Sep 2017
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Sep 2017
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LordVincent
Sep '17

...coughs

Leave space for people to discuss the "how", "who" and "when" of this program? Please? o_o

Last time we were on topic, the discussion was focused on whether mentors etc should be filtered.
I will have to agree with previous additions that some filter is probably good. Partially so that participants involved match up as well as possible, and partially so that each party gets the most out of it. Unserious participants might leave a sour aftertaste and affect the possibility of the program reoccurring in the future?

punkarsenic
Sep '17
joe_galindez

joe, maybe you should make a thread discussing being self taught vs being tutored? you have a lot to say on the matter, and so do some other people here. itd be cool to see that discussion go on uninhibited (im not saying that to shoo you away btw, but bc i would totally read that thread!)

Luminosophy
Sep '17

I really like the idea but it has to be something individuals have control over selecting the mentees. I did a program like this on Deviantart to teach illustration through a group that randomly paired people together. Every mentee I got wasn't interested in learning as much as trying to figure out what magic brush I used to make everything happen. When they found out there was no such trick, they bailed. :T

joe_galindez
Sep '17
LordVincent

Sure.

Post must be at least 20 characters.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Jennay.

kip
Sep '17
Luminosophy

Oh, that sucks to hear. I’m worried over that possibility too, hence I think the trainees should be filtered as well. Amount of time drawing, and posting comics specifically, may be important, too? Age, maybe. I feel like the whole “what’s the trick, though?” mentality may be something mainly young artists have.
A trail period like I mentioned back at the beggining of the thread may help there too.
It’s possible a short interview could even help at the very beginning of the program, to ensure expectations are clear on both sides.

IdiotWithPencil
Sep '17
Luminosophy

I remember that all the great youtube artist said like a religious chant the names of their art utensils in every video cause they get ask that like once every 2 seconds, and it was followed by "you don't need to buy this to draw better" which was quickly ignored by all beginner artist who went out and bought a black prisma colour cause they used a black prisma colour =V

amatures are weird like that, I mean having a ruler won't make me a math wizard so why would a pencil of a certain brand -_-

also I just thought of something Portfolios, why not filter based on a portfolio one for art and one with a short story of x pages about anything, that way you could see who needs help in what and who are already masters/not needing help

Luminosophy
Sep '17
kip

I think the age thing may be a little unfair. There's definitely young kids who take stuff super seriously and can handle critique. Actually I found a pretty easy way to identify them, for artists at least! They always have a very diverse portfolio. They'll be tackling really hard stuff like perspective, composition and backgrounds, not just always drawing head shots at the same front on angle. History of drawing/ writing something would be a good indicator though. If you have genuine passion you don't need someone to tell you what to do to get started.

I think you could ask both the mentor and mentee to write a short essay on what their goals are for the program (and for their work in general), and people can self select from there.

Luminosophy
Sep '17
IdiotWithPencil

Lol and on the other hand, my friends and I will always say, truthfully, "We don't use special brushes, we only use the default round brush setting" and people get upset and accuse you of lying. Because apparently textures always have to Photoshop filters or something.

I'd think portfolios would be standard. I mean there's varying degrees of amateur and master, even. Someone could be really solid in anatomy but not know how to draw dynamic figures that look and feel alive, for example. I know there's equivalent issues for writers.

UbePie
Sep '17

See my idea of the mentor ship is different then others, apparently. I don't want someone to help with my arts so much as I want someone to help me understand the business. I draw, I take art classes, nude models, art school, all that. If i want to improve in my basic art technique that's where I turn to. Would i turn down digital art tips? No, but I have already settled on my style, or at least the style I use in my comics, i don't need help developing that. I would just like a mentor that looks over stuff and says, "this could be improved." Or "You might benefit from advertising on X forum." Or explain the best approach for keeping consistent updates. I had no idea what a buffer was before I had already started posting. That sort of thing.

Kaykeactual fraggle
Sep '17
UbePie

My idea is similar to yours. I feel like there's so much that goes into it that isn't exactly art related. Though I think the mentors should give art critique too... so I guess my idea of a mentor is someone who gives art advice but also shows you how they handle the business and organizational parts of comic making since those parts are really important for someone trying to make comics professionally... and not something that's as easy to come by as art tutorials and critiques.

punkarsenic
Sep '17

this sounds like a good idea. there definitely would need to be some kinda base standard for mentees, i think; a mentor shouldnt be expected to work with someone they dont see promise in.

IdiotWithPencil
Sep '17
UbePie

have you tried looking for bushiness courses or marketing courses? their very useful in getting and understanding of how to do all what you just said. also try googling webcomic forums =P

UbePie
Sep '17

Already part of web comic groups and forums. Following people on twitter all that. I have come to the point where i have googled all i can google. You are talking to a Art history major here, when I research I research hard. Still getting first hand advice from a mentor would be beneficial i think. My school does have a business department so i might look into that.

IdiotWithPencil
Sep '17

oooh you have a business department? then you should go and ask I'm sure some business teacher would love to give you some tips on how to market more your comic and give you a rundown of how you could promote it more

ratiqueDirector, Community (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Sep '17

Hello all,

I've been thinking about this all day, since it is really quite a wonderful idea. I like that everyone works together to improve and build a strong community of strong creators.

My problem is similar to what many of you mentioned before. It is very hard to utilize, requires a lot of time from the mentor and from whomever is organizing it.

I would like to go back to the original post with the base idea (mainly because all of you guys are so darn quick and I can't read all 55 posts o.o).

Feedback & Advice
As Punkarsenic already mentioned, we do cover this point in the forums already. There are plenty threads that ask for feedback and usually, helpful answers are given. Yes, not every answer is from a creator with 30.000 subscribers, but that does not make that any answer less helpful or correct.

In a way, here in the forums we are all mentors and we are all trainees.

With that in mind, here is what this idea really boils down to:

Shoutouts
Basically, a more successful creator advertises another creator they like and trust. Maybe they even work together on a little project.

Now, here's the thing. Many creators already do that. Twitter shoutouts and retweets are one of the most common way creators support each other. It has nothing to do with one person being more successful than the other, it has all to do with networking, knowing the creator and really, REALLY liking their work.

I would never give a shoutout to someone that I don't believe in (artistically or otherwise) - because my readers would lose trust in my taste if my recommendations are crap. And I know for a fact that I am not alone with this.

With all of that in mind, we still want to promote shoutouts on tapas. Ok, how do we do that?

We actually did start an effort quite some time ago with the Creator Recommendations (https://forums.tapas.io/t/introducing-creator-recommendations/15386/36). It didn't go anywhere. Why? I could not dedicate the time to keep this project running, remind people, collect feedback, have personal discussions with creators, connect creators... basically, for a project like this you need someone who can dedicate 1 to 2 hours of time every day just to run it.

So is this project possible?

Yes, absolutely. I totally believe in it. But someone has to run it, has to master networking within this community, has to be ON it over a long period of time. It's a difficult task and a lot to ask of someone and if we would have someone in our community who wants to take over this responsibility, great. I am sure us moderators would try to support those kinds of efforts however we can.

Without such a person however, I don't think this can realistically work.

keii4ii
Sep '17

I disagree. Getting feedback from a go-to person with established rapport is different from asking the public for feedback. That difference may not be a big deal for some folks, but it's huge for others.

That said, I fully agree that the way people have been talking about this so far, this looks like it'd be a massive responsibility for whoever's organizing it.

Could there be a lower effort, more laid back version? Like, simply have sign-ups for mentors and mentees (the list would include link to their work, brief introduction, strengths and weaknesses) and just let people contact mentors privately and work it out on their own?

Someone would still need to keep the list updated -- like when a mentor adopts a mentee and is no longer available. But no other monitoring besides that. How does that sound?

EDIT: I guess one problem with that approach is like, one person hogging multiple mentors since everything would happen privately...

silvereyedlily
Sep '17

I agree that it would be good if Tapas would have a mentor programme for both comic writers and novelists as it would allow new writers and comic drawers to improve their skills and build rapport with the rest of the Tapas community :slight_smile: As a relatively new writer i would definitely want to receive advice from more experienced writers on how to improve my writing