honestly I'm just afraid since i don't have enough time to legitimately work on a comic without a - failing half my classes b - getting no sleep c - making literal doodles instead of art d - or all of the above...
Her TOP TEN tips: 1. Dont start out by doing a big epic story. Gain experience by doing smaller projects first. 2. Use large drawing files so that if you wanna print them later on they'll be printable quality. 3. Avoid having an inconsistent schedule for updating your comic. 4. Don't expect overnight fame and popularity. (Make sure to reach out and network with people and make friends in the community.) 5. Stop avoiding hard things and stuff you dont like to draw eg backgrounds etc. Focus more on them instead. 6. Avoid unreadable bubbles and learn proper typography eg font use etc. (If you're handwriting the text make sure it's legible.) 7. Make sure the flow of the comic is smooth and the placement of bubbles and text is good. 8. Do enough preparation before starting a comic. Make use of thumbnails, character sheets, storyboards, and references. 9. Use a script so that the comic doesn't go haywire overtime. It'll help you foreshadow and make the comic more cohesive. 10. JUST FUCKING START
If you aren't trying to sell or publish your work and just want experience: I suggest starting with that big epic story you want to do. But break it up and go in with realistic expectations. You most likely aren't gonna produce amazing work on your first go, but you'll learn. Don't drag yourself through something you don't enjoy. Tackle that big scene you have in mind and focus on that.
Gonna kinda go off this but also as my own experience (been making and publishing comics for like 5+ years) 1: make both an epic and a small story. Small stories will be recommended; 20-40 pages at most, if it's anything longer than that, it's considered a long story. the 'epic' or long stories are actually SUPER recommended for if you want to really practice and improve your art in the long run as well, the small stories will give you some variety from your big project (cause you don't necessarily have to publish it immediately). 2: It really depends here cause you can use large files, but a lot of printing firms will want it around 300-350 dpi, don't do like 600-1200 dpi unless you want to do a lot of converting (it will TAKE A LONG ASS TIME TO CONVERT SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH DETAIL YOU HAVE) 3: Make sure to have enough chapters ahead of time so if you do procrastinate, you won't worry. Inconsistent schedules most readers won't mind, but more if you have a consistent schedule and then you miss an update or two, often some people will get upset (but you will totally have the people who are fine with it), while consistency is key, so is your fun and mental health. 4: Overnight fame and popularity take time (it's fine with this one) 5: while backgrounds are cool and all, work smarter not harder. Maybe prep a background in advanced but keep it really simple, you don't want to take away from your character. too much background will fuck you over in the long run and end up making your characters either blur into it or just kinda take away from the mood. While Consistency is good here too, if you can't keep it, it's fine, make it look as close as possible. You don't want to focus on the backgrounds too much unless it's applicable to the plot or just needed to give an idea on where the character is and the mood. 6: use fonts is good. But a huge tip I received from a publisher, unless your character is shouting, all fonts MUST BE THE SAME SIZE THE ENTIRE PAGE. If they're inconsistent, it will fuck you over and make it look 'unprofessional' and sometimes, depending on the style of comic you're going for, take away from the art and the story (because the font can get too distracting if it's too varying in size). 7: While flow of the comic is good, don't over saturate with panels, but don't over saturate with word bubbles as well, you want a good balance and make sure there's enough space for the word bubbles (which is also a good cheat if you don't want to draw a background) 8: prep is good, definitely use thumbnails and use a lineup of all the character's you'll be using so you'll know the heights. If you need references, make sure to reference (or just do it on the fly). I don't personally recommend story boarding, as that's more for animation and not necessarily comics because the thumbnails is basically the same thing (since that's LITERALLY what thumbnails are for, to get the idea before drawing) and full character turn around as it can take away time from other things you could do and make use of, as you don't want something overly detailed to be either never used or rarely used, making all that hard work for nothing (also, once again, turn arounds are mostly for animation, if there's something significant your character has, make a note of it on their art or their lineup sheet) 9: if you're making a script, those are mostly recommended for the big epic stories, or if you're in a large team of like 2-6 people. If it's a short story, you can literally just thumbnail it out and scribble notes on what you want, especially if it's 20-40 pages long. Scripts with a general idea is good for short to semi long stories and scripts with significant dialogue is good for epic stories. If you're going to just do short stories, maybe write down the general idea, but don't necessarily focus on everything like 'foreshadowing' and such as how much foreshadowing and other literary subjects are you doing to do in a tiny story? (unless it's horror). 10: absolutely do it, if you're the type of person who procrastinates, you might want to force yourself, but if not, just be patient, prep your shit, and then start doodling. Take your time but also work smarter not harder, because you can actually screw yourself over in the long run if you start doing overly detailed backgrounds and sometimes overly detailed character things that absolutely aren't necessary at all.
@@sarah8638 people jot down ideas and work on them later all the time, it's very common. Also remember nothing in this world is original, everything has been done before in some way shape or form. That's why it's important to have your own personal essence in what you're writing; your beliefs, opinions, emotions, experiences etc. That is what makes art unique and personal. If you tell 5 people to paint the same apple will you get five identical paintings? Of course not
@@sarah8638 lol looking up an idea online is quite hard. Just because you can't find anything like it doesn't mean something kinda similar doesn't exist trust me. If it's really unique and original then props to you but I don't think you need to be that afraid to discuss it with your friends at least? A rough outline of the plot at least. Discussing with others really help in my opinion cuz you are provided with new perspectives and opinions. Don't worry too much about someone stealing your whole comic plot when you haven't even started working on it. Good luck!
The video didn't warn against writing comics with an overarching story and character development, just to avoid writing long epics at the beginning of your comic career. A short story can have both a great plot and character development.
A guy from my class is literally winging a comic without a script to try to at least do something, and he doesn’t even know were the story is going. But hey, he is doing more than my individual one punchline pages (though they usually have a small script, they aren’t fun because my comic humor is dead).
At least you have the right mindset. Not many people understand the importance of a script. Perhaps comedy isnt your forte and you need a different genre?
I have a comic that I'm doing with a story as well as a comic that I'm winging without really knowing where it's going. I have a general idea about things I want to do within but no ending. Oddly enough I find it easier to draw and work with that comic than the one based off a story I have pretty completed in my head?? Kinda leaves a world of opportunities open lol.
I experimenter with improvised comics ages ago. Just started drawing the first panel, without really knowing how the rest of the page would go, let alone the whole story. It's a fun and freeing process, but doesn't really make for great comics. :)
Winging a comic is still a viable way to practice and experiment! A good script is a valuable asset, but when you're working alone, you can only do so much, right? Some people can be extremyl detailed and still start/finish a project and some people have a problem with overthinking and never start.
it works for some people, just look at kill six billion demons lmao the creator has said often that he does no scripts and has a general idea of where the story is going but no specifics, yet the comic is good and very successful so yea
@@tasha2460 you can always go waaaay higher then that if you want 🤷♀️ it's just that anything lower usually has v shitty quality and wont print as nicely as anything at or above 300
I choked with laughter with 'the epic story of many characters, 20 vols and massive cast, amazing!' -- that is such a common mistake with writers I work with too. Thank you, I love this podcast talk
I almost made this very mistake. I am still just building the world and story of my comic, not even set character designs. Yet there I was, thinking about trying to get started on making this huge epic that would probably take 5-15 years to complete. With absolutely no experience in making comics, storytelling, publishing, marketing, etc, etc. My drawing skills are actually sh*t. Thank god I calmed myself by realising that this was going to go terribly. I plan on making at least 2 smaller comics before jumping in to developing the big boy. Hopefully all goes well and I live to see my long term project become reality. Unless truck-kun decides to send me to another world. Isekai harem, here i co- sike!
Yeah same xD.l am thinking about starting on Facebook and Instagram or even Pinterest as a comic post website because l don't know if l will give up on my first simple stories just because the story doesn't go anywhere ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
It's not the easiest thing to hear, but yeah it's true. My co-creator and I made the mistake of trying to jump into the story that we *really* wanted to tell, but we had neither the artistic skills or the writing/comic skills to really back it up. Since then we've grown other projects that we now love just as much (if not more in some cases) and it was from trying to work on something that wasn't our magnum opus.
Skyforse AO I know this is 3 months old but please do not add Pinterest to your options. Pinterest is not a social media platform. It’s not even a hub for artists. It’s a collection of images- a board site of some sort. It’s not a good start for trying to give your comics exposure because it isn’t even dedicated to comics or art in the first place. WEBTOON and Tapastic are better options because it’s easier to get attention due to the audience being exactly people who are looking to read comics. It doesn’t matter if you think your comic will be scrapped easily, just don’t start with Pinterest.
One of my biggest errors while creating comics is thinking I could build a well-guided story off the top of my head. I thought I could memorize my entire storyline over months and that I wouldn't forget important details or plotholes. It all ended in me not knowing what was next and not having the energy to continue. Moral of the story? ALWAYS script, even if it sounds silly or tiring. Loved your video, I learned a bunch of stuff and reaffirmed my knowledge on some others. Subscribed!
I started scripting my comic is July and I only finished season 1 about 3 months ago. I had writers block for ages and I just came back to season 2 and am only on chapter 5. Some of my ideas were easy to remember, while others weren't so writing them down was a great decisiom. I love watch I did so much, but I leave little room to creativity. That seems to be the only issue with scripting. But other than that, go do it.
This. This is me. I have such ideas that I think are great and I won't forget... What do you think happened? Now I try to jot down any ideas that come to mind. Even if it's a quick note on my phone that doesn't make total sense, it helps remind me that I had the idea in the first place. Huge piece of adivce to anyone: Write down your ideas, not only because it helps you remember, but also helps cement the idea into reality.
My mistake is not planning for placement of speech bubbles. I usually winged it by drawing first with thumbnails, but not speech bubbles. Yeah... Speech bubble is one of important factors on comic, but I'm just lazy to do it.
I love to write stories in a novel form so I sometimes draw scenes from my series I've written. That's pretty small so if you write a stoeh you can draw scenes from that (this isn't that helpful but this is what I do sometimes)
I’ve been developing characters and such for a story for almost 5 years or so now. I feel like at this point, I just need to start it. I’ve done some tiny comics here and there.
Yes, it is definitely important to not drag out the planning stage indefinitely, otherwise you are never going to start. Start drawing some actual comic, even drawing another story is better than not drawing anything and just planning indefinitely.
Yea, but half of any project is the planning stage and if you don't plan well you're gonna run into trouble later on. My tip would be to start the important stuff like a script and finalizing worldbuilding or whatever else you may have neglected now and reserve things like redesigning characters and such for pauses/free time and the very end of planning as otherwise you may end up changing it ten more times and end up only really wasting time. With character development, stick to making them fit in the story and portraying them right. I can also recommend just doing a short and potentially unscripted comic about some backstory, some scene(s) you like or just a one-off featuring the characters in the style of the comic as a practice, you'll probably get a lot faster and more experienced with it so starting the actual comic won't be as frustrating and depending on what it is (esp. if it's backstory that's not vital to the tension in the story, a minor and not overly spoilery scene or a one-off rather than an important scene) it could be used as a teaser. Now, this shouldn't be huge, depending on how fast you are maybe 10-20 pages or so, but it's something that can be quite nice if you're struggling developing your script at the moment and it'll help you improve a lot.
Luna Fowler Thanks for the super detailed tips! They’re really helpful, I’ve been working on a comic for 2 years and changed the plots 3 times during it, I finally stuck to a plot and I’m posting it on webtoon in a few weeks! (and of course I started making scripts, back stories and etc I didn’t before!)
Lol I have a sorta big first comic that I’m making but I’m making it with the mentality “ok it’s probably not really gonna be seen, but my main goal is to make something that isn’t absolute shit👌🏻”
I may actually never end up publishing my comics, but even then, I'll have something to show to my friends and family like "Hey I made this comic series wanna check it out?".
Whoops! My first comic was almost 200 pages. It was... to say the least, daunting, but I'm glad I finished it. Thanks for the helpful tips! I'll keep them in mind for my next comic.
The biggest mistake I made for my first ever comic was setting the scene in a library. I drew so many damn books. When I finally was done I was just so relieved. (I also coloured them...)
Same here, when I re-drew (in better quality, since the OG was a comic strip and was thrown away 😭) my first comic out of an entire series I'm planning to make, the enviroment was a forest, so I had to draw a bunch of trees in nearly every panel (PD: I'm not good at drawing trees).
100 pages is still a friggin lot. If you want to have a really good script for 100 page story, you'll be working at least 6 months on that alone. As a beginner it would be better to start with small but meaningfull stories, about 10 pages. After that you can build it up. Most beginner comic artists aren't that good at drawing, so the quality of your images change a lot when you look at someone's first page and then at, say, page 80. That creates inconsistency.
Merel I totally agree but I would also add that good writing can make up for inconsistent art. I’m not saying it can be neglected, but many famous mangas have very meh looking chapter 1 art when you come from chapter 100 or so.
@@littleblueclovers true, but then you still need a lot of time to write a good story. And a lot of manga artists weren't planning to make a 100 chapter story of it, that's a decision they often make later (When it get's really popular) And those are professionals. This video is giving tips to new comic creators. If I'm a beginning comic artist I would never start with a 100 page story. I would first try to find my own style in making short comics so I can experiment a lot.
Just so happen to find your comment from mindlessly scrolling and I'm going to follow your 10 page advice, but is there a panel amount to follow? I never know how to panel and how many panels I need on a single page or for the whole thing.
I do that too. I have a basic idea and then I just make up the lines as I go and add lib it. Most of the time surprisingly it turns out well but that's after years of doing it like that and too many misfires to count lol
Decided to start scripting my great epic before I do the smaller comics (more time between each pass of editing will be nice, so getting draft 1 down will be good) And hoo boy, script writing is.... wow. Can't wait to get to the drawing part of this xDD
I recommend having a friend help you! I do and she and I bounce off ideas and fix plot holes. I draw and she helps with the ideas and what the characters could look like.
Backgrounds are almost always an after thought. Some improvements have been made but it's still an after thought at times. Still working on script and hoping for the best. Love the video and how down to earth the info is. Thanks for sharing.
My goal is to draw like 20+ episodes in advance, then post them regularly while continuing to draw more, since my comic is probably going to be quite long. I'll try making a short comic to start with though.
I've noticed that MANY of the artists and IPs we love usually start out small, then grow into their awesome. Be it the Beatles, MST3K, Disney, Pixar, etc. Definitely the right way to go.
I may do an easier 100 pg project before finally jumping back in and finishing the first volume of my epic series I've been working on for a while. I burned out overworking and haven't been properly back to it for over a year so I think a less stressful less perfectionist project may be just what I need to study up and get back into the swing of making my graphic novel proper. Thanks for the great tips video!
I'm not the kind to click on these kinds of videos but dang, I'm glad I did. Right when i head you talk, I feel like I can trust you completely with all of these tips. Thank you so much! I've learnt so much.
I actually had that happen all because I made a meme, wound up getting a bunch of subs in one day, about 15 or so. And everytime I make a page, I get 3 guaranteed new subs.
thanks to this channel i feel like i gained some useful knowledge for later, since im thinking on starting a comic, but its a BIG project so ima start slow and steady~
I wanted to make a comic *years* ago. Like 6+ years ago. I decided to learn how to draw because *duh* and write because *duh* and worked on small projects I still think I’m not ready 😂 and am still pushing it to the side every time someone mentions my big future project
I’ve been binging all your webcomic script videos and I can safely say I’ll take them into consideration! I’ve been planning to make a webcomic for about 6 months now, though since it’s my first project I think it’s best I archived it ^^;; thanks for all the cool tips and tricks! they’ve been super helpful :D
Amazing tips! Hello from Brazil =) We usually learn from our mistakes more than with other's mistakes... It's always good to watch some fellow comic artist sharing this kind of content here on TH-cam. I've been posting my comics on the internet for decades, and now I am trying to share these experiences for my students and my subscribers as well here in Brazil. Best regards!
this is a bit long: im going to (probably) fail lol, because one of your first tips was like "save your super awesome comic for later and build experience" but im a bit too impatient for that and want to make mistakes for that too, then my webcomic is alllllllllllllll about backgrounds because its an ADVENTURE dramatic (comedy i guess) story because i HATE backgrounds, which is why im doing it and also becoming a "Tree drawing professional" because alot of trees. then something im not completely fine about is like in-putting the actual point of the whole webcomic a bit down the road after starting because of dramatical build up and yea cause its not a normal adventure guild story since its DRAMATIC but if i put the actual "story" immediately without letting the readers know the characters personality its gunna fall apart ...so. i have my plan, but im completely unsure if its actually good for putting it out there on the interweb The End.
Thank you for making this video! As a comic artist with two previous 'attempts' at making a comic series, and is now storyboarding the first arc of my brand new comic with many of these mistakes under my belt, I feel confident and reassured that I have been getting better, and hope that this time, I'll be able to make a better mark among the comics community :>
I loved this. You spoke so well. I'm a legally blind illustrator and aspiring comic artist. I have 5 projects I REALLY want to get out there. Two of them I've been working on for YEARS. Part of what has stopped me is I'm so scared about putting it out there. You just built my confidence a LOT. I love how much experience you have and how you explained it. Very wise words. I'm gonna start this week. :D Thank you. Thank you.
the tip about prepwork made me really happy, since i just finished scripting the whole season of my first comic and have my character sheets ready, i am resting up before i start storyboarding !
Man! These are really opening my eyes. I currently have a webcomic with really poor updating patterns along with many other issues. It makes me consider what I want to do next with my stories. And I will tell you that I have multitudes of stories coming from my head. Thank you very much with making this video.
Thanks so much for making and sharing this video! I've been working on my own webcomic, and one of my biggest mistakes was deciding when was the right time to start. I've been making multiple script re-writes, but I'm not letting it stop me from pushing forward. Thanks again for this great video!
I really reccomend starting with short stories, they’re really good as it lets you get a grasp on starting/finishing projects. It’s a lot easier when your telling a story that has 16 or so pages in a chapter, and maybe three chapters. Also helps you to establish a workflow.
Your channel has inspired me to just get up and get started on my webcomic ideas, instead of keeping them in my head. I've been filling journals and making all these notes and designs of the characters, plot and ideas and meanings I want to express. Each video you post gets me so pumped to create, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I don't have any programs I can use to get started. And even if I did, I'm still a beginner, so it may take a while. For all I know, I may never be able to make this a reality. How about this: When/if I make any progress, I'll reply.
Love the video and I agree with point #1 specially before publishing! I really like this video!! Mmm Honestly, sth I see lately is how many young creators rush to publish. And sometimes I wonder, I started making comics/stories when I was 7 yrs old (well, earlier If you take into account storyboards) and I didn’t publish until I was like 21. Even though I don’t recommend starting to publish as late as 21 yrs old, I sometimes wonder how lucky/happy I felt doing my crappy artwork just worrying about drawing, and not wasting time marketing my noob comics. Nobody could see them but me, and I just think that maybe artists that are like super super young I would worry more about sharpening skills than publishing and worrying about followers. I’m not saying I’m an example at all, do not do what I do haha Just the suggestion on skills over followers when someone is very young >.< Unless that young person would be more motivated to work by publishing and if having 15 followers that are this person’s friends (or follow back tactics) doesn’t make that person less motivated because they wanted more or sth like that.
I agree with writing the entire script of the story before starting. I am currently doing mine. Planning and practice is important to make it less stressful. Thank you for the advice!
Thanks so much for the detailed info and reassurance. I'm working on a graphic novel that I intend to publish as a full story, but your advice still really helped me. Also, your voice reminds me a bit of Mabel from Gravity Falls. Love your videos! Keep being awesome!
I can't help it, your chuckle is so cute😊💘♥️.... The advice here is very generic, about to start off planning a romance webtoon of mine, I haven't drawn a comic in years though I draw and sketch regularly but the comic artist in me left on a long vacation and now he's back😁😁😁Wish me luck🌹
I think one thing that truly helps with wanting to skip ahead to pages you're more excited about is remembering that each page has to be important. Each page has to exist for a certain reason to further advance the plot.Knowing this, I feel more content in knowing that page has to exist in order for the pages I WANT to get to, to even make sense in context.
I imagine these stories and characters in my head that has a certain art style, so I always procrastinate because I don't want to screw up a big story with a lousy art style such as mine.
The one about not updating freequently i get it! I love yoo has not updated in like 6 months 😭😭😭😭 im still waiting and it left on such a big cliff hanger😢😭😅
This helped me a lot. I started a big comic last month and I was so motivated until I realized I needed to write the story first. Now I'm doing that and I'm slowing down a little bit, and I have fear of not finishing the comic, but you've encouraged me! You got a new subscriber and a SUPER like. You deserve more subs! :)
My plan for Tip 1 is to practice on small individual scenes from the story-world of my BIG PROJECT, but which won’t actually be in it. Random conversations between characters, side-stories and so-on. That way I get in that practice but don’t have to think up a whole seperate story.
Your giggle is life-affirming. Also, you nailed it by citing backgrounds (by way of example) as something I can't do and should thus be practicing all the time.
This morning I was contemplating my comic I have been working on for the last few months... but you have made me realise, have fun with it and work with the errors! Thank you
See, I started my manga/comic about to years ago. My art style was still developing this style, and I look back on the early pages and re-read the story... and I wish I would have done a lot of things differently :(
Another great video, I plot everything out as a series of fast doodles, basically stick men, after that I write the whole thing in a comic script format. (You can find examples all over the internet) I read Comics and Sequential Art when I first got into comics, it's another way of understanding the medium that would help your viewers.
I wanted to ask you a question about coming up with panels/ pages when you come up with pages for your web comic do you draw it by hand then scan to ink it digitally or do you do it all digitally? I'm asking cause I'm working on my own comic but I'm drawing it in a sketch book, then plan on scanning it to my laptop to ink it digitally so I wanted to ask you if that's a good idea or is that a bad idea to draw my comic that way or what? Thanks i really would appreciate some feedback
Travis Herndon Well, since this comment hasn’t been answered yet. I don’t know if it’s a good idea for a beginner, but a guy called Danny Parker (Spanish) is doing practices in Marvel, and he first sketches the page traditionally and then inks them digitally. So it shouldn’t be a problem.
I wrote off the top of my head, my first script for my comic, Empire, as I drew it, and it resulted in a LOT of wasted Blueline pages. Now that I have been working on a novel, I get the 'pantser' vs 'plotter' thing (what you called 'writing off the top of your head' vs. plotting it out in at least an outline). Pantsing is fine for the writing part, as long as you go over it and make sure it all makes sense, there are no holes, etc. I do both. BUT, when you get to the drawing page, it should all be done before drawing. I've been there, made that mistake, never doing it again. Oh, and drawing out my pages on little index cards helps immensely, because I can see with the thumbnails how the page flow goes. This is a great video!
I would like to start off this comment by saying that I loved your art style! And thank you for the advices. They were genuine and very helpful. Thank you and I wish you the best of luck.
I love the tip about writing a full script before illustrating. I found it's exponentially easier to write a script and with panel-to-panel descriptions for my webcomic (including character locations and actions) because when I'm illustrating I know exactly how to flow each panel into the next. Thank you guys so much for this video!
One suggestion for posting consistently is to work on pages ahead of time before you even start posting, that way if you're drawing a really important or real hard thing and it's taking forever you can still post your comic without leaving your viewers waiting
Thank you so much! I was going to write/draw a big epic adventure for my fist comic but I guess it's better to start with a small thing related to this project before. There's definitly not enought videos talking about webcomics, glad I found you chanel
Gonna kinda go off this but also as my own experience (been making and publishing comics for like 5+ years) 1: make both an epic and a small story. Small stories will be recommended; 20-40 pages at most, if it's anything longer than that, it's considered a long story. the 'epic' or long stories are actually SUPER recommended for if you want to really practice and improve your art in the long run as well, the small stories will give you some variety from your big project (cause you don't necessarily have to publish it immediately). 2: It really depends here cause you *can* use large files, but a lot of printing firms will want it around 300-350 dpi, don't do like 600-1200 dpi unless you want to do a lot of converting (it will TAKE A LONG ASS TIME TO CONVERT SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH DETAIL YOU HAVE) 3: Make sure to have enough chapters ahead of time so if you do procrastinate, you won't worry. Inconsistent schedules most readers won't mind, but more if you *have* a consistent schedule and then you miss an update or two, often some people will get upset (but you will totally have the people who are fine with it), while consistency is key, so is your fun and mental health. 4: Overnight fame and popularity take time (it's fine with this one) 5: while backgrounds are cool and all, work smarter not harder. Maybe prep a background in advanced but keep it really simple, you don't want to take away from your character. too much background will fuck you over in the long run and end up making your characters either blur into it or just kinda take away from the mood. While Consistency is good here too, if you can't keep it, it's fine, make it look as close as possible. You don't want to focus on the backgrounds too much unless it's applicable to the plot or just needed to give an idea on where the character is and the mood. 6: use fonts is good. But a huge tip I received from a publisher, unless your character is shouting, all fonts MUST BE THE SAME SIZE THE ENTIRE PAGE. If they're inconsistent, it will fuck you over and make it look 'unprofessional' and sometimes, depending on the style of comic you're going for, take away from the art and the story (because the font can get too distracting if it's too varying in size). 7: While flow of the comic is good, don't over saturate with panels, but don't over saturate with word bubbles as well, you want a good balance and make sure there's enough space for the word bubbles (which is also a good cheat if you don't want to draw a background) 8: prep is good, definitely use thumbnails and use a lineup of all the character's you'll be using so you'll know the heights. If you need references, make sure to reference (or just do it on the fly). I don't personally recommend story boarding, as that's more for animation and not necessarily comics because the thumbnails is basically the same thing (since that's LITERALLY what thumbnails are for, to get the idea before drawing) and full character turn around as it can take away time from other things you could do and make use of, as you don't want something overly detailed to be either never used or rarely used, making all that hard work for nothing (also, once again, turn arounds are mostly for animation, if there's something significant your character has, make a note of it on their art or their lineup sheet) 9: if you're making a script, those are mostly recommended for the big epic stories, or if you're in a large team of like 2-6 people. If it's a short story, you can literally just thumbnail it out and scribble notes on what you want, especially if it's 20-40 pages long. Scripts with a general idea is good for short to semi long stories and scripts with significant dialogue is good for epic stories. If you're going to just do short stories, maybe write down the general idea, but don't necessarily focus on everything like 'foreshadowing' and such as how much foreshadowing and other literary subjects are you doing to do in a tiny story? (unless it's horror). 10: absolutely do it, if you're the type of person who procrastinates, you might want to force yourself, but if not, just be patient, prep your shit, and then start doodling. Take your time but also work smarter not harder, because you can actually screw yourself over in the long run if you start doing overly detailed backgrounds and sometimes overly detailed character things that absolutely aren't necessary at all.
Thanks for always believing in me! What’s the nest way to juggle making two comics at the same time? Right now I’m working on a 20+ issue epic, but also want to work on a 6 issue mini series as well. What’s the best work flow pacing I should expect from myself?
Really great advice. Can not agree more with the points you raised. Though not a graphic novelist myself, my husband is and I have seen how he has grown over the years. Take note of these points folks in the video, they really will help you a lot. My husband figured out most of these early on in his drawing thankfully, so he has built up quite a lot of fully drawn/written completed stories. The publishing bit he has only just built up the confidence to do so, he started 2018. His style changed over the years so he is redoing his earlier work for publication now. Just glad I convinced him to go digital as it has made his work flow quicker, however he still hand draws the panels first before he scans them to his computer. It will take him longer to learn how to use a drawing tablet though. I am going to learn how to use a drawing tablet myself just to convince him it's do able. 😁
I recently decided to begin developing an idea for a comic I've had for nearly two years. Now, as I decide to really push to make it a reality, I'm discovering how little I actually know about creating comics. I've created character reference sheets and a very vague outline of what I want the story to be about, but over time it's becoming an even more daunting task than I'd ever imagined. This video really helped me realize I need to take a step back and actually prepare, not just guess at what needs to be done. I will say that this whole deal is a very educational one -- I'm learning a lot about perspective, camera angles, and the flow of a comic. If any one of you has doubts about making a comic, just do it and learn from the experience. You'll come out a better artist for it.
I really appreciate in the opening including people starting relatively new to making comics as not only being young artists. After a short and feeble attempt many moons ago failed, it was just last year that I finally decided to try again. Have been plugging away with mixed results since then.... I'm 40.
Right off the bat, I really needed to hear that I need to save my bigger story once I feel more experienced, LOL. It's not even that I don't feel confident in my art, but as I started laying out pages for my one big story, I realized things fast that I definitely needed more time and not just jump the gun. I do want to get started, but I can't just go off on the bare minimum. It really is about prepping yourself and building experience from shorter comics / stories you can create quicker. Anyway, thank you for these lovely comic videos! They have been very helpful.
Great video! Especially when you laugh. That's beyond adorable. Not having a script or detailed outline is where I always went wrong. I'm in the process of writing out a whole story from start to end, and then I'm going to make character reference sheets. I've had too many headaches in the past due to these issues. Yes, my comic won't get started for months, but I know it'll be a smoother process once I get going. Not to shamelessly plug anyone, but a really great lettering resource is Lettering the ComicCraft Way, which you can find on Amazon. They also sell font packs. Also, you can get some really amazing resources from artist Freddie Williams, including perspective guides, comic boards, and building facade paths that you can "stroke", depending on the thickness of the lines you need. I'm always looking for resources to help me, since it's basically 100% me doing everything.
If you are struggling to get an idea, that is short enough for a fist comic (like I did), there is a great lecture on short storys from brandon sanderson on youtube. Use this as a guideline and you'll have a short script, that is manageble to draw. It only takes one hour to create the script. Maybe you'll have to adapt it a bit to get more scenery and maybe dialoge, but it is a great resource to get started with nothing too complicated.
Great advice! I think one of the best things you can tell a new creator is not to expect their first idea to be their best idea. I always tell people at conventions you have to want to make your idea happen regardless of how many people end up becoming fans of it. sometimes you're just creating for the experience to make your next one better. - David
I do have an idea for my comic with a big overarching story and character development, but I don’t think my little experience will be a problem. The initial premise is more one-off stories, and I’m going to just slip in elements of the larger story I want to tell so I can get the experience from the comic while still building up to the bigger stories, kind of like lots of cartoons do when they want to tell a huge main story
My problem is that my awesome, sprawling million-page comic is a reflection of who I am when I'm writing it (well, more like fantasizing the scenes without writing them down). Over the years, as I've changed, the story has changed, too, and I don't remember a lot of what I was thinking about or working on when I was younger. If you do have an epic that you've been wanting to tell for years, maybe try just writing it out so you'll still have the story intact when you get back to it.
I've done a bunch of planning for comics in the past but I've never actually really got a good one going until now. What I did was write down the main theme, then expand to key events, and now I'm pretty much writing out a rough draft of dialogue and "stage directions". This way has actually allowed me to have an easy flow of one step in planning to the next. Sometimes I have patches of things where I get bored of working on something day after day, but I still really want to write a comic. What I do about that is by working on more than 1 project so I can switch off when my brain decides it needs more entertainment. I work on my comic by writing scripts and doing storyboarding, then when I'm bored I switch to some of my other interests in art like animation. Taking a break helps my brain then snap back to the original project I start to miss and I'm then able to focus on it again.
A few pointers to make. 1. Try and limit your panels to 5 or less. If push comes to shove, do not exceed 6. If your panels are going to have a lot of speech bubbles, then consider 4/5 panels. 2. When a character is addressing himself, ensure that you use the crossed capital 'I'.
Very happy to find you and your positive vibe- been making comics for a long time and the only thing that changes if you don't come up with a consistent schedule (treat it like the dream job you want it to be) then all you will see if you don't start is your characters age with you.
Backrounds take me forever to draw because i hate perspective so when characters are having back and forth conversations i usually only show them from the waist up with a gradient backround with a colkr that usually corresponds with the character or an aspect of the backround. And example is i have charcters are a speaking where the backround is a window showing the clear blue sky. Instead of drawing the window everytime i usually make a gradient blue backround
Thanks for this! Planning to start making my own comics and decided to watch this after a quick YouTUbe search, you not only given me hope in making a comic but also inspired me to just keep on going and just keep on working on my films and animations because getting there takes time. This day started for me as really tiring and really not inspired to do anything. Glad to have ended the day with this video. The inspiration I got here should last a month or more. XD
“Have you ever had a comic that you love and suddenly it goes on hiatus?”
*HXH has entered the chat*
Berserk, Vagabond
MCU Forever123
Lumine
@@gloop7458 yeah...
Hiatus X Hiatus
Unordinary (last year)
“Worst mistake is not starting” meeeee lol
Omg-
Same
I feel you. :3 xd
Same 😅
honestly I'm just afraid since i don't have enough time to legitimately work on a comic without
a - failing half my classes
b - getting no sleep
c - making literal doodles instead of art
d - or all of the above...
Her TOP TEN tips:
1. Dont start out by doing a big epic story. Gain experience by doing smaller projects first.
2. Use large drawing files so that if you wanna print them later on they'll be printable quality.
3. Avoid having an inconsistent schedule for updating your comic.
4. Don't expect overnight fame and popularity. (Make sure to reach out and network with people and make friends in the community.)
5. Stop avoiding hard things and stuff you dont like to draw eg backgrounds etc. Focus more on them instead.
6. Avoid unreadable bubbles and learn proper typography eg font use etc. (If you're handwriting the text make sure it's legible.)
7. Make sure the flow of the comic is smooth and the placement of bubbles and text is good.
8. Do enough preparation before starting a comic. Make use of thumbnails, character sheets, storyboards, and references.
9. Use a script so that the comic doesn't go haywire overtime. It'll help you foreshadow and make the comic more cohesive.
10. JUST FUCKING START
Yeap. 🙂👍
If you aren't trying to sell or publish your work and just want experience: I suggest starting with that big epic story you want to do. But break it up and go in with realistic expectations. You most likely aren't gonna produce amazing work on your first go, but you'll learn. Don't drag yourself through something you don't enjoy. Tackle that big scene you have in mind and focus on that.
Gonna kinda go off this but also as my own experience (been making and publishing comics for like 5+ years)
1: make both an epic and a small story. Small stories will be recommended; 20-40 pages at most, if it's anything longer than that, it's considered a long story. the 'epic' or long stories are actually SUPER recommended for if you want to really practice and improve your art in the long run as well, the small stories will give you some variety from your big project (cause you don't necessarily have to publish it immediately).
2: It really depends here cause you can use large files, but a lot of printing firms will want it around 300-350 dpi, don't do like 600-1200 dpi unless you want to do a lot of converting (it will TAKE A LONG ASS TIME TO CONVERT SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH DETAIL YOU HAVE)
3: Make sure to have enough chapters ahead of time so if you do procrastinate, you won't worry. Inconsistent schedules most readers won't mind, but more if you have a consistent schedule and then you miss an update or two, often some people will get upset (but you will totally have the people who are fine with it), while consistency is key, so is your fun and mental health.
4: Overnight fame and popularity take time (it's fine with this one)
5: while backgrounds are cool and all, work smarter not harder. Maybe prep a background in advanced but keep it really simple, you don't want to take away from your character. too much background will fuck you over in the long run and end up making your characters either blur into it or just kinda take away from the mood. While Consistency is good here too, if you can't keep it, it's fine, make it look as close as possible. You don't want to focus on the backgrounds too much unless it's applicable to the plot or just needed to give an idea on where the character is and the mood.
6: use fonts is good. But a huge tip I received from a publisher, unless your character is shouting, all fonts MUST BE THE SAME SIZE THE ENTIRE PAGE. If they're inconsistent, it will fuck you over and make it look 'unprofessional' and sometimes, depending on the style of comic you're going for, take away from the art and the story (because the font can get too distracting if it's too varying in size).
7: While flow of the comic is good, don't over saturate with panels, but don't over saturate with word bubbles as well, you want a good balance and make sure there's enough space for the word bubbles (which is also a good cheat if you don't want to draw a background)
8: prep is good, definitely use thumbnails and use a lineup of all the character's you'll be using so you'll know the heights. If you need references, make sure to reference (or just do it on the fly). I don't personally recommend story boarding, as that's more for animation and not necessarily comics because the thumbnails is basically the same thing (since that's LITERALLY what thumbnails are for, to get the idea before drawing) and full character turn around as it can take away time from other things you could do and make use of, as you don't want something overly detailed to be either never used or rarely used, making all that hard work for nothing (also, once again, turn arounds are mostly for animation, if there's something significant your character has, make a note of it on their art or their lineup sheet)
9: if you're making a script, those are mostly recommended for the big epic stories, or if you're in a large team of like 2-6 people. If it's a short story, you can literally just thumbnail it out and scribble notes on what you want, especially if it's 20-40 pages long. Scripts with a general idea is good for short to semi long stories and scripts with significant dialogue is good for epic stories. If you're going to just do short stories, maybe write down the general idea, but don't necessarily focus on everything like 'foreshadowing' and such as how much foreshadowing and other literary subjects are you doing to do in a tiny story? (unless it's horror).
10: absolutely do it, if you're the type of person who procrastinates, you might want to force yourself, but if not, just be patient, prep your shit, and then start doodling. Take your time but also work smarter not harder, because you can actually screw yourself over in the long run if you start doing overly detailed backgrounds and sometimes overly detailed character things that absolutely aren't necessary at all.
@@sarah8638 people jot down ideas and work on them later all the time, it's very common. Also remember nothing in this world is original, everything has been done before in some way shape or form. That's why it's important to have your own personal essence in what you're writing; your beliefs, opinions, emotions, experiences etc. That is what makes art unique and personal. If you tell 5 people to paint the same apple will you get five identical paintings? Of course not
@@sarah8638 lol looking up an idea online is quite hard. Just because you can't find anything like it doesn't mean something kinda similar doesn't exist trust me. If it's really unique and original then props to you but I don't think you need to be that afraid to discuss it with your friends at least? A rough outline of the plot at least. Discussing with others really help in my opinion cuz you are provided with new perspectives and opinions. Don't worry too much about someone stealing your whole comic plot when you haven't even started working on it. Good luck!
Me: *Starts a comic with an overarching story and character development*
Me: Oops
Hehe... I'm in danger.
Same. LOL
aNd i oOp-
The video didn't warn against writing comics with an overarching story and character development, just to avoid writing long epics at the beginning of your comic career. A short story can have both a great plot and character development.
Me: The same. My series is like a pixar theory XD
A guy from my class is literally winging a comic without a script to try to at least do something, and he doesn’t even know were the story is going. But hey, he is doing more than my individual one punchline pages (though they usually have a small script, they aren’t fun because my comic humor is dead).
At least you have the right mindset. Not many people understand the importance of a script. Perhaps comedy isnt your forte and you need a different genre?
I have a comic that I'm doing with a story as well as a comic that I'm winging without really knowing where it's going. I have a general idea about things I want to do within but no ending. Oddly enough I find it easier to draw and work with that comic than the one based off a story I have pretty completed in my head?? Kinda leaves a world of opportunities open lol.
I experimenter with improvised comics ages ago. Just started drawing the first panel, without really knowing how the rest of the page would go, let alone the whole story. It's a fun and freeing process, but doesn't really make for great comics. :)
Winging a comic is still a viable way to practice and experiment! A good script is a valuable asset, but when you're working alone, you can only do so much, right? Some people can be extremyl detailed and still start/finish a project and some people have a problem with overthinking and never start.
it works for some people, just look at kill six billion demons lmao the creator has said often that he does no scripts and has a general idea of where the story is going but no specifics, yet the comic is good and very successful so yea
As a graphic designer, I HIGHLY recommend 300dpi 👏👏
atElustrator wats that
@@breadgenie5380 the resolution
Why not higher? I'm genuinely curious
@@tasha2460 you can always go waaaay higher then that if you want 🤷♀️ it's just that anything lower usually has v shitty quality and wont print as nicely as anything at or above 300
@@edniesainteloi209 ohh okay thank you!!
I choked with laughter with 'the epic story of many characters, 20 vols and massive cast, amazing!' -- that is such a common mistake with writers I work with too. Thank you, I love this podcast talk
I almost made this very mistake. I am still just building the world and story of my comic, not even set character designs.
Yet there I was, thinking about trying to get started on making this huge epic that would probably take 5-15 years to complete. With absolutely no experience in making comics, storytelling, publishing, marketing, etc, etc. My drawing skills are actually sh*t. Thank god I calmed myself by realising that this was going to go terribly.
I plan on making at least 2 smaller comics before jumping in to developing the big boy. Hopefully all goes well and I live to see my long term project become reality. Unless truck-kun decides to send me to another world. Isekai harem, here i co- sike!
@@jgarden3925 zbrush is not for beginner
@@ExploreImagineDefineCreate lol it's been a year, i'm curious have you already started the comic xD
"If you have a story you have been dying to tell for years-"
Me: :0 That's me! With my new comi-
"Wait till you have more experience"
Me: And I oop-
Yeah same xD.l am thinking about starting on Facebook and Instagram or even Pinterest as a comic post website because l don't know if l will give up on my first simple stories just because the story doesn't go anywhere
( ꈍᴗꈍ)
@@Nifoxil Try Webtoon! I find it really useful!
It's not the easiest thing to hear, but yeah it's true. My co-creator and I made the mistake of trying to jump into the story that we *really* wanted to tell, but we had neither the artistic skills or the writing/comic skills to really back it up. Since then we've grown other projects that we now love just as much (if not more in some cases) and it was from trying to work on something that wasn't our magnum opus.
Skyforse AO I know this is 3 months old but please do not add Pinterest to your options. Pinterest is not a social media platform. It’s not even a hub for artists. It’s a collection of images- a board site of some sort. It’s not a good start for trying to give your comics exposure because it isn’t even dedicated to comics or art in the first place. WEBTOON and Tapastic are better options because it’s easier to get attention due to the audience being exactly people who are looking to read comics. It doesn’t matter if you think your comic will be scrapped easily, just don’t start with Pinterest.
SAME GAWD AJJFKSJF :,,,)))) hhh
I love the fact that this isn't generic. it is extremely genuine and personal and relatable!! Thanks for the tips! I will keep them In mind.
One of my biggest errors while creating comics is thinking I could build a well-guided story off the top of my head. I thought I could memorize my entire storyline over months and that I wouldn't forget important details or plotholes. It all ended in me not knowing what was next and not having the energy to continue. Moral of the story? ALWAYS script, even if it sounds silly or tiring.
Loved your video, I learned a bunch of stuff and reaffirmed my knowledge on some others. Subscribed!
I started scripting my comic is July and I only finished season 1 about 3 months ago. I had writers block for ages and I just came back to season 2 and am only on chapter 5. Some of my ideas were easy to remember, while others weren't so writing them down was a great decisiom. I love watch I did so much, but I leave little room to creativity. That seems to be the only issue with scripting. But other than that, go do it.
This. This is me. I have such ideas that I think are great and I won't forget... What do you think happened?
Now I try to jot down any ideas that come to mind. Even if it's a quick note on my phone that doesn't make total sense, it helps remind me that I had the idea in the first place.
Huge piece of adivce to anyone: Write down your ideas, not only because it helps you remember, but also helps cement the idea into reality.
Valen Cat Thank you for the information, because I’m also working on a comic book. 🙂
I love to write the script actually
Script is literally my enemy lol
My mistake is not planning for placement of speech bubbles. I usually winged it by drawing first with thumbnails, but not speech bubbles.
Yeah... Speech bubble is one of important factors on comic, but I'm just lazy to do it.
You said to start small but i don’t have any smaller ideas :(
Search for writing prompts
This comment may be old but try making a summarized (if needed) version of one of your characters back stories.
If you have a 1000 page epic, find a small, presentable section of it that you can call a chapter. Draw that.
I love to write stories in a novel form so I sometimes draw scenes from my series I've written. That's pretty small so if you write a stoeh you can draw scenes from that (this isn't that helpful but this is what I do sometimes)
mxrbids this is great , thank you 😧🖤 I was having the same stories too big thing but this just solved that.
I’ve been developing characters and such for a story for almost 5 years or so now. I feel like at this point, I just need to start it. I’ve done some tiny comics here and there.
Do it on webtoon!!!
Yes, it is definitely important to not drag out the planning stage indefinitely, otherwise you are never going to start. Start drawing some actual comic, even drawing another story is better than not drawing anything and just planning indefinitely.
Same almost, made characters for wrestling comic and stopped... Dam 😣
Yea, but half of any project is the planning stage and if you don't plan well you're gonna run into trouble later on.
My tip would be to start the important stuff like a script and finalizing worldbuilding or whatever else you may have neglected now and reserve things like redesigning characters and such for pauses/free time and the very end of planning as otherwise you may end up changing it ten more times and end up only really wasting time. With character development, stick to making them fit in the story and portraying them right.
I can also recommend just doing a short and potentially unscripted comic about some backstory, some scene(s) you like or just a one-off featuring the characters in the style of the comic as a practice, you'll probably get a lot faster and more experienced with it so starting the actual comic won't be as frustrating and depending on what it is (esp. if it's backstory that's not vital to the tension in the story, a minor and not overly spoilery scene or a one-off rather than an important scene) it could be used as a teaser.
Now, this shouldn't be huge, depending on how fast you are maybe 10-20 pages or so, but it's something that can be quite nice if you're struggling developing your script at the moment and it'll help you improve a lot.
Luna Fowler Thanks for the super detailed tips! They’re really helpful, I’ve been working on a comic for 2 years and changed the plots 3 times during it, I finally stuck to a plot and I’m posting it on webtoon in a few weeks! (and of course I started making scripts, back stories and etc I didn’t before!)
Lol I have a sorta big first comic that I’m making but I’m making it with the mentality “ok it’s probably not really gonna be seen, but my main goal is to make something that isn’t absolute shit👌🏻”
same here! less pressure on you too
Same here. But I'm mostly doing it for fun, hopefully it turns out ok. And hopefully yours too (no pressure :3 ))
DragoNet661 BITCH ME TOO
I may actually never end up publishing my comics, but even then, I'll have something to show to my friends and family like "Hey I made this comic series wanna check it out?".
Whoops! My first comic was almost 200 pages. It was... to say the least, daunting, but I'm glad I finished it.
Thanks for the helpful tips! I'll keep them in mind for my next comic.
It took me around 2.5 years. Making it probably would have been shorter if I wasn't working on it part-time.
200 isn't bad. Our short comic was 250, it's all relative.
Is it online somewhere? Id like to see your work :)
Is it up somewhere? I would love to read it.
I'd like to read your comic.
The biggest mistake I made for my first ever comic was setting the scene in a library. I drew so many damn books. When I finally was done I was just so relieved. (I also coloured them...)
Oh noo 🤣🤣
Same here, when I re-drew (in better quality, since the OG was a comic strip and was thrown away 😭) my first comic out of an entire series I'm planning to make, the enviroment was a forest, so I had to draw a bunch of trees in nearly every panel (PD: I'm not good at drawing trees).
100 pages is still a friggin lot. If you want to have a really good script for 100 page story, you'll be working at least 6 months on that alone. As a beginner it would be better to start with small but meaningfull stories, about 10 pages. After that you can build it up. Most beginner comic artists aren't that good at drawing, so the quality of your images change a lot when you look at someone's first page and then at, say, page 80. That creates inconsistency.
Merel I totally agree but I would also add that good writing can make up for inconsistent art.
I’m not saying it can be neglected, but many famous mangas have very meh looking chapter 1 art when you come from chapter 100 or so.
@@littleblueclovers true, but then you still need a lot of time to write a good story. And a lot of manga artists weren't planning to make a 100 chapter story of it, that's a decision they often make later (When it get's really popular) And those are professionals. This video is giving tips to new comic creators. If I'm a beginning comic artist I would never start with a 100 page story. I would first try to find my own style in making short comics so I can experiment a lot.
@@LittlxxPuDDingthat is a good advice thanks man you just helped a brother
@@hmmmwhat4400 No problem, glad it helps.
Just so happen to find your comment from mindlessly scrolling and I'm going to follow your 10 page advice, but is there a panel amount to follow? I never know how to panel and how many panels I need on a single page or for the whole thing.
3:33 why yes, yes I have
*Hiatus x Hiatus*
When will the Great Hiatus Arc end?
I always wanted to start a comic but the scariest thing is starting it
backgrounds are not exactly hard to draw, they are really time consuming tho.
great video btw, this hints are pretty useful.
I have no script, I'm making it up as I go. I've had the ideas for a long time but didn't actually ever draw it out
All the best budd
I do that too. I have a basic idea and then I just make up the lines as I go and add lib it. Most of the time surprisingly it turns out well but that's after years of doing it like that and too many misfires to count lol
Same
Decided to start scripting my great epic before I do the smaller comics (more time between each pass of editing will be nice, so getting draft 1 down will be good)
And hoo boy, script writing is.... wow. Can't wait to get to the drawing part of this xDD
Me: I can do it!
My procrastination and crippling anxiety: you sure about that
Me: .. *awh man.*
“Stop Avoiding on Hard things.”
Me: OOHH MYY GOOODD SAAMMEEE!! I have a hard time drawing backgrounds but I still do it.
I recommend having a friend help you! I do and she and I bounce off ideas and fix plot holes. I draw and she helps with the ideas and what the characters could look like.
Backgrounds are almost always an after thought. Some improvements have been made but it's still an after thought at times. Still working on script and hoping for the best. Love the video and how down to earth the info is. Thanks for sharing.
May we all finish our original stories. More power to everyone!! 💪😁🙌
My goal is to draw like 20+ episodes in advance, then post them regularly while continuing to draw more, since my comic is probably going to be quite long. I'll try making a short comic to start with though.
I've noticed that MANY of the artists and IPs we love usually start out small, then grow into their awesome. Be it the Beatles, MST3K, Disney, Pixar, etc. Definitely the right way to go.
I may do an easier 100 pg project before finally jumping back in and finishing the first volume of my epic series I've been working on for a while. I burned out overworking and haven't been properly back to it for over a year so I think a less stressful less perfectionist project may be just what I need to study up and get back into the swing of making my graphic novel proper. Thanks for the great tips video!
I'm not the kind to click on these kinds of videos but dang, I'm glad I did. Right when i head you talk, I feel like I can trust you completely with all of these tips. Thank you so much! I've learnt so much.
I actually had that happen all because I made a meme, wound up getting a bunch of subs in one day, about 15 or so. And everytime I make a page, I get 3 guaranteed new subs.
So... memes=popularity?
@@togaoppai7317 YEP!
thanks to this channel i feel like i gained some useful knowledge for later, since im thinking on starting a comic, but its a BIG project so ima start slow and steady~
comic going on hiatus for like 6 months *berserk flashbacks intencify*
Sad thing is the berserk creator died like a couple days ago
i haven't made a comic since i was in 4th grade, and i'm trying to get back into it. thank you for the tips! :)
I wanted to make a comic *years* ago. Like 6+ years ago. I decided to learn how to draw because *duh* and write because *duh* and worked on small projects
I still think I’m not ready 😂 and am still pushing it to the side every time someone mentions my big future project
I’ve been binging all your webcomic script videos and I can safely say I’ll take them into consideration!
I’ve been planning to make a webcomic for about 6 months now, though since it’s my first project I think it’s best I archived it ^^;;
thanks for all the cool tips and tricks! they’ve been super helpful :D
Amazing tips! Hello from Brazil =)
We usually learn from our mistakes more than with other's mistakes...
It's always good to watch some fellow comic artist sharing this kind of content here on TH-cam.
I've been posting my comics on the internet for decades, and now I am trying to share these experiences for my students and my subscribers as well here in Brazil.
Best regards!
this is a bit long:
im going to (probably) fail lol, because one of your first tips was like "save your super awesome comic for later and build experience" but im a bit too impatient for that and want to make mistakes for that too, then my webcomic is alllllllllllllll about backgrounds because its an ADVENTURE dramatic (comedy i guess) story because i HATE backgrounds, which is why im doing it and also becoming a "Tree drawing professional" because alot of trees. then something im not completely fine about is like in-putting the actual point of the whole webcomic a bit down the road after starting because of dramatical build up and yea cause its not a normal adventure guild story since its DRAMATIC but if i put the actual "story" immediately without letting the readers know the characters personality its gunna fall apart ...so. i have my plan, but im completely unsure if its actually good for putting it out there on the interweb
The End.
So how its going? Hopefully good
Thank you for making this video! As a comic artist with two previous 'attempts' at making a comic series, and is now storyboarding the first arc of my brand new comic with many of these mistakes under my belt, I feel confident and reassured that I have been getting better, and hope that this time, I'll be able to make a better mark among the comics community :>
I loved this. You spoke so well. I'm a legally blind illustrator and aspiring comic artist. I have 5 projects I REALLY want to get out there. Two of them I've been working on for YEARS. Part of what has stopped me is I'm so scared about putting it out there.
You just built my confidence a LOT. I love how much experience you have and how you explained it. Very wise words.
I'm gonna start this week. :D Thank you. Thank you.
the tip about prepwork made me really happy, since i just finished scripting the whole season of my first comic and have my character sheets ready, i am resting up before i start storyboarding !
Really like the way you laugh, sounds so sweet!
what ive seen from the comments is straight up EVERYONE wants to make a big comic...including me lol
But everyone has to start small at first c:
Do both, it's better
Man! These are really opening my eyes. I currently have a webcomic with really poor updating patterns along with many other issues. It makes me consider what I want to do next with my stories. And I will tell you that I have multitudes of stories coming from my head. Thank you very much with making this video.
3 years later this video is still helping folks. I needed number 5. Thanks!
This video was (and is) so helpful to me!
It really helped me avoid a lot of discouraging mistakes when making my own comics.
Thanks so much for making and sharing this video! I've been working on my own webcomic, and one of my biggest mistakes was deciding when was the right time to start. I've been making multiple script re-writes, but I'm not letting it stop me from pushing forward. Thanks again for this great video!
I really reccomend starting with short stories, they’re really good as it lets you get a grasp on starting/finishing projects. It’s a lot easier when your telling a story that has 16 or so pages in a chapter, and maybe three chapters. Also helps you to establish a workflow.
Your channel has inspired me to just get up and get started on my webcomic ideas, instead of keeping them in my head. I've been filling journals and making all these notes and designs of the characters, plot and ideas and meanings I want to express. Each video you post gets me so pumped to create, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Your voice is so hecking adorable!
I just love so much the way you laugh in between your words!
Question: Say I am structuring my comics in the form of a TV show, with each comic book being an episode. Would that still be good for a beginner?
It's fine dude, go for it!
can i read it
@@winup9417 When I actually work on it, yeah.
3 months later, you got anything bro?
I don't have any programs I can use to get started. And even if I did, I'm still a beginner, so it may take a while. For all I know, I may never be able to make this a reality. How about this: When/if I make any progress, I'll reply.
Love the video and I agree with point #1 specially before publishing! I really like this video!! Mmm Honestly, sth I see lately is how many young creators rush to publish. And sometimes I wonder, I started making comics/stories when I was 7 yrs old (well, earlier If you take into account storyboards) and I didn’t publish until I was like 21. Even though I don’t recommend starting to publish as late as 21 yrs old, I sometimes wonder how lucky/happy I felt doing my crappy artwork just worrying about drawing, and not wasting time marketing my noob comics. Nobody could see them but me, and I just think that maybe artists that are like super super young I would worry more about sharpening skills than publishing and worrying about followers. I’m not saying I’m an example at all, do not do what I do haha Just the suggestion on skills over followers when someone is very young >.< Unless that young person would be more motivated to work by publishing and if having 15 followers that are this person’s friends (or follow back tactics) doesn’t make that person less motivated because they wanted more or sth like that.
is it weird that im writting my comic and book just so i can read it myselfand i find it fun xD
Same
I agree with writing the entire script of the story before starting. I am currently doing mine. Planning and practice is important to make it less stressful. Thank you for the advice!
Thanks so much for the detailed info and reassurance. I'm working on a graphic novel that I intend to publish as a full story, but your advice still really helped me. Also, your voice reminds me a bit of Mabel from Gravity Falls. Love your videos! Keep being awesome!
I can't help it, your chuckle is so cute😊💘♥️.... The advice here is very generic, about to start off planning a romance webtoon of mine, I haven't drawn a comic in years though I draw and sketch regularly but the comic artist in me left on a long vacation and now he's back😁😁😁Wish me luck🌹
I think one thing that truly helps with wanting to skip ahead to pages you're more excited about is remembering that each page has to be important. Each page has to exist for a certain reason to further advance the plot.Knowing this, I feel more content in knowing that page has to exist in order for the pages I WANT to get to, to even make sense in context.
I imagine these stories and characters in my head that has a certain art style, so I always procrastinate because I don't want to screw up a big story with a lousy art style such as mine.
The one about not updating freequently i get it! I love yoo has not updated in like 6 months 😭😭😭😭 im still waiting and it left on such a big cliff hanger😢😭😅
Guess what
It still hasn’t updated :’)
This helped me a lot. I started a big comic last month and I was so motivated until I realized I needed to write the story first. Now I'm doing that and I'm slowing down a little bit, and I have fear of not finishing the comic, but you've encouraged me!
You got a new subscriber and a SUPER like. You deserve more subs! :)
My biggest mistake so far is not reading the format webtoons wants the panels to be in uuuuuuuuuugh
My plan for Tip 1 is to practice on small individual scenes from the story-world of my BIG PROJECT, but which won’t actually be in it. Random conversations between characters, side-stories and so-on. That way I get in that practice but don’t have to think up a whole seperate story.
I’m shook I didn’t know you guys were saying the names but thanks for answering the question!
Your giggle is life-affirming.
Also, you nailed it by citing backgrounds (by way of example) as something I can't do and should thus be practicing all the time.
This morning I was contemplating my comic I have been working on for the last few months... but you have made me realise, have fun with it and work with the errors! Thank you
See, I started my manga/comic about to years ago. My art style was still developing this style, and I look back on the early pages and re-read the story... and I wish I would have done a lot of things differently :(
Another great video, I plot everything out as a series of fast doodles, basically stick men, after that I write the whole thing in a comic script format. (You can find examples all over the internet) I read Comics and Sequential Art when I first got into comics, it's another way of understanding the medium that would help your viewers.
I wanted to ask you a question about coming up with panels/ pages when you come up with pages for your web comic do you draw it by hand then scan to ink it digitally or do you do it all digitally? I'm asking cause I'm working on my own comic but I'm drawing it in a sketch book, then plan on scanning it to my laptop to ink it digitally so I wanted to ask you if that's a good idea or is that a bad idea to draw my comic that way or what? Thanks i really would appreciate some feedback
Travis Herndon Well, since this comment hasn’t been answered yet. I don’t know if it’s a good idea for a beginner, but a guy called Danny Parker (Spanish) is doing practices in Marvel, and he first sketches the page traditionally and then inks them digitally. So it shouldn’t be a problem.
If it’s easier for you to sketch traditionally, go for it!
This helped me get an idea of where to start, thank youuuuu!
I wrote off the top of my head, my first script for my comic, Empire, as I drew it, and it resulted in a LOT of wasted Blueline pages. Now that I have been working on a novel, I get the 'pantser' vs 'plotter' thing (what you called 'writing off the top of your head' vs. plotting it out in at least an outline). Pantsing is fine for the writing part, as long as you go over it and make sure it all makes sense, there are no holes, etc. I do both. BUT, when you get to the drawing page, it should all be done before drawing. I've been there, made that mistake, never doing it again. Oh, and drawing out my pages on little index cards helps immensely, because I can see with the thumbnails how the page flow goes. This is a great video!
I would like to start off this comment by saying that I loved your art style!
And thank you for the advices. They were genuine and very helpful.
Thank you and I wish you the best of luck.
I love your giggle. Thanks for this!!
This really calm my heart as a new canvas creator on webtoon❤️
I love the tip about writing a full script before illustrating. I found it's exponentially easier to write a script and with panel-to-panel descriptions for my webcomic (including character locations and actions) because when I'm illustrating I know exactly how to flow each panel into the next. Thank you guys so much for this video!
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH- THIS SERIES IS ABSOUTLEY WONDERFUL ;0;
One suggestion for posting consistently is to work on pages ahead of time before you even start posting, that way if you're drawing a really important or real hard thing and it's taking forever you can still post your comic without leaving your viewers waiting
And there are no hands...
H O M E S T U C K
(In all seriousness tho this is really helpful, I love you lol)
Thank you so much! I was going to write/draw a big epic adventure for my fist comic but I guess it's better to start with a small thing related to this project before.
There's definitly not enought videos talking about webcomics, glad I found you chanel
Wow... She laughs and chuckles a lot... It's so cute
Gonna kinda go off this but also as my own experience (been making and publishing comics for like 5+ years)
1: make both an epic and a small story. Small stories will be recommended; 20-40 pages at most, if it's anything longer than that, it's considered a long story. the 'epic' or long stories are actually SUPER recommended for if you want to really practice and improve your art in the long run as well, the small stories will give you some variety from your big project (cause you don't necessarily have to publish it immediately).
2: It really depends here cause you *can* use large files, but a lot of printing firms will want it around 300-350 dpi, don't do like 600-1200 dpi unless you want to do a lot of converting (it will TAKE A LONG ASS TIME TO CONVERT SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH DETAIL YOU HAVE)
3: Make sure to have enough chapters ahead of time so if you do procrastinate, you won't worry. Inconsistent schedules most readers won't mind, but more if you *have* a consistent schedule and then you miss an update or two, often some people will get upset (but you will totally have the people who are fine with it), while consistency is key, so is your fun and mental health.
4: Overnight fame and popularity take time (it's fine with this one)
5: while backgrounds are cool and all, work smarter not harder. Maybe prep a background in advanced but keep it really simple, you don't want to take away from your character. too much background will fuck you over in the long run and end up making your characters either blur into it or just kinda take away from the mood. While Consistency is good here too, if you can't keep it, it's fine, make it look as close as possible. You don't want to focus on the backgrounds too much unless it's applicable to the plot or just needed to give an idea on where the character is and the mood.
6: use fonts is good. But a huge tip I received from a publisher, unless your character is shouting, all fonts MUST BE THE SAME SIZE THE ENTIRE PAGE. If they're inconsistent, it will fuck you over and make it look 'unprofessional' and sometimes, depending on the style of comic you're going for, take away from the art and the story (because the font can get too distracting if it's too varying in size).
7: While flow of the comic is good, don't over saturate with panels, but don't over saturate with word bubbles as well, you want a good balance and make sure there's enough space for the word bubbles (which is also a good cheat if you don't want to draw a background)
8: prep is good, definitely use thumbnails and use a lineup of all the character's you'll be using so you'll know the heights. If you need references, make sure to reference (or just do it on the fly). I don't personally recommend story boarding, as that's more for animation and not necessarily comics because the thumbnails is basically the same thing (since that's LITERALLY what thumbnails are for, to get the idea before drawing) and full character turn around as it can take away time from other things you could do and make use of, as you don't want something overly detailed to be either never used or rarely used, making all that hard work for nothing (also, once again, turn arounds are mostly for animation, if there's something significant your character has, make a note of it on their art or their lineup sheet)
9: if you're making a script, those are mostly recommended for the big epic stories, or if you're in a large team of like 2-6 people. If it's a short story, you can literally just thumbnail it out and scribble notes on what you want, especially if it's 20-40 pages long. Scripts with a general idea is good for short to semi long stories and scripts with significant dialogue is good for epic stories. If you're going to just do short stories, maybe write down the general idea, but don't necessarily focus on everything like 'foreshadowing' and such as how much foreshadowing and other literary subjects are you doing to do in a tiny story? (unless it's horror).
10: absolutely do it, if you're the type of person who procrastinates, you might want to force yourself, but if not, just be patient, prep your shit, and then start doodling. Take your time but also work smarter not harder, because you can actually screw yourself over in the long run if you start doing overly detailed backgrounds and sometimes overly detailed character things that absolutely aren't necessary at all.
Thanks for always believing in me!
What’s the nest way to juggle making two comics at the same time? Right now I’m working on a 20+ issue epic, but also want to work on a 6 issue mini series as well. What’s the best work flow pacing I should expect from myself?
Really great advice. Can not agree more with the points you raised. Though not a graphic novelist myself, my husband is and I have seen how he has grown over the years. Take note of these points folks in the video, they really will help you a lot.
My husband figured out most of these early on in his drawing thankfully, so he has built up quite a lot of fully drawn/written completed stories.
The publishing bit he has only just built up the confidence to do so, he started 2018. His style changed over the years so he is redoing his earlier work for publication now. Just glad I convinced him to go digital as it has made his work flow quicker, however he still hand draws the panels first before he scans them to his computer.
It will take him longer to learn how to use a drawing tablet though. I am going to learn how to use a drawing tablet myself just to convince him it's do able. 😁
Great vid, your laughter is contagious.
I'd say if you're serious about it, pay for a really good font. It's worth it in the long run.
Thank you so much this video helped a lot, I'm working on my first comic rn, I'm still creating characters tho
I recently decided to begin developing an idea for a comic I've had for nearly two years. Now, as I decide to really push to make it a reality, I'm discovering how little I actually know about creating comics. I've created character reference sheets and a very vague outline of what I want the story to be about, but over time it's becoming an even more daunting task than I'd ever imagined.
This video really helped me realize I need to take a step back and actually prepare, not just guess at what needs to be done. I will say that this whole deal is a very educational one -- I'm learning a lot about perspective, camera angles, and the flow of a comic. If any one of you has doubts about making a comic, just do it and learn from the experience. You'll come out a better artist for it.
I really appreciate in the opening including people starting relatively new to making comics as not only being young artists. After a short and feeble attempt many moons ago failed, it was just last year that I finally decided to try again. Have been plugging away with mixed results since then.... I'm 40.
Right off the bat, I really needed to hear that I need to save my bigger story once I feel more experienced, LOL. It's not even that I don't feel confident in my art, but as I started laying out pages for my one big story, I realized things fast that I definitely needed more time and not just jump the gun. I do want to get started, but I can't just go off on the bare minimum. It really is about prepping yourself and building experience from shorter comics / stories you can create quicker. Anyway, thank you for these lovely comic videos! They have been very helpful.
The first piece of advice just saved me years of pain. Thank you ❤️
Great video! Especially when you laugh. That's beyond adorable.
Not having a script or detailed outline is where I always went wrong. I'm in the process of writing out a whole story from start to end, and then I'm going to make character reference sheets. I've had too many headaches in the past due to these issues. Yes, my comic won't get started for months, but I know it'll be a smoother process once I get going.
Not to shamelessly plug anyone, but a really great lettering resource is Lettering the ComicCraft Way, which you can find on Amazon. They also sell font packs. Also, you can get some really amazing resources from artist Freddie Williams, including perspective guides, comic boards, and building facade paths that you can "stroke", depending on the thickness of the lines you need.
I'm always looking for resources to help me, since it's basically 100% me doing everything.
If you are struggling to get an idea, that is short enough for a fist comic (like I did), there is a great lecture on short storys from brandon sanderson on youtube. Use this as a guideline and you'll have a short script, that is manageble to draw. It only takes one hour to create the script. Maybe you'll have to adapt it a bit to get more scenery and maybe dialoge, but it is a great resource to get started with nothing too complicated.
Great advice! I think one of the best things you can tell a new creator is not to expect their first idea to be their best idea. I always tell people at conventions you have to want to make your idea happen regardless of how many people end up becoming fans of it. sometimes you're just creating for the experience to make your next one better.
- David
I do have an idea for my comic with a big overarching story and character development, but I don’t think my little experience will be a problem. The initial premise is more one-off stories, and I’m going to just slip in elements of the larger story I want to tell so I can get the experience from the comic while still building up to the bigger stories, kind of like lots of cartoons do when they want to tell a huge main story
My problem is that my awesome, sprawling million-page comic is a reflection of who I am when I'm writing it (well, more like fantasizing the scenes without writing them down). Over the years, as I've changed, the story has changed, too, and I don't remember a lot of what I was thinking about or working on when I was younger. If you do have an epic that you've been wanting to tell for years, maybe try just writing it out so you'll still have the story intact when you get back to it.
I've done a bunch of planning for comics in the past but I've never actually really got a good one going until now. What I did was write down the main theme, then expand to key events, and now I'm pretty much writing out a rough draft of dialogue and "stage directions". This way has actually allowed me to have an easy flow of one step in planning to the next. Sometimes I have patches of things where I get bored of working on something day after day, but I still really want to write a comic. What I do about that is by working on more than 1 project so I can switch off when my brain decides it needs more entertainment. I work on my comic by writing scripts and doing storyboarding, then when I'm bored I switch to some of my other interests in art like animation. Taking a break helps my brain then snap back to the original project I start to miss and I'm then able to focus on it again.
A few pointers to make.
1. Try and limit your panels to 5 or less. If push comes to shove, do not exceed 6. If your panels are going to have a lot of speech bubbles, then consider 4/5 panels.
2. When a character is addressing himself, ensure that you use the crossed capital 'I'.
Very happy to find you and your positive vibe- been making comics for a long time and the only thing that changes if you don't come up with a consistent schedule (treat it like the dream job you want it to be) then all you will see if you don't start is your characters age with you.
Backrounds take me forever to draw because i hate perspective so when characters are having back and forth conversations i usually only show them from the waist up with a gradient backround with a colkr that usually corresponds with the character or an aspect of the backround. And example is i have charcters are a speaking where the backround is a window showing the clear blue sky. Instead of drawing the window everytime i usually make a gradient blue backround
Thanks for this! Planning to start making my own comics and decided to watch this after a quick YouTUbe search, you not only given me hope in making a comic but also inspired me to just keep on going and just keep on working on my films and animations because getting there takes time. This day started for me as really tiring and really not inspired to do anything. Glad to have ended the day with this video. The inspiration I got here should last a month or more. XD