You gotta love college. If not for the freedom in academic pursuits (what’ll it be this semester... Spelunking... Gaelic... Closet Horticulture?), at least for the parties (we all know what it means if you don’t remember them being that good).

Oh, and the feedback. Gotta love the feedback.

It’s been a while since I’ve stood next to a creation of mine in front of a class and weathered a critique. We grow so much as artists by listening with a discerning ear to constructive criticism. So when I joined a fledgling (okay nOOb) comics collective some years after my departure from college life, I was immediately interested in honest feedback that would help not only myself, but the group as a whole. The guys were great writers. Really funny. And some could really draw well. But they were all wrapped up in university themselves, so improvement (let alone making a living at comics) wasn’t a priority for them.

It folded. I was bummed at the loss of what I felt to be a golden opportunity as I can’t say I surround myself with comic artists in real life.

But then I found Penciljack. Woohoo! Abilities and styles vary, feedback is honest (sometimes brutally... this is cyberspace), and there are specific categories for whatever area you’d like to improve in artistically. There are definitely more aspiring comic “book” artists with super hero leanings over there, but the forum is in no way limited to one style. And anyway, the constructive criticism I gained from one of those Super Friends was the most valuable of all. I got some great advice from several people within the first week of posting that helped me leave behind the plateau I was running laps on.

So if you’ve leveled off and are looking to climb again, or just interested in standing in front of the class for improvement’s sake, head on over and check it out. No toga parties, but it’s well worth it (plus you never really looked that good all sloppy-drunk in a sheet anyway).