For me, it's art therapy. My self-expression started with posting on mailing lists and forums, now i have some blogs, someday i'll write a book. My ability to draw is primitive. If i don't start somewhere, i can't get better. I have some friends who draw really well, but i don't, so this is a way i can play too.
Been doing this about a week, trying to do a strip every morning. Just found the forums.
It all started in 1982, my first road trip with my new gf. She made these doodles in her diary cuz we were bored, of a stick figure girl and a teddy bear with a hammer. So when i found a teddy bear, it took on the personality of the cartoon character. When i got online, i set up an account for the bear, gt_bear, and he developed into a net personality. arbi the arbitrary aardvark is an offshoot when i needed a second email address,that gradually became its own character.
If i can get my strip here to the point where it has something to say, i might eventually do some scanned drawings to transcend the limitations of the medium, and take a few more baby steps to becoming a real webtoonist.
My motivation to be doing this comes from reading "the artist's way" which is about unlocking creativity.
My strips are mostly introspective first-person rambling narratives about why i'm wasting time online instead of getting stuff done out there.
Right now, they are for me, and if others happen to drop by, cool. Soon i hope to share them with an in-group of online friends. Maybe someday a wider audience.
Sometimes i make strips that echo or paraphrase things i'm saying in my blogs, and include links to the comics - i'll need to learn the ![]()
My myspace persona, arbitraryaardvark, is a cartoon aardvark, which is "cuter" and "friendlier" than a photo of me - i don't have a positive self-image about my appearance, so i like for people to get to know my personality first.
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woof
