How do you do it?

[Rimark]

Hey,

I was just wondering how you draw your comics. It kinda looks pencil drawn and then photoshopped. But they def. look professional which leads me to believe you have a job in that sort of industry?

[ZheChen]

It's drawn in pencil first, then inked, and finally toned/touched up in Photoshop.

I don't do this professionally, just for fun.

[Rimark]

Cool, not professional but should be :p
You've entered your stuff in some competitions right? How did those go, and have you considered a job in this sort of industry?

[ZheChen]

I've entered into 4 Rising Stars of Manga contests. First one was when I was still in high school, so it didn't go too well. I made it into the finalists for my 3rd and 4th attempts, and on my 4th, if the criteria for winners was still in the old format, I'd have made it in (they only wanted 1 comedy, whereas in the old format, the top 10 would all get in even if there's more than 1 comedy).

Probably not going to go into this professionally, as it's pretty hard to make a living off of this.

[Rimark]

Yeah, it would be pretty hard. But you're really good at it anyways. And yeah, nice job on the competitions, would be nice to see you win one of these years :p

[Rinalas]

The art piece at the top of your blog listing for beSchooled is really good imo., and even if you don't pursue things "professionally" you're certainly a talented artist. Perhaps even doing something "part-time" will come along, and keep on developing your talent even if just as a hobby

[ZheChen]

Thanks. I'm currently in graduate school working on a PhD in computer science. After that, I'll be aiming to get a job, hopefully at some place like Google or Microsoft. I don't use all my free time for drawing, as I like to play video games, watch anime, hang out with friends,etc. This means that the people who do this professionally (other webcomics that update 3 times a week, concept artists, etc) have a lot more time to spend on this over a longer period of time. I can sometimes spend quite a bit of time doing specific pieces, but I can't do it all the time, as right now I have to focus on school, and in the future I'll be working.

[Yatta]

Daaaayuuum, a PhD? I'll be lucky if I can find the will power to stick it out to a master's. Then again, I'm transferring to CSU this Fall and will actually be able to take classes that go towards my major (also computer science. From Fall 2007 to now I've taken ONE programming class ) so maybe that'll change my opinion

But regardless, unless you have a full scholarship or something, how long will it take to pay off the bills for going to school long enough to get a PhD? It just doesn't seem worth it.

[ZheChen]

I TA so I don't have to pay for tuition and get a stipend, although it's really low. I don't think I'm going to stick around for a PhD though, it's just not worth it, and I'm not too into it anymore.