Q: “Does it bother you to spend weeks on details that most readers won’t notice?”

I get questions like this a lot, probably since, among webcomics, my work tends to be more involved and protracted.  The short of it is that just because you don’t consciously notice something, doesn’t mean it has no affect on you. In everyday life, our unconscious minds do a lot of footwork for us.  For example, things we may not actively notice about about a person, like body posture or speech patterns, can have an unconscious affect on how we react to what they’re doing or saying.  

Likewise, much of our experience with art is not an active processing of every element, but rather a broader digestion of what’s being presented.  We may never notice every musical cue in a film, but their placement has a profound impact on how our minds interpret the scenes. With comics, even though most readers won’t consciously consider blocking, lighting or layouts, it doesn’t mean that these elements aren’t making their mark on the story, augmenting the reader’s experience or directing it entirely.  If these things are done poorly, a reader may not realize why he or she isn’t getting into the story or why the joke falls flat, they’ll just know they didn’t like it.  The devil is very much in the details, and execution is everything.

With visual details, specifically, I personally use them both to enhance the mood of a scene and deliver additional story information.  A reader may not consciously notice, for example, that a particular building has cracks or overgrowth, but several pages later when it’s mentioned that the building has been neglected, the unconscious mind is already primed to better digest that information.

When making any art (and especially when crafting stories), the focus should not be just on what you’re actually making but the effect of what you’re making has on the audience.  Excessive details and flourishes are just as bad as an overly plain execution.  Fiction is about presenting something to a reader and convincing them of its importance, first and foremost.  It’s the delivery, not just a mere “idea,” that defines the craft.