A while ago I wrote a post about the reasons why I write, I thought it would be nice to write about why I draw, more specifically why I draw webcomics. I’ve been a fan of webcomics for a few years now and at some point I thought “I could do that too”. So I started drawing comics and other “funny” drawings about 5 years ago, and even if I don’t have much followers, I still do it anyway and I don’t really care.
First thing, I like drawing, it should be obvious. But making comics is not just fun, depending on the idea I want to picture, some parts are boring and annoying to draw. I must admit that I don’t consider myself a great drawer, maybe I have a little more talent than average, just enough so I have the guts to publish drawings on the internet, but not really to be recognized for their quality. The sad thing is that I lost touch with this talent for many years, and now that I came back to it, I feel like I wasted a lot of time not practicing it. Anyway it’s too late now, I have to start from here and go forward as much as I can.
Just like I love writing because I can freely express what I have on my mind, I love drawing comics for the same reason. I can make a joke about anything I want and draw it the way I want to. I know that some jokes may not be understood by some people, but it’s part of the game, you can’t please everyone. Taking care of everything about the webcomic gives me freedom I wouldn’t have any other way. I can make the website the way I want it to be, I can upload comics whenever I want, and these comics can be about any subject I want. I do and manage everything the way I want to, I don’t have to listen to anyone else than myself. Something that I’d have a hard time doing in the traditional way (publishing comic books).
An other thing I like about it, that is an extension of the freedom I’ve talked about just above, is that it is on the internet. I don’t have to address my comics to anyone in particular, I just make them using my own vision of comedy and humour, upload them on my website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram and let them live by themselves. Unlike in real life discussions, where most people are unable to understand and appreciate my humour, the internet gives me the chance to reach people that can. If someone happens to see my comics somewhere and likes them, then it’s good, and if not, it’s good anyway, at least I created something and shared it with the world.
I see comics the same way I see paintings. Some could say that painting is more noble or professional, but to me it comes down to the same basic thing, expressing emotions and ideas. Because in both ways, the artist illustrates something the way he sees it. Just like two painters asked to do the same piece of art will come with two different results, the same thing will happen with two comic artists asked to draw the same joke. So drawing comics is a way of expressing my individuality and describing a situation in my own unique way.
While I mostly write to share tips in order to try to make our life better / easier, I draw comics mostly to entertain. And even if an unwritten law seems to state that a webcomic should be funny, I don’t expect people to laugh a lot reading mines. A lot of my ideas are based on word-play, which seems to be a kind of humor that doesn’t get much love in the French and English population, so obviously not so much people will like what I do. I also do a great share of observation jokes, which are only understandable by people who have ever been in the situation I’m drawing about. And the rest is pretty much just plain absurdity which will also appeal to the small group of persons who likes that kind of humor. But does it stop me from doing it? No, and I think that it’s precisely what makes it so nice to do. Knowing that it will only be truly understood / appreciated by a few individuals makes it so much more interesting for me. Just generating some kind of positive emotion in someone, is enough to make me happy.
Although I’d like to make a living out of it, I don’t think it will ever earn me enough money to become a job, I’m not even sure if it will ever earn me any money at all. I could probably manage to get it to pay in some way by adding ads on my website and becoming some kind of whore that draws things that are funny to the general public, but that would make the whole thing worthless to me. For me, it’s do it the right way or don’t. So it will probably stay a hobby like most of the other things I do, but I don’t care. As long as I can create and express things the way I want, I’ll be happy to do it and it will be worth it.