Recently an illustration student emailed me asking some questions about I got into comics and if I could share some advice. I definitely don't consider myself an expert in the field, but in general I always try to be as open of a book as possible when it comes to sharing the little that I do know!
How did you get started as a comic artist, and do you have any tips for a new graduate?
I feel like I sorta fell into making comics...I definitely didn't plan on it while in art school. I studied fine art/photography/filmmaking in school (there was no illustration or comics program), and by the time I graduated I was making strange sculptural pieces (which is wild to look back on haha). After I graduated, I worked a few different jobs that were not related at all to making any kind of art (hair salon receptionist, executive assistant at a non-profit company, etc.). I finally started a job as a bindery assistant at a book bindery/art book publisher (Conveyor Studio!). This job was awesome because the owners were artists, and they allowed me full and free access to using their book-making and printing equipment. Directly before this job, which was maybe 2 years after graduating, I had decided to take a 6-month break from making art because I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in, and I found the fine arts world to be a little bit of an isolated, lonely bubble. By the time I started at the book factory, I was watching my friend Meredith draw and post her comics to Instagram, and I loved how honest and relatable they were. I've always loved to draw, despite majoring in something completely unrelated at school, so I decided to try out something similar myself! I learned so much from Conveyor that I could directly apply to my new illustration/comics practice: zine-making, how to print, color-theory, foil stamping, etc. I would also table for Conveyor at various art book fairs, which really prepared me for when I started tabling and showing my own work at comics fairs later on.
I focused on drawing comics during almost all my freetime after getting home from work. I took notes on what my favorite successful artists were doing (how often they were posting, what subject matters seemed to connect with people the best, etc.) and tried to do the same, but with my own spin on it. Slowly I figured out the sweet spot in between what I liked to make the best and what got the best response from anyone who stumbled upon my IG page, and I kinda honed in on that and kept practicing and kept posting. It took a couple years of practicing and consistent posting, but eventually people started noticing!
As far as tips go, I'd say that practicing drawing really is important. Developing your own voice and style takes time and persistence. Actually, for better or for worse, I think persistence can be more important than talent!
Also, don't be afraid to try out different things and decide that they're not for you. I think I've changed my "style" pretty drastically over the past few years until I found something that really felt like me.