Self criticism is a vicious cycle that can consume anybody who considers themselves an artist, and that’s one of the primary themes in Andrew Dobson’s autobiographical strip So You’re A Cartoonist. It consists of his avatar Tom Preston bouncing back and forth between his quest for improvement and recognition, and his thoughts on pop/geek culture in general. It turns out that the former is way more enjoyable to read, since that’s where the bulk of his insight obviously lies.
Both Dobson and SYAC have been a punching bag for the internet at large, with many readers being put off by what they see as a whiny tone in the writing and the limitations in his art style (particularly from one comedy website whose name I won’t mention, but let’s just say they’re nowhere as funny as they imagine themselves to be). I get that the nature of the comic isn’t for everyone, but artistically, it’s no worse than average. Is it top tier draftsmanship on the level of an Alex Raymond or Leonard Starr? Of course not, but composition wise Dobson is perfectly decent. Unlike some other strips, his people at least resemble people (his use of eyebrows seems to get a lot of attention, but I’ve seen worse) and his objects don’t look like they’re melting. I can also tell how the characters feel without looking at the word bubbles, and sometimes that’s all one can ask for.
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Artistic growth can be a frustrating process, and I think the best tactic anyone can use to make themselves better is to just observe things and draw/write on a consistent basis. But don’t tell Tom that, because often he’s too busy worrying about his jokes not being timely or his art not being strong enough. Again, all common concerns, but boy does he ever get obsessive about it.
Aside from Tom transforming into an adorable but rather cranky bear for some reason, he doesn’t get much in the way of ongoing story arcs. Those get handed off to Tenko, another author avatar who learns the importance of figure drawing from a substitute art teacher, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s essentially the author berating himself. Studying from life is vital for any cartoonist (Dobson’s evolution is proof of that), but not everyone picks up on that right away- nor do they become adept at it overnight, or observe details in the same way. I can tell he eventually got his fundamentals down.
The other half of SYAC is devoted to analysis on the comic industry, geek commentary and random opinions, which will depend on whether or not you agree with him. As far as him and some things (sports, the alleged ambiguity in Final Fantasy’s writing), it’s a 
from me, but I was on his side of the fence here and there.
His Benedict Cumberbatch is way better than some other fan artists, I’ll give him that.
So You’re A Cartoonist is pretty much the comic version of that one artist everyone knows who thinks that he sucks but is actually a bit better than he realizes. The ranty nature of it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I could still relate to how it presented the natural anxiety that all wannabe creative people have. It also made me curious about the rest of Dobson’s work, which is definitely an accomplishment. You can decide how good he actually is by clicking here.