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Welcome to the comics shoptalk thread. PM me, or email me to get your comic added to the post below Making comics is loving hard. Its especially hard if you plan on doing it as hobby second to your real life responsibilities like, you know, food. Here are some of the bold goons who've decided that making comics is more important than food, friends, education, eyesight, hygiene, or really basically anything else but making comics.                        [IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/t7jzu8.jpg][/IMG]           Here are even more goon comics: Pink Snow Bunny and Girly (ended) - SuperHappy Infernotes - Pick GunnerKrigg Court - TeaSan - Has its own thread here. Bobwhite by MagnoliaPearl The Intrepid Girlbot - Snicket paltry achievements Little Blue Couch Kitty and Chicken - EvelynPoor Le Carnet Brun (the Brown Notebook) - Yannick_B - (in French) Name Removed - 0sn untitled comic - Oldyogurt Sorcery 101 - KellHound Stagnant Pool Party - The Black Nerd Templar, Arizona - DarthVersace SCRAMBLES! - Fauntleroy The Adventures of Painless Parker - neonnoodle Titanzer - TheGoblin The Dragon Doctors - Speedball Do you run a comic, and want to have your thumbnail added to this post? Just Post or PM me a 300 x 250 thumbnail that contains the name of the comic. You will save me a lot of time if you name your thumbnail like so : comicname-saname.png Quetzal-Coital fucked around with this message at 16:09 on May 22, 2015 |
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Feb 2, 2011 21:04
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This thread is for discussing the craft of comics. While webcomics may be the main portion of the discussion, the same rules and tips can apply to just about any comic creation.  BULLET POINTS HOLY poo poo I LOVE BULLET POINTS • You may, and should, ask for critique, but if you reply and fit more than three examples on Bad Webcomic Bingo, you should get right the gently caress out. • You will not get rich. If your webcomic has less than a year of archives or lovely traffic don't talk about how your shirts should look. • Post pics of what you're talking about. http://www.tinypic.com is an excellent, quick host that works on SA. Do not post large sections of copy-written art and generally just follow the BSS guidelines. • If you want to talk about story arcs or how cool something looks in a current, non goon run webcomic it should go to the webcomic discussion post. Resources! Comics: How to make a comic - An essential step by step guide from the very talented and successful creator of Lackadaisy Cats. From Heresiarch a bunch of stuff! Wally Wood's 22 Essential Panels  Comic Tools Books about comics: Scott McCloud Will Eisner How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way Art: The classic Tom & Jerry Line of Action  How to draw lively poses - Spongebob drawing tips from Nickelodeon  Itch Studios Art tutorial - An excellent general drawing and art tutorial, very complete. Expressions - An excellent primer on expressions from Tracy Butler of Lackadaisy Cats. The Phobs face tutorial. An entire list of der-shing's tutorials (maker of The Meek). (Note: I don't agree with everything she happens to say, so use your discretion.) Coelasquid's How to Draw Beef, and other tutorials (maker of Manly Guys doing Manly Things, professional animator). The Abominable Charles Christopher's Karl Kerschl's "Making a Comic" video. Spookyblang (of Love Me Nice) inking--lots to learn here. Books about art: Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy - WARNING The only Christopher Hart book worth anything. Writing: 102 Resources for Fiction Writing Do you have a plot? Books about writing: Writing Down the Bones - Natalie Goldberg Writer's Workshop by Stephen Koch Good for beginners, sweet and to the point. Elements of Style Tools, Supplies and Misc. the Ultimate Digital Artist's resource on a shoe string (or no string) budget Paint.NET Inkscape - Vector-based art program Opencanvas 1.1 - Early, but free, version of Opencanvas (full versions are cheap as well, but not free) GIMP - Good especially for image retouching Paint Tool SAI - English version OP is absolutely still a work in progress, feel free to complain about anything up there and submit OP stuff throughout the thread. Quetzal-Coital fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Jan 15, 2012 |
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Feb 2, 2011 21:04
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Other tutorials specifically by makers of webcomics: The Phobs face tutorial. An entire list of der-shing's tutorials (maker of The Meek). (Note: I don't agree with everything she happens to say, so use your discretion.) Coelasquid's How to Draw Beef, and other tutorials (maker of Manly Guys doing Manly Things, professional animator). The Abominable Charles Christopher's Karl Kerschl's "Making a Comic" video. Spookyblang (of Love Me Nice) inking--lots to learn here. Rad's How-To Blog Also, instead of "they are not endorsed as good", I might say "quality unspecified". Here are some other goon comics: Love Me Nice - spookyblang Sorcery 101 - Kellhound Heliothaumic NWS - Rincewind Bobwhite - MagnoliaPearl Effort Comics NWS - Unconventional Oven Here are some art programs for the budget-constrained: Inkscape - Vector-based art program Opencanvas 1.1 - Early, but free, version of Opencanvas (full versions are cheap as well, but not free) GIMP - Good especially for image retouching Paint Tool SAI - English version Also, DrunkDuck and Webcomics Weekly have podcasts. I don't know the links though. Does anyone else? Pick fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Feb 2, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 21:18
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I personally think you should make that Lackadaisy "How to Make a Comic" piece a lot more visible. Not because I suggested it in the first place (although it helps  ) but because it's seriously like the most basic but most useful piece of information. Additionally, I see no mention of 600DPI. 
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Feb 2, 2011 21:32
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I think Cartoon SNAP has a few useful bits.
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Feb 2, 2011 21:39
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If I may, I think this thread on Drunk Duck may be very useful to some people: the Ultimate Digital Artist's resource on a shoe string (or no string) budget (which has a few links to writing resources as well). It's got summaries of various free/cheap programs with some pros and cons as contributed by DD forum goers.
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Feb 2, 2011 21:52
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Here's the main web thing I draw right now, called The Intrepid Girlbot. I think it's pretty okay.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:10
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I really am curious as to how everyone out there creates their Panels. I asked this in the other thread but its always good to get exposure to different ways of doing things. Personally, I am complete poo poo with my tablet, and I don't actually own Photoshop anyway, so digital is kinda "out" for me. That means I'm doing it on pen and paper, and scanning that motherfucker. But if I try to do my panels on paper, with a ruler, they come out absolutely terrible (not straight) and actually doing them basically sucks out any soul or interest in the actual comic.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:31
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This link is only really useful if you live in the Boston area, but if you do (or you're passing through town for whatever reason) this is a very useful resource for networking with other cartoonists: The Boston Comics Roundtable. In the two years I've been hanging out with them I've seen immense improvement in my art. Being surrounded by artists who draw better than the Pope helps more than you'd figure. Maybe this thread will have a similar effect for some people. And I know there's a couple other similar groups around the country, but I can't name them off the top of my head. Also, I do Attack of the Super-Wizards and write Garry: The Legend Continues
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Feb 2, 2011 22:32
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skoolmunkee posted:If I may, I think this thread on Drunk Duck may be very useful to some people: the Ultimate Digital Artist's resource on a shoe string (or no string) budget (which has a few links to writing resources as well). It's got summaries of various free/cheap programs with some pros and cons as contributed by DD forum goers.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:34
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Quetzal-Coital posted:Personally, I am complete poo poo with my tablet, and I don't actually own Photoshop anyway, so digital is kinda "out" for me. There's plenty of cheap and free alternatives. I do all my penciling and inking in Paint.NET, which is free and has a nicer line tool than Photoshop anyway. (It does really quick bezier curves that immediately rasterize.) Quetzal-Coital posted:That means I'm doing it on pen and paper, and scanning that motherfucker. But if I try to do my panels on paper, with a ruler, they come out absolutely terrible (not straight) and actually doing them basically sucks out any soul or interest in the actual comic. By "not straight" do you mean not right-angled to one another? Because if you want to get right angles, use a T-square. And also keep the writing tool at a consistent angle while drawing along your straightedge.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:35
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Pick posted:By the way, this is a massively stupid question, but what is your official role, DD-wise? I know you're one half of the podcasts, but I forget what your precise role is there. It's not stupid really, because there's nowhere on the DD site that really says. Myself and ozoneocean are the site admins. We manage the comics and users, follow up reports of harrassment, moderate the forums and so forth. We also liase with Wowio (DD's owner) when it comes to bug reports, malicious ads on the network, desired new features and so on.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:41
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Quetzal-Coital posted:I really am curious as to how everyone out there creates their Panels. I have a half-inch wide frame to measure out the outer margin area for my pages. Inner margins are pencilled in using a triangle measured against the side of the paper. Despite my best efforts, I invariably make hand-ruled panels cattywompus, so I just make dots in the corners in ink, and then use a premade square brush in GIMP to do the panel borders. (Bonus: ability to do perfectly round panels with the ellipse tool! Yaaaaay!) GIMP works pretty well as a freeware Photoshop stand-in. My only problem with it has been that it seems to have issues being all jaggy when you resize images, which I work around by using a copy of Photoshop Elements that my husband has.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:50
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Quetzal-Coital posted:I really am curious as to how everyone out there creates their Panels. In my webcomic* I do everything including paneling in Photoshop, and it's so easy you can do it with a mouse. I draw all my panels with the rectangle tool, then open up the paths window select all those rectangles and hit the "stroke path with brush" button at the bottom of the window. That draws lines outlining those rectangles on the current layer using the paintbrush tool. With this method it's possible to make panel boarders of any shape, but I don't bother with them since for my needs complicated paneling is a distraction from good storytelling. *My webcomic is 70-Seas can someone please put it in the OP.
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Feb 2, 2011 22:55
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Oh hey, outrageous new developments since yesterday! Podcasts: Webcomics Weekly and Archives Drunk Duck Podcasts Art&Story Writing Excuses (As it says, about writing. But comics need writing too, and one of the hosts is Schlock Mercenary's Howard Tayler.) Links of Interest: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Scott McCloud's Blog Webcomics.com Brad Guigar talks about comics Ka-Blam's comic page tech specs Blambot's articles about comic lettering reMIND tutorials and advice The Art Center Consequentialart Comikaze: comic manager plug-in for Comicpress There are threads with tons of writing and drawing info in Creative Convention as well. Edit: writing stuff Writer's Workshop by Stephen Koch Good for beginners, sweet and to the point. 102 Resources for Fiction Writing Do you have a plot? Elements of Style It seems like screenwriting guides and film criticism would also address some visual aspects of comic storytelling. Crisco Kid fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Feb 2, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 23:01
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My exceedingly specific technique for panel borders is I start with a template with the live area blacked out. I paste the art on a layer below the template and drop the opaquity of the black layer so I can see where exactly where the panel borders should be. Then I carve out selections over the panel borders. That leaves me with black spots over all my panels. I select all the black boxes then shave the selections back ten pixels or so and delete them and flood fill the space between the panels with white. Then if I have exploded panels I need to manually carve out those, but that's not really that big a deal. I use Paint Shop Pro, but this method can be adapted for Photoshop, the Gimp, or I bet Paint.net or any other graphics program.
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Feb 2, 2011 23:03
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I would like Trans Girl Diaries added to the OP please. EDIT: This comic seems to be a general favorite so I'll add it here. Text is maybe slightly NWS?  Here are also some tutorial pages from Disney that might be worth adding to the OP (they're not in order): http://i.imgur.com/MRe3Z.jpg http://i.imgur.com/dj5o7.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ZC5kb.jpg http://i.imgur.com/RHS8v.jpg http://i.imgur.com/wEVqq.jpg http://i.imgur.com/9pWmj.jpg http://i.imgur.com/cgqRn.jpg PoorRichMorgan fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Feb 2, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 23:04
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I'd recommend adding the master, Andrew Loomis to the OP as well.
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Feb 2, 2011 23:14
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I actually stopped using a T-square because it was giving me lopsided lines. Nowadays, I use a combo of printed-out Photoshop templates, a light box, and a drafting/graph ruler to get everything as straight as I can. And even then, things can be off. Graph rulers were a revelation. Of course, I'm something of a troglodyte, and I like doing as much on paper as I can. I can't see myself switching over to all-digital for any project until I can afford a Cintiq. I'm in no rush.
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Feb 2, 2011 23:18
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Just as a suggestion, if you're posting a link to your own comic, post your favourite page or a panel or two, I don't know about anyone else but I'm always more likely to click a link that's got art attached! Also it'll make the thread all pretty  I draw Darken. It's a fantasy-type thing that focuses on the bad guys instead of the good guys. I'd like to think it isn't as far up its own arse as a lot of fantasy out there, and apparently people enjoy the humour, so give it a try if you're ok with depressed drow, smarmy thieves and evil overlords. 
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Feb 2, 2011 23:29
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All right, if we're popping out the comic intros already, here's mine, and the most recent page. Infernotes: Here's the description from the "About" section which I guess is as accurate as anything, since it just started up: Infernotes is a fruity comic about the former Principality of Music, Devoto, now a fallen angel (or “demon”, if you’d rather) consigned to corrupting souls and all that bullshit as opposed to indulging in its real passion–-rocking out.  (Go figure the main character is not on this page.) It's coming across as a little serious right now, but as a whole, it's a comedic project. The text will be replaced with fonts made by me once the first chapter is done, since I figure I'll streamline some of the wording too. Oh poo poo, and Quetzal, don't forget Scurvard's Luffinpuff and Eric, I am addicted to hell to it right now. Also WORLD'S BEST BABY has pgn. Pick fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Feb 3, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 23:36
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I draw Doomsday, My Dear and I use the line tool in Photoshop to make panels.  My approach is pretty straightforward though, and I don't really see it as the type of thing where I will get too adventurous with page layouts. Watch me eat my words later- I'm still figuring out word bubbles. You will find that I'm of the 'JUST loving DO IT' camp, which means a lot of things about my comic are being figured out as I go. Hopefully by the time it's over in 5+ years I'll know how to make a webcomic.Anyway, here's the latest page.  Click here for the full 620x820 image.  
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Feb 3, 2011 00:18
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Oh are we doing the showing off thing I love showing off here is my comic: Click here for the full 627x900 image. It is mostly people being awkward at each other except for when it is horrific and violent:  Click here for the full 620x900 image. Also on writing stuff this is a pretty cool set of things about what it is like to be in an actual real life fight and/or other dangerous situation: http://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/tag/fighting (They are in reverse chronological order so you may want to read bottom-up. Or click the links.)
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Feb 3, 2011 00:27
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EvelynPoor posted:http://i.imgur.com/MRe3Z.jpg These are the best things! I have a comic called "Le Carnet Brun" (the Brown Notebook) its pretty much silly jokes and such (in french). (https://www.lecarnetbrun.com)  Click here for the full 900x1200 image.
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Feb 3, 2011 00:32
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While these are probably more useful in the web design area of things, these have helped me in the past: Color Scheme Designer 3 and COLOURlovers. Also I'll shamelessly pimp my comic too. I do Luffinpuff and Eric, which is about a goony middle school kid and the imaginary friend he doesn't really want anymore.  Click here for the full 600x782 image.
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Feb 3, 2011 00:47
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I think "Comic Tools" should be added. It took a hiatus recently, hopefully over now, but has lots of really good information. I've been making Name Removed for more than five years and learned a lot (except how to draw people, darn it, and how to self-promote). The idea is I draw three a week starting from the same idea but going in different directions. Here's a recent comic:  Click here for the full 550x603 image. Anyone here going to TCAF?
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Feb 3, 2011 00:49
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My comic is paltry achievements. As you can see, I don't give a gently caress about panels and just go basically nuts with a ruler and some ink. Click here for the full 800x388 image.  Click here for the full 800x802 image. Oh, and that ^^ COLOURlovers thing has been pretty helpful for me. I've been trying to teach myself to use color well, and even though the pre-made palettes kind of feel like cheating, I've tweaked them and it's been a cool resource.
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Feb 3, 2011 00:51
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This isn't a special favorite page, but it's certainly indicative of what you'll get in Super Wizard... Click here for the full 600x916 image. Do you want to see the rear end of comic book history wiped with Stardust the Super Wizard? Probably not, but I do.
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Feb 3, 2011 01:38
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Here's an example from 70-Seas 
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Feb 3, 2011 05:12
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Did everyone who started their (web)comic know exactly what they wanted to do before they began? If not, do you wish you had? I'm just asking because I have a story in the works I eventually want to make into a comic, and I'd like to know what level of preparation would be recommended. 
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Feb 3, 2011 06:02
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I'll join this nice and sudden image sharing and will post my comic's latest page! Click here for the full 1000x1005 image. Click for untitled comic. Be warned that the strips are kinda non sequitur, stylistically and content-wise right now. I was actually really inspired by the early strips of nedroid and XKCD that were more experimental and whimsical, cause seeing them helped me get over the mental hurdle of committing to a single project.
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Feb 3, 2011 07:18
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minibeasts posted:Did everyone who started their (web)comic know exactly what they wanted to do before they began? If not, do you wish you had? I'm just asking because I have a story in the works I eventually want to make into a comic, and I'd like to know what level of preparation would be recommended. Before I write a script I make an outline that is basically a roadmap of where I want the comic to go. Then I script out the whole thing if it's shorter (like As We Were was 100 pages). It's it's a longer comic I script out at least 5 chapters ahead. But I'm trying to do all the scripting first. So I had a good idea of where I was heading. And I know how Sorcery 101 ends and that is has roughly 6 years left in it. Also I do this comic 
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Feb 3, 2011 07:23
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KellHound posted:So I had a good idea of where I was heading. And I know how Sorcery 101 ends and that is has roughly 6 years left in it. What's it like working on something that you know will take years and years more to complete satisfactorily?
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Feb 3, 2011 07:31
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Brannock posted:What's it like working on something that you know will take years and years more to complete satisfactorily? Every December I get super frustrated, then sometime between january and march I get exicted over the progress I made. But I also get Seasonal Affective Disorder so it might not be entirely because of the comic. Either way, it is why for my sanity I do shorter side comics so that way I can feel I've completed something.
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Feb 3, 2011 08:31
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As I recall don't you effectively "take December off" by having a buffer ready allowing you to keep updating while not drawing any comics for that period? This probably helps underline the importance of keeping a buffer for any webcomic artist making a start.
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Feb 3, 2011 08:43
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Tesseraction posted:As I recall don't you effectively "take December off" by having a buffer ready allowing you to keep updating while not drawing any comics for that period? This probably helps underline the importance of keeping a buffer for any webcomic artist making a start. I took december off drawing Sorcery 101. I spent it drawing redo pages.
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Feb 3, 2011 09:28
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Here's a comic that I write, Stagnant Pool Party.
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Feb 3, 2011 13:35
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minibeasts posted:Did everyone who started their (web)comic know exactly what they wanted to do before they began? If not, do you wish you had? I'm just asking because I have a story in the works I eventually want to make into a comic, and I'd like to know what level of preparation would be recommended. I started with a sort of vague idea of where the plot's supposed to end up, a pretty good idea of characters and backstories, and about a chapter or two thumbnailed in advance. I tend to prefer working fast and loose as far as planning; it can be difficult at times when I feel blocked, but it keeps me enthusiastic. (An added benefit is that since I'm not too far ahead at any time, I can revise pages when I get to them and realise they have horrible layouts or dialog.) I have no buffer, which is dangerous, but again, I just can't find the enthusiasm to work when I'm not going on the fly.
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Feb 3, 2011 16:06
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I have no buffer of strips, but I do have a pile of sketches and concept art ready to roll out if I'm about to miss a day. Thankfully, that only happened once. If I had the time to work on a buffer... I'd probably spend it redoing the first year of strips anyway.
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Feb 3, 2011 17:37
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ZnCu posted:If I had the time to work on a buffer... I'd probably spend it redoing the first year of strips anyway. This is a dangerous road to walk.
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Feb 3, 2011 17:52
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