AztecGodQuetzalcoatl 2012-03-29 10:34:59

I believe things will work out, just maintain optimism about the future.

Starogre 2012-03-29 10:55:56

I'd say just sketch for fun, write for fun, without any plans for a little bit. Usually things come to mind when you start SOMETHING

reject-mental 2012-03-29 11:02:48

I know! Work on tomb and collect all the stuff you do on the side annd put it all together for your next big thang. The next big thang that will lift your career higer and have fun

Averagedog 2012-03-29 11:04:03

Kirbopher, You and many artists at newgrounds have taken me through my high school and college career with fits of laughter with brief ancedotes of seriousness, but there are always the times in which many of said artists, including you now have to make a choice between going professional with your work, finding some sort of alternative solution that would allow you to keep doing what you love within reason of your sanity, or putting what you love on the backburner in order to provide for yourself. I always, ALWAYS respected what the artists in question decided to do in the end and I will still respect and follow your work because of all the good times I had watching the things YOU created solo or in collaborations.

I do have a suggestion in case if you are open to one. I know how hard it is to even find 1 full time job that takes a look at you past the phone interview stage and I wish you the best of luck with that, but in the mean time, if you think you are up for it/find it desirable to do, why not start up a kickstarter fund? I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. There have been great successes and great flops with this tool, but I seriously think this may be a temporary option for you during your transitory period of trying to find a job.

I'm not sure if you HAVE to give out rewards should you decide to try it, but you could always offer to put in more background randoms like you opened for your chip in promotion, or perhaps you can offer to put their names in a special thanks section of the credits? But yea, just a suggestion from a fan. Know that many people do support your ideas even though they are silent :)

hbrunav 2012-03-29 11:12:43

Do whatever makes you feel more proud of yourself, and enjoy what it takes to accomplish it. Also try to self promote yourself if you can, you don't like making "stupid" parodys about video games? well, there is a lot of other popular subjects you can talk about. I don't think that people that make jokes about video games consider them to be "stupid", some of us just enjoy animating the characters we love or hate, giving the audience a minute of fun. Not everyone wants to be an artist, be ORIGINAL and CREATIVE, some of us just want to animate because that's what we enjoy the most.

If you really want an actual JOB in the animation field, I would recommend you to start doing shorter stuff, but with more quality when it comes to animation, concentrate your effort and you will come up with a nice demoreel to find yourself a job anywhere. Try different styles also. An animator must be a very blend-able person, you wont always get the scenes you want to animate, but you will have to, and hopefully you will enjoy it.

If you want independence like the one you have now (Creating everything by yourself), then start thinking about new ideas, you don't have to sacrifice TOME to continue with other things.

And finally, wanna get better at drawing? print this book: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/6641821/The-Vilppu-Drawing-Manual">http://www.scribd.com/doc/6641821/The-Vilppu-D rawing-Manual</a>

So don't judge others for what they are doing (At least in animation), because at least they are doing something, and probably they are enjoying it too.

OlBlueHat 2012-03-29 11:23:53

I'm the least qualified to weigh in on something like this but I just figured words of encouragement are better than nothing.
Mr. Niosi, you've been an inspiration to me for a while now. You've helped my through some really dark spots without even a word to me personally just by being the creative individual you are. SO! If anything can be said, just let it be known that your works have touched me and a great many of my friends. That TOME is one of the things that lights up my day when I see it and I'd do almost anything for it to just keep on going, advance, or even evolve into something greater than its current form (though really, I can't imagine what that would be seeing as I think its quite amazing right now).

The point is, you've done a lot for me and those around me in subtle ways. I'm sure that someone who's as creative and as entertaining as you can and -will- come up with something.

OblivianBlade 2012-03-29 11:45:49

It is a tough thing to go through, I can tell that much. But despite what other idiots say, since they just get off at insulting other's work, in my personal opinion, I actually think that if your origianl series, like TOME and that new one your working on with the elements were to be made into something more public, you WILL make a profit from it. Plot, scenario, elements for a series are all perfect. SO try not to push yourself to hard about other's opinion.

If you were to drop it all and go back to short clips , I'd say you'd be wasting your skills.

But back to my thought ofmaking your series public, if poorly animated shows like "Adventure Time" can become popular in this generation. I am MORE then convinced that if you were to make TOME into a series, you would make millions. Just an idea I thought maybe you can think of.

LewToons 2012-03-29 11:47:41

couldn't be more honest in saying this: I FEEL YA ( the balance between pursuing a want, vs the NEED to actually make money and fuckin LIVE....it sucks)

SS4FlameAlchemist 2012-03-29 11:51:10

Welcome to life. You'll have to worry about stuff like that for the rest of your life. Wondering about how you'll be remembered is something we all have to think about in our life. If it makes you feel any better, I will probably be forgotten instantly.

one note. if you quit making tome episodes before you finish the series properly, i will hurt you. Don't be like the other authors that just quit midway through their series. I think there are more people that like tome than you think. If you knew just how many people did like it, you wouldn't even consider not making episodes. Video game parodies are overrated. Just about every joke has been beat to death. trust me, your better off with your series. TOME is actually something original. It's in a league of its own. Don't quit or you WILL piss off a LOT of people. No matter what you do, there are ALWAYS going to be haters. People who just hate the world and want other to share in their misery.

On another note, Going back a step in your career is not always a bad thing. If you can justify it and make it work in your favor, then do it. I worked delivery for domino's pizza and wanted to work in that place forever, but now I've had to lower myself to a much less satisfying job to make ends meet because I can't afford to work delivery anymore since I lost a car in an accident. I'm working a crappy job right now until I find something better, or until I move to another state (hopefully happening soon). Sometimes you have to go back a step in order to move two steps forward when it comes to careers. You do want to find a job that you like though. If you have to work something you don't like temporarily, then so be it. It will be worth it in the long run.

Hope this gives you some encouragement.

VictorVonVice 2012-03-29 12:39:15

It comes with the career as an animator, sadly. Unless you have a really good thing going on with a company, you'll always be freelancing or trying to make stuff that people would like in order to make money if animation is your career path. When your trying to make something you personally enjoy, you have to remember that not everyone will like it but it doesn't mean you should give up.

I would suggest in taking a break if your really feel stuck on this and take on a part time job, it should help you think things over better.

TheMAM 2012-03-29 12:39:16

The answer is simple and you heard it a million times:
DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!
And whatever it takes to do what you want, just try your best.

VicariousE 2012-03-29 12:49:36

Well, myself, when I quit be creative to pay the rent, I made a mistake... I stopped trying to be creative. Mostly is was the lack of tools, but the time it takes to do these things can be immense. I was a lone wolf who became a freaky sheep.
To your credit, you have made friends who can help you keep the wheels of producing turning. Plus, your portfolio of work is robust and visible enough to keep not just a foot in the door, but a whole leg.
Get some work, keep a pad handy and soldier on, like the ones who've passed on too early. Dave, creator of Re tarted Animal Babies, has gone through this sort of BS for a long time, and he still finds the time to do a little everyday, while keeping his wife fed and happy (so she can do the occasional VO as well as the occasional BJ) Take heart what you've done here already, will be remembered - so stop brooding, and get a day job! You still got options, and more money coming in will help keep it that way.

th1rt3en 2012-03-29 12:56:28

Ah, the conundrum of being a starving artist or a corporate whore. (Or something like that.)

If producing TOME is becoming a stressful experience and is clashing with real-life then why not take a break from it? Have episode 4 be a 'season finale' of sorts and put it on pause. Not the most desirable thing to do, but you've gotta focus on priorities, in my opinion.

Use the time instead to work things out, make shorter toons to keep practice up, add to your portfolio, experiment with art and storytelling styles, etc. Once the stress subdues, you can go back to TOME, perhaps with new ideas, techniques, and a new-found drive.

Just my 2¢

Averagedog 2012-03-29 13:28:53

@mandog

Your comment was truly intelligent and interesting. Please tell me more about how much of a dick you profess to be because apparently you have nothing else better to do on the internet.

But seriously, Why be a dick?

Pajaking 2012-03-29 14:40:30

next... well... make more episodes of TOME! :)
I'm surprised by how can anyone think of something this cool? The characters and the stories are excellent, your imagination and drawing skills are amazing!
My advice is to keep up the good work :)

Umburns 2012-03-29 15:09:33

Well Kirb been a fan of your stuff since 07' and you graduated from college in doing what you like to do. So where to now is what everyone asks. TOME reminds me so much of //.hack and I'd love to see you make something out of it but it doesn't put bacon on the table. So why not try to get into script writing or animating for an anime company and if you don't want to do anime why not try movies, cartoons or something man. We all got the path shrouded in fog before us but hey you can at least dive head first in and dab your toes in the waters of possibility with related jobs. We're not going to get what we want right off the bat. I'm in college for graphic design but I might shoot for level design for gaming or drawing cars. Choose something pursue it and do your best man and don't look back. Anyways you know you can come back to us fans here at newgrounds anytime!

ToonCastleTV 2012-03-29 15:13:39

*scrolls down blocks of text*
HI

SimCorder 2012-03-29 15:26:56

Don't you have income from advertisements on your movies/freelancing? If you love animating or drawing, how about commissions? assumably you probably don't wanna turn your play into work, but you could always consider it paid practise.

Even though I "disliked" some of the writing for your previous animations, I still love your work Kirb and I hope you keep on doing what you do best, and continue to perfect it.

And if you ever doubt your drawing abilities and artistic talent, I suggest you go look at these movies you've made

<a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/591473">http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/591473</a>
<a href="http://vimeo.com/23299858">http://vimeo.com/23299858</a>

Everyone has their fans/supporters and their critics/haters, even people like Egoraptor and Johnny Utah have their critics/haters, remember that. I hope you continue to work on Tome and continue to succeed in your work.

Lastly, if still not happy with your drawing skills, I am sure there are thousands of people, including myself that WISH they could do what your doing right now.

ElectroJoe 2012-03-29 15:56:08

It is never easy to know what is going to happen next. It's best to just do what you really want to do and get the right support to following your path and not get distracted along the way. Just taking life step by step is the best way to go. As for your previous parodies, they can be seen as your own personal stepping stones that led to you being the animator you are today. Tome is still unique as an animation, it's a sprite animated series, only with originally created sprites. Though out of curiosity, what would be the next step in an animation career?

GuardianSirius 2012-03-29 15:58:36

what next? well that rests on you my friend keep doing TOME or stop its your choice dude your a talented animater and im pretty sure a graphics or animation studio will be happy a hell to hire you if i had a company id hire you on the spot but heres the thing..stop worrying itll only make it worse all you need to do is visualize it work for it and achieve it so drop the fear and be yourself your a cool guy and your animations are boss dude anyone whos worked with you on here will tell you the same ,sincerly- Guardiansirius