An Explanation Nobody Asked For But Is Needed.

Okay, I’m gonna jump right into it, not because I’m furious but because I don’t really know how to open a blog lol (but here we are with an opening and stuff). So, a few days ago, I posted about how the new Instagram algorithm bothered me. See it here.

The messages and comments I got on the post are what motivated me to write this.  I received a good mix of support, suggestions, and err..here are some examples.

I’ve boiled these down to four factors affecting my growth.

Let me write down a few things about each factor/reason.

 

1. Too much of my cat in my Instagram story– It’s my Instagram story, I choose what to put there. I can post whatever I want to, I have that freedom. If you’re not into my cat or anything else besides my comics, swipe away from the story. You have the option/freedom to not look at it. Let’s use and respect each other’s freedom. And posting too much of my cat on my story shouldn’t be reason enough to unfollow me if you’re following me for my comics, this isn’t Snapchat where stories are the main focus. There’s a lot of people who enjoy looking at my cat stories and other stuff that I put there. Moreover, I want to use Instagram stories as a way for my audience to get to know me closely. Bottomline, if you don’t like it, swipe away.
2. Patreon- Patreon is one of the ways I earn a living. I am grateful for the people who support me there. I have a new reward where I acknowledge their support after every comic I post. If you have a problem with that, you should stop because it’s completely harmless and it’s not even like I’m forcing anything on you. It’s already difficult making a living as an artist in the early stages. 🙂
3. Change in art style/humour-  (This might be slightly long) For starters, an artist has all the right and freedom to experiment, change and play with their art style. It is also an essential factor in growing/evolving as an artist. Please make peace with this fact.  Now, let’s talk about me and my art. If you scroll down my Instagram page, you’ll notice there isn’t one particular theme or a style to it. My comics don’t follow a consistent style and are pretty random. This might be a good thing or not. For a long time, I’ve looked at it as a bad thing. I’ve belittled and doubted myself as an artist for not having a consistent style. But after all this time, I’ve learned the importance and okay-ness of it. It’s okay to not have a style that sticks, maybe one day you’ll find it. What isn’t okay is not being happy with what you’re creating just to fit in and not testing your potential and trying to see what you can do the best. I’ve always loved “shamelessly” experimenting with different styles to see what works for me the best and that’s, how I believe I grow. I’ve put it all up online for people to witness my growth and also because it’s so much easier to look back on my growth on the internet than to try to find my sketchbook, years later. My latest style with the many “boxes” in one slide is probably my favorite one so far. I am truly having a lot of fun creating these multiple panel comics It’s creatively challenging and I love that. The change was sudden and people were used to reading my easier 4-panel comics but the way I see it, if I’m not genuinely having fun creating art, I might as well not do it at all. I like to keep things real and true to heart. I draw as things come to my mind, which would explain the randomness of my comics. I do feel I should have talked more about this change in art style so that people would know why and what was going, so I’m sorry for that.

Just know that-

• Even if I have a fairly large following, I’m not all figured out yet. The number of followers doesn’t always have anything to do with how a person feels or is satisfied with what they’re creating.
• I still have many styles to explore and many directions to take my art in, humor-wise. Some might not be your thing and some might be!
• I can’t always be funny. I like to touch topics that are random and silly more. My humor will keep changing because its natural. My comics won’t always be meaningful or “relatable”.

A bunch of people have asked me to make more “relatable” comics. For an answer, I’m really not into making them myself (no offense to anyone). Although I am guilty of making some in the past as a way of trying to fit in and gain exposure. There’s plenty of it on the internet. Anyway, I’m into exploring the silly shit my brain has to offer and translate it into art. Though a lot of people are too lazy to read my recent comics because of the number of panels they contain (I don’t blame anyone, the internet has made some of us more accustomed to reading easy stuff) I don’t see myself changing my art style because of that. I won’t limit myself to my art for the sake of your laziness. Try reading it once, you might as well end up liking it. I’m also sorry if the relatibility quotient is low in my comics but something which is of extreme importance to me is, I have to be the first person relating to my work. I don’t do this for numbers or to cater to the mass appeal. I started out making comics for myself, I don’t have an art education of any sort (though it’s not a very important factor in anything really lol) and I’m thankful for the people who joined me on my journey.

Another thing before I conclude, Comics needn’t always be funny. They can be sad, terrifying, melancholic, hilarious, warm, auto-bio and so much more. I’m mentioning this because I’ve had so many messages and comments saying my comics aren’t funny anymore even when they aren’t intended to be funny in the first place. A lot of our issues root from our perspective and the way we misunderstand things. So, the next time I post something which isn’t funny, its either because it’s not intended to be or it’s not your kind of humor and just because I post one dumb comic doesn’t mean all my content will be dumb henceforth. I’ve kind of started to get an idea of what my comics circle around. They’re either about Cat, Ketchup, Butts(haven’t done that in a while), Random stories. I think I’m getting somewhere.

As much as an artist has the freedom to experiment with their style, the audience also has the freedom to criticize the work, constructively of course. Tell them what you don’t like but be respectful, give helpful suggestions, don’t force anything on them. The world can be a peaceful place if you are willing to make it.

 

Also before I conclude my conclusion, I haven’t forgotten about Eswald. Big news coming soon. Stay tuned.

 

TL;DR- Cat will always be in my story. My art style will keep changing. I’m genuinely enjoying creating my multiple panel comics. My humor is random. Respect artists.  Eswald news coming soon. Thanks for reading.