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jarklor7
Jan '19

My dream is to make a few very successful comics. The stories are really ambitious but they are dear to my heart. One is called “welcome to japan” in which a boy named Daniel from America gets accepted into a summer boarding school in Japan. He’s very weebish and assumes he knows about Japan and it is a very awkward, funny, and somewhat emotional experience when he sees the true reality of Japanese society. But the biggest story I have is called “gods, dragons, magic” where a boy creates this fantasy world called Zarminia in which he draws pictures of the land and his imaginary friend dragon. As he grows older, he forgets about these fantasies but then when night he wakes up in Zarmina and it had been real all along. It’s a story about faith, depression, loneliness, friendship, hope, and adventure.

I couldn’t just go up and make these right away. The first problem is my skill level. I would want to be much more skilled and prepared in my art skills before I attempted something monumental. The second problem is lack of followers. Even if I worked my butt off making these the best I would get would be a few likes and followers. I would prefer building up a fanbase than making a huge kickstarter announcement. It would be much more of an event and worthwhile.

In the meantime I’m not sure what to do. As far as making a living, I’m in college right now to become an art teacher. It combines what I like and also making a living wage. However, I want more out of life. I want to be an artist, creator, and a leader. I want people to look up to me. I want purpose. I want to see my effect on the world. I don’t want my ideas to be alone. Right now, I’m working on smaller comics, art pieces, youtube channel and stuff like that. It feels impossible and I don’t know what to do. I know it seems very selfish, wanting the spotlight and such. I know that I’m asking for a lot, especially since my skills are a long ways to go. Though, I feel that deep down that even if I won’t try hard it won’t matter. How in the world am I supposed to get from nothing to something? How do I succeed?

In college, everything is laid out for you. Your schedule, the grading criteria, the courses you need to take, etc. But the internet is not like that. There is no path, there is no guide. It is all up to you. And that is terrifying. I don’t know what the next step I should take.

Sorry if this came across a little ranty. I apologize if this offended anyone.

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nostalgicroxas
Jan '19

Schedule yourself for the days when you're not in college. A lot of things I hear from regular artists like Sakimi-chan include things like "I draw 8 hours a day", or they schedule batch drawings with time to relax, stretch their hands and body, and to relax.

Another is to look for groups for artists -namely those in the Artist Alley networks- across the globe. They have advice and ideas for not just table display but site display, which shops to order your products and accompanying products (bubble wrap, charms, storage, ect) from.

Internet-wise, it's all about tagging and being on the correct medium and being ready to switch to the next big thing at a moment's notice. dA used to be a top contender, but now it's reserved for mostly portfolios, while the actual work and stuff to keep your following engaged is on tumblr/instagram - more so instagram from what I understand. And again, it's all about tagging. At a certain point, you need to invest in your own dot-com and making a professional portfolio and getting business cards (vista print sales are always recommended).

For a regular job, I suggest doing internships at the local school and figuring out what certs you need to teach. They aren't just a BA or BS or Bach in Teaching. They require certain hours in location, even as a substitute. You can also use that portfolio I mentioned earlier to make a physical print out of your work to keep in a professional black binder portfolio to show at interviews at graphic design /print shops/embroidery shops and ect, including newspapers. You can also look into stores that house your artwork for a % or fee each month. My physical book is in one such store where the owner takes a % of each sale + a monthly fee to use her floor-space. Each shop takes different percents, and have different requirements for things to be locked up or not, or if they provide suitable displays or if you need to provide your own. In my town, there's the shop I'm in which takes about 10% of the month's entire sales, or another shop that takes closer to 50%. You can also make a room in your house or a rental space a formal studio and ask around how to get added to the local "studio tours", which act as both working studios and museum-type display studios - This process involves you reading the local newspaper and finding one of these studios and stopping in to ask how they got in, if the information isn't on the paper directly.

For a more regular 9-5 job, if not teaching, look for jobs that require creative elements. Like that sign shop and print shop and graphic design.
A less regular is : Local theatres always require something, generally for free, but some will pay you if you let them know - but just be aware that most Community Theatres have very small budgets and cannot reliably pay you the amount due per hour. ie paint a backdrop, make a few large props, or a few signs, and the work per hour is $500, you're morely likely to get half that but that's up to negotiations. Also include in the contract if you want to take the work once the production is done, or let it be a purchased item to the theater - keep pictures of everything you make for that portfolio.

And always tailor your resume to match where you're applying, including adjusting your portfolio as needed. Keep in mind a lot of that is termed as contract labor and freelance work, which requires you to manage your own taxes.

A major part of this involves being your own agent, accounting / tax manager, and marketer. It is all learnable, but requires you to be active and present in whatever community you live in, which if you're an introvert might be difficult.

jarklor7
Jan '19

I appreciate the effort put into this post. I'm slowly creeping out of my depression and trying to push myself harder. But of course, it's hard lol. For art on instagram, should I just make whatever I want to make? Or should I make things that might be more popular? Thanks.

nostalgicroxas
Jan '19

I'm not sure, since I barely use instagram personally. It's about tagging your post with every tag that's relevant, learning what times are best, and such like that. Fanart vs whatever you want, just do both, one or the other. It doesn't really matter so long as it's tagged. Fanart is likely to get more followers who are looking for stuff in specific, ie fans of #Klance shipping will be looking for that over art tagged just #keith #lance. You can find artists on their who have large numbers of followers and see how their posts look vs where do they link to outside of instagram - ko-fi, commissions, a portfolio site, tumblr, conventions, a shop, ect.