--- In SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com, fiawol@... wrote:
>
> Have you ever had opportunity to "run the figures" to let you know which
> ACTUALLY nets you more money, spending time on your "art season", non-anthro
> art, or doing an anthro project where you can sell a portfolio or comic,
> then sell all the production and pre-production sketches as well? If they're
> close to being even, which one is more interesting for you to work on,
> characters/storylines you've created yourself, or the more mainstream art
> that you don't have to worry about the stigma of "I peddle porn for a living"?
> Does the lesser porn content of your comic stories make them more or less
> enjoyable to draw than your portfolio pieces where you have to concentrate
> on "how sexy can I make this image?
>
> Dave
Well, the danger of doing any one thing continuously (as a job rather than a hobby) will soon make it undesirable. This is part of the reason I try to work in both venues; to prevent either one from becoming a "chore". If it starts losing its enjoyment value, then I stop doing it.
The mainstream artwork allows me to practice other subjects, and sharpen my artistic abilities (moreso than if I just kept drawing the same crap over and over). To be quite honest, I've grown tired of the porn stuff. It no longer has the appeal it once did, and whether that is due to a broader artistic horizon, or my desire to produce stories with more substance than "oh baby, stick it in", I cannot say. It is true the Caterwaul stories do not have the level of sex and gratuitous nudity that has become a staple in the anthropomorphic genre. My aim for the Caterwaul stories is to try to appeal to fans of science fiction, crime noir, action/hero comics and horror. I'm not using the anthropomorphic attributes of the characters as a fill-in for drawing humans; many of the things the characters do in the stories could not be done if they were simply human, so I feel confident that I have avoided that common trap so prevalent in many modern "furry" stories.
I make okay money from the various art events I go to, but the real kicker is the side jobs. These vary so much that there's literally no chance I would ever get bored of them. They are also usually more lucrative than producing landscape and portrait artwork for sale to the general public. I especially like it when I can design artwork for vehicles, patches or even tattoos. I generally don't have to worry about someone wanting me to draw a day-glo green and black striped dingo with dragon horns and 4 tails, beating some drunk white-furred kangaroo-rhino-alligator DNA nightmare with his 3-foot-long cock. ;) Haha!
If I wasn't working in mainstream artwork, I would likely still be drawing stuff the same way I did 10+ years ago. There are plenty of artists in this genre that do that already; I certainly don't want to join that crowd. Besides, the reinvention of Caterwaul and all the characters within it has made me WANT to draw the anthropomorphic stuff again. If I was just stuck drawing more porn, I probably would be hanging up my hat right about now. As it stands, I decided several months back to just finish up the 6 or 7 various folios I had already thumbnail-sketched out; once those get published, I'll probably cease producing those sorts of works. Not necessarily because I don't want to get stuck being labeled as a porn artist, though. It's mostly because I'm just tired of drawing that sort of stuff. I know a lot of folks want to see more porn of various characters, but I would much rather draw stories featuring these characters in realistic settings, and allow readers to learn more about the characters than what one would normally glean from a pin-up.
I know several folks were not too happy about some of the character redesigns and/or the content of some of the recent comics I've posted over the past 2-3 years. But the simple truth is, I'm not going to go back to how I drew the characters 15 years ago. I don't even think I COULD draw them like that again. I really do prefer the more realistic, almost-feral style of the characters now, and it was allowed me to detail their world and society in ways I couldn't have hoped for 15 years ago. For one thing, I wasn't able to get that "deep" into the character's world, and for another, my art skill just wasn't where I needed it to be for that level of detail.
While it would be nice to focus on only one or the other (in terms of mainstream versus anthropomorphic work), I think it's more stable if I continue to balance between the two for the time being. This will prevent me from getting burned out on either one, which would not be very cool. Whether or not one makes more money than the other isn't really that important. All that matters, as far as I am concerned, is whether I still enjoy drawing the material. And so far, both venues are still very enjoyable, and they continue to remain quite challenging at times (which is a BIG plus!)
Hope this answered your question, man!
--JMH
Received on Tue Mar 13 2012 - 19:11:02 CDT