Why I Draw

I know I’ve touch on this subject before, but I think it bears repeating. It’ as much to explain it to you as to remind myself.

I don’t draw for the money, being as I don’t get paid. In fact I lose money on the expenses involved in running the website and going to cons.

I don’t do it for the fame, since there is none.  Even if I was a big time comic artist the fame is relatively niche, and I would always be considered a “nerd” by most of society.  My current amount of accolades and followers is nothing to write home about.

I don’t do it to be cool, because clearly many people don’t think it’s cool.  Some people think it’s silly, childish, geeky or at best interesting, but very few people think it’s cool.

I don’t do it because I have nothing else to do.  In fact I have a fairly busy life, and taking the time to do all this comic stuff often is something of a sacrifice, as it’s time I could be spending elsewhere, like with my family or doing something that makes money or pursuing my other interests (and I do actually have many non-comic related interests).

So those are not some of the reasons I draw.  But why do I draw?

I’ve drawn all my life.  Literally since before I have cognizant memories I’ve been drawing.  And it’s been fairly consistent.  More intense at some times than other, but never really stopping.  Mostly just doodling around, but always something.

As a child I watched a lot of cartoons and read comic strips, and dreamed of one day being a cartoonist.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities for much of my life, so I didn’t do as much with my drawing as I could have.  I let it discourage me from really pursuing much.

Even when I started Black Snow I wasn’t that confident.  In truth sometimes I still don’t feel all that confident, but more often then not I feel pretty good about what I do now a days.

I feel OK with calling myself an artist, something I never felt too good about in the past.  It was a label that somehow I never felt I earned.  Don’t ask me why.

But I still didn’t really tell you why I draw.  When I started Black Snow it was actually for some of the naive reasons I listed above.  I thought it could make me rich and famous and cool.  I didn’t know much about comics.

The reason I draw now, as a 28 year old man with jobs and a family, is because it makes me happy.  It’s that simple.  I enjoy drawing.  I want to tell stories.  I want to entertain.  But really I like to entertain myself.

It’s been more recent where I’ve really stopped caring what other people think of my drawings or how many readers I have.  It’s more about self expression and fulfillment than anything else.

So there you go.  Nothing complex, I just do what makes me happy.

And if it makes you happy too, well that’s all the better.