Vulpine 7

To be fair: I like that i can count on you to deliver. To be also fair: sometimes you should just draw stuff so that it looks good to you.

Simone Spinozzi

Well thanks for the pep talk. Yeah I'm usually in a rush and I don't try to do anything fancy because then I don't know if I'll finish it before the deadline.

?!?! it sure has? For starters (when you are not too tired) today : • you know how to make lines of different width and how to use them properly, • you know how to deliver nouanced expressions, rather than just theatrical ones, • you know how to portray characters that are not just one or two very specific races which you liked at the time, with the rest defaulting to ... whatever you saw drawn by others, rather than giving them your style. • you can keep body proportions consistent between panels. • and lots of other minutia and details you actually pay attention to, today, that you did not at the time. • and you keep dishing these out like a freaking machine. It just feels *to me* like you challenged yourself mainly on character portrayal and on story delivery, and found a comfort zone elsewhere which you started feeling afraid to leave for the fear of negativity. Basically, the way i see it, you had a lot of initial talent, and the fury of having to deliver daily/weekly comics with people telling you everything was "fine" or "it serves the purpose" or "don't be too hard on yourself" and a slew of positive comments with half internal insecurities and half you seeking the praise... did make you plateau, sure. But *<u>there is no such thing as a real "plateau" in art</u>*. Especially with the speed at which you dish out new art. You do show a lot of improvement in the last quarter century, and if you feel like you "could have gotten better"... i mean: yeah! Also: the world is round and water is wet. Perfection does not exist. You can ALWAYS get better at something. The fact you have not gotten as better *<u>as you would like to</u>* does not mean you *<u>haven't gotten better</u>*. Like: the two things are polar opposites. Sure, you might feel like crap at times, but that just means you need to challenge yourself a bit more. That is all. Pick a book about line art or about comics and see if there is something you have not tried in a while. Heck at one point i do remember you tried to imitate the style of an hetched illustration from the middle of the 1800s and i was honestly impressed with the results... but you never try and do stuff like that because (let us be honest) you often sound afraid of not delivering stuff with the speed of a rotary press... ...and trying to imitate a human rotary press is going to flatten your art. If you try and work like a machine you're going to die like John Henry. He might have "won" against the machine. But if you have to die for your work/pride that's no win. That's just silly self/punishment. That does not mean it's not getting better, it just means that if you have to take some time for yourself... you prefer doing music or other hobbies you have. Because (my guess is) your enjoyment in drawing is *<u>almost</u>* to the point of being dead like John Henry, so you need to "recharge your creative batteries" doing other things that "do not feel like pummeling work". And so the improvements are there, they just *<u>feel</u>* too few compared to other people who only focus on art. But you know i am brutally honest: for me it is 100% fine. • With the variety of stuff you have shown us you do on your spare time, • With the speed at which you dish out content in here (1 sketch/day, 1 illustration in 2 days, and about 4 monthly stories with doodles and 2 comic pages) ...i'm honestly surprised that you can do *<u>anything else</u>* on your spare time. Like: when i entered this patreon thing with you i felt like you were mostly reminiscing about old times. Today you keep delivering content on a daily basis but the "old timey stuff" is now barely a light drizzle that covers less than 7 days/month. And still i get daily content from you. Even when it is nothing complete it is a sketch to ask for any changes to the commissioner. And i see nobody else delivering this level of daily art. The speediest artists i know are those who deliver 3/week. And those people too try to not challenge themselves too much because otherwise they cannot deliver content. And at least 3/4 of that content is either WIPs or very quick sketches. And yet you deliver. So yeah.

Simone Spinozzi

FWIW, I’m enjoying this.

Eric Costello

more like you had some fundamentals set even in 95. you obviously have gotten a lot better over the years otherwise why would I cherish seeing you draw my naughty (and silly not so naughty) ideas every month?

Rick2tails

I feel like you've grown in skill with your drawings.

Serge Skunk