“When it comes to my work, it’s all one story, and it’s none of my business what that story is. I don’t mean that sarcastically. I’m not saying that my opinions are less important than other people’s. I just think that, after a certain point, the work takes on a life of its own, and whether I like it or not doesn’t really matter.
I respect the person who was doing these books then, even though now I would go back and redraw them completely differently. I have compassion for things I did that don’t work. I see them as examples that can encourage other artists. You might think that you’ll never be the fastest, or the most realistic, or the most skilled artist, but there’s a home for you out there, whoever you are. My career is proof that you can get into the system, find a tiny home off in a corner, and prosper.
Some might claim that I’m too young to be saying this, but I’m at a point in my life where I’m thinking a lot about how I want to spend my remaining time. Should I go off into semiretirement and not do anything more than sketches and covers for fun? Or should I keep chasing the big projects? How do you know if you’re doing something that would best be left at the bottom of the sea? Should you take these 20 coconuts, weave them together in a net, and throw them out into the ocean, or not? I think the ocean will be just fine either way. Frankly, it probably doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s kind of freeing if you can get there.
It was pure fate that allowed me to get to some of these places; I’m just a goofball who stumbled into a couple of things. Yes, once it happened to me, I tried to make something of it, but it could just as easily have been someone else.
Humility and suffering are good things. They keep my head from swelling up too much. Although I may sound self-deprecating, there has to be a layer of narcissism underneath or else I couldn’t keep working.
I need to be careful with my self-deprecation. If I’m impatient with myself, that’s one thing, but if you, the reader, tell me that you like something I’ve done, I need to stand back and respect that. My opinions are to be disregarded. Your first impression about my work is more important than anything that’s in this introduction.”
— Sam Kieth, 2018