gailsimone:

Been thinking about this a lot lately, pardon me if it’s a bit scattered, I have to jot this down between deadlines and may mess it up a little.

I have seen, a million times, people with complaints about art or comics or film or music, dismissed online with the simple comment, “Make your own,…

OK, I suspect I’m going to be echoing a lot of what both you (Gail) and others have already said with this, but bear with me. I like to ramble and Tumblr is a perfect outlet for that. You have no-one to blame but yourselves for reading on…

Honestly, Gail is right. I honestly and deeply believe that everyone can make comics and that everyone can draw. *Everyone*. How well you can do them is a different matter, but there is nothing stopping anyone from picking up a pen and a piece of paper (or a computer with even the most basic paint software on it) and making a comic. It might be basic, it might be a bit rubbish but they key thing, the only thing that really matters, is that *you* enjoy doing it. Forget everyone else while you’re making it, just have fun with the making.

As with any art form if you’re only doing it to get approval from others then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re doing it with the sole aim of making money or getting famous then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re spending the whole time you’re doing it telling yourself how awful it is and how it’s not ‘worth’ anything then you’re missing the point. Any artistic or creative endeavour, be it writing, drawing, painting, playing music, decorating cakes, whatever, serves no real purpose when you get down to it, other than to give pleasure. If people other than the artist enjoy it then that’s great, but as long as the artist enjoys it then that’s what matters, and since that’s the case there is nothing stopping anyone from doing something artistic. Granted some people simply don’t enjoy doing anything like that and that’s perfectly fine and normal (I, for example, love music but cannot find any great pleasure in making music myself), but your level of ability isn’t really that important. Besides, as with anything the more you do it the better you will get.

I don’t make comics because I want to break into the big time, I make comics because I love comics, I love drawing, I love writing and I have ideas for stories and jokes and pictures that I’ve not seen anywhere else. No-one else is going to be able to draw what i see in my head so the onus is on me to do it. The fact that other people also enjoy my comics is an added bonus. It’s an ego boost when people say nice things about stuff that I have created. The fact that people will pay for my comics means that I can carry on making more comics (not make money mind, I have only ever come away from one comic convention in profit). My distribution levels are pretty limited but even then I know that I have people who own my comics living in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK. The comics that I have on-line have been read and enjoyed by people all over the world. I’m not famous by any stretch of the imagination, I doubt most comics people, even within the UK scene, could pick me out from a line-up, but at the same time I know that Gail Simone, Jen Van Meter, Paul Cornell, Leah Moore and Mike Carey all own copies of my comics. I’ve not particularly done anything special to get comics into the hands of these people. I’ve been at cons at the same time as them, people have recommended my comics to them or I’ve actually given them copies. If I hadn’t actually made the comics myself in the first place then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of knowing people that I really look up to in the comic industry have enjoyed what I’ve done.

As for making it big… well, most people making small press or internet comics will never make it big. Most won’t even make it small to be honest, but some will. Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen are two perfect examples of that. I have known Jamie for many years and own the first comic story he drew and… well, bless him but it’s not the best thing you’ll ever see. Jamie has worked his arse off though and is now getting a name for himself as one of the best new artists Marvel have. Same with Kieron. He started out writing just because he wanted to, and is now becoming a key writer in the Marvel stable. Point being, while it probably won’t happen it *might*. Keep making your stuff and keep plugging away and your chance might come. If it doesn’t though… well, still keep making comics if you enjoy making comics. Don’t come up with excuses as to why you can’t do it. Ability matters, but it’s not the be all and end all and the more you practice the better you’ll get. Lack of time is a bullshit excuse. You might not be able to work full time on comics, but you can sure as hell spare half an hour here or there to work on something. The internet is stuffed with people looking for other people to make comics with, so if you can’t write but can draw go and find someone who can’t draw but can write (and vice versa). There is literally *nothing* stopping you.

I for one will never stop making comics. Would I like to get paid to work full time drawing comics? Hell, of course I would. It’s something I will never stop trying to do. Will I ever make it as a ‘mainstream’ comics artist working for DC or Marvel? Ermm…. probably not. Stylistically I think I’m too extreme for most of what the Big Two publish. *I* think I could draw a fucking awesome superhero comic, but I full accept that in terms of marketability I might be a bit of a hard sell in that area. On the other hand do I think I could fit well in somewhere like Oni? Yes, of course I do. You only have to look at the likes of Marc Ellerby, Chynna Clugston or Christine Norrie to see that the more cartoony side of comic art has a place in the industry. Do I think I *deserve* a paid job making comics? No, of course I don’t (Well, maybe a bit…). Will not getting paid work stop me making comics? Good fucking god NO. My hands falling off wouldn’t stop me making comics. It might make it harder, but it wouldn’t stop me…

So, yeah, like I say I have a tendency to ramble. Really though the only point that matters is that there’s nothing stopping you making comics apart from *you*. So stop complaining about it and just go and make the bloody things.