Juggling Life and Art-How?

[raeguardart]

I'm having a heck of a time carving out space to draw my comic. Between a full time day job ramping up with the holidays and home life of two elderly dogs (I love them to absolute bits mind you) that require extra care, plus all the chores that you need to do to actually like, live, I can only seem to manage 2-3.5 hours a day to draw/write/read/game. Which translates to 10-12 panels drawn a week which makes my comic's pacing go at a craaaaawl.

I know some people just do big once a month updates, but as it is views drop off after about a day. How do you keep up the pace?

Please people of tapas lend this slowpoke some wisdom Or time stopping powers, those would be great too!

[migxmeg]

10-12 panels a week seems pretty good to me tbh! Keep in mind that the pros releasing 30+ panels have assistants and such.

[raeguardart]

You’re right, just feels discouraging reading everywhere about readers expecting like 30 minimum.

[pilot-obvious]

I've just come to accept that I don't have as much time to pump out regular updates as I would like. I try to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to drawing/comic producing and if I feel like doing more, I will. Life just gets in the way... and that's okay!

Do you have any ways that you're able to cut corners in your comic? Simplifying coloring, having slightly sketchier lines, reusing assets? I try to take advantage of programs like Sketchup or use some photos I've taken for backgrounds. I also decided that I would sacrifice quality for quantity which means I stopped worrying about little things that were bothering me and moving on to the next panel instead.

[ninjashira]

Nah you can't let other people's expectations affect your reality. I've been there and done that, working 40+ hours a week, commuting an hour and a half each way, plus taking care of my allergic-to-everything dog, and still trying to make art. I couldn't keep up with my usual update schedule at the time so I just straight-up abandoned it and said fuck it! Art will happen when it happens, not when someone else expects it! I would go weeks or months without making anything sometimes, but when I could find the time or the mental energy for it, I could just let myself enjoy creating art rather than worry about yet another deadline.

Forget deadlines and expectations and pressure and just do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself and your family (furry or otherwise) and let yourself enjoy your art when you have the time for it. If you start to think of it as just another job, it's gonna get harder and harder to find the time for it.

[likhoradka]

It's always frustrating finding the time when you work fulltime - especially anything that sucks the life out of you. Right now, I'm sacrificing playing games and watching shows/movies. And 10-12 is actually a pretty good number of weekly panels on your own! People who expect 30+ panels a week are going to be the same that expect 50+ panels when they are getting 30+ and it just keeps going like that.

Like others have suggested: You can pull back on details or trying to make things perfect (readability matters more than an anatomically correct pose). Always remember that readers are not looking at panels for as long as you are. Sketchup is awesome (a couple hours spent making a set you're gonna reuse saves so much time) - to make it less jarring, trace the image so it matches better. If you can find a way to streamline your process, that helps cut time. And remove distractions! I found myself getting distracted a bunch when I was actively timing each step of my process, and now I constantly catch myself when I hadn't even noticed before.

[jensrichard77]

”Sleep Faster”
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

[SeraphicMayin]

Imo, It's okay if the views drop off after the spike, that's normal for any update.

Coming out of hiatus yesterday, I recently shifted to uploading and scheduling a whole chapter (in single page uploads) so everyone reading has that to chew on while I keep my head down and work on the next chapter.

It might help to not think about just the pace of updates but rather finishing the story and then worry about spreading it around to find new readers. The end goal of a finished comic is just as important if not more cause by then readers will at least have the whole story to view and comment on.

Especially if you have time constraints in your life. Sometimes you just gotta accept what's not in your control and work with what is.

[nickolaidas]

I loved that video. So inspiring and didn't seem fake like those videos with the dude telling you that you can do anything while he climbs a mountain or something.

[Puck]

10 to 12 panels is good.
If you want to do more you probably need other priorities in your life and you have
to question yourself if it´s worth it.
I work on creative projects with a lot of people, some of them can only work on
the project every 2 weeks and they don´t spend one second on thinking about
the project in the mean time. Me on the other hand I work on and think about
my projects all the time but I don´t have any other priorities that come before
the creation. No dayjob, no partner, no pets, no hobbies, I don´t care much about
food or tv or video games. And that´s what other people have as their priorities.
I had to make sleep a priority again because I would die if I don´t