{"id":1573,"date":"2014-12-09T10:52:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2023-12-19T10:53:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T18:53:31","slug":"dilettante-024-tips-on-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/dilettante-024-tips-on-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"Dilettante 024: Tips on Mentoring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dilettante 024: Tips on Mentoring<\/h1>\n\n\n
Steve Lieber<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Way back in my 2nd column here on Toucan (click here to read it!<\/a><\/strong>), I called for a revival of mentorship via cartoonists working in an informal apprentice system. I’ve meant to return to the subject for a long time. As part of Periscope Studio, a workspace I co-founded in Portland, Oregon, I’ve spent a lot of time working with and around new cartoonists. Along the way, I’ve found myself answering a lot of questions and offering a lot of advice. I’m sometimes asked about that aspect of what I do, and so here I am, giving advice on giving advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know who you’re talking to.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Different artists have different needs. Some artists thrive on harsh criticism. Christina’s plan for getting better might be identifying problems in her work and eliminating them, so the more time a teacher spends telling her where she messed up a page, the more grateful she’d be. Mentoring Christina, you can be a diagnostician and just start identifying symptoms and prescribing treatments. Luke might come to you with plenty of raw talent, but burdened with horrible self-doubt, unsure if he has any right to even consider making comics. Mentoring Luke, your job will be as much about reassurance as it will advising. You’ll need to figure out the right balance of praise and correction to keep your criticisms from doing more harm than good. Nisi’s already accumulated solid professional skills; she can tell a story, and produce clear, engaging pages. A good mentor for Nisi will probably split their time talking between business and art. A cartoonist in the early years of her career will have a thousand questions about how business works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n