I was talking to a comics artist that I don’t know very well the other day about art supplies and right after he thanked me for my advice I told him that I had no business advising him–I’m not really an artist, I’m a writer.
I do this all the time. I’m confident in my writing, but any time I talk about drawing I undercut myself. It’s true, I’m not a wonderful artist… but people keep asking me to draw for them. Some of them are even strangers. Some people seek me out at conventions and ask me for commissions, even though I don’t advertise or offer them. And, you know, the GN that I penciled myself is one of my most popular items. I’m starting to see that it’s insulting to the people who like my work to continue to behave like this. There’s absolutely no reason that I can’t be an artist as well as a writer.
So, yeah. I’m an artist, and I’m not the worst there is. And I’m gonna keep on drawing until somebody slaps the pencil out of my hand.
— JF