On change

I’ve been reading the daily webcomic Sinfest for a little over four years; it’s one of my daily destinations, after digg and google reader.

It’s no surprise that the artist’s style has changed after 8 years of drawing these cartoons 7 days a week. Scanning over them, you can really track certain points in the Tat’s life; months where he’s going through a lot of stress, months where he’s mellow. As the artist matures though, some of his original audience are rebelling. I stumbled into his message board the other day and came across an interesting argument by his fans, in which two of them vehemently (and I’m talking 4-5 paragraphs each) argue against the old Sinfest vs. the new Sinfest.

It’s an interesting position to be in as an artist. Do you keep doing what your audience wants or do you draw from the hip, ignoring the reaction?