Everytime I try to start something new that isn't porn I get harsh critisism about it and rarely any positive feedback. I'm starting to feel that's all that is expected of me is a certain genre and I can't break away from it.

Does anyone else feel this way?

No one in the webcomics community likes me for comments I made four years ago. Also they hate me because I did sprite comics in 2001.

marine
No one in the webcomics community likes me for comments I made four years ago. Also they hate me because I did sprite comics in 2001.

I like you. You seem nice and your comic is funny.

Tea_green, i don't know why anyone would typecast you, i just read Love Magic, which is totally now in my favs, and i think you could do wonderfully in other genres. Your artwork is beautiful. And your stories are oh so awesome-ness.

Heh, Im the opposite..
I drew a bath scene with a woman's breasts exposed (completely non-sexual manner) and I got several 4's and lost a few people who had faved the comic..
I was also amazed at how many people actually protested when I mentioned an upcoming sex scene wa splanned, and it kinda irritated me because the character is supposed to be promiscuous….. but… Id hate to upset the fan base.

People are a strange bunch…

Sex is an especially touchy subject. I went through Pinky TA and tried to cover any images of actual nudity because I want a wider audience for it. Titillation is part of the comic, but it has some serious points to make as well (plus all the work that goes into it) and I don't want sillly naked bottoms to ruin that. :)
Removing all the swearwords will be much harder…

As for typecasting, just work through it. People will know you for your other work as well if you stick at it. Never worry about vote numbers! Only comments mean anything. You could also try posting under a different account if you have real trouble seperating the two sides. Authors will often do that and I know of at least one person here on DD who does that.

Yeah, a pen name for adult stuff is usually a good idea.

Not necesarily to hide your identity since people who see your art will usually recognize it regardless of the name you use, but when I thought up my pen name I considered it more of a rating than a disguise. Stuff by M.Organ is usually adult while stuff under my real name is anything but.

tea_green

marine
No one in the webcomics community likes me for comments I made four years ago. Also they hate me because I did sprite comics in 2001.

I like you. You seem nice and your comic is funny.

I like you too.

I get lots of hassles for the gratuitous sex and nudity in my comic.


…


Ok, more like the lack thereof. I just posted that to get people to look.

i draw nakey ness but it tasteful way as long as well explissit i can digit

ozoneocean
Sex is an especially touchy subject. I went through Pinky TA and tried to cover any images of actual nudity because I want a wider audience for it. Titillation is part of the comic, but it has some serious points to make as well (plus all the work that goes into it) and I don't want sillly naked bottoms to ruin that. :)
Removing all the swearwords will be much harder…

Titillation its up to the redaer and the time ozoneocean =) if you know your history me i like white under underpants but oh she soying her knees so much stuff ladys eaven were cages and there under garments were like pj and they were called sexy

yeah, some people are funny that way.

like some people think that my comic Magical Mania, has “way too much” swearing… when if you actually pay attention to the number of swearing in the comic, you realize that the characters aren't saying “f^ck!! S#!t!!” and other super offensive words in EVERY page.. just the occasional “Damn!!” or “sh!t!!” there or here when the characters are facing danger or is in an super dire situation. yet people seems to think that makes the comic seem “immature” or something. Uh, right.

I just think that sort of occasional “damn” or even the “Sh!t” makes the characters seem a little more real. I mean come on… what kind of person would mind his/her language in an situation where some psycho is trying to kill them? not to meititon that even the most avanenge person would swear a little bit on occasion.. hell, I do that myself. the only time I would ever cut the swearing for an character in the “dire” situation is if that character was a SUPER-GOODY-TWO-Shoes. you know that type where instead of “f#ck” they say “Fudgebunnies” or something.

but characters who say stuff like “Oh, fudgebunnies” seems so… unreal to me. what do you think?

in addition to that… I don't like writing stories that is “Family-friendly” because I feel in a way that can be very limiting, especially since I have what people might call “liberal” ideas about what is proper and what isn't proper.
take my instance on nudity for example… I don't find Nudity offensive or wrong… as seeing I don't see simple nudity as anything sexual unless the people were in sexual postures or in poses meant to sexually excite people.
but some people out there thinks: All nudity Equals “Porn!”
Like the idiots who thought Manga was adult-oriented stuff and had tons of porn in it just because of some page of a girl who was naked in the bath or something like that.

If I had to make something family friendly.. then I would have to conidser the age range… and not to metion the mothers/fathers who monitors thier kids (that's if they actually do that) who has very prudish ideas about what thier kids should or should not see. I would have to cut down on any scenes where characters may change for work, bed, etc…. I would have to cut down on gore or any sight of blood. not to metion cut down any words that even comes close to swearing, even only casually and not meant as an intent to offend. like this type of conversation :
“Wow, check out that hot guy over there. now he has a real nice piece of ass.”
“Damn, not that guy!! it's that asshole I was telling you about that I bumped into yesterday!! Oh man, hide me!!”
“What?? it's that guy?! Shut up!!!”

that kind of thing would have to go.. and to me, well that's just no fun. espeically snice I really like writing that kind of diologue.

porn.

it is difficult to reinvent your persona after porn.

that is why I wear a mask when I do porn movies…

Err…I mean…if I would ever do a pron movie.

Aurora Moon
the only time I would ever cut the swearing for an character in the “dire” situation is if that character was a SUPER-GOODY-TWO-Shoes. you know that type where instead of “f#ck” they say “Fudgebunnies” or something.
but characters who say stuff like “Oh, fudgebunnies” seems so… unreal to me. what do you think?

Um, my comic is probably the only one that uses the phrase “fudgebunnies”. It's the main character's catchphrase. My feelings are hurt! *sniffle*
(besides, a comic about chibi-zombies isn't supposed to be realistic to begin with!)

I don't think any webcomic is supposed to be realistic.
But that's just me.

Amelius
Um, my comic is probably the only one that uses the phrase “fudgebunnies”. It's the main character's catchphrase. My feelings are hurt! *sniffle*
(besides, a comic about chibi-zombies isn't supposed to be realistic to begin with!)

Pish tosh! Doesn't Charby actualy have fudgebunnies in it? I'm sure I saw one once! Hmm… :)

But on the suject of being typecast; it goes BOTH ways! If someone like Amy did an “adult” comic (not that she would), people would react the way they reacted to Tea-Green about his non-porn work.

Honestly, people shouldn't give a damn about what you did in your previous works as long as you do a good job.

I think because I do both cutsy stuff and more serious stuff, most people that see my work don't seem to mind what I do. Back when I was drawing more frequently, I would draw nude girls with wolves one day and chubby cats that roll on their tummies the next.

Nowadays though, I feel like I should be a bit more careful. I know it sounds like paranoia at work but there's a part of me that worries that potential employers would do a random Google on me and not hire me because of what I do in my spare time. I'm not drawing porn, in fact I think I draw nudity quite tastefully, but it's still something for me to think about.

oh you know what I meant, right?

like, by realistic characters I meant characters that you sorta feel could be a real person in life just with how their personality comes off. an character you can identify with, and go “yeah, I like that character.”

and usually I've found that I tend to draw in people that likes characters that are much more casual and relaxed, and doesn't really quite watch what they say and stuff. like my girls in magical mania… they like to cut loose and not hold back on what they say. they won't watch their tongue but they also know better than to just swear for no good reason every page. so basically they'll curse a little bit if they're in serious trouble and need a way to vent all that terror/rage. (who wouldn't, honestly?)
but they won't just cuss for the heck of it snice they know they'd be taking things a little too far if they did.

they're kinda based off me a little bit in that respect, actually. I cuss sometimes if I'm in a tight spot. and I'll say “damn” the “ass” word in an casual conversation.

with characters that seems clean-cut, prim and proper… and apparently has NEVER sworn a single day of their lives they just seem and feel so stiff to me. that type of character I feel can't really “exist”.

I hope that makes sense.

Black_Kitty
I think because I do both cutsy stuff and more serious stuff, most people that see my work don't seem to mind what I do. Back when I was drawing more frequently, I would draw nude girls with wolves one day and chubby cats that roll on their tummies the next.

Nowadays though, I feel like I should be a bit more careful. I know it sounds like paranoia at work but there's a part of me that worries that potential employers would do a random Google on me and not hire me because of what I do in my spare time. I'm not drawing porn, in fact I think I draw nudity quite tastefully, but it's still something for me to think about.

I think that as long as they see the WIDE variety that you did, and see that you actually don't have the majority of your artwork in nude or something like that then they should have no problem with hiring you. after all, the one thing an company should be looking for is that you can be flexible when doing many different subjects, rather than focusing on the fact that you did nudes (unless that was the majority of your work then in that case they might have a genuine concern).

however.. if they still had a problem with you even having only one nude woman in your gallery then they're most likely prudes whose “ethics” may conflict with yours, and you might not had worked for them so well.

just something to think about there :).

Black_Kitty
I think because I do both cutsy stuff and more serious stuff, most people that see my work don't seem to mind what I do. Back when I was drawing more frequently, I would draw nude girls with wolves one day and chubby cats that roll on their tummies the next.

Nowadays though, I feel like I should be a bit more careful. I know it sounds like paranoia at work but there's a part of me that worries that potential employers would do a random Google on me and not hire me because of what I do in my spare time. I'm not drawing porn, in fact I think I draw nudity quite tastefully, but it's still something for me to think about.

I read somewhere, I think newsweek, that colleges are now using kid's myspace as part of their acceptance programs. Thats a lot of sad girls who cut themselves not going to college, at least if I was over the admissions board. Maybe they want sad girls and guys who like music where the lryics are growls about murder. Its like people abuse anything their given to do. I know I do. Everything I touch turns into a dick joke.

marine
I know I do. Everything I touch turns into a dick joke.

That's a formidable tallent.
Looking Myspace for college acceptance? Wha? That's really dodgey. People are too personal and silly on there. But employers do look at your web stuff, and people will Google you, it's a fact of life these days. Eh, my webstuff always helps me get work ;)

Well see I'm trying to get a job as a teacher and while they technically cannot question me about my personal life, nothing really stops them from Googling me up.

I'm trying to figure out how to explain this but I'm having a hard time myself. I think there's this certain expectation that I keep my personal life out of my job which I fully agree with. But I always get the feeling that at the same time, there's a degree of professionalism I'm expected to adhere to even outside of the school day.

That's not to say that it's an overwhelming burden weighing on my shoulders. It's just something I think about more often these days.

Black_Kitty
Well see I'm trying to get a job as a teacher and while they technically cannot question me about my personal life, nothing really stops them from Googling me up.

I'm trying to figure out how to explain this but I'm having a hard time myself. I think there's this certain expectation that I keep my personal life out of my job which I fully agree with. But I always get the feeling that at the same time, there's a degree of professionalism I'm expected to adhere to even outside of the school day.

That's not to say that it's an overwhelming burden weighing on my shoulders. It's just something I think about more often these days.

ahhh, I see now. being an Teacher is certainly different than an Artist for hire. there's certainly more pressure on Teachers nowadays, especially what with all the sex scandals, male teachers caught wearing female garments, etc……… blah blah.

So with the focus on schools, they're certainly more pressured to get teachers that's to be good role models and won't get too unprofessional with the students.

Black_Kitty
I'm trying to figure out how to explain this but I'm having a hard time myself. I think there's this certain expectation that I keep my personal life out of my job which I fully agree with. But I always get the feeling that at the same time, there's a degree of professionalism I'm expected to adhere to even outside of the school day.

Jeebus! So that actually happens? Remember when you were going to school when you were little and your teachers always seemed so teacher-like? As if they were just made that way? I remember that… And these days when I meet highschool or primary school teachers I can almost always tell. Beware BK, don't let it infect your soul!

-I'm being facetious of course, but there is truth in there… Out of all the jobs that can change people, teaching is one that does it more than most.

ozoneocean
Jeebus! So that actually happens? Remember when you were going to school when you were little and your teachers always seemed so teacher-like? As if they were just made that way? I remember that… And these days when I meet highschool or primary school teachers I can almost always tell. Beware BK, don't let it infect your soul!

-I'm being facetious of course, but there is truth in there… Out of all the jobs that can change people, teaching is one that does it more than most.

(Oh my God, I stupidly clicked “edit” instead of “quote”! Thank God for Firefox. Seriously, I can just feel my face turning red!)

Anyhow, I remember my prof telling me once how she went to a teachers conference and realized that all the female teachers looked the same! They had the same haircut, the same expression…even the same frown lines!

My soul! :O

I know this is totally off topic but while I'm at it, there are things that I'm actually obligated to do as a teacher. If I see one of my students drinking and I know that they're underage, I'm apparently suppose to inform their parents. If I see or suspect child abuse, I am obligated to report it (and if I don't, I can be held liable.) I'm not allowed to talk about any details or name them in great detail either.

So yeah, I can see how it would change people. :S

Aw, all my italics are gone :(
Heh, I do that too! You don't even realise what happens until you post it and then you're like "wha…? Oh shi*!"

We've forked this topic well and truly. ;)
A lot of great novelists and poets started out as teachers, so it's not all bad. You don't have to become “typecast” as a teacher forever. :)
-there, I think I tied it into the subject again.

Beek, if you want to you can put me down as a personal refrence. I'll get you the job, WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!!