appraises a piece all he says is, 'It's not a tree.'
once, I drew him a tree, and all he wanted was another tree! D:

[kambreapratt]

Just keep in mind that it is fine to have a day job and do comics. Is it ideal? NO. But, unless you have a highly successful comic, or are married to someone with a good job, or have an established freelance career on the side, the odds of living on your work alone are not very high. This is in no way to dissuade people from doing comics (I started the thread.) I am just saying to keep going, and don't let people stop you, but be aware of the realities of the industry. We know people with book deals that still work day jobs too. A lot of highly successful webcomics creators have jobs (or are married to someone who does) So it is easy to get taken with the idea, but look into it more.

Keep doing art. Whether you do it for a hobby or a job. Just keep doing your thing. Know that a LOT of people want to do it full time and totally get how you feel. You aren't alone (even if your family/friends are not cool about it)

[lira]

What @kambreapratt says is really important. I know many comic artists that have jobs not related to arts too and they're still super dedicated to their comics on their free time. It wasn't a possibility for me because I could never manage to get a job that didn't slave me the whole day (my country's laws about working hours are not very good) and it took me 2 hours just to get to my workplace (and obviously another two to get back home). The only day I could have done something else was on Sunday, but I was too tired to even think that day and I needed to do things like grocery shopping and laundry.

So, don't get too discouraged if you can't make a living from comics. As long as yo get to keep drawing them, things aren't so bad. @rekumaku, don't be scared, if you still have some free time for yourself you will be able to keep making comics even if you're working on something else. And one day maybe you will get what you truly want. Just... don't stop practicing. Always draw.

Oh, and allow me to quote @yuliusefferven here:

The hardest things about being an artist is trusting yourself, when it seems like no-one else trusts you to do well.

This is REALLY important. Always remember this. Even if no one else believes in you, please believe in yourselves. Please love your work. The first and most loyal fan of your comic work must always be yourself. It was one of the things that got me back on my feet, actually, the moment I said "well, ok, this is my family, they don't believe I can do this. But someone needs to believe I can. It will have to be myself, apparently".

@elixiadragmire you're awesome, I'm proud of your silver car .

[Merryweatherey]

My parents as well as friends and family are very supportive of this hobby of mine. My mother even takes pride in it, as strange as that may sound.

The only people that have really tried to dissuade me from doing webcomics, are people I've met Online, I'm afraid.

[richardwyse18]

I have mainly because it is time consuming. Like i am making a manga and im working on it daily after work and thats all i do.

[allenthomas]

Yes, I've had a lot of people dissuade me from making my comic. Everything from you're wasting your time, you won't make any money, or get a real job. I never really paid attention to any of that because I always knew what I wanted to do. My main supporters were my mom, my brother, and late granddad.

[Kura]

I have no issues with my friends and family, the only issue they have it "how are you not earning more?" Though one of my doctors was completely shocked when he assumed that I was making all kinds of money off of my comics and as such could be off disability soon, to which my answer was "I do not make anything close to a livable wage of comics." And it was very unfathomable to him both how I was not making at least a livable wage off of art and confused over the idea that people were unwilling to pay (or pay a lot) for art.

Most negative feedback comes from people online, and not even directly to me face. Apparently people steal my comic pages and upload them elsewhere where they leave comments such as "look at this trash, this artists is garbage for thinking they could make a comic. I only read this because I want to see the artist crash and burn"

I can't nor do I expect to please everyone, so though comments like that get to me at first, in the long run they don't actually mean much to me or my work.

[shawnmjones796]

If you plan to earn a living creating comics/manga, prepare for the really hard work in doing so;
best to keep your day-job until you doing so.

For someone in telling you to give-it-up (and do something else), say to them...this is what you want to do: and ask them, are they happy with their craft of choice.

[SpavVy]

OH SNAP I didn't get notification of your reply! Well my dad wishes I would pull away from the anime style and just make my own, he doesn't like it that I do my art digital either because it's bad for my eyes and says real artists do their work traditionally. My father is a major health freak as well. The thing I don't think he understands is there are so many styles of anime out there and that I do have my own style with it. He also thinks he knows more about anime then I do, he actually thought Speed Racer was the first anime xD technically the first "anime" that was made was Katsudou Shashin which was only 3 seconds long.

[fanyart]

That's some interesting stories there...

I have a completely opposite experience in that I don't get absolutely any feedback at all, and now I wonder if it hadn't been better even if someone told me my art sucks. Well, it's my fault because I don't associate with people as I'm a very shy person (I know it doesn't look like it here, but posting here costs me a lot of effort >_> ). I do have a few friends but none of them is interested in comics.
Just one friend read a storyboard for a comic I did in summer, she was really excited about it, but as she is a hyperactive person, she lost the excitement soon. I don't see her often so there is no way to relive the talk about the comic.

When I was in highschool, I had an older friend who watched anime a lot and was really smart so he really gave me much advice to my comics - its only thanks to him that Dragon Heroes: Crow came to being and also half of another much longer story. Then he graduated from university and I never saw him again.
To be honest, I really miss him. I have never met such a smart and knowledgeable person since then.

I have always been ashamed that when I do commissions, projects etc. it makes a lot of difference in my workflow whether the person in charge (or someone who wouldn't tell you it's good just to flatter you, like family or roommates) gives some feedback or if I just wait for an answer that's never coming and don't know if I should carry on this way or not. When I realized that I basically need them to say "good, go on" to happily keep on working on the project, I found it really childish but this thread made me realize it's basic human need.

Thank you.

[Blacksanz]

Have any of you ran into this? What do you say to those people? Do they ever get to you and make you doubt what you do? Why do you keep going?

That's what I tend to do when someone tried to dissuade me from investing so much time in doing comics

Now, nobody bothers me with that.....

[scythe]

The only 'person' trying to dissuade me from drawing is the little voice in the back of my head reminding me of how many pages I've written for my story compared to how many I've actually drawn. This voice is always loudest after a particularly long session shut away in front of my computer.

But then, I remember three things. 1, whenever I'm away from my comic, I'm thinking about it, and excited to work on it again. 2, What's more important that I should waste all my spare hours on? TV? Playing games? And 3, Nothing worthwhile is ever quick or easy.

[jameseroche]

This probably isn't the typical type of dissuasion, but as a writer I have to hire artists to collaborate with. And rightfully so, pay them!
Being a married man who was going through some financial hardships a while back, I had my wife give me some shit (rightfully so) for continuing to slowly work on a project while trying to save money. So in the end I put the comic creating on hold for a while and focused on getting my main job/mode of income settled (very important). But now i'm back! Woohoo!!
I've also had people who aren't into comics or anything artistic at all roll their eyes and giggle about it. But who cares what the naysayers really think? If doing comics is what you're into; if you're addicted to the feeling you get once you see the finished product of your work then you my friend have the itch... Get to making your comics and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!

[cyanste]

Never have come across naysayers, but it might be because I have a full-time job/career outside of art right now. My parents have always pushed for a money-making job and to keep doing art on the side as a hobby.

What do people get out of dissuading others? Does it make them feel better about themselves?