Discussion Feedback: The Most Important Thing

[Kawaiiski]

[This is a long post. I consciously decided however not to put it under a cut, because I wanted it to be read. My apologies for any inconvenience to you or the Mods.]​

I found myself upset, today. Frustrations of any kind of lack of interaction, feedback, constructive criticism, or anything on my fancomic are really starting to get to me, at this point.

Now, I myself am an amateur webcomic artist. It's a completely different medium and despite being fairly competent at art, webcomics are a whole other world to me. I didn't expect so many roadblocks to come to fruition; "Do I draw it like this? No. ...How about that? URGH." Despite this, I try to stay positive, interactive, improve over time, and encourage people to approach me with whatever inquiries they might have about the fancomic.

I understand that the world of art is cut-throat-- everyone's just trying to swim to the top, in the end. (I sort of hate that mentality, but whatever.) Despite whatever age or talent one has, I try to encourage other people to keep going, especially if it's artists I really end up liking, in the end.

Maybe I'm not on the best platform for promoting. Tumblr is a cesspool of toxic behavior and everyone is far too busy to take a few minutes out of their day arguing about the smallest issues to give someone any kind of encouragement or feedback.

Maybe I didn't choose the best subject. Original content is where it's at these days and me choosing a fanmade concept that's decades old probably throws me out of the loop, alone. (Despite Star Trek getting a new series and it being hotter than ever because of that.)

Maybe I'm just doing something wrong. In my anxiety I think to myself, "Am I posting things correctly? Annoying other people? Are people spreading rumors about me? Is that why things seems so... stiff...?" (It's not good to think like this, by the way.)

No one can truly ever improve without persistence and feedback. I think this, and have and will always think this.

...But it goes both ways. Obviously.

Since we live in a world where jobs suck but at least we can pay our bills off with varying evolving mediums, despite being so diluted, art is one of those mediums and if one cares for it, things can and will come. I've been considering what I can do to receive some actual feedback and exposure for what I do, because as it stands, I still feel as if there's some small bubble I still live in despite my numerous attempts at interaction. (I've even been considering commissions.) However... obviously, if I don't receive feedback, I'm going to seem like I'm floundering around like a moron trying to find out what in the name of all that is good in the world I'm doing wrong, or right, or ANYTHING.

Now, I could sound... unfair to some. After all, I've kinda just started off? I don't have ALL the tools I want to make a fancomic in the way I want to do it, which is to stick to inking Traditionally? (Other than Fakemon, I'm kinda 50/50 with Digital, so I prefer to work with my strengths.) ...But I try my best. (I use normal-old printer paper, by the way. The struggle is real.) I don't post art often, but I'm also trying to rectify that...? I look at my art and think "This is good. Could be better, but... this is good." Then I see other artist and think "Wow... if only I was in their shoes. If only I was that talented. ...How can I become that talented...?" I see the Reblogs. Obviously more than mine, even if its ten or a hundred. And it... is really discouraging. To return back to a void, as if one has just walked into a hollow, empty house.

"...Well. Might as well not post. People won't like/see it, anyway..." Not a good and healthy mentality to have; I know. My current go-to inspirations at this point for drawing this comic is; KirkisaJerk (ST artist mainly), MyNameisMad (Draws SAKANA and other things), and Tezuma Osaka (binged Black Jack the TV show again). I have many, MANY more artists that I look up to, though. To assure you all though-- I still do think I can, and will, get better.

...But I cannot always stand back up on my own. It gets tougher, and tougher, and tougher to stand back up on my own, after a while. I am one person. Despite being supported by my family, especially my brother, it's still... hard.

There are multiple times I wanted to give up. Multiple times when I said to myself "[Insert Artist Here] Should be drawing this, not me. Maybe then people would like it..." There are multiple times I would look at a freshly inked or finished page and say "...I hate this." My self-made schedule of finishing pages nine days sooner and getting up at least around 9:00AM would slide around irregularly. Again, not something to think about, but I think even people who don't suffer with depression and anxiety think like this.

So obviously the question is; "What can/should I do?"

I came from a different world, I suppose. Relic Castle really gave me that push that I needed. Within almost a year I believe, my improvements for drawing Fakemon and Mapping skyrocked. It was amazing; I was at the top of the world. ...Okay, sort of. I still had a lot to learn and, in the end, Pokemon Opal didn't work out. Heck, I still find myself looking at old maps and saying "This should be bigger. I should adjust that-- wait."

However I still feel incredibly thankful to you all because you guided me without question, was harsh but fair at rare occasions, and gave some solid constructive criticism that really made me think twice about my methods. And despite having been on Tumblr for a while, I hadn't received any kind of real support like that until I joined Relic. Sure, people follow me, but they don't REALLY care about me (except Oripoke).

I think that's one of the reasons I came back, after a while. Here, there's not the constant doom and gloom of stepping on someone else's toes. There's not fighting near-constant small arguments that does not, and never will, matter. There's not internal strife and internet jargon that I don't care for. Just some good, honest, people. Wish more communities like that existed, it's a bit unfortunate, but I think they're out there; just harder to find.

-- -- -- -- -- --​

Anyway... I'm sorry I rambled again. I know it's agitating to you all. I don't think there's anything else to say here. After writing all that out, I feel a bit better. I was inking a new page and just... crying. NBD. It happens. ...I might be going to the Zoo next week though, so there's that.

To sum up: This thread is mainly here to discuss feedback/criticism, different forms of feedback, and how it impacts different and certain communities. I personally find that small-time artists need the support more than big-time artists, because big-time artists will have that vehement support no matter what. If you're a struggling or starving artist out there just starting or even doing your thing for years-- I think this may appeal more to them, but anyone is welcome to respond.​

 

[Jephed]

[This is a very long post. I consciously decided however not to put it under a cut, because I wanted it to be read. My apologies for any inconvenience to you or the Mods.]​

I found myself rather upset, today. Frustrations of any kind of lack of interaction, feedback, constructive criticism, or anything on my fancomic is really starting to get to me, at this point.

Now, I myself am an amateur webcomic artist. It's a completely different medium and despite being fairly competent at art, webcomics are a whole other world to me. I didn't expect so many roadblocks to come to fruition; "Do I draw it like this? No. ...How about that? URGH, Gods no." Despite this, I try to stay positive, interactive, improve over time, and encourage people to approach me with whatever inquiries they might have about the fancomic.

I understand that the world of art is cut-throat-- everyone's just trying to swim to the top, in the end. (I sort of hate that mentality, but whatever.) Despite whatever age or talent one has, I try to encourage other people to keep going, especially if it's artists I really end up liking, in the end.

Maybe I'm not on the best platform for promoting. Tumblr is a cesspool of toxic behavior and everyone is obviously far too busy to take a few minutes out of their schedules arguing about the smallest issues to give someone any kind of encouragement or feedback.

Maybe I didn't choose the best subject. Original content is where it's at these days and me choosing a fanmade concept that's decades old probably throws me out of the loop, alone. (Despite Star Trek getting a new series and it being hotter than ever because of that.)

Maybe I'm just doing something wrong. In my anxiety, when I start having it particularity bad to the point of crying and hands shaking, I think to myself, "Am I posting things correctly? Annoying other people? Are people spreading rumors about me? Or talking behind my back? Is that why things seems so... stiff...?" (It's not good to think like this, by the way.)

No one can truly ever improve without persistence and feedback. I think this, and have and will always think this.

...But it goes both ways. Obviously.

Since we live in a world where jobs suck but at least we can pay our bills off with varying evolving mediums, despite being so diluted, art is one of those mediums and if one cares for it, things can and will come. I've been considering what I can do to receive some actual feedback and exposure for what I do, because as it stands, I still feel as if there's some small bubble I still live in despite my numerous attempts at interaction. (I've even been considering commissions.) However... obviously, if I don't receive feedback, I'm going to seem like I'm floundering around like a moron trying to find out what in the name of all that is good in the world I'm doing wrong, or right, or ANYTHING.

Now, I could sound... unfair to some. After all, I've kinda just started off? I don't have ALL the tools I want to make a fancomic in the way I want to do it, which is to stick to inking Traditionally? (Other than Fakemon, I'm kinda 50/50 with Digital, so I prefer to work with my strengths.) ...But I try my best. (I use normal-old printer paper, by the way. The struggle is real.) I don't post art often, but I'm also trying to rectify that...? I look at my art and think "This is good. Could be better, but... this is good." Then I see other artist and think "Wow... if only I was in their shoes. If only I was that talented. ...How can I become that talented...?" I see the Reblogs. Obviously more than mine, even if its ten or a hundred. And it... is really is discouraging. To return back to an empty void, as if one has just walked into a hollow, empty, and abandoned house.

"...Well. Might as well not post. People won't like/see it, anyway..."

Not a good and healthy mentality to have; I know.

My current go-to inspirations at this point for drawing this comic is; KirkisaJerk (ST artist mainly), MyNameisMad (Draws SAKANA and other things), and Tezuma Osaka (binged Black Jack the TV show again). I have many, MANY more artists that I look up to, though. To assure you all though-- I still do think I can, and will, get better.

...But I cannot always stand back up on my own. It gets tougher, and tougher, and tougher to stand back up on my own, after a while.

I am one person. Despite being supported by my family, especially my brother, it's still... hard.

This world is nuts, there's far too much and too many of everything (except money, because of course), and people are so wound up. It's easy for someone's positive nature to just drain away at the simplest, but still most discouraging thing. But I can't fix the world-- all I can do is worry about my little corner that will leave something to look forward to, at least.

There are multiple times I wanted to give up. Multiple times when I said to myself "[Insert Artist Here] Should be drawing this, not me. Maybe then people would like it..." There are multiple times I would look at a freshly inked or finished page and say "...I hate this." My self-made schedule of finishing pages nine days sooner and getting up at least around 9:00AM would slide around irregularly. Again, not something to think about, but I think even people who don't suffer with depression and anxiety think like this.

So obviously the question is; "What can/should I do?"

I came from a different world, I suppose. Relic Castle really gave me that push that I needed. Within almost a year I believe, my improvements for drawing Fakemon and Mapping skyrocked. It was amazing; I was at the top of the world. ...Okay, sort of. I still had a lot to learn and, in the end, Pokemon Opal didn't work out. Heck, I still find myself looking at old maps and saying "This should be bigger. I should adjust that-- wait."

However I still feel incredibly thankful to you all because you guided me without question, was harsh but fair at rare occasions, and gave some solid constructive criticism that really made me think twice about my methods. And despite having been on Tumblr for a while, I hadn't received any kind of real support like that until I joined Relic. Sure, people follow me, but they don't REALLY care about me (except Oripoke).

I think that's one of the reasons I came back, after a while. Here, there's not the constant doom and gloom of stepping on someone else's toes. There's not fighting near-constant small arguments that does not, and never will, matter. There's not internal strife and internet jargon that I don't care for. Just some good, honest, people. Wish more communities like that existed, it's a bit unfortunate, but I think they're out there; just harder to find.

Anyway... I'm sorry I rambled again. I know it's agitating to you all. I don't think there's anything else to say here. After blurting all that out, I feel a bit better. I was inking a new page and just... crying. NBD. It happens. ...I might be going to the Zoo next week though, so there's that.​

Giving constructive feedback is indeed very important, and without it you can feel like you're just messing around a bit, without a clear vision of what people like and what they think you should improve on. I do want to say this: In the end you should make art that you like! Make art that pleases you and that you are proud to show. That enthousiasm will show in due time and people that like it will undoubtably find you. The people that don't like it, well... They're not obligated to watch and critique your work. If they don't like it at all, well... they should just look up an artists that's more their taste.
Honest feedback and critique is important for your growth as an artist, but I've come to learn that some people just don't know how to give constructive feedback. They just never learned or don't realise what effect their words can have. Sometimes you have to filter their comments a little.

I.E. if someone comments on my game like:
follower: "I'm not a fan of the character designs."
Me: "Okay. Thanks for your honesty. Then how do you think I should improve them?"

This can result into two things.
1. They either tell you specifically what they don't like. This way you at least have a bit of info about what they think you could improve on.
2. They'll just ignore your comment, which means you should be done with their comment. Try to turn these kinds of comments around, by making them constructive feedback for yourself. If some people aren't even trying to give you constructive feedback: Just ignore it and onto the next one.

Some people are just there to bully (the type you should just ignore.) Those are the same category of people that instantly click a dislike button on a video, just to be a dick.
I haven't looked at your work or your page and such yet, (I'm about to), but I recommend that for the time being you make this art for the soul purpose because YOU like it. And other people that like it as well will eventually find you. The same goes with fan games. The people that don't like it will eventually filter themselves away, or can be blocked if their critique becomes more like bullying.

Also one final thing to note: You can never please everyone. I wanted to do so myself, but just stopped after a couple of months of showing off my game. Some people will like it, and others will dislike it. That's just the way it is. Sometimes people will change their opinion a bit, but you can never make everybody love your work.

I'm not an artist, so I'm not in the same shoes as you are, but I have been in a similar situation in school, on the job, my fan game etc. I hope things will get better for you.

 

[Kawaiiski]

Giving constructive feedback is indeed very important, and without it you can feel like you're just messing around a bit, without a clear vision of what people like and what they think you should improve on. I do want to say this: In the end you should make art that you like! Make art that pleases you and that you are proud to show. That enthousiasm will show in due time and people that like it will undoubtably find you. The people that don't like it, well... They're not obligated to watch and critique your work. If they don't like it at all, well... they should just look up an artists that's more their taste.
Honest feedback and critique is important for your growth as an artist, but I've come to learn that some people just don't know how to give constructive feedback. They just never learned or don't realise what effect their words can have. Sometimes you have to filter their comments a little.

I.E. if someone comments on my game like:
follower: "I'm not a fan of the character designs."
Me: "Okay. Thanks for your honesty. Then how do you think I should improve them?"

This can result into two things.
1. They either tell you specifically what they don't like. This way you at least have a bit of info about what they think you could improve on.
2. They'll just ignore your comment, which means you should be done with their comment. Try to turn these kinds of comments around, by making them constructive feedback for yourself. If some people aren't even trying to give you constructive feedback: Just ignore it and onto the next one.

Some people are just there to bully (the type you should just ignore.) Those are the same category of people that instantly click a dislike button on a video, just to be a dick.
I haven't looked at your work or your page and such yet, (I'm about to), but I recommend that for the time being you make this art for the soul purpose because YOU like it. And other people that like it as well will eventually find you. The same goes with fan games. The people that don't like it will eventually filter themselves away, or can be blocked if their critique becomes more like bullying.

Also one final thing to note: You can never please everyone. I wanted to do so myself, but just stopped after a couple of months of showing off my game. Some people will like it, and others will dislike it. That's just the way it is. Sometimes people will change their opinion a bit, but you can never make everybody love your work.

I'm not an artist, so I'm not in the same shoes as you are, but I have been in a similar situation in school, on the job, my fan game etc. I hope things will get better for you.

Thanks for the helpful insight! Sorry I got really personal here. I usually try to keep that to my personal blog, but obviously... no one likes to actually listen on Tumblr unless they particularly care about you. (And sometimes it's more of a "I feel sorry for you" sort of way and not a "I genuinely care" sort of way? Could just be me, though.)

This is all very true, and I know it more than most. I've encountered some real good people, but I've also ran into some crappy people on the internet before; on multiple occasions. Being a millennial isn't as "easy" as people think; you've gotta deal with the fools from all sides these days and they are very opinionated about the way you even type out a single word. Obviously some do this to troll, but well-- it's not like you can always tell. Still, many aspects of internet interaction is important, and sometimes scary, even if most people have to learn that lesson that hard way, being born and raised in this age.

Anyway... I try not to let my frustrations get to me, choosing to talk to myself on by blog. I guess in that sense, I won't have some random weirdo come into my Ask Box telling me to stop, so there's that! ..I swear, I've grown a darker sense of humor. ...Oh well.

Good luck with your Fan game, by the by. I know that struggle. :cold_sweat:

 

[Ice]

Feedback is a privilege that people work hard to obtain.

Drawing, writing and game-making are weird. I'm both an aspiring writer and a musician, and I've noticed this weird split between communities. As a singer, you don't expect people to go out and give feedback on clips you put on soundcloud. Hell, singing lessons are basically paying a professional for feedback. I see a lot of beginning writers just post their work and expect feedback, though. Or guidance even. Other people aren't needed to improve. What you need is a critical eye. It's perfectly possible to be that yourself, and I advice people to mainly be that themselves. Improving is guided practice, and you can guide yourself by just knowing what you should improve upon. Always be critical of your own work; highlight what you like, and highlight what you dislike.

At some point during this process of improvement, it's good to seek out an outsiders opinion, though. However, feedback is usually a community-based activity, and a two-way street. People critique each other to improve how they look at their own work, to learn from each other, and to receive feedback in return. It's a two-way street. And in my experience, people don't tend to follow along with your project unless it's from a personal attachment. The feedback is for you to improve, for you to help your own critical thought. It's not fair to expect people to expect that people follow along with your improvement because at one point you'll be great.

Art is deeply personal. I think the internet has taken away from that these days. You improve for yourself, because you enjoy that process. The creation and the end-result should ideally be rooted in self-fulfillment. Of course, there's a great deal of satisfaction in other people appreciating your work, or looking at it, but the trick is to see that as a bonus.

Now, more geared towards you, Kawaiiski, rather than just a general rant, I'd recommend finding a community of aspiring artists or web-comic writers. If you can't find one, make one. A community that's about improvement is a great help. It's why sites like Relic Castle are great. People become a web of support, a network that encourages self-improvement. It's why aspiring writers are advised to start a writing group. It's about growing yourself together. I know that sounds buzz-wordy, but it's true. Don't expect random people to come in and leave feedback. People tend to feel like they're out of their depth, or focus on the wrong points, or don't have an understanding enough view of your topic. Look for people that want to improve to, so you can help each other improve. Feedback isn't valuable if you don't know the source. You're art is shit doesn't mean anything if it's send by an anonymous IP-address. It means something when you know who's speaking, when you know their expertise and their preference. You don't get feedback on your metal guitar solo from your local rock-and-roll hating choir lady, because there's a conflict there.

I personally view feedback as something that's best given as opinion. That way people don't accidentally mold you. For example, I might tell you "I think Q's nose should be as big as his head, because bla bla bla." It's good to look at that and ask yourself, 'what are my intentions with that part of my art, and would that change affect the desired effect?" I'm going to write up a new writing based example, because I feel like Q's nose is confusing rather than elucidating :p If I write a piece that I intend to be high-thrill. I set some goals for myself: I want this piece to be slightly confusing to reflect real-life fights, I want this to be visceral, mean and real, I want this to be a sloppy fight. If the feedback I receive from someone is that the scene is too bloody and violent, I should reflect on that and look at my goals for that piece. Does the essence of their feedback (the fight is bloody and violent) align with my goals? Yes, so while they don't like it perse, I've gotten my desired effect. We've learned about a difference in taste, and I've gotten to know more about the effects of my piece. If the feedback would be "This piece reads comically violent, and seems like it's bloody just to provoke," I know I might have overshot. The way I see it: Be critical of your own work, and be critical of feedback. Improvement is best achieved by guidance, and guiding is something easily done by yourself.

 

[Aki]

I can feel this.
I used to run my Tumblr blog with MSPA style pages. Stuff like this:

Spoiler: Large images

But what the screenshots can't show is that the images were animated, and everytime the page was refreshed (Just navigating to any page on the blog, this was on top with content below) the image was randomly swapped for a different one. Every month I'd change the whole page to a new theme and set of works. I kept this up for...27 months. It was really fun!

Now, if just hard work and time put in was enough to get people's attention and some feedback I think this should have paid off. But it didn't! :yum
So I announced the new themes with properly tagged posts, I was showing off animated graphics for popular fandoms, and besides this monthly thing going on the blog was active, reblogging 5-7 things daily through the automatic queue, plus my own activity. What was the problem?

I think I can see part of the problem now, looking back. Let me cut to another quick example.

I've also had a DeviantArt account for years, but never had any followers who weren't my friends from school. That is, until I started doing spritework for a certain fan game.

Spoiler: For image

The game was popular enough that some people stalked whatever the main dev was following and commenting on. but here again, it's not as if I suddenly got tons of feedback or even comments on my work.

It wasn't untill I joined Relic Castle and really started interacting with lots of people, and offering feedback, when I found people who were genuinely interested in doing the same for me. Of course most of that was probably a pretty personal discovery of being more willing to open up and talk to people, but I think the takeaway is what Ice said; Just working hard isn't enough, to some degree you gotta earn the interest. Really getting active in a community, not just passively but passionately, is a great place to start finding people and showing what you're about.

 

[Kawaiiski]

Feedback is a privilege that people work hard to obtain.

Drawing, writing and game-making are weird. I'm both an aspiring writer and a musician, and I've noticed this weird split between communities. As a singer, you don't expect people to go out and give feedback on clips you put on soundcloud. Hell, singing lessons are basically paying a professional for feedback. I see a lot of beginning writers just post their work and expect feedback, though. Or guidance even. Other people aren't needed to improve. What you need is a critical eye. It's perfectly possible to be that yourself, and I advice people to mainly be that themselves. Improving is guided practice, and you can guide yourself by just knowing what you should improve upon. Always be critical of your own work; highlight what you like, and highlight what you dislike.

At some point during this process of improvement, it's good to seek out an outsiders opinion, though. However, feedback is usually a community-based activity, and a two-way street. People critique each other to improve how they look at their own work, to learn from each other, and to receive feedback in return. It's a two-way street. And in my experience, people don't tend to follow along with your project unless it's from a personal attachment. The feedback is for you to improve, for you to help your own critical thought. It's not fair to expect people to expect that people follow along with your improvement because at one point you'll be great.

Art is deeply personal. I think the internet has taken away from that these days. You improve for yourself, because you enjoy that process. The creation and the end-result should ideally be rooted in self-fulfillment. Of course, there's a great deal of satisfaction in other people appreciating your work, or looking at it, but the trick is to see that as a bonus.

Now, more geared towards you, Kawaiiski, rather than just a general rant, I'd recommend finding a community of aspiring artists or web-comic writers. If you can't find one, make one. A community that's about improvement is a great help. It's why sites like Relic Castle are great. People become a web of support, a network that encourages self-improvement. It's why aspiring writers are advised to start a writing group. It's about growing yourself together. I know that sounds buzz-wordy, but it's true. Don't expect random people to come in and leave feedback. People tend to feel like they're out of their depth, or focus on the wrong points, or don't have an understanding enough view of your topic. Look for people that want to improve to, so you can help each other improve. Feedback isn't valuable if you don't know the source. You're art is shit doesn't mean anything if it's send by an anonymous IP-address. It means something when you know who's speaking, when you know their expertise and their preference. You don't get feedback on your metal guitar solo from your local rock-and-roll hating choir lady, because there's a conflict there.

I personally view feedback as something that's best given as opinion. That way people don't accidentally mold you. For example, I might tell you "I think Q's nose should be as big as his head, because bla bla bla." It's good to look at that and ask yourself, 'what are my intentions with that part of my art, and would that change affect the desired effect?" I'm going to write up a new writing based example, because I feel like Q's nose is confusing rather than elucidating :p If I write a piece that I intend to be high-thrill. I set some goals for myself: I want this piece to be slightly confusing to reflect real-life fights, I want this to be visceral, mean and real, I want this to be a sloppy fight. If the feedback I receive from someone is that the scene is too bloody and violent, I should reflect on that and look at my goals for that piece. Does the essence of their feedback (the fight is bloody and violent) align with my goals? Yes, so while they don't like it perse, I've gotten my desired effect. We've learned about a difference in taste, and I've gotten to know more about the effects of my piece. If the feedback would be "This piece reads comically violent, and seems like it's bloody just to provoke," I know I might have overshot. The way I see it: Be critical of your own work, and be critical of feedback. Improvement is best achieved by guidance, and guiding is something easily done by yourself.

Also some good and critical points! *Sighs* I honestly don't know what to think sometimes and what to type, so sorry if I came off as mean or passive-aggressive or ranty. It was somewhat unintentional and out of frustration, more than anything. I did forget to mention one point in my original post, however; and that's patience. I do have the patience, but if I didn't have the little problem of anxiety, I probably would admittedly have more. (The strife on Tumblr and other sites has probably waned on me in the last few years as well, despite trying my hardest to avoid that stuff.)

"Art is deeply personal. I think the internet has taken away from that these days. You improve for yourself, because you enjoy that process." I kinda disagree about the internet, because I still think art is rooted in how personal one can be with the medium. I mean, even the "Classic" artists tended to get paid for their work, in the end. ...Some of them also might've gone slightly crazy, but we don't often bring that up in history :blush: still, the internet exists to bridge the gap between artist and admirer, so that there's more of a community. That could be good or bad though, unfortunately. I can see what your saying about musicians, though; a weird medium, indeed. I'm not a musician, but I have made a few game tracks before, so I have an idea of how hard it is.

Hooo boy, if I had the motivation to create an artist-based community! There's a few small-timer's out there, sure, but again they're hard to find, or very... exclusive. I've got so much to work with already-- and I may be planning on creating a Twitter, so that could help. ...I think I feel my frustrations may be stemming from working hard on something, releasing it-- but obviously, since no one sees that internal process, they can only judge by how it looks at face value. I try to keep artwork consistent between pages unless a "strip" is finished; that way, a hair style or character heights don't suddenly shift between pages. (Also, I'm already planning on working on Q's nose, but thanks!) With the exception being some minor changes that are less noticeable I suppose, that's usually pretty consistent. Continuity is interesting, though... different in comics from art. Art, obviously, is mostly an individual piece of work. It can have continuity (landscapes, etc.), but that's usually internal. In a comic, however, I try to pay attention to details like "Janeway holds coffee in first panel" some pages after; "Janeway is still holding coffee in slapsticky-like scene." I know it's minor and incredibly silly in the end, but I also know people have an appreciation for that.

My problem early on was lack of backgrounds, I admit. I thought that simplicity would be key, focusing more on the wackiness and character motivations. But since this is not literally a comic strip-based fancomic, I quickly regretted that. Soo... yeah, a lot I had to learn on my own. Backgrounds are sort of a weakness of mine, but I learn as I go.

It wasn't untill I joined Relic Castle and really started interacting with lots of people, and offering feedback, when I found people who were genuinely interested in doing the same for me. Of course most of that was probably a pretty personal discovery of being more willing to open up and talk to people, but I think the takeaway is what Ice said; Just working hard isn't enough, to some degree you gotta earn the interest. Really getting active in a community, not just passively but passionately, is a great place to start finding people and showing what you're about.

This is pretty poignant. Activity in Tumblr-based communities are difficult, but not entirely impossible. I try to follow artists so that I can avoid most of the strife, petty bickering, and whatever else goes on there. I try also to Reblog posts of artists that I follow who are either doing well with their art or struggling financially (I always feel bad when I can't donate to them!), art or sometimes good-natured posts that I suddenly discover, etc etc; with actual words! ...Which means almost nothing on Tumblr these days unless it's a slightly red-button issue. With Tumblr's formatting, you can never really see those posts sometimes unless you actually check and scroll through, which sounds trite at first, but sometimes they can talk a bit longer and obviously you want to read their stuff, but you click and then... page that you can barely read because of all the design choices. (This rarely happens to be, but it does happen.) Also, could be Firefox, but something about my computer does not like endless scrolling (admittedly, I kinda don't neither). ...I really don't know in general how I feel about the Reblog format. *Sighs Again...*

ANYWAY, I won't make small complaints about Tumblr's somewhat horrible interface. I think I need to learn from what you said, here. I'll keep trying, and if things seem difficult along the way, I'll know who to turn to. Thanks a lot for being patient! :kissing_heart: