Actually this is an interesting point. Suikoden was discussing this with me just minutes ago; you see, art fandom is a little bit like love. You guys are perfectionists, and your mind is always looking forward, how to surpass your previous creations. We fans collect, we have everything you made (or at least we're trying). And as always for collectors, it is the first piece(s) which count the most, just like the 1st date with a new girl will be the one you will feel special about. I can tell what was the 1st drawing I saved from each artist that I like, and always look at them with much fondness. That they may be "rough around the edges" doesn't count that much: we love your style, and that drawing was the 1st impression of it on our minds.
I do not know if what I have just written will make much sense to you artists. But I have the feeling that those among us who can appreciate what you do know what I am talking about
😉
A little anecdote. I used to have a blog, and on it I would periodically do an "Artist Spotlight", essentially a post featuring an artist's work with an introductory paragraph to explain who they are and why I love them. I would always mix an "early work" with a newer piece, for two reasons: 1) I wanted to show the complete range of style that the featured artist is capable of, its evolution and thus its potential. 2) Someone who would not be familiar with the earlier or later stuff could see in one glance what he/she had missed and may have been tempted to get more.
Guess what happened? Several artists (the majority in fact) asked me to take down the earlier stuff and feature only their most recent (and thus proudest) achievements. I complied every time, but this taught me that artists do not necessarily view their own art in the same light as we readers do. Damn shame, because technical mastery is not all. I have this rare (and as of now, incomplete) collection of Loupanther's early drawings, and I think they are masterpieces. Everything is already there: the extreme torture and humiliation suffered by the heroine, the superhero mythology subversion tropes, the psychology... To me it is some of his better stuff. But just because they are indeed drawn with much less technical prowess than his newer comics, he does not agree with me, and does not want people to view them as representative of his style. I understand, but I still disagree.
Guys! Augustine, Bandito, Bohemianne, and everyone else whose art I love, let me shout that one out: YOUR OLDER WORKS ARE THE REASON WE FELL IN LOVE WITH YOUR STYLE TO BEGIN WITH!!! YOU SHOULD LOVE IT TOO!
