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arpeggiomax87
Jul '20

I try to focus on making something that would be a great lasting continuation, yet the fact that I get bored and lose the courage to try anything bigger for the project in particular makes my confidence in my projects shot dead in it's tracks.

I try my damnedest coming up with something, yet I look over it, try to come from different angles, still do not get it, and then I either bullshit it or just quit and try again later or just quit it all.

But then there's the ones I'm legitimately proud of doing, yet that end up having shit-all viewers to it, despite me taking ages on trying to learn how it works. The comic I have used animation being that one in particular, and it killed me emotionally and courageously when the views to this day are nowhere near what I would have expected it to be.

I attempted to do more animations after that, but then I realized it would hurt too much if I tried it again, knowing it's going to result to the same outcome as before.

How is it that I'm still failing? Is there a secret gift that I'm not receiving? Is it like a game where I complete it but didn't get everything I need to feel 100% complete? Is it that I'm a drag to talk to just because I am showing my real side on a forum site (which I already know, the saddest thing ever to have been done ever), or is it just that I'm too dumb to see what an obvious answer is in front of my face?

  • created

    Jul '20

  • last reply

    Jul '20
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BrambleberrySquirrel
Jul '20

Being an artist is tough. Some of the greatest artists of all time died with zero recognition in their lifetimes. I just read through your comic and there is genuinely some great zany and downright dark stuff in there. Does that mean it will ever be successful? It’s impossible to know. When it comes down to it the only way to keep going even if it seems like no one cares about what you’re doing is to think about why you are making this comic in the first place. If it’s just for views and accolades then you’re wasting your time. Having read your pages I don’t think that’s the case. I see someone who really likes having a creative outlet that allows them to express what’s going on in their head in a way that might reach someone feeling something similar.

To keep on going while keeping the hope alive that your comic might one day hit it big means doing it for yourself. Even if you never get even one more view. If you can make something you feel good about that’s all that matters. Like I said being an artist isn’t for the faint of heart. We’re all choosing to devote untold hours of our time to something that is probably in all likelihood meaningless. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it and learn to take satisfaction in your own work. If you ever need to bounce ideas off someone or just talk to another comic artist struggling to find purpose you can send me a message whenever you like and I’ll be here.

mochimiozuki
Jul '20

Most creators of many types go months, even years with a poor fallowing, where 100-200 views is a good day. The only thing to do is continue to put out consistent, good content. The only secret is time and persistence.

Very few people get lucky and have a fallowing in a few months or a year.
Do not expect anything, don't expect it fast. As sad as it is though skill is almost always necessary the largest factors are time and luck.

Don't give up, I've been trying awhile myself but continue to put out content and keep trying, set realistic goals that are close to being achieved so you feel motivation to continue. It's hard to get anywhere if you give up on things so keep going with them all the way threw even if it only pulls a small amount of attention, It'll feel good to finish it.

Good luck in the future, I hope this helps.

KelheorRegular
Jul '20

The answer is that there's no secret gift and no secret techniques of drawing. Just people doing the thing over and over again, trying new things and becoming better.

It's hard not to lose faith, still you need to compare yourself to the best and ask how is that you different from them. Most likely it would be that you didn't put enough work in what you do, you didn't update as much as they do, you don't have a particular zest that could be interesting for the readers - there are literally thousands of things why you're not as popular.
People don't see the time you put in what you do. They don't care if you made this gif for a week. It's either cool for them to look at, or not, and most of the content is just being glanced in within 5 seconds, so yes, it doesn't matter if it's a 5 mins sketch or a gif you made crying - people will probably pay pretty much the same amount of time looking at them.
I don't say it as "drop everything and you'll become popular making shitty sketches" though, because I believe it's crucial for the artist to become better, unless you wanna sit in the swamp degrading.

In the end maybe you don't even need a "big project", many popular artists don't have it at all, they just do art after art after art, and they post it every day for many many years. Yes, some do become popular immediately with 1 picture, but it's rarely the case.

I recommend checking "Tellurion" of Matt Rhodes. It's a comic that consists of 1 picture without words and he updated it for a few years religiously. It has a plot, but I think the fact he's only making 1 picture for a scene is more relaxing somewhat. It's just some characters doing something in one place. Maybe it would be more suitable for you to think of something like it.

Haruh2
Jul '20

In order to keep going to find an audience that appreciates your content as much as you do, you need to make something that you like and would want to see first, so that you can pour your passion into it and at the end of the day you'll feel happy that you got to talk about or show more about something you find interesting

Ive somewhat felt that same way , but my comic is something ive thought about for awhile and love making new stuff for it, sure i replay it daily in my head but when i draw it i will make it different from how i see it in my head to change things up

but yea work on techniques so things are easier work on time management and consistancy so you can create a post schedule so you have something weekly , daily ever what your comfortably with making for your content

Inspector_Spinda
Jul '20

My advice is to put less effort and have fewer expectations. Keep the quality of your work at a level you'd be comfortable with doing weekly (or whatever you want your schedule to be). Really love your story and characters and let the views come (or not). Keep in mind that this is all for fun and if you never get a following that's okay too because at least a few people liked what you did and you're proud of yourself.

mg78
Jul '20

this s no game.
what u should ask is: what i am ready to pay for my dreams? am i ready sacrifice everything for my story/comic? even do something NONE ll like it...???
because if all this, it's all about "i want audience" and "be apreciated... and similar"... maybe "you" need to reconsider "this game". a LOT too.
then there s another point imho.
to believe in yourself it's everything BUT... are you able to consider yourself for what truly you are? you could be some amazing creator and fail because you are not able to see how much good you are.... OR you could be a not so good creator and live in a bubble where "everyone is evil and doesnt understand your amazing work".
that s a damn hard n difficult thing to manage... but it's... everything, and all this is linked to what you are disposed "to pay".

i spent a lot of time about similar problem.
now i had THE conclusion: create a story by a comic, drawing it... it's my way, it the way i want to live, no matter what else. i dont truly understand if i am good at what i doing or not... but it's what i like and it's worth the time spent.
so... now if i have to face that i have no "fans", no likes, have only negative critiques... it's ok. it doesnt make me happy, but this path it's the only i want. and i ll keep to produce my stories. i would do it even on a desert island.

GL.

arpeggiomax87
Jul '20

Ok, I noticed my viewer base went up exponentially higher than it was, but I think it's due to making this post...

Guys, I appreciate it, but I don't want you all to think I was begging or anything like that, I was just wanting advice. I only wanted to know about exhausting over my tiresome projects.

I'm not salty about my post or anything. But thanks for the feedback n' everything.

Iris-Grimoire
Jul '20

If your project is tiresome, then you might've made it too big. Burnout happens, but keep in mind rushing things and phoning it in translates into your art, and viewers notice. If it's a comic for example, you can take a break and work on something smaller, or try and find time-saving techniques to forget the looming problem of time and how fast it'll be read and finished when it's done.

KelheorRegular
Jul '20
arpeggiomax87

It is. Though it's not about pity.
In the end I would like to say that your style is pretty nice and the animations you made are really entertaining (and I am not here to pointlessly flatter you), it gives a lot of nostalgia feelings for the 90's Cartoon Network series and I think you can profit from it too.

The only problem I see is that you're not making enough content (which is bad in nowadays social media promotion) and just maybe your kind of content is not for everyone (which is not exactly bad).

So maybe if you try this and that, and a few different ideas and learn what you can create, you will find your audience. But yeah, for this to happen you need to do and post something constantly and not put it into the dark corner of your dusty desk.
Especially if you didn't made a comic before, there's almost no way you'll become a good comic creator with your fist one.
Just... Believe in yourself a bit more.

You don't have to answer if you don't want or feel intimidated by my words :ok_hand:

arpeggiomax87
Jul '20

I actually believe this one. I have always wanted to do a variety-based project. Something coming from a new perspective differential in every comic.

krisadafantasy
Jul '20

I do animation too. Though just a short little one. Maybe because I'm not really social engaging, make friends, or promoting my work much, my animations here on Tapas barely have 10 views per episode. Fortunately I have really good few subscribers that always like my works; it kept me going on.

But overall, I do it for myself. This is not going to be a good advice for everyone but I make doing my animation kind of a task, a chore even, to force me to think of idea and make it into real work. I make a long list of assigned idea for each weekly animation long into the future. Since I have stock up many ideas when I'm in good creative phrase, I only have to execute it, one idea per week for submission.

Somebody may rightly feels that this is too tedious and repetitive that will eventually push you into burnout. But I like stability and predictable routine in my life. And compare to my work life I'm always looking forward of looking at a list I made months ago to see what idea I will turn into animation this weekend.

BrambleberrySquirrel
Jul '20
arpeggiomax87

The ones where you were doing something different each episode or a different gag each time were great and hilarious. Later on where it seems like you are trying to set up some larger plot is where it gets kind of lost and muddy for me. You seem to excel in the more comedic and less dramatic moments. My advice would be to stick to that for now and maybe save the bigger world building type ideas for a later project once you’ve used this one to really hone your skills.