\u00a0 And up jumped someone to defend the people making them ( I had forgotten to turn off the comments option…a mistake I won’t make again…more on that soon.)<\/p>\n
His comments are below in blue-<\/p>\n
He\u2019s railing against the system of artists who draw other people\u2019s intellectual property. NOT that they are selling other people\u2019s actual artwork. So it\u2019s not an issue of an artist stealing someone else\u2019s drawing of Batman and passing it off as he own. It\u2019s about John Smith Artist drawing his own picture of Batman and selling it without DC\u2019s permission.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Kid\u2026 Tough shit.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n They are putting in the work to draw Cap or Batman, and it\u2019s their own work. If you\u2019re asking every artist to only come up with ORIGINAL CHARACTERS OF THEIR OWN and sell prints of only those, then this isn\u2019t the industry for you. I would suggest the food service or housekeeping industry for someone with your top-flight qualifications.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n If you limit yourself to just drawing your own original characters, then that\u2019s on you. I would be interested to see how a typical encounter goes at your table with a random guest.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Guy: (points at piece of work) \u201cwho is that?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s Relion, my own character. His story is 7,000 years ago on the planet Medilan, Prince Rufort had to..\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Guy: I like ROM, The Space Knight (walks away).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to sound mean, but you might need to hear it honestly from someone. You\u2019re an idiot. If you think artists aren\u2019t going to draw what makes them money, then do 2 things. Stop being an artist with morals. And stop writing EXTREMELY LONG blogs whining about it.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Had you been even once on the side of artists who copy other people\u2019s actual work, like Rob Granito and his ilk, I would have had your back. But nope. Kid, this is how those honest artists make their money and get their name out there. You pay your dues drawing original artwork, if not actually of original characters.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s still their actual talent behind the art. Give them the credit they are due for that. Respect them for that as your peers or you are going to find that your fellow vendors at those cons are going to freeze you out and those hours sitting at that table are going to be long and lonely.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I hope this helps, and good luck in the future, in whatever career you have. If you decide to stick to your principles and tell people you will ONLY draw your own original stuff, then remember- you are not an artist who only works at Applebee\u2019s until you become a comic artist. You are an employee at Applebee\u2019s who does some drawing on the weekends. Lean into that.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Oy…In an upcoming blog I\u2019ll deal with what an ignorant jackass he is, as a person, (***update, that blog is here<\/a>) but for now…let\u2019s just look at “the tale of the tape” as they say on the givers of opinions here-<\/p>\n The commentor- some guy on the internet, goes to some comic-cons, doesn’t work in the comic book industry, hasn’t bothered to even check to see who wrote the blog.<\/p>\n The blogger\u00a0 – Douglas Paszkiewicz, a Harvey Award Nominee, Eisner Award Nominee, and Comicdom Award Nominee.<\/p>\n Illustrator on Arsenic Lullaby-Image Comics-Valiant Comics-The Tick- Mad Magazine -Comedy Central.<\/p>\n Those are the messengers,\u00a0 and the messages are both wrapped in bluster, and acerbic tone.\u00a0 The nuts and bolts of things is what you need to be able to discern, when you get opinions or advice.<\/p>\n The people who are trying to help you and the people who are trying to f*ck you up are not always so easily recognized. \u00a0Sometimes they don\u2019t even realize which side of things they are on.\u00a0 And often they are on the opposite side as conventional wisdom would say.\u00a0 I work in the comic book industry, one would assume I’d be trying to f*ck new people up. He is a fan\/convention attendee\/comic book reader, (webmaster Joe was able to easily find the guy on the internet, he does not work in the industry and does not exhibit at conventions…like I said…more on him soon ***update, that blog is here***<\/a>) one would assume he’d be on the side of seeing new things and seeing new talent succeed.<\/p>\n Break things down to their core foundational point…and he is telling you that you can\u2019t, and I am telling you that you can.\u00a0 Strip away all the bells and whistles away from both of our rants and that is what you are left with. \u00a0Tough love and an enabler. \u00a0Both those terms have been overused to the point many people just close their ears when they hear them…but they exist for a reason.<\/p>\n This guy, with no experience either way, is telling you that you can\u2019t succeed on your own ideas. \u00a0Can you think of a more detrimental message? \u00a0He\u2019s telling you that you cannot succeed on your own ideas, to not try, to break the law rather than strive for more. \u00a0That\u2019s his message. Pure and simple. \u00a0To keep stifling your own creativity and by doing so you\u2019ll eventually \u201cget your name out there\u201d….whatever the f8ck that means. \u00a0That\u2019s a phrase that makes my skin crawl, especially when uttered by people no one has ever heard of. \u00a0As though they know how to get one\u2019s name out there or even if that has any actual value and what that value may or may not actually be. \u00a0And they say it as though \u201cname out there\u201d is equal in all cases.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s one side…someone who has not done anything, telling you that you cannot do it. \u00a0That\u2019s, by the way, the type person who is on the side of \u201cyou cannot do it\u201d 99.99999% of the time. \u00a0People who have done things and have succeeded never take this fall back position, because they know what succeeding actually takes…and it\u2019s nothing special or unique to them. \u00a0It is determination…and the bolstering and practice and strengthening of it.<\/p>\n The other side is someone who has accomplished much, telling you that you can do it. \u00a0That you should not think like an insect, that you should move forward with your own ideas, that you should fight that fight because in the long term the prize if much greater. \u00a0I was born with some artistic talent, sure, but not nearly as much as that of others that started out when I did. Not by a long shot, not by anyone’s imagination. And the ideas for characters and stories that were in my sketchbooks, could have, if I listened to people such as him, still just be sitting in my sketchbooks. But they aren\u2019t, they have been published here and overseas, they have been in mad Magazine, they have been on Comedy Central, they will be seen other places in the future.<\/p>\n They have and will be because I chose to work on them, instead of other people\u2019s ideas, refined them instead of other\u2019s ideas. \u00a0Fought for them, improved them, pitched them, raised hell about them, improved them again, instead of other people\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n Among all the other reasons I laid out, you by forwarding your own ideas, are giving yourself two avenues of success. Your ideas themselves have a life of their own, and your skills have a life of their own.<\/p>\n Work i get that doesn\u2019t involve my own ideas…I got because people saw the skills I developed. \u00a0They saw what I could accomplish with characters no one had ever previously heard of and they surmised that that amount of skill could be a great asset to characters that already had decades of name recognition. \u00a0They saw skill, hard work, and grit that it takes to advance your own ideas…that is far more impressive and far more valuable to any given project. That is the recipe…not bootlegging, not drawing someone elses\u2019 work. \u00a0Applying the sum total efforts to your own work, to a new idea.<\/p>\n \u00a0The people out there looking for talent for their big projects, they full well know that there will be adversity ahead, challenges, times when grit and extra effort is needed. In column A they have someone who has done nothing more, thought of nothing grander than re-doing someone else’s characters, in column B they have someone who has fought for his\/her own. \u00a0They know nothing for sure of column A\u2019s capability or what their reaction to adversity will amount to, they know that column B will laugh in it\u2019s face and double down on the effort.<\/p>\n The success my ideas have had, they gained that because i refined them, worked on them, spent time, effort, and willpower advancing them. And when people looking for new ideas were looking, they saw refined quality work. \u00a0Don\u2019t fool yourself, there are people out there looking. Publishers, movie and t.v. studios, gaming companies, you name it. \u00a0There are a lot of rehashed concepts out there, there are also entire offices with the sole purpose of finding new things. \u00a0 Every bad movie, every bad t.v. show, every bad book out there…you telling me you can\u2019t do better? Are you telling me you can\u2019t find a writer to pare up with?\u00a0 Or for that matter, set your sights on making something better than the good ones, the great ones, the best ones.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about what you are capable of. \u00a0About what you believe you are capable of and what you are willing to do to achieve it.<\/p>\n I see people out there who are capable of a lot…who are choosing to do a little, perhaps because they are listening to people like him. \u00a0Don\u2019t listen to people like him. \u00a0The apex of that path is being illustrator no.478 to draw Spider-Man. \u00a0The apex of the path i speak of is Matt Groening.<\/p>\n How would you rather end up? \u00a0Whatever your answer to that, the path I speak of can get you there. \u00a0If Matt Groening decided to slum it and draw Spider-man for a few issues, I assure you, one phone call from his assistants assistants assistant to Marvel Comics Editor in Chief would get that done.<\/p>\n Think big, work big, do big. \u00a0Ignore anyone telling you otherwise. \u00a0Not everyone who acts like your friend is going to help you, not everyone who seems like your adversary is going to do you harm.<\/p>\n One last teachable moment, something a little more tangible…an alternative to his ridiculous scenario on how to pitch a new idea to a stranger at a convention, because I know all this pie in the sky talk will only get you so far and sometimes you need a little step by step.<\/p>\n When I stared out at cons I realized quickly I had no idea what I was doing…so the next time I brought along a friend. \u00a0A friend who could sell ice to Eskimos. \u00a0A friend who who\u2019s best interest was likely that I stayed working for him at his business, rather than moving on. \u00a0Remember that \u201cnot everyone who seems like your adversary\u201d thing I just said? \u00a0This man had skills that I needed to learn. \u00a0I brought him along, he taught…and I learned. \u00a0Time to pay it forward, eh?<\/p>\n \u00a0NOW…the dope \u00a0gives a hypothetical scenario where someone tries to get a con goer interested in his original work…pay close attention, because here comes a valuable lesson in pitching your book to strangers, first his scenario-<\/b><\/p>\n Guy: (points at piece of work) \u201cwho is that?\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Artist: \u201cThat\u2019s Relion, my own character. His story is 7,000 years ago on the planet Medilan, Prince Rufort had to..\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Guy: I like ROM, The Space Knight (walks away).<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Okay you up and comers..that is NOT how you do it. Just using the one sentence he provided on this hypothetical book being pitched, I will show you how it is done.<\/p>\n First off, the con goer has expressed curiosity, that is 90% of the battle right there. \u00a0All you need do now is give them a reason to like it. \u00a0I’d reply something like this-<\/p>\n That’s Relion, he’s part of a story I’ve been working hard on<\/i> (see, most people don’t put two and two together that all this stuff takes hard work. It is simply because they have never been involved in a creative enterprise. \u00a0You explain that and it will garner you some respect. \u00a0Most people respect hard work, after all).<\/p>\n It’s a sci-fi story<\/i> (give them a genre, so they can get their head around it a little, after all they don’t have time to read four pages of mood and tone setting. A quick mention of the genre will give them a foundation) where Relion is trying to overthrow a tyrant<\/i> ( you’re really like 99% of the way home there with this example, as half the people think Trump is a tyrant and the other half think some other branch of the government is tyrannical. Just don’t be heavy handed about that, you’re trying to get people interested in your comic book, not host a political talk show. \u00a0Just mention that and let their mind fill in the rest as they see fit…again, you\u2019re giving them something to relate to. \u00a0Different minds are going to find different aspects of your work interesting and for different reasons, that\u2019s a good thing).<\/p>\n I’d also make some comment about what kind of person Relion is, maybe show a page or two that conveys his personality. \u00a0People gotta be able to relate to the lead in some way or maybe even hate him. \u00a0Good stories are about emotional connections, so give them something to send them down that path. \u00a0Showing pages also let’s them see the quality of your work. \u00a0You have to let the work speak for itself…they\u2019re taking the book home, not you.<\/p>\n After that, they either like it or they don’t and you move onto the next person. It is the law of averages at a certain point, don’t get discouraged. Some people like sci-fi, some people don’t, some people are willing to try new things, some people aren’t. \u00a0If we are talking about a mid sized show, if you get 3% of the people interested…you’re going to move a decent amount of books.<\/p>\n Don’t be rude, discouraged or act off putting if they say no. \u00a0They were polite enough to listen to your pitch, that’s all you can ask. \u00a0Thank them for their time, and let your work hang out in their brain awhile. \u00a0Maybe they look around at everything else and decide that in comparison they’d rather spend their money on your work, or maybe they mention it to a friend who reads your type of stuff….maybe…but if you are curt if they say no, then that maybe is gone. \u00a0Kapeesh?<\/p>\n \u201cLoud and proud\u201d is the key. \u00a0You worked hard, you put out something new into the world…not many people can say that…but you can. \u00a0The same goes for showing off online. \u00a0Don\u2019t be f8cking shy about it, or apologize for promoting yourself. \u00a0If you don\u2019t do it, who will? \u00a0Some clown asking you to \u2018work for exposure\u201d? \u00a0YOU are the root of the exposure. The most viral image that\u2019s ever been seen…someone had to post if first. \u00a0Put your work out there for all to see and let the chips fall where they may. \u00a0Maybe you get some negative responses, or some people bust your chops for self promotion…shrug..that\u2019s the internet, it\u2019s full of shitters, don\u2019t worry about it. \u00a0Don\u2019t fret if you aren\u2019t getting a ton of likes or shares…that by and large doesn\u2019t tell the story.<\/p>\n None of this is to say you shouldn\u2019t access from time to time whether or not you work sucks…at some point logic dictates that you accept that possibility. \u00a0Refine it, or scrape it and start over. \u00a0Learn from that suckage and do better. If you scrap the whole thing and start over…you\u2019re not actually \u201cstarting over\u2019 because you have learned a bunch that someone who hasn\u2019t started at all hasn\u2019t. \u00a0Arsenic Lullaby did well right from issue one, but that doesn\u2019t tell the whole story. \u00a0It did well because even though the illustrations were outclassed by my peers, the writing was in a class by itself. \u00a0That writing…that was learned from a good amount of bad responses from audiences when I was doing stand up comedy. \u00a0Negative feedback from strangers is your friend. It is invaluable. \u00a0The people you know personally, they will often tell you what you want to hear ( like it\u2019s okay to waste your time doing bootleg prints) but total strangers…they will give you the sh*t end of the stick with no apologies. \u00a0You learning which end of the stick has sh8t on it is a good thing. \u00a0There is an internal compass you need to hone. One that tells you the difference between what you think is good and what someone outside your brain will think is good.<\/p>\n Now, along with ALLLLLL the other reasons I listed last time for going the route of making your own original work instead of bootleg prints is return business<\/b>. \u00a0Let’s say you sell that Captain America bootleg, let’s even say it was very, very good. \u00a0Are they going to look for you online to see part 2? \u00a0Is your, very good, bootleg of Cap going to so massively outshine all other bootleg prints of Cap that they come specifically to you next year for a bootleg of whatever the hot movie character is?are they going to be able to discern your wall of prints from the 30 other walls of prints next year? Probably f*cking not.<\/p>\n But if you got them hooked on a story, interested in a charter, and your booth is displaying your original charter, than last years hard work turns into this year’s easy turn over.<\/p>\n But hey, what do I know. According to that last guy I actually work at Applebees.<\/p>\n Now that that\u2019s out of the way…stay tuned next week for me personally replying to this jackass\u2019s insults. \u00a0That will not be a teachable moment, it will just be me sinking to his level…nay…sinking beneath it, for my own juvenile pleasure. (***update, that blog is here<\/a>)<\/p>\n _______________________________________________<\/p>\n When Douglas is not here, he and his work can be found at www.arseniclullaby.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n sign up HERE<\/strong><\/a> for the email updates and get blogs, rants, sneak previews, and discount codes sent directly to your inbox<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s seemingly nonsensical phrases out there that are brilliant advice.\u00a0 Like “If you want to make sure something gets done, give it to someone who’s too busy.”\u00a0\u00a0 The point of this being that “busy” people actually know how to get things done, that’s why they are busy…and someone with a\u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15626"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MGRNGboth.jpg\")
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