I can get pretty pessimistic sometimes about my art and where it had taken my career wise to this point in my life. To those closest to me, I know it comes as no shock. But I also know that they all feel the same way… and often. We want to be more successful, or “popular” (which in the art world, success usually correlates to this). We want to see things change and we wonder if they ever will! If we ever will make enough money to support our family with our work, or even just ourselves! I sometimes look out across the expanse of job opportunities in this art world and wonder if I should quit comics altogether and pursue animation… Surely that’s where the money and living is to be made, right? Right?
Truth is I don’t know. I don’t know where the living is to be made in art, nor do I think it’s that simple. I always have these very odd interactions with co-workers where they will come up to me and ask how my books are going. I tell them about how I’m seeking out a publisher and that I don’t know if that will work out (it didn’t). But they’d always say to me, “so when you get that book deal you’re out of here, right?” To which I have to explain the industry to them and let them know that’s not very likely. I always leave the conversation with just a statement that, I will treat it like any other work decision: I will do what makes the most sense for my family.
But why keep going then? And to be frank I don’t really want to write a post about never giving up, and believing in your dreams. We all know those things. We hear them like a mantra and they are very true things to be sure. But that doesn’t always lift your spirit when you’re wishing things were going in a different direction. Instead I want to talk about seeing past your situation and what you can take with you to feel more optimistic about things.
First I think we need to stop thinking so much about the future. I’m not saying don’t think about your goals. I’m saying, have a goal and go after that goal with all of your intensity. Really pursue it. Not halfheartedly. My goal is to make graphic novels that are read and enjoyed by a mass of people. Well the first step I have is to focus on making books worthy of that! So I have to make books and be intense about them! I can’t predict what opportunities will come my way. In fact when I think about it and the likelihood of it panning out the way I have hoped since I was a kid, I get pessimistic. But that does me no good. None whatsoever. All that helps is to pick myself up and go after this book with everything I had. As a general rule, you earn the opportunities you are given. So go earn them! When you focus on what you CAN do, the future, which is always more scary, can just take care of itself.
Second, realize you’re already doing the thing your aspiring towards. I give credit to my friend Josh Ulrich on this one. We were having a discussion about art and careers. I said something to the effect of, “man I’m most interested in just making these comics!” He then reminded me that I’m already doing that! No one is taking it away from me. I didn’t need to have it be a full time job to make it a reality. It is a reality because I went and made it. How empowering is that?! There’s not a lot of room for moaning about things, when I’m already doing the very thing I’m aspiring towards. It just needs to be owned, and really embraced by me to have the pessimism go away. I’m doing the thing I would always do even if no one was paying me to do it… And consequently no one isl, lol. BUT maybe that changes! Who knows? What I do know is, there’s reason to be excited, because there’s work to be done that I can do. And if I can do it with all my might and get better… the future is anyone’s guess. But that can take care of itself.
Pessimism can be pervasive. Setbacks can feel so painful. In my life, and career, there have definitely been plenty of those. As well as my fair share of debilitating depression. But while I know we can’t just be cheerful all the time in the face of adversity, I know that what has helped me most is a constant drive and a sense of flexibility.
Very few creative professionals make a living doing just one thing, even at the top. Neil Gaiman writes comics, scripts, and novels. Warren Ellis makes comics, novels, and has worked in TV. Sense a trend? Don’t let yourself feel down because making comics is just one of the many things you do to support yourself. Feel proud that making comics is even in the equation!
You’re absolutely right! You do need to be flexible. I guess I look at those folks though and see that those things branched out of doing one thing and doing it well. Sort of you become solid at one trade, like a writer of novels, and then it opes up the door to do other things. And then yeah you gotta take those chances and go those directions. You’re right though. I do struggle with being open outside of things from time to time. Truth is I would love to do lots of things. I just think comics are my best way to get that attention.
Nothing wrong with doing lots of things, as long as you pace yourself! And hey, you’d be surprised how some of the most talented folk out there got their start. Take Neil Gaiman, for example. Did you know he was a journalist for years before he made his first comic? He even wrote a book on Duran Duran. And Einstein was a patent clerk for many years while doing physics on the side. Creativity is like a river, and I see all of these things, all of our experiences, as the tributaries that feed the river. Lots of little things add up, until our ideas overflow, and then we get caught up in the current.