5 ms·

My favorite example of someone gradually working their way from rank amateur to accomplished professional through sheer volume of dedicated practice has to be t

My favorite example of someone gradually working their way from rank amateur to accomplished professional through sheer volume of dedicated practice has to be the cartoonist Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade. Over the span of about ten years, you see his art style transform from what would pass for an average college newspaper comic into the richly expressive vision of a master illustrator.

stingraycharles 12y ago
Would you mind to show us some concrete samples that show us what you mean?
- OedipusRex 12y ago
  Not Penny Arcade but here is an early xkcd: https://xkcd.com/6/ https://xkcd.com/6/ Contrast that against current xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1471/ https://xkcd.com/1471/ And it doesn't stop there. He's done amazing things that stretch the concept of "web comic", like https://xkcd.com/1446/ https://xkcd.com/1446/ or arguably his most famous work https://xkcd.com/1190/ https://xkcd.com/1190/ "Time" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28xkcd%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28xkcd%29
  - proveanegative 12y ago
    I don't think xkcd is a good example of practice making perfect. Many former xkcd fans think that the average xkcd comic became noticeable less funny somewhere in the low to mid hundreds. Part of it was the novelty being gone but part, I'd say, really had to do with the quality of the comic's writing. The author's growing experience and confidence allowed him to pull off ambitious and genuinely imperative things like "Time", which improved the mean comic, but the median never really recovered.
    - proveanegative 12y ago
      Instead of "genuinely imperative" I meant to write "genuinely impressive".
    - OedipusRex 12y ago
      Yes but we're not talking about how funny the comic is just the how good the illustration has become.
- visural 12y ago
  First penny arcade comic - http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18 A recent one - http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2015/02/16/attempted-recidivism http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2015/02/16/attempted-recid...
  - vacri 12y ago
    To me that recent one is an example of overdevelopment of the art. I remember commenting on a different artist's rework of his old comic strip, about how the new strips looked too busy and that there was something beautiful and thematic about his earlier work. He replied that he also preferred his earlier work, but he just couldn't make himself 'stop that early' when drawing anymore. Certainly in both cases there's a lot more skill in the later work, but it's interesting to note that overdevelopment is also a thing.
    - xmonkee 12y ago
      I call this the Pink Floyd Effect.
    - lifeformed 12y ago
      I think a better example would be the side stories that they sometimes work on: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/sand http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/sand http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/automata http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/automata http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/may-we-die-in-the-forest-part-1 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/may-we-die-in-the-fo...
    - dnr 12y ago
      The non-regular-format pieces might be a better example. Here's a recent one: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/12/12/fan-fiction http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/12/12/fan-fiction
    - 1123581321 12y ago
      I agree and thought he peaked around 2004, e.g.: http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499399_pfUFC/0/1050x10000/215499399_pfUFC-1050x10000.jpg http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499399_pfUFC/0/1050x10... http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499192_iWbzW/0/1050x10000/215499192_iWbzW-1050x10000.jpg http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499192_iWbzW/0/1050x10... The cartoon faces were more expressive with less detail than the current ones, but he was able to draw just about anything he wanted in a funny way, which wasn't the case in the beginning.
- ajuc 12y ago
  http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ First strip: http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20000612.png?1297712534 http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20000612.pn... Last strip: http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20150223.jpg?1424572031 http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20150223.jp...
signa11 12y ago
something very similar from derek-sivers: http://sivers.org/15-years http://sivers.org/15-years
thenomad 12y ago
Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content has had a similar journey. Very interesting to watch the transformation.

stingraycharles 12y ago

Would you mind to show us some concrete samples that show us what you mean?

OedipusRex 12y ago
Not Penny Arcade but here is an early xkcd: https://xkcd.com/6/ https://xkcd.com/6/ Contrast that against current xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1471/ https://xkcd.com/1471/ And it doesn't stop there. He's done amazing things that stretch the concept of "web comic", like https://xkcd.com/1446/ https://xkcd.com/1446/ or arguably his most famous work https://xkcd.com/1190/ https://xkcd.com/1190/ "Time" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28xkcd%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28xkcd%29
- proveanegative 12y ago
  I don't think xkcd is a good example of practice making perfect. Many former xkcd fans think that the average xkcd comic became noticeable less funny somewhere in the low to mid hundreds. Part of it was the novelty being gone but part, I'd say, really had to do with the quality of the comic's writing. The author's growing experience and confidence allowed him to pull off ambitious and genuinely imperative things like "Time", which improved the mean comic, but the median never really recovered.
  - proveanegative 12y ago
    Instead of "genuinely imperative" I meant to write "genuinely impressive".
  - OedipusRex 12y ago
    Yes but we're not talking about how funny the comic is just the how good the illustration has become.
visural 12y ago
First penny arcade comic - http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18 A recent one - http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2015/02/16/attempted-recidivism http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2015/02/16/attempted-recid...
- vacri 12y ago
  To me that recent one is an example of overdevelopment of the art. I remember commenting on a different artist's rework of his old comic strip, about how the new strips looked too busy and that there was something beautiful and thematic about his earlier work. He replied that he also preferred his earlier work, but he just couldn't make himself 'stop that early' when drawing anymore. Certainly in both cases there's a lot more skill in the later work, but it's interesting to note that overdevelopment is also a thing.
  - xmonkee 12y ago
    I call this the Pink Floyd Effect.
  - lifeformed 12y ago
    I think a better example would be the side stories that they sometimes work on: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/sand http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/sand http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/automata http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/automata http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/may-we-die-in-the-forest-part-1 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/may-we-die-in-the-fo...
  - dnr 12y ago
    The non-regular-format pieces might be a better example. Here's a recent one: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/12/12/fan-fiction http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/12/12/fan-fiction
  - 1123581321 12y ago
    I agree and thought he peaked around 2004, e.g.: http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499399_pfUFC/0/1050x10000/215499399_pfUFC-1050x10000.jpg http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499399_pfUFC/0/1050x10... http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499192_iWbzW/0/1050x10000/215499192_iWbzW-1050x10000.jpg http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215499192_iWbzW/0/1050x10... The cartoon faces were more expressive with less detail than the current ones, but he was able to draw just about anything he wanted in a funny way, which wasn't the case in the beginning.
ajuc 12y ago
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ First strip: http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20000612.png?1297712534 http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20000612.pn... Last strip: http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20150223.jpg?1424572031 http://static.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20150223.jp...

signa11 12y ago

something very similar from derek-sivers: http://sivers.org/15-years http://sivers.org/15-years

thenomad 12y ago

Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content has had a similar journey. Very interesting to watch the transformation.