My comic partner and I have already started work on our comic projects for next year. The beginning of the year is always crazy for us, so we’re using the small grace period we have now to try and front load our comic work as much as we can. As the illustrator for our comics that means a lot of drawing.

But here’s the thing. I was drawing blanks.

This has been something I’ve been struggling with for a few months now. With the invasion of AI art inducing an existential crisis, to life just straight up getting in the way, trying to muster the energy to be creative has been a task. What was the point of spending all this time and effort making something that is ultimately going to be fed to an algorithm that will spit out art generated by people who jealously guard prompts like a dragon on a hoard of gold?


(As a thought experiment, I actually tried to generate some AI art based on the following prompt: “AI art being generated by people who jealously guard prompts like a dragon on a hoard of gold.” This is what I got.)

Yet, recently, I found myself feeling like I did when I was kid, obsessed with drawing, day-in, day-out. And that’s because instead of watching Netflix or playing match-3 games on my phone, my husband got me into Dan-Da-Dan.

He began reading in between bouts of gaming a few months ago. Every now and then I would go to retrieve something from the study only to be stunned into a fish-like silence by what I was witnessing.


(Seriously. I had no idea what I was reading o_o)

After reading a few out of context chapters over his shoulder, I decided I needed to figure out what this context actually was. As I began to read more and more (seriously it’s a great manga, highly recommended) I found that the elusive golden ball of creativity began to return. I was actually getting excited to begin creating again. I had ideas for new panel layouts, character expressions and potential (and hopefully funny) jokes.

As I get older, I find I am relearning things I took for granted when I was younger. I was more inspired because I took time to find inspiration. I read things that made me laugh. I took in art that made me feel. I even found pencil lines I had drawn on some manga I used to read when I went back and re-read them. It’s so easy to get caught up in the grind of creating and consuming that we feel we can’t stop to actually just enjoy work that others have created. This comic helped me begin to reconcile the feelings of existential dread that AI art had seeded within me.

Here was a recent work, hand drawn by a human. It made me laugh out loud, made me cry (and I mean actual tears down the cheek here guys) and left me feeling, at long last, inspired. I finally remembered what it was like to be excited to share my creativity with everyone, and what that could mean to them.



So if you’re feeling like me go read Dan Da Dan. Or, failing that, reconnect with a comic that left you feeling excited about creating. OR failing that, leave a link to your comic below so that others can read it. Check back here and go read those comics! Hopefully it will help you get your spark back.

Don't forget! The #quackchat has moved to BlueSky! Join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST)!

You can also advertise on DrunkDuck for just $2 in whichever ad spot you like! The money goes straight into running the site. Want to know more? Click this link here! Or, if you want to help us keep the lights on you can sponsor us on Patreon. Every bit helps us!

Special thanks to our patrons!!














Justnopoint - Banes - RMccool - Abt_Nihil - Gunwallace - PaulEberhardt - Emma_Clare - FunctionCreep - SinJinsoku - Smkinoshita - jerrie - Chickfighter - Andreas_Helixfinger - Tantz_Aerine - Genejoke - Davey Do - Gullas - Roma - NanoCritters - Teh Andeh - Peipei - Digital_Genesis - Hushicho - Palouka - cheeko - Paneltastic - L.C.Stein - dpat57 - Bravo1102 - The Jagged - LoliGen - OrcGirl - Miss Judged - Fallopiancrusader - arborcides - ChipperChartreuse - Mogtrost - InkyMoondrop - Jgib99 - Hirokari - Orgivemedeath Ind - Mks Monsters - GregJ - HawkandFloAdventures - Soushiyo - JohnCelestri- Tottycomics - Casscade - Salexander - Willed - Sketchydrawer - Niccea