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I am ready to dedicate my life to being an artist. I eventually want to go into comics. Pretend I have no experience whatsoever. Where should I begin?

(Sorry for the short post, but I felt a wall of text was not needed.)

I laughed when I saw this, I used to think the same way. But Scott McCloud disproves this theory and I'm supremely happy to be in a relationship with someone that loves helping me out at conventions and keeping me organized.

Having a significant other, best friend, partner, workslave is pretty essential to comics actually. If you're going to go to a convention alone, you're going to have a piss poor time, and in comics, you really do need to attend conventions.

That said, if you knew nothing about comics, you ought to take several trips to libraries and bookstores and read up. Anything, everything. Try to disassemble comics. What makes them work, what doesn't. Why does X story appeal to you, but Y story doesn't?

Observe story everywhere. The person walking down the street. The latest movie you watched on Netflix or Hulu. The last song you listened to. Everywhere is story.

Buy Robert McKee's 'Story' and read it back to front, and front to back.

Buy Panel Discussions. Read it back to front, front to back...even sideways.

Buy Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. If you have a chance to go listen to him, do so.

Understand that comics aren't just what you read at the bookstores, but also how events unfold before you. Comics are panels of time moving forward.

Draw and write by stream of consciousness first, then find the main points of the story within that, refine from there.

Be open. Listen to what folks have to say, even if you may not agree with it, because the key to being a good artist and writer is observing and listening.

Be yourself. Tell the stories you want to tell, not stories you think will do well.

Realize that even your failures are triumphs in story, because failures teach us what not to do.

And have faith in yourself. You will stumble, you will fall, and if you have the drive and the passion, you will get up, dust yourself off, and try again.

If you're going into comics, you might think that you have to stylize your work a lot, but don't.
Start by drawing things and people from life, realistically. Draw what you see, not what you think something looks like. Observe anatomy and proportions everywhere. Later when you are experienced at that, then you can begin stylizing your artwork, drawing from what you already know from drawing realistically.

This thread explains the idea in more depth.

Draw with a lot of effort first.
Then go on to being the best??

But who will pay the bills?

:O

I really only meant the kids part. save some money, live for yourself.