I have planned my story "United We Stand3" for about ten years. My first shot at this was my comic "In the Name of the Creator2" which i discontinued after the prologue was finished because I was unhappy with the art. I didn't feel consistent in my art and didn't like it much.

Now That I'm working on United We Stand I just want to tell the story, if no one reads it I guess that's fine. I love the characters, and as many other hope their comics will be read, i too hope people will read mine. But I'll just be happy if I can tell it . And I also get enjoyment from practicing anatomy and environments through it !

Double purpose :D!

One thing that is rewarding for sure is seeing the actual progress in art
Not just "ah, I can draw faces better now", but "wow, I am drawing a ton of backgrounds even if I suck in doing it, my line art is so much crispier, the details are on top7" (you will hate them in a month, but it's okay ). Also since you can compare previous pages to recent, you can compare the progress in a whole - characters, anatomy, colors, background, etc.
Of course, to not just being dragged by depressing feelings, you should actually love the story and characters and everything. So it's no good if you hate the art style you're trying to use, or you don't like this particular main hero, you should remake it and love the shit out of it You can think you're not good enough (I still do, lol), but no one can tell your story but you, so at least it is worth to try.

I feel the same as @Kelheor Theres something so satisfying about looking at how far you've come. It boggles my mind to see my old art and the art I can make now and I'm sure the future me will be so excited at how far they've grown as well.

There's also a nice kind of discipline you get from making them. I want people to like and consume my content as well of course, but I've been drawing comics waaaay longer than I've wanted people to read them.

My dad was kind of an asshole while I was growing up. (But don't tell him I said that)

My mom was a smart, established woman who had gone to school god knows how many times and was always gone from home for work. I, on the otherhand, was always struggling with school and failing my classes. I was the dumb blonde. And not necessarily a pretty one, either. I got poked fun at for my thick figure and I became anorexic at the age of 12. I have some mental and physical health disorders since then that, despite having been seen and clinically diagnosed by many licenced healthcare professionals, my dad thought that I was faking for attention. He screamed and cussed....a lot. Over every little thing. I wasn't neat enough, or I did this, or that. And everytime I did something disappointing to him, he'd stand by me and mutter, "God, I'm glad you can draw." with the clear and heavy implication that I couldn't do anything else right.

So, that's why I draw. Because apparently it is the only thing I can do right. My parents never brag about how intelligent I am, how pretty I am, how accomplished I am....but when they meet people, they tell them I can draw like nobody's business. And I think, deep down, I draw because I just want them to be proud of me for something.

My webcomic may be brand spanking new, and does not have a whole lot of views. But I have a good feeling about it, because even if it never makes it past 100 subs, or even 100 views, I will feel accomplished just knowing I did it. I can draw. And I can I take a whole lot of pride in my work. I look at my art and feel good about myself, and I think everyone should.

Everyone on this platform regardless of current skill level is a driven story teller who did something special by illustrating, or writing, their story. They set aside time for themselves just so they could make it happen, something most people wouldn't bother to do even if they had a proper skillset. And for that, I think they should be proud. And I'm really excited when I see everybody's works on Tapas, even if they're still just a blossoming artist. I try to click on as many comics as I see links for and at least give a couple pages a read. I just love it. They inspire me. They make me want to do good.

I hope I am doing good.

Generally I draw because I just... Love it. I love the process, it's fun, it's calming, I enjoy it a lot. But I also love my characters and thinking about them, so I'm glad I can tell their story.

It's great to have feedback and people actually enjoying the series, but I draw my comic for myself, mainly. I really, really want to tell this story, that's my main fuel to get through how many hours it takes and the more boring panels to draw. Getting into that mindset is a good way not to get disappointed as well. If you do a comic expecting it to be a big hit... It won't really work.

Cause that's the only thing I can do and know how to do ^-^

I draw because I like it but it is also an important form of self expression for me. Especially when I am dealing with health problems or heavy emotions it helps for me to draw.

I don't draw then ink then color--I work on my inks and paints simultaneously. When things are going well...my process is pretty transcendent and mystical. I feel both at peace and invigorated. Creating the stuff is fun...posting and trying to figure out marketing and gaining an audience is a drag.

I draw because I need a creative outlet and digital drawing is the easiest one to fit in my bizarre schedule. I have almost no free time 9 to 10 months a year, and the remaining 2-3 months, I travel, so I cannot bring much supplies.

Digital drawing can make use of short (~10 minutes) breaks better than most other creative hobbies, and the required supplies are reasonnably transportable.

It really is my calling and passion. I can't imagine doing anything else. I've tried, but it always comes back to this.

It's my source of happiness I guess. Also, stress reliever. The real world is just too exhausting for an introvert and a HSP like me. I never felt at home at anything besides drawing. But mostly though, I get commissions from deviantart so I think, that's why my enjoyment amplified because of the small rewards I get.

I draw cause of big sad

This is a mood I can feel

i do it because it's fun and it's great once the effort is put in and seeing your final peice is real rewarding

I turned it into a career so I can't not draw lol

I whine all through the rough sketches and lineart and coloring, but when I see the end result I get a big ol' addictive dump of self satisfaction that can carry me for a couple days. I keep doing it for that reward.

Knowing it's a comic and I'll share it with people who might or might not enjoy it too makes it feel a little more productive.

I originally started drawing because I wanted pictures to go along with the stories I wrote. I kept drawing because it became an amazing outlet for me mentally and emotionally.

Sometimes it's hard making a story and not really getting any interaction. But I remind myself that if I didn't illustrate the ideas that are constantly going on in my head, I would probably go insane because there's no other way for me to tell the story. lol I also do enjoy the process of growth and seeing how far I've come over the last decade.

I have been drawing since I was a baby. So, I draw for myself so I have no problems sitting for hours drawing if I have the time (since I have fun when I do that) (:
Also I like challenges, comic, and stories.
So for me, making a comic is a big challenge that I have taken on myself

can't imagine not drawing

I have no clue what I’m doing and why I’m doing it

I'm already pretty used to the whole "not that many people read my stuff" part of the OP, but I think that's mostly because the entire reason I started drawing a webcomic was for me. I was frustrated with my job and my attitude at work was starting to get reeeeeeeally shitty. Like, I was constantly grouchy, made my coworkers uncomfortable, that kind of thing. So when I was asking my friends on social media which comic I should just shut up and finally do (I'd been wanting to do one for years but never had the courage to just go for it), out of the options I gave them they picked NLPCo. So basically I drew it for myself and for my coworkers. I didn't have a story, I didn't have characters, I didn't really have anything other than "here's a pizzeria, here's the kind of frustrating shit that happens to the people who work in the pizzeria, if you're one of those types of customers and these jokes offend you then screw you, this comic isn't FOR you!" Essentially it was just a way for me to vent. I didn't really care if that many people read it because my goal wasn't to make something for everyone, it was to make myself an outlet. And I'm pretty sure that's why it's wallowing in relative obscurity. The art in the first couple dozen strips is sketchy and awful; the characters didn't even have NAMES for a while; there was no actual story, just a slice-of-life sort of joke-a-day thing; and the overall tone of the comic is just kind of mean and bitter (which, I reiterate, was the whole point) and that's why I don't get many subscribers.

But here's the weird thing: It worked for me.

After a while my general attitude at my day job improved. I no longer dreaded going to that stupid pizzeria because now it was fuel for my creative outlet. My girlfriend also finally asked me when I was going to, ya know, DO SOMETHING with the entire premise or if I was going to just keep being mean to customers in my imaginary wonderland where being horrible to people doesn't get you fired. So that's my new reason to draw this dumb thing. My focus shifted from venting to challenging myself to create a world that I find amusing, and it's one of the most satisfying things I'm doing with my life at the moment. Sure, it's not the comic I'd been hoping to do (I'll get to it after I'm done with Neon) but it's fun coming up with scenarios I can put these characters in while simultaneously making jokes about work that my friends and coworkers will still appreciate.

So if it ever gains a wider audience, fine, very cool. I'll be happy with that. But for now it's enough that it makes me happy. The art will get better. The story will progress. I've got some crazy ish coming up, and I'm excited to show it to people. That's why I draw.

You'll never know if you will be recognized or not. I make my comic because I love making comics- I love sharing my comics with my readers and hopefully through that, things can happen. I know it may take some time and I'm good with that- it could never happen, but if I didnt try as hard or didnt come out of the gate as I needed to then what's the point? Part of the process is enjoying the journey, not always looking to the reward...

For drawing in general, pretty much because I can and always have.
But as for for making comics, I just want to tell the stories I've had stuck in my head for decades. If I 'make it' cool, if I don't, cool, at least I tried.

It was a hobby that I just did when I was bored. I always enjoyed animations when I was a kid. I even would redraw scenes or characters who I liked. But after a while it wasn't just enough for me. I wanted to put out my own stuff. So after thinking about it and some motivating words from my friends, I started doing it for real.
At the beginning, I sucked drawing my comic (Backgrounds ain't easy yo!). But as time went on, I gradually got better and enjoyed my hard work I put in. And now 2 years later, after i just recently publish it (and getting some critics), I started redrawing the whole thing. Sure it lets me kinda down reworking it but at the same time I kinda get those burst of motivation and inspiration doing it. I know people may never read my stuff with the same excitement (or at all) like I have but that's okay. I'm happy that I did something I enjoy the most (also I'm my own boss so I don't have anybody tell me how I work according to their liking.)

I need to. Art is an addiction. I hope to be able to call it at least a part time job on the side eventually or even just a side hustle. Right now it's not so much but I'll keep hammering away

This is something of a multi-faceted question, so for a break down-

Drawing in general:

Simply because it's fun and a long-time hobby of mine. Been drawing since I was a young child and just never stopped lol. I think the big decided/turning point for me though was early middle school, around 6th or 7th grade. I distinctly remember it being around then that I took a step back to look at my drawing and firmly deciding that it was something that I was really interested in and wanted to invest time and effort into getting better at as a Hobby with a capitol H (as opposed to other activities I did like Soccer/Baseball, or my feeble attempts at learning guitar lol). I agree with what others have said in that being able to see the progress and improvement over time is addicting and I get a big kick out of that. You can't really see it so much day to day, but any time you look back like several months or years... ahhhh yeahhhhh.

Another aspect is that this is my only hobby that feels "productive" to me. Like, there was a period of time through my 4 years at University and then like the following year and a half or so if job hunting, doing some seasonal work, and then finally landing at my current job where I basically stopped drawing, or very rarely. In school i was doing other design based work (architectural design) and so didn't feel like working this time consuming hobby inbetween course work, and then getting used to working was just draining (especially the first bit while I was doing seasonal retail) so I pretty much just spent most of my free time not spent with friends playing video games. After a few years of this I just felt... lazy and unproductive in a way? It felt like I was letting something that i had spent a huge part of my life building up a skill set for to do cool things with rot away, and that didn't feel very good. So i picked myself back up and decided to get back into it a few years ago and have felt a lot better since!

Why Comics specifically?:

This is a more complicated and nuanced topic lol. I honestly don't know why, but I've been interested in drawing comics from a very young age. The reason it has me scratching my head looking back is... I just didn't really read many comics when I was younger from which to draw inspiration. I grew up when newspaper strips were still a thing so I remember reading some of those as a kid, and I think the only comic I like owned pre-middle school was a sonic the hedgehog comic. But generally speaking I played more video games and watched more cartoons by far. But yet, I have several short comics from when I must have been like 4 or 5 to 10 years old, so evidently something inspired me to turn my drawings to stories like that LOL I just can't remember what.

After middle school though, I got introduced to the world of manga though and that absolutely solidified my interest in making comics. I never had really read super hero comics growing up, but I had interacted with the genre via animated series on tv and they never really inspired me to make my own similar content- they were fun to watch but just didn't feel really "me". A lot of the comics I made as a kiddo were either newspaper style gag comics or fan comics based on shows like digimon, yugioh, pokemon, etc. But walking into the middle school library and book fair and seeing the wide variety of types of stories available was totally eye opening to the breadth of content that comics could actually cover. So that totally solidified my interest- I for sure wanted to make my own comics now!

That said, i instantly feel into the "my first real project should be this huge fantasy epic" trap lmao. I feel like there needs to be some guard rails and warning signs around that pit anyways designing characters and scenarios for that first story drove by creative focus for like... 10 years. I never got much farther than 5 pages into the first chapter as I continued to reboot it every year or so, but I did get valuable practice in designing characters and writing stories nonetheless. Wrote out a novel version of the story up to like 10 chapters, used the setting and characters as the basis for several creative writing class short story prompts, learned how to color, draw clothes, practice poses, etc. with all these characters over countless standalone illustrations. And even in 2017 when I was like "I want to start drawing again!" as described above, my first project was going to be "the final reboot of this story (that I had started at age 12 and was now 22/3). Got 8 pages in, realized the scope was way too huge relative to both my skillset and speed, and decided to drop it and move on to newer, shorter projects instead.

And as for why continue even if it's not blowing up with popularity... is more or less the challenge of getting there, I guess. My primary goal is to build presence as both an artist and an author such that a lot of people can enjoy my work. So if my skills aren't good enough for that right now that just turns into motivation to keep working towards that point~

I think the most exciting thing for me right now is that after working seriously on a few projects over the last year and a little, I finally have enough content completed for it to be viable for me to try my hand at tabling at some small local conventions by maybe late this year or early next year, as I compile stuff into printable format and compile additional supplemental merchandise. I don't intend to ever necessarily turn comics into my job-job (as I'm really happy with my architecture drafting job and hope to grow this career even further) but I would love to be able to connect with the local community and make a little money on the side >u>

I draw because I'm a kinetic learner. I learn by physically making things, so I've always been very crafty and very hands on when I have to learn a thing. It's what lead me into studying art. So, when I was interested in how comics work, I just...started making them. The projects I made into comics were ones that weren't really clicking as a book, so I thought "lets try it as a comic" and it felt good, so I'm still doing it, still learning.

I have always been self conscious about my art, I always felt I wasn't good at it. In high school I would jump from interest to interest and for the longest time I wanted to be an author however I was always drawing and it wasn't until my first year of college I found that my heart wasn't in writing and I had a passion for my art. The one thing I found about art is that it is always evolving, our styles, our color choices, the amount of detail. everything and so the reason why I take the time to draw a small comic that will only be looked at for a few seconds and if i'm lucky get a like, is because I know that this is where my art has evolved and I want to follow it and see where it takes me, even if it takes me to nowhere, at least I can look forward to where it takes me after