I dont know why everyone is all up in arms and shit, its not like you committed the worst of crimes. It's just nice to know who we are talking to, because that gives us a better idea of how to round out our feedback. Get the artist in here, though, In general this forum is going to help you the most on the visual side, because that is what all the members do. We have a writing forum, and in graphic violence there is a comic creator thread.
That being said, of course we can help with the general stuff too.
You started this comic last august, so my general advice would be to not get too ahead of yourself. You have a positive response to your comic in general, which is great! Its important to just keep pushing out quality work. You have a bit of niche to find (Not everyone is going to go along with toilet humor, its not unpopular, but not universal) and that will take time to reach. Comics usually take a while to really hit their stride, and 2-3 years can make a huge difference. Comics that are instant successes are usually by artists who have a decent following already.
When you say success, what do you mean? A few thousand follows? Cash money in truckloads? Animated cartoons? Tees and merch that actually sells?
You may want to think about the specifics of what you want to reach, and then consider how you could best position yourself to get there. You want to have a TV show? well, I would start animating shorts. You want to sell some merch? well first you need a fan base and characters or ideas that people are really into. Let that tell you how to focus in, and then concern yourself with the quality of your product.
You have alot of good things happening already:
-You both have active twitter accounts
-You have a Facebook page
-You are actively seeking feedback
-You are not overly shilling the comic/spamming people
-You have some already quality art, and the comic makes sense
I would recommend:
-Getting a tumblr
-Make sure your artist is drawing and posting things that are outside of the comic
-Keeping to a regular schedule
-Being patient
Many webcomic artists have made posts about this kind of stuff with helpful advice, I would seek out that info as best as you can, and follow the lead of the comics you admire.
Well, comics are a visual medium, and how it looks is important. As far as the writing aspect of it, check the writers block sub forum of penny-arcade.
Curious: I don't have script to present. I have the end result of writing, which is a visual form. The visual aspect of it comes from my detailing how the frames and characters should look, ending up with a collaborative piece of art work.
No, its that you aren't doing the drawing part, and all of our advice seems to be going into a black void of non-response. If we cant see that our feedback is being accounted for, there's no reason for us to continue, and I'm going to have to lock the thread.
If you'd like for us to spend some time giving you crits and tips about the art, then it should be trivial to have the artist set up account so he can respond to us directly and have a discourse about the work present. If the end goal is to post your comic here as a announcement that you have a new strip made, you are in the wrong place.
Is there a thread here that represents feedback from the end result of an art project? I'm looking for feedback on how the art looks and has developed, how the writing translates into and through the art, whether or not the writing clashes with the art, if the writing and art have harmony and if it's funner to follow a story through the comic or have individual strips with their own stand alone punchlines.
Crosstown is the collaborative end result or an art project i'm looking for overall feedback on. Looking for feedback on both writing and the art and how they work together. Instead of :"what does the visual art look like" and "how does the writing feel?" I'm looking for: "What are your opinions of Crosstown?"
To be clear, these threads do not support that feedback? It's either got to be JUST the art or JUST the writing? I've so far considered "Crosstown", overall, as an artist project. I'm looking for feedback on "Crosstown'
This is probably the best forum for getting both kinds of feedback at once, however due to the nature of the forum we tend to be more oriented on the art. And if we give feedback on the art we need to feel that we're talking to the artist. It's that simple. Without the artist's presence then we have no idea how our criticism is being received, or if it's being seen at all.
If the artist is going to continue to refuse to participate here, then you could probably try posting in the SE webcomics thread and asking for feedback there. I'm sure people will be happy to oblige to some degree.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean. In critiquing the art or the writing, generally that means you and the artist will need to discuss what that means for your overall package. In general, there hasn't really been a comic thread where how the art relates to the writing hasn't been discussed, because in critiquing the art we are considering the context of the comic. You just want a general "your comic is good" or "your comic is bad?". I don't think that will be as helpful as you think it is.
As collaborative as you may consider your process, This part of the forums has experts about putting the ink to the paper, and to maximize the befits of that we need to talk to the person who preforms that task. Its both of your jobs to seek the advice on your half of the work and figure out a coherent, collaborative way to improve your project as a whole.
If you want to continue to be a part of these threads and also respond to feedback, thats fine. But you have to actually respond to feedback (like that post I made over a month ago?) and you NEED THE ARTIST because right now the appearance is that you are interested in no feedback.
If you'd like to write a script and take that to the writers block that's also fine.
Edit: @tynic, I forgot about the webcomics thread. Is it not frowned upon to post your own work in there?
I do apologize for not responding to feedback, though it has absolutely been applied. In fact, due to the feedback the site has started taking off more and more. So, I am sorry that I didn't respond with: "Nice. Thanks."
My assumption was that, since everything in here is feedback, it would be read and received.
The artist and myself have split the difference when it comes to advertising the site and the work and getting feedback. He's the head artist of a video game company and the new father of 2. Since I have more time to get feedback, I've been charged with doing so.
But I will let him know that if he wants feedback he'll have to ask for it himself on his own time, rather than me gathering the feedback and relating that feedback to him when is convenient.
Edit: @tynic, I forgot about the webcomics thread. Is it not frowned upon to post your own work in there?
Nah, it's ok as long as you interact with the thread and aren't too transparently site-whoring. We have a lot of creators in there now, most of them post their own.
I am sympathetic to time restraints and being busy, the rule stands to make sure that the forum remains a place where people feel like posting detailed feedback isn't in vein. Asking your artist to come isn't to disrespect your time, but respect the time being put in from our equally busy members to comment on your work.
The whole point though, is that we can do alot more if you respond with more than "Thanks!" If the artist comes in we can actually ask him specific questions about what hes doing and he can tell us specific things about them. For you, If you respond to my feedback about what you want to do with the comic (as I asked, what do you consider to be "success"?) we can actually talk about what you are doing, and not just give a passing comment.
If that sort of participation means you and the artist can only stop in once a month or two, thats fine, we have plenty of members who participate that way. But if you come back and are just like "NEW STRIP" and don't really give us an indication that you thought about, talked about, and implemented feedback, the members who posted are going to feel like you are taking advantage of their time.
Posts
That being said, of course we can help with the general stuff too.
You started this comic last august, so my general advice would be to not get too ahead of yourself. You have a positive response to your comic in general, which is great! Its important to just keep pushing out quality work. You have a bit of niche to find (Not everyone is going to go along with toilet humor, its not unpopular, but not universal) and that will take time to reach. Comics usually take a while to really hit their stride, and 2-3 years can make a huge difference. Comics that are instant successes are usually by artists who have a decent following already.
When you say success, what do you mean? A few thousand follows? Cash money in truckloads? Animated cartoons? Tees and merch that actually sells?
You may want to think about the specifics of what you want to reach, and then consider how you could best position yourself to get there. You want to have a TV show? well, I would start animating shorts. You want to sell some merch? well first you need a fan base and characters or ideas that people are really into. Let that tell you how to focus in, and then concern yourself with the quality of your product.
You have alot of good things happening already:
-You both have active twitter accounts
-You have a Facebook page
-You are actively seeking feedback
-You are not overly shilling the comic/spamming people
-You have some already quality art, and the comic makes sense
I would recommend:
-Getting a tumblr
-Make sure your artist is drawing and posting things that are outside of the comic
-Keeping to a regular schedule
-Being patient
Many webcomic artists have made posts about this kind of stuff with helpful advice, I would seek out that info as best as you can, and follow the lead of the comics you admire.
Now get the artist in here, please.
Is this the wrong thread to present art?
If you'd like for us to spend some time giving you crits and tips about the art, then it should be trivial to have the artist set up account so he can respond to us directly and have a discourse about the work present. If the end goal is to post your comic here as a announcement that you have a new strip made, you are in the wrong place.
Crosstown is the collaborative end result or an art project i'm looking for overall feedback on. Looking for feedback on both writing and the art and how they work together. Instead of :"what does the visual art look like" and "how does the writing feel?" I'm looking for: "What are your opinions of Crosstown?"
To be clear, these threads do not support that feedback? It's either got to be JUST the art or JUST the writing? I've so far considered "Crosstown", overall, as an artist project. I'm looking for feedback on "Crosstown'
Is there a thread for that?
If the artist is going to continue to refuse to participate here, then you could probably try posting in the SE webcomics thread and asking for feedback there. I'm sure people will be happy to oblige to some degree.
As collaborative as you may consider your process, This part of the forums has experts about putting the ink to the paper, and to maximize the befits of that we need to talk to the person who preforms that task. Its both of your jobs to seek the advice on your half of the work and figure out a coherent, collaborative way to improve your project as a whole.
If you want to continue to be a part of these threads and also respond to feedback, thats fine. But you have to actually respond to feedback (like that post I made over a month ago?) and you NEED THE ARTIST because right now the appearance is that you are interested in no feedback.
If you'd like to write a script and take that to the writers block that's also fine.
Edit: @tynic, I forgot about the webcomics thread. Is it not frowned upon to post your own work in there?
My assumption was that, since everything in here is feedback, it would be read and received.
The artist and myself have split the difference when it comes to advertising the site and the work and getting feedback. He's the head artist of a video game company and the new father of 2. Since I have more time to get feedback, I've been charged with doing so.
But I will let him know that if he wants feedback he'll have to ask for it himself on his own time, rather than me gathering the feedback and relating that feedback to him when is convenient.
Nah, it's ok as long as you interact with the thread and aren't too transparently site-whoring. We have a lot of creators in there now, most of them post their own.
The whole point though, is that we can do alot more if you respond with more than "Thanks!" If the artist comes in we can actually ask him specific questions about what hes doing and he can tell us specific things about them. For you, If you respond to my feedback about what you want to do with the comic (as I asked, what do you consider to be "success"?) we can actually talk about what you are doing, and not just give a passing comment.
If that sort of participation means you and the artist can only stop in once a month or two, thats fine, we have plenty of members who participate that way. But if you come back and are just like "NEW STRIP" and don't really give us an indication that you thought about, talked about, and implemented feedback, the members who posted are going to feel like you are taking advantage of their time.