Comics for Beginners

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What Makes Me a Pro

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what-makes-me-a-proWe artists often have a very self-deprecating nature. So let me go against the grain here and try to describe what I find makes me a professional. It’s not that I’m a great artist or a great writer (my self-deprecating nature forbids me to describe myself that way). But at least I’m a pro!

The obvious answer to what makes me a pro is of course that I make a living from my artistic skills and have been for almost 20 years. I’m also very good at keeping my promises (aka. deadlines) which I think is probably the most important thing for a freelancer.

But I just realized that underneath these superficial traits are two very basic principles:

1:

I am aware of my own process enough that I am able to replicate it. That includes knowing how long each step will roughly take so I know what the time frame needs to be for me to deliver and also have an estimate of how much it should cost. This varies with each project depending very much on my own preferences. If it’s something I’m not passionate about, my price goes up. But that’s a whole other discussion.

2:

I am aware of the resistance (as Steven Pressfield calls it) – both internal and external – that may (and probably will) come up along the way. My many years of experiencing the same feelings of self-doubt and boredom, helps me recognize it for what it is: A part of my workflow. It also helps me with strategies to deal with the resistance. Not overcome it, but live with it.

For instance, I will jump to another part of the process if I feel stuck or simply walk away from it for a while, knowing that I will get back in the groove tomorrow or the next day. What I don’t do is start doubting my entire career and self-worth because I have an unproductive day where I feel like I can’t draw to save my life.

There is no set-in-stone answer to how to become a great artist. Everyone is unique in their approach. But for me I believe the above points are crucial. Hopefully it can serve as an inspiration or eye opener for your own artistic process.

If you are looking for more practical advice on delivering the goods as a pro artist, try giving this podcast episode a listen.

2017: The Year of True Independence

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I’ve been an indie artist for almost two decades. Perhaps it’s time to really focus on the indie part.

I’ve told stories before about how I’ve tried in the past to live up to the expectations of others and how little it has helped me. Classmates, friends, family members or peers I’ve worked hard to impress. I’ve spent way to much time comparing myself to others and struggling to make people take notice. I’d like to shift the focus this year to creating things for my own sake. I’m not going to be completely selfish and unintelligent about what projects I take on, I still have commitments and bills to pay. But I think there is a way to measure my success in a more constructive way.

There is a difference between inner motivation and outer motivation. The latter is when you are hoping for the love and respect of a boss, a parent or an audience. You seek validation from the outside world, usually in the form of likes, comments or sells. Here’s the problem with that: It’s highly addictive and it is completely out of your control.

You can scream and jump, but whether people connect to what you put out there in the way that you are hoping for is totally unpredictable.

You can try to guess what people want. You can study the metrics of what seems to work. You can try to emulate previous success. But at the end of the day, who the hell knows, right?

Inner motivation is when you define your own success, in a way that you can control. Sending a pitch to a publisher is a box you can check, you can totally do that. Selling a pitch is a whole other matter and it is beyond your control.

You are giving way too much power to strangers, if you let them decide if you’re succesful or not. Try this instead: Set daily or weekly, tiny goals that you can achieve, like drawing two pages a week or writing an hour every morning. Goals or habits that will likely move you in the direction of your big goal.

I will try to make 2017 the year where seek real independence. Not just financially but also of other people’s opinions. Want to join me on this quest?

Answer these questions for me:

  • Who are the five people whose opinion you value the most?
  • Who are the people whose judgement you fear the most?
  • Are they on the first list? And if not, then could you please stop paying attention to what they think?

Sure you can. And you should.

Happy independence year.

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Comics for Beginners Podcast Episode 30 – Why We Quit

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Making comics is fun – but also hard and lonely work! What do you do when you are dissatisfied with your story or your art? How do you stay motivated, when no one seems to care? How do you stay on track when you meet resistance from within? I offer some personal advice and insights in this episode.

Mentioned in this episode:

My graphic novel The Devil’s Concubine, which was almost abandoned
My crime noir graphic novel STILETTO finally available in English! Check it out at Thrillbent
Thomas Alsop vol. 1 trade paperback (collects issues 1-4)

The price of praise

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The-loser-takes-it-allI was up for an award here in Denmark this weekend, the Ping, something like the Danish equivalent of the Eisners. I was nominated for my graphic novel, STILETTO, in the main category. I didn’t win, which puts me in a position to talk about the nature of validation and the need for praise, instead of just tooting my horn and talking about how awesome I am.

Of course I would have loved to win that award, I was hoping for it and at the same time trying NOT to hope for it, because dissapointment is not the greatest feeling in the world. But here’s the thing: If I HAD won that award, it would have felt great for a few moments, maybe a few days. But the need for praise and validation never really goes away.

It’s never enough.

The needy little part of an artist’s soul is always going to want more. I don’t know anyone who feels they have enough fan mail or awards on their shelf that it fulfils their need. I don’t belive those people exist. You can never drink enough water that it keeps you from ever being thirsty again.

So while I would loved to have won, it’s more because it would have helped me with press and such going forward. It’s like those booster points you get in computer games, where you pick up the coin or whatever and you get a rocket attached to your back. An award or a great review gives you that boost for a few seconds, and then the effect wears off. The game continues. You start looking for the next gold coin.

What I’m trying to say is, if you ever find yourself up for an award or a job or anything, think of it as a step towards an end goal. Always keep that in mind. And stay busy! Keeping busy and working on your craft is not only great for building a career, it’s also your best defense against the needy, selfish little part of you that worries wether anyone really, I mean REALLY, loves you or they’re all just pretending. The part of you that looks on other people with envy and want to keep you from building confidence and self-sustainability. I don’t know what the purpose of that part of our brain is, but I’m willing to bet good money we all have it.

I try to teach my kids to be grateful of the things they have rather than bitch about what they don’t have. It’s hard for a kid to see another kid with an ice cream. But that’s LIFE. And it goes on like that.

So I’m here at the studio hunched over my desk as the sun is baking outside, grateful for working on the Thomas Alsop comic more or less full time, grateful for the praise I DO get and the support of all the subscribers on Comics for Beginners, thankful for every “like” on Facebook, but not depending on it for my sense of self-appreciation. Grateful for having done work I’m proud of and having it published, and having a supportive wife who takes care of our kids while I’m at work on a national holiday and who never asked me to get a real job instead of wasting my time doing comics. I am so very, very lucky and very happy right now, doing what I love and am relatively good at.

Thank you.

Now back to work.

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Related post: Why you can’t learn from success

 

Why you can’t learn from success

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mindsetWe all want to be succesful  in some way or another. But is success in comics a recipe you can follow? Secret ingredients? Or is it actually better to burn your fingers on the stove? At least you can learn from that experience!

My motto is: “You can’t learn from success”

This quote in a comment on my podcast episode The 3 biggest mistakes of my comics career, got me thinking about this topic.

Looking at people who succeed and copying their strategy would seem like a good idea. And there definitely is a a lot to be said for looking at peers and seeing what works for them. But can you really learn from the success of other artists or duplicate the success you had with a previous project?

Here’s why I think you can’t learn from success:

  • What works for another artist is not necessarily going to work for you. They have a different background, a different skill set, maybe a different home life or financial situation putting them in a better position than you.
  • Success is personal. You might perceive another creator as hugely successful while they see their career as less than perfect – most likely that’s how they feel!
  • You can’t measure success. We as artists have an embedded dissatisfaction with where we are. That’s what motivates us to get going! So the feeling of success we might have quickly fades and gives way to new dissatisfaction.
  • No one mulls over success. The more time you spend thinking about something, the bigger the chance of learning from that experience, right? But who lies awake thinking of their successes? Not comics artists, for sure! We’re much more prone to miring over what went wrong, how we’re not good enough. Let’s use that in a constructive way and at least learn something from those self-doubts.
  •  What worked for you once is not necessarily going to work again! The world is constantly changing and so are you. The circumstances that made a success could have shifted or the artistic side of you refuses to repeat the process.
  • The learning you could subtract from a previous success is usually hidden somewhere in the big picture. What you think made the success and what actually made it happen is probably not the same thing.
  • Success is 80% timing. Okay, I have no scientific evidence for this, but I do believe a lot of what makes a success is out of our control. It’s not just meeting the right peers or editors, being up for the task when opportunity arises. Any work of art needs to hit home with an audience and the market is constantly shifting. Serial killers or cute ponies might be in vogue this year, but next year we couldn’t be bothered.
  • To be really successful in art, you cannot just be replicating what you did last! You need to be constantly pushing yourself.
  • Success is outside of your comfort zone. If you are any good at what you do, you will constantly be introducing new methods, new tools and new influences on your work. See how the list of ingredients is constantly changing? You can’t repeat the recipe, it’s just impossible!
  • No one succeeds from day one! So if you want to learn from success you have to wait a loooong time. Failure happens all the time, especially in the beginning. Great learning possibilities!

So as you can see, learning from failure is a much better strategy than trying to copy your own success or the success of others. And luckily, failure is bound to happen on a regular basis. 

Agree with this perspective? Or think I missed an important point? Comment below!