Am i too old to break into comics?

[zimzima]

I apologise if this is in the wrong section, but im really in need of help.

Basicaly all my life my only noteable skill was drawing. Every other subject at school never got my attention and i finished school with really poor exam results. Since leaving school 6 years ago i haven't really drawn much at all, except for the occasional doodle...nothing serious.

My question is...at the age of 22, if i was to quit my full-time warehouse job to pursue a career in comics....will i have left it too late? I am NO WHERE near professional standard what so ever, so i figure i would take 2 years of 8 hours a day practicing...then maybe if i am at the level, 2 yearsish to break into the scene.

Im really not sure what to do at all, my life feels so stale right now working a truly dead end job, but have i missed my chance to break in?

Any advice given would really help, i sincerely mean that! Thanks all

[Paradox]

You're likely not going to get there at all "practicing". Take art courses. Go to art school. Even try the mail order stuff. You're not too old, but you need TRAINING, not just practice (plus things like that lead to connections you'll need to get work). And don't try to learn how to be a comic book artist, learn how to be an ARTIST.

And DON'T quit your job, especially in this economy. "Starving artist" is an exaggerated cliche. You need food, shelter, clothing and art supplies. You need a job for that, even if you, say, go away to art school.

[Agent Helix]

If you're serious, take courses, take life drawing classes, take criticism. Just practicing on your own generally won't make you any better, because you won't have any real frame of reference.

And this may sound cruel, but expect to fail. Expect rejection after rejection after rejection. If you can keep going despite that, maybe you'll have a shot, but right now your expectations are unrealistic.

[The Batman]

Dox and Helix have got it right. You're going to need training AND practice and likely a fair bit of it. You're going to need to know more than just how to draw superheroes well, you're going to need to know how to draw everything well. You're going to need to know more than just how to draw pin-ups, you're going to need to know how to tell a story.

Study the past masters (and not just comic books guys), look to the classic Disney animators too for lessons posing and conveying motion and emotion, draw from life, draw from imagination, take classes and get training, and draw, draw, draw all the time.

Also consider if this is something that you really want to do before you commit to action. I mean, is there a reason you haven't done more than doodle for the past six years? If drawing is something you're doing for relaxation and recreation, do you want to turn that into something you do to pay the bills?

[section 8]

WHen the hell did 22 become "too old" for any career?

[Donald M.]

Also, if your main/sole reason for wanting to break into comics is that your only talent is that you can draw, sort of . . . well . . . there's no shame in working in a warehouse.

Quitting a job to pursue a nebulous dream is a spectacularly bad idea. If you're really serious, you can work at a normal job while trying to pursue your dream and if it doesn't work out, you still have a normal job.

[dupont2005]

i read 3 comic creator blogs. all 3 have day jobs and 2 of them are regularly selling personal things off to pay the bills.



it's a labor of love, not a great way to pay the bills

[howyadoin]

I'm still trying to grasp the difference between training and practice.

[Rik Levins]

I started working for independent comics in my early thirties, and got my first Marvel job at 38.

It's never too late.

[crazyredlady]

just started myself and I'm 36.......
so what does that make me ? A dinosaur?
(sigh) kids these days.....:rolleyes:

[The Batman]

I'm still trying to grasp the difference between training and practice.

Maybe instruction is a better word than training?

Or maybe just finding somebody who knows what their talking about, who can be critical and fair, and who can tell you what's working and what isn't is enough.

[howyadoin]

Maybe instruction is a better word than training?

Considering that in terms of art, training and practice are synonymous, I'd have to say yes to that question.

[Crowforge]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA I skimmed your post and got to 22 and belly laughs erupted from me without my leave. At 30-something I feel ancient but then I felt that since I was 16, for me I know it's an illusion. Phantoms risen from my lack of confidence that have made me quit drawing repeatedly since I was 16.
My advice to you is to go for it and don't quit. Avoid comparing yourself to the best in the business (my personal flaw). And work on your sequentials!

[Paradox]

howyadoin gets all technical:

Considering that in terms of art, training and practice are synonymous, I'd have to say yes to that question.

Yes, that.

Because just sitting around drawing by yourself probably isn't going to get one good enough to get work. It just gets you Rob Leifeld (who gets work, yes, but then, where do you think Quesada got that whole "deal with Devil" idea for Spidey?).

[Brandon Hanvey]

You are never to old to start a career in comics. As long as you have the talent, connections, luck and drive, you can find work.

It would be best to do small comic gigs on the side to get a feel for the work and to improve your skills before you quit your day job. You could try self-publishing your own comic in print or the web or maybe try one of the smaller publishers.

Also my advice to anyone thinking of starting a career in comics is do it because you love it, not for money.

The pay, even for Marvel/DC work, is less compared to other freelance illustration gigs. Say you are talented enough to get a regular monthly comic at Marvel or DC. Most of the time they only pay a page rate. Most people say it can be anywhere from $100 to $150 per page. So for a 24 page comic, you'd make around 2400-3600 a month. Which is that bad, but compared to an hourly freelance rate for other illustration gigs its less.

Most comic artist work at around a page or so a day in order to keep up the monthly schedule. At that rate, you are working around 6 hours per page depending on the detail the the panels. So divide the $100 page rate by 6 and you get a little less than $17 per hour or $25 per hour at the $150 rate. That isn't that bad, but a lot of other jobs pay more and most commercial freelance illustrations hourly rates are way higher.

And for the most part you will be on a freelance contract which usually means you are considered self-employed and have to pay your own taxes and pay your own medical insurance.

So what does this mean? As I said before, if you want to draw comics for a living, do it because it is your passion.