Should I Do It?

[Chibi Altaria]

Do something because you want to, not because anyone else told you to. Everything you do in life should be for your own satisfaction. If your satisfaction comes from making others happy, that's alright, but never neglect yourself; you are you, and the most important person in your life. Only you can take proper care of yourself. c: And we all love you, Noble! You're quite a strong, capable human being. <3

[Noblejanobii]

I'm not going to go get into the whole talk about how I'm twelve years my artistic skills have never improved again but I will say I am going to try this. Like I said, I want to script out the whole story first, make some edits to the story here and there so it's not just some huge mishmash full of more plot holes than necessary.

I appreciate all of your comments. Drawing is one of those things that I used to be passionate about, but then the influences around me (including the fact that literally every person I know in real life is like a Renaissance artist level artist) caused me to think I would never be good enough at it, so I stopped. I'll try it again and maybe this time I won't lose passion.

[Winter]

I'm not going to go get into the whole talk about how I'm twelve years my artistic skills have never improved again but I will say I am going to try this. Like I said, I want to script out the whole story first, make some edits to the story here and there so it's not just some huge mishmash full of more plot holes than necessary.

I appreciate all of your comments. Drawing is one of those things that I used to be passionate about, but then the influences around me (including the fact that literally every person I know in real life is like a Renaissance artist level artist) caused me to think I would never be good enough at it, so I stopped. I'll try it again and maybe this time I won't lose passion.

In my experience, if you feel like your art hasn't improved in a long time, you haven't found the right resource to help you--and there is such a thing as the right resource and the wrong resource. If you're not confident in your skills, trackpad or not (though if you happen to get some spare money, there are some really cheap Wacom tablets available in stores these days, and learning one of those would be an option to consider), then the best thing you can do is find a bunch of tutorials and put in practice. Lots and lots of tutorials and practice. You will eventually find some that work for you. For me, it was the difference in Chris Hart's "How to Draw Manga" books, and Irene Flores', as well as other art process books.

Part of the issue with the artist mindset that's not going to help you, though, is the "It's not good enough" mindset. It's something almost every artist has and struggles with...and even those who have phenomenal art seem to have this issue. Sometimes they struggle with it more than those whose skill set isn't as amazing. Just keep practicing. Just keep going, and trying, and please give yourself some credit where it's due. Look at a piece and go "Okay, I did this pretty badly--I should work on that. I did this other thing pretty well, though!" Keep in mind that "Your art sucks" is NOT constructive criticism, and in my experience, most of dA is populated by rude little brats...and the art style of a comic doesn't always dictate its success.

I mean, I'm not a Homestuck fan, but isn't that whole comic made in MS Paint? It's not the most visually appealing work ever, but it still was/is ridiculously popular. So yeah, don't let the art aspect hold you back.

I don't read many comics myself, but best of luck!

[AWA1997]

Just remember, we're all here for you. Not necessarily for your art, though we enjoy that too because it has a strong chance of making you happy, but for you so that you're happy. You know me, I won't hesitate to tell you my opinion, even if it's not necessarily one you like, but that's just to help you. Like the idea bouncing for our RPs. If I see something wrong that I can tell how to fix, then I'll let you know and tell you how to fix it. If there's something wrong in general, but I don't know how to fix it, I'll let you know and see if you can think of how to correct it, and it's all for your improvement. Even if you say you haven't improved, with a little help I'm sure you can get better for yourself. And even if you don't get better, you have a nice art style. Perfect, no, but art doesn't have to be perfect. Some of the best art in the world is as imperfect as it could be, in styles that only look good when it's that one person doing it. (Besides, you say you haven't gotten better in 12 years, I haven't gotten better since I started. All I can really do is stick figures. And you've surpassed me in spriting and I'm barely inching along there.)