The Dark Allure of Copy and Paste

So I prepared a couple of new slides for my "10 Things I Hate About Webcomics" presentation at Anime USA. The idea behind the whole thing was to poke fun at common webcomics tropes, cliches, and/or bad habits and to help new creators recognize them and then either avoid them or exploit them (because anything, even tropes, done well can still make for good entertainment). This stuff can be applied to a lot of other media as well and I think most creators (myself included) have been guilty of them at one point or another.

This one illustrates copy & paste abuse. I often tell people that a little bit of C&P for background elements, certain gags, and tight deadlines is okay. However, repeated use of this will not only make your comics boring, but it can really handicap you as an artist. Learning to draw things consistently is an essential skill for anyone considering a serious career in cartooning and it's a skill you can only learn through MASSIVE amounts of practice. Remember, kids, you learn to draw by drawing!

Check out some of my previously posted art slides for the webcomics presentation below: