New webcomic artist needs suggestions.

Nifinity

Hey all,

I have started a web comic a few weeks ago and I find that it takes a lot of time to do a strip. My process is basically draw up the comic images using a fine led pencil and paper. Then do my inking with a 0.2 and 0.5 width pens to make scanning easier, and finally run an eraser over the image to remove the guidelines and errors. After scanning into PS I move the image to Illustrator and use the auto inking tool set to Comic Art, this seemed to work better then the inked drawing setting. Next I color in the images in this program and save as .ai's to export back into PS. Once back in PS I user the pen tool and clean up the lines for each cell and add shade/light layers. Finally I put this together into the panels and add text balloons (Is there a good text balloon option out there of PS?) and other effects. Here is a sample using the above method:



My main questions revolve around is there a better process out there? What is a good resolution/settings to use when scanning images in to make life easier? How large should I draw images based on the comic size to help with digital editing? Anything that will help me develop as a digital artist.

I know a few of these things have been touched on in this forum already but I would like to know if they fit with my art style. Thanks in advance for your advice and I know I will get honest opinions in this section as artists love to give advice.

---Nif---

DMAC

No es bueno.

Delicious Sci FI

No matter what others say about you or your art skill, the pope still loves you.

erisian pope

I do not!

Delicious Sci FI

Don't lie, you know you do!

multimoog

Nifinity wrote:

Thanks in advance for your advice and I know I will get honest opinions in this section as artists love to give advice.

You got that right.

Things you need to work on: anatomy, perspective, color theory and possibly writing (humor). Your two main characters are very badly drawn. What you should NOT worry about yet is how to scan in your art and worry about Photoshop and Illustrator settings.

The usual: draw from life, study some drawing books. Take some classes if you're not already. Being honest, if this is your current level of art ability, practice for a few years then try again.

erisian pope

Delicious Sci FI wrote:

Don't lie, you know you do!

⌐_⌐

¬_¬


It's just a physical thing. Purely sexual.

Delicious Sci FI

Well duh, its always about the sex with you. I mean I can't tell you how many people I talk to that can't believe how much sex the pope needs. It is just like a constant orgy over there in the popemobile.

Golem

I'm guessing its people posting this kind of art without lurking or reading past posts that are gunna get me remmed when I post My work here.

I really do wish that people like Nifinity would read the past posts as Ive seen stuff around this type/ quality several times in this forum that all got the same responce.

Don't get me wrong I'm not doing anything more than offering blanket statements as I wouldnt overly critize anyones work before my own has had its trip to the firing range. But seriously dude, LURKING = GOOD on this thread in particular.

Lly

To the OP.

Learn to draw before you decide to do a webcomic, and don't expect a warm reception to your new comic here. We get so many webcomics by people who shouldn't be making webcomics yet every fucking day.

So if you can take the flames heading your way and still stick around to improve your art then kudos to you, but I certainly aint interested in seeing more of thise tripe, and as moog said, scanning is the last thing you need to work on right now!

This board can be harsh but also great if you are man/woman enough to scrap this terrible idea and learn to be an artist instead of shitty webcomic creator #7736256458.

TimTheSloth

why is the word "gei" all giant sized, it seems completely random. Also the fingers go like all the way through the hand to the wrist and the heads are very wrong anatomically. Finally, the coloring and shading are in and of themself not all that bad (though the lightsource for the shading makes no sense) but please please lose the gradient backgrounds and photoshop filter sound effects. Lastly to answer your question, after you clean up your lines in illustrator you should import the black and white version (or us the black lines) into photoshop and add color on a seperate lower layer. If there is still white or greyscale on your lines layer then set the blending mode to either "multiply" or "darken" depending on which you prefer.

Also the joke is not funny.

DMAC

Yeah, it's pretty much a shopping list of bad Webcomic elements:

-It's about 2 guys who are into video games

-Sub-par manga-esque artwork

-Fuckin' Comic Sans :x

-Dialogue balloons that don't read in the proper order (left to right/top to bottom)

-Garish color scheme

-Bad Photoshop filters/effects

The_Rat

That gi is gei.

erisian pope

Delicious Sci FI wrote:

Well duh, its always about the sex with you. I mean I can't tell you how many people I talk to that can't believe how much sex the pope needs. It is just like a constant orgy over there in the popemobile.

Do you wanna ride in my "popemobile?"



winky

Staleghoti

DO NOT WANT

Nifinity

So far so good. FYI I did scroll down through the forum but there is no better response then to throw yourself to the wolves. This comic does have a long way to go it seems and the art style is the first place to start. The second is yes it is another game based comic but you have to write a comic about something you know. The origional comic was going to be story based completely independent from gaming, however the job that pays my bills makes this almost impossible at this point, plus when I do it I want to be a more seasoned artist.

Also to comment to the above this is not my limit as an artist but in regards to this style I am trying it is learn as I go, thus a gag-a-day comic seemed like a good starting point with this site being a great example. (Compare early comics and its evolution over the years.)

Thanks for being upfront on this so far. Until I actually started to try and advertise my comic a few weeks ago on vote sites I had no idea how many comics were out there.

---Nif---

DMAC

Nifinity wrote:

FYI I did scroll down through the forum but there is no better response then to take all of those suggestions to heart and incorporate them into your work before posting something with all of the same flaws.

Lly

Nifinity wrote:

plus when I do it I want to be a more seasoned artist.

EVERY second you spend doing this comic puts that moment further into the future.

SkyGheNe

What you should really ask yourself is: what differentiates my webcomic from the thousands of other comics out there and are those differences going to draw them to my comic/site.

So far, as other people have said, your art style, humor and a variety of other things are at a level that fails to grasp the interest of your readers.

If I had a choice of going to VG cats or your comic, I would go to VG cats because 1. the art style is more intriguing and 2. the humor is more funny to me.

Same thing for white ninja surprisingly. The art style is simple but I like it and the humor is my kind of humor.

Sadly, there isn't much to say except work on the artistic elements of your comic first (and please don't use anime) and work on the writing.

Antibodies

Golem wrote:

I'm guessing its people posting this kind of art without lurking or reading past posts that are gunna get me remmed when I post My work here.

I really do wish that people like Nifinity would read the past posts as Ive seen stuff around this type/ quality several times in this forum that all got the same responce.

Don't get me wrong I'm not doing anything more than offering blanket statements as I wouldnt overly critize anyones work before my own has had its trip to the firing range. But seriously dude, LURKING = GOOD on this thread in particular.

I think we could all do with a nice year long registry close so some actual progress could be made here and I wouldn't have to worry about good worthy topics being bumped down by continual daily bashfests such as this. It totally ruins my ambition to make a sketch dump or ask any honest questions in a thread for fear of being lumped in with this sort. :x

Golem

Antibodies wrote:

Golem wrote:

I'm guessing its people posting this kind of art without lurking or reading past posts that are gunna get me remmed when I post My work here.

I really do wish that people like Nifinity would read the past posts as Ive seen stuff around this type/ quality several times in this forum that all got the same responce.

Don't get me wrong I'm not doing anything more than offering blanket statements as I wouldnt overly critize anyones work before my own has had its trip to the firing range. But seriously dude, LURKING = GOOD on this thread in particular.

I think we could all do with a nice year long registry close so some actual progress could be made here and I wouldn't have to worry about good worthy topics being bumped down by continual daily bashfests such as this. It totally ruins my ambition to make a sketch dump or ask any honest questions in a thread for fear of being lumped in with this sort. :x

I feel for ya. Its...Its just frusterating to see so many new posters doing this, you can tell despite his protests to the contrary that he hasnt reviewed the topic at all. Perhaps they should add a "you have to have your work reveiwed by a mod" before you can make a topic about it rule.

Lly

Here's an idea. Find the worst flamed "new webcomic" thread and sticky it under the title of something like "What happens when you post a webcomic". Should deter most people.

On second thoughts most people posting these godawful comics seem to be under the impression that they actually hold some merit. Fuck it, lets just ban web-comics alltogether.

Golem

Lly wrote:

Here's an idea. Find the worst flamed "new webcomic" thread and sticky it under the title of something like "What happens when you post a webcomic". Should deter most people.

On second thoughts most people posting these godawful comics seem to be under the impression that they actually hold some merit. Fuck it, lets just ban web-comics alltogether.

I like that rule, sept maybe allow a few mod approved posts every once in a while in case someone with merit ever does surface.

Lly

Golem wrote:

Lly wrote:

Here's an idea. Find the worst flamed "new webcomic" thread and sticky it under the title of something like "What happens when you post a webcomic". Should deter most people.

On second thoughts most people posting these godawful comics seem to be under the impression that they actually hold some merit. Fuck it, lets just ban web-comics alltogether.

I like that rule, sept maybe allow a few mod approved posts every once in a while in case someone with merit ever does surface.

Indeed, like Mudron's comic is actually cool. But h0ow often does that happen? Very very rarely.

Golem

Lly wrote:

Golem wrote:

Lly wrote:

Here's an idea. Find the worst flamed "new webcomic" thread and sticky it under the title of something like "What happens when you post a webcomic". Should deter most people.

On second thoughts most people posting these godawful comics seem to be under the impression that they actually hold some merit. Fuck it, lets just ban web-comics alltogether.

I like that rule, sept maybe allow a few mod approved posts every once in a while in case someone with merit ever does surface.

Indeed, like Mudron's comic is actually cool. But h0ow often does that happen? Very very rarely.

Exactly I mean Im very hard on myself and my drawings I wouldnt have even let a work I even considered to be incomplete or not as good as I could do see the light of day. I dont see how others can post up an Drawing that (please excues the critic and such Im a dick for saying it and Ill get paid back in spades when my pencil work hits the forum) in all honesty looks like a MS paint drawing gone horribly wrong.

Nifinity

Perhaps they should add a "you have to have your work reveiwed by a mod" before you can make a topic about it rule.

I agree with this, some of the critism thus far has been good but over half has just been frustrated flames that have been said a number of times before in simular posts. I think the above is a great idea.

---Nif---

Lly

Nifinity wrote:

Perhaps they should add a "you have to have your work reveiwed by a mod" before you can make a topic about it rule.

I agree with this, some of the critism thus far has been good but over half has just been frustrated flames that have been said a number of times before in simular posts. I think the above is a great idea.

---Nif---

Well at least you are taking it as it is intended. Congrats and welcome to the forum, now post some real art ;P

Nifinity

Thanks Lly,

I will only post art that is development level rather then the comic strip stuff I did above. I misinterpreted the initial reason for this topic in the forum and for that I do apologize.

---Nif---

The One Dark Knight

OP: Lurk moar ~


Thanks for being civil

It always helps before posting ANYWHERE to at least lurk for a little while before posting art.

Greatnation

Lly wrote:

Nifinity wrote:

plus when I do it I want to be a more seasoned artist.

EVERY second you spend doing this comic puts that moment further into the future.

Er, whats with this? I have said this before in other threads- there is no reason not to do what you want to. Because you can do your studies and academic persuits at the same time. I dont know where the idea that its one or the other came from...


Nifinity- Your comic needs a crapton of work. Study study study what everyone here has said and what every other thread has said. Bring what you know to your comic as you learn, and you will see improvements- but you won't see those improvements if you don't work fuckin hard and try to improve. You have to want it. Like want it in your dick. Thats how bad you have to want it.

Lly

Greatnation wrote:

Lly wrote:

Nifinity wrote:

plus when I do it I want to be a more seasoned artist.

EVERY second you spend doing this comic puts that moment further into the future.

Er, whats with this? I have said this before in other threads- there is no reason not to do what you want to. Because you can do your studies and academic persuits at the same time. I dont know where the idea that its one or the other came from...

No, you fucking CAN'T.

Unless you have four arms and two brains then if you are working on a crappy comic you aren't working on drawing basics. Sure, do stuff you enjoy but you have to accept that it's time that could be spent on other more useful stuff.

edit: I seem to be swearing at a higher frequency than usual ... what's with that I wonder?

Greatnation

I know when I lay out a comic page, I try to incorporate everything i've learned up to that point, including the things I'm learning at that same point- so the comic just becomes another way to practice.


You can't with that mindset, you're right- as in the mindset of "I'd rather not draw my hand right now, but cartoons instead". But if anyone is committed, any peice of art they do can contribute to their development alltogether. The doodles i do in my notes help, the shitty comic I do for my school paper ( that is so outrageously not funny I dare not show anyone, making clean jokes is hella hard) is even part of that.

Lly

True, but at the level the op is at, drawing more of those comics is not helping his/her art in any possible way.

Orikaeshigitae

Nifinity wrote:

The second is yes it is another game based comic but you have to write a comic about something you know. The origional comic was going to be story based completely independent from gaming, however the job that pays my bills makes this almost impossible at this point, plus when I do it I want to be a more seasoned artist.

Don't write what you know. You'll bore the reader with details.

Research. Then, having an outsider's viewpoint, you'll be able to filter the interesting bits.

Greatnation

I disagree. At the least, it gives him a way to practice timing and humor if not the visual part. Its hard to do studies of those kinds of things without doing.

/edit disagree with Lly, not O