I think becoming a comic artist is a bit harder in America as opposed to Japan (I don't know about other countries) but it's still do-able if it's your passion.٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶
Here's a short list of webcomic "mangakas" I know of who make comics for a full time job:
Minna Sundberg, http://sssscomic.com/index.php?id=about
Yuko and Ananth (I'm ...... 1 reply
This is the only manga I know of about free schooling: http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/cat_street/ it's about a girl who was too depressed to go to school but then she starts going to a free school and it changes her life.
If anyone knows of anymore mangas about free schooling/unschooling/homeschooling, please tell me. reply
The only other site I use is kissmanga. It doesn't have a very good selection (especially of yaoi) but I really like that they use disqus commenting. 1 reply
I have several mangakas I like but my very favorite is Kumota Haruko. I first discovered her when I was reading Dame BL (she wrote the first chapter) and I thought right away, "here is a mangaka I like". Later I read Itoshi no Nekokke and it became my very favorite yaoi manga (●'◡'●) I mean, look at this adorable art!
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Practice is of course the best way to get better, but I know that sometimes I have trouble staying inspired.
For me, the best way to get inspired is to look at other people's art on tumblr and Pinterest; for example I like to look up character design on Pinterest. There's some pretty cool things on there!
[this picture is by Sam Bosma] 2 reply