I’ve gotten a lot of mail about my latest Daughter’s of the Eyrewood piece. Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to drop me an email. A lot of you went ahead and linked me back to the very first PA comic and wanted to know how I got from there to here. The answer is that you guys have essentially watched me learn to draw over the course of the last 14 years.
I’m not sure this sort of thing could have happened before webcomics. Generally speaking if you become a syndicated cartoonist you’ve already put a lot of work into designing your strip and its characters. There are some exceptions but for the most part the comics that end up in the paper are made by people who can draw. When I started Penny Arcade I had no fucking idea what I was doing. I liked to draw superheroes in high school but I had no experience drawing a comic strip.
The web has no editor though and so Penny Arcade took off and I just had to try and learn as I went. The archive is full of me trying new things and learning from other artists. At every convention I attend someone will ask me how to get better at drawing. The answer is draw every day and never be satisfied with the result.
Our Kickstarter is entering the home stretch. We’ve added a $50 pledge level that gets you a print of the new Daughter’s art. I think we are within striking distance of all ads off the front page. That’s a pretty dramatic change to the site and one that would love to see.
Help us Kick Advertising and get yourself a cool print!
-Gabe out
