this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2025
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Comic Strips
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I started by making comics with horribly drawn stickmen in Paint, black and white, no colors, yet they got a positive reaction due to the writing (example of my work 2 years ago).
Unless you suffer from a severe physical disability, there's no excuse, you can draw your own comics.
The best part is while drawing your shitty stickmen, you'll get better at drawing, learn to represent emotions and actions, develop a style, start to have a visual identity, maybe even get good at it who knows.
I learned to draw from scratch in my late 30s, two years later I'm doing illustrations for my own games - there's still a lot of room for improvement, but it proves practice pays off even without tryharding and you don't need AI to draw your comics for you. You just need to get over your fears of judgement, try your best with the skills you've got, and keep doing it on a regular schedule. Slowly, over time, you'll get better. I promise. It'll be fruitless and frustrating sometimes, but you'll get big visible leaps in your skills every now and then.
That's why I'm always upvoting and complimenting those who are just getting started and can't draw much yet, but have good ideas and a vision. I'd encourage everyone else to do the same. A lot of people tend to stop if they don't get positive feedback.
If you're considering making AI comics, try drawing them instead. Who cares if it's ugly, give it your best and share it with the world. You might not get many upvotes, but if your ideas are good enough you'll get a few comments and the motivation to keep trying, and that's a lot already. Don't fret over having no "talent", I don't have any either, still can't draw anything decent with a pen and paper :-)
You don't even need the stick figures if you're especially clever about it.
ASCII art exists. MAD Magazine even had a feature in a few issues from the 1960s-1980s which were comic strips in which the art was made of characters typed on a typewriter, in a very early precursor to ASCII art.
Fumetti (photo comics) use photographs instead of illustrations.
There are lots of ways out there to be creative without generating slop.
Fumetti looks interesting!
Although both of these techniques are harder than drawing stick figures, they could be a more unique style.
What's easy for one person may be hard for another, and vice versa. Folks can find whichever they're good at and share it.
The problem is it requires effort, no matter how minimal, and these lazy asses want the free karma and fame without any effort at all.
I wouldn't say it's exclusively an effort issue, there's pretty legitimate reasons why people don't draw: fear of judgement, lack of belief in self, anxiety…
In my case the last time I had fun drawing was in school, until my art teacher repeatedly told me I drew like shit and I just gave up drawing. Thought I'd never be able to draw. Took me 20 years until I tried again. People's words can have unexpected effects, that's why I try to be extra encouraging to new artists.
I can relate to the frustration of really wanting to draw but thinking you can't do it. I understand why they use the AI drawing generators instead of doing it themselves. I just wish they could believe in themselves the way I did. It's not easy, but it's absolutely worth it.