Hi all - I'm wondering if some of the pros here could help me and any other prospective artists with some advice. How, in general, does one make a career out of 3d comics (and or 3d art in general)? I searched the forum on this topic and discovered that Finister recently went to doing comics fulltime (congratulations, Finister!). I also read that Morpheus is a full time artist, and happy for it. I'm not sure what the situation is for the other major artists here.

If this topic has been addressed somewhere else at HIP Comix, please direct me there .

Here are some more specific questions I have for any experienced HIP Comix artists who care to address them:

1) Were you formally educated in art or 3d art, or are you mostly self taught?

2) My understanding is that many or most of the major artists at HIP Comix also do artwork professionally outside of HIP Comix. What is your work outside of HIP Comix like? Do you have websites of your own, or do you sell your art to another party, or do you do something else I'm not thinking of?

3) Is your comics career outside of HIP Comix also about erotic 3d comics and art, or is it about non-adult comics and art, or is it some of both?

4) Is there any advice you would like to give an aspiring artist on how to make comics for the web and make money doing it?

Thanks all!

Mr. Cryptic

There's the rub.

Making a full time living at creating and selling any comic or graphic novel is a hit or miss proposition. Even the finest artists find the market is a fickle little bitch.

Take Douglas Sturk for example. A brilliant illustrator and writer. Been in the market for over a decade now. Cranking out some dynamic graphics and great plots. Yet no one seems to want to pay for this work.

My two cents is summed up in this thought. The internet makes stealing someone's hard work child's play. I've found five forums where my projects have been distributed like party favors. The last guy justified it by claiming he was making me famous! Pity he wasn't making me better off economically.

In short, I would not plan to make a living off selling digital media. It will only wind up on someone's file torrent.

Now if a periodical like Heavy Metal would produce a second title for artists who specialize in 3D art, that might be a light at the end of the tunnel. While some would make digital scans of the pages, you would still have the 'legitimate' right of repackaging your work for later publication. And you would have better legal representation by the parent company for the first round of publication.

But I wouldn't count on that anytime soon.