Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Hobbiest Edition
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"What's Dev's favourite hobby?" -Alex
Dev's the kind of person who feels guilty when she's not being productive, so she is pretty bad about making time for hobbies unless they can somehow be rationalized as work, chores, or self improvement. But when she actually allows herself an indulgent moment, I think she likes to write. She's bad about making time for it, but I think she has a laptop full of abandonned, half written ideas stories. I am sure this is something that will sneak into a comic eventually.
"How does the business side of what you do complicate the creative side? Like, do you ever have to make hard decisions for money reasons when your love to just follow your creative ambition?" -Julian
I think I am insanely lucky, in that I get to make my living almost entirely off of my own characters, stories, and ideas. Over the years, the comics I've published on this site have changed direction radically multiple times as I've followed my muse. And so far, I seem to have gotten away with it. I feel like I have an enviable amount of creative freedom.
But sure... even with all that freedome, the business side still puts some parameters things. For one, the business part itself takes up a lot of time! I probably spend nearly half my work week doing the "business" side of my job, as opposed to actually writing and drawing. I don't hate that stuff, but it does limit my creative time.
And while I only make comics I personally want to make... to make a living at it online, I definitely focus on ideas that I think will serialize well, in art styles that I can produce on a reasonable schedule. I don't feel like that hampers my ambitions, but it definitely points them in particular creative directions. It also keeps me constantly productive, which has its pros and cons. (If this was not a job, I would probably be a little lazier. Haha!)
"You've been doing great work with your NSFW comics [on Patreon]. Do you have any NSFW comics you'd reccomend to people?" -Missystrange
I like Oglaf! I feel like it has really made me appreciate that there are some truly incredible jokes that you can only tell in a setting where you are allowed to draw dongs. I also really like Amanda Lafrenais and Mike Luckas's comics, and their art in general.
Personally, I generally like adult comics that are either really story and character driven, or just really funny. And I guess those are the kinds of adult comics I try to make myself, too! (Thank you for the kind words, btw. I haven't been doing them too long, but I'm glad to hear people are enjoying them.)
"How ya holding up in these times?" -hopesbluelight
WHEW! Well, covid has certainly introduced a lot of extra anxiety into all our lives, and presented some fun business challenges, but I'm doing my best to adapt. I'll tell you the one thing I've really come to realize, though: while I'm used to working from home and have done so for years, my brain does not like working from home all the time.
Making comics requires a certain amount of solitude... and as an only child, I'm used to (and enjoy) having alone time. But I am not an introvert! I really, really miss conventions, and social events, and occassionally working in studios with other artists. I feel like I'm realizing now how much those kind of things recharged me between stretches of solo comic making. It has definitely been a bit of a struggle to adapt to my "most of the time" becoming my "all of the time." But I'm working on it!
"If Butcher could pick one superpower, what would it be??" -neverenderlyric
Growing to a godzilla-like size. (Buddy the goldfish has all the luck!)
Ok! That's all for today, team. But come back on Monday for our next comic!
-Sam Logan
