Just to start, a little self promotion (but this is my own site, which is about 90% self-promotion anyway)... Near the beginning of 2023, I launched a new site, brianwonderful.com, for my web comics . It is mobile friendly and added a merch store (something I need to work on more). I've been posting to Instagram as @brianwonderful, Reddit, and a few other social sites (plus an older version of my site) for a few years now. Instagram has a lot more history of my work, if you are curious.
But, I feel like trying to wrap this self-promotion in some lessons or tips would be a good idea.
I'm a long time doodler and comic enjoyer. I have historically been the guy that sketches some stuff on the whiteboard at the office. However, when the pandemic hit, and I was stuck at home needing some more hobbies and creative outlet, I actually started a real attempt at comic strips that I intended to share with others.
You can learn new things at any point in life, including things you are impressed by in others and seem like they are unreachable for you.
I started out with pencil on paper, inking with markers, and scanning them in for color and text. I moved on to a drawing tablet (Wacom Intuos BT M) and worked through the learning curve of that. I've enjoyed watching artist YouTube and have picked up efficiencies from that (as well as just from trial and error).
Practice really does make you better. Often a lot faster than you realize.
Case in point. Here's one of my earliest comics (April 2020) followed by a reattempt at it that I just wrapped up.
I try to publish two comics a week (and I don't always do that). For quite a while, that meant scrambling at the last minute to think of something I thought was worthwhile and getting myself to produce it. Over time, I find the regular activity has allowed me to see comic ideas more in everyday life or iterate on ideas for possible comics. I now have a running list to pick from when I draw.
Learn to think differently when the task calls for it. There are tons of ideas all around us.
But, to close off, here are a few more samples of my hobby that is sometimes frustrating but also makes me smile.
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