XaiJu
kennoarkkan
kennoarkkan

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On after-hours page frequency damaging other projects

Hey guys, I've been wanting to tackle this issue for a while already. It's been an issue bugging me for a year or so already, and it's been slooowly building up. It's gonna be a big post so brace for it.

After-hours comics have been updated twice a week for  3 years and some change. This happened after we achieved the $300 per page goal. And it's been lots of fun and this quick pace has allowed me to churn out a fuckton of comics, more than what your average artist would do in twice the amount of time. The problem is, it's been getting more and more taxing on me, getting worse after every comic.

Every time I finish a comic I say "I'll take it easy on the next one, this one was exhausting", and then I don't. And the problem is it's been affecting my personal projects more and more, namely the sketches and sketchseries I used to produce constantly before, which are sorta like "my own after-hours", my babies, the ones I created entirely on my own.

Nowadays I end the after-hours pages way too late in the evening, feeling exhausted and having to go to bed to repeat the process all over again in a couple of days, to the point where I don't think it's healthy to keep this rhythm any longer.

So, I came with 2 potential solutions, that I will leave you to choose (the current after-hours comic will continue twice a week as usual, this applies only to everything afterwards) :

Option A) Keep posting after-hours comics twice a week, but reeeeeeeeally tone down the quality. Something like the sketchseries I do. Literally just linework, and maybe a couple flats here and there, as well as abandon the "traditional" comic page structure i've been using. This would become a standard and I would stick to it. Mayyybe the cover would remain colored.

Option B) Only do after-hours comics once a week, but keep the quality and technique experimentation.

I think both sides have pros and cons. Option A would let us focus more on the stories without the flashy colors and whathaveyou, as well as keep the current pace of the comics, meaning more different ideas done more quickly.

Option B would mean to keep the good visuals, letting me spread the workload in two days, but it would take twice as long to finish comics.

I'll leave the poll there for you to vote. I'm opening the poll to everyone $5 and up, since this will impact everyone getting after-hours things. The poll will end on July 3rd. And by all means, let me know your thoughts! 

Comments

it's way past june 3rd, and you clearly prefer 1 weekly and keep quality, so be it! Thanks again for your help people.

Kenno Arkkan

quality > quantity

Dark Kuno

I vote for once a week to finish off this chapter then prolly try the black and white for the next chapter just to gauge your flow and reaction then you have a better idea of what can work for you, ovO I hate to see you (and any other artists) get burnt out it's never fun :C

Tokifuji

It's fine you do what you want to do, if you're not happy then the quality of your work will suffer so best to do what's good for you. Maybe someday you'll return to twice a week if you feel like it, just go with the flow

Slikfiji

Once a week, man. Don't kill herself.

Furball

Dude, don't burn yourself out. If you need to take it slower, take it slower.

I would gladly accept less updates if you keep the quality.

MaveriKat

I think once a week at the same quality level is the best option. Mostly because I know how people get with colored vs non-colored art and how much they're willing to pay for it

MizaruSketch

Please don't lower the quality. I always enjoy the work you do, even if the style isn't something I'm huge on. I'd hate to see you drop the quality to rush it out...to me (as irrelevant as that is) it's never the answer. Good things come to those who wait. It goes without saying that this would definitely reduce your workload and help you feel a lot better. Health comes first, man.

FeliciaIsMaiWaifu

I know I already voted, but I figure I'll post my own thoughts. Much as it's nice to get two pages a week, I think I'm more than fine with one page a week at the current quality rather than keeping pace with a sketch series. Not that I don't like the sketches, but I feel it's a...better experience, I guess I'd say, with the full color deal. It may mean less comics overall but I'd rather that than them causing trouble.

Thomas


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