weekoldfishbones

[weekoldfishbones]

"What's been your experience with digital art and comic making?" (Part 1)

So far, my experience has been good. However, I did experience some issues with working digitally.

The First Time Was a Mess

My first time making a digital comic was in Photoshop. I had just started properly getting into having my own characters, and this was one of the many ways I wanted to show them off. I scratched out poses and haphazardly slapped panels down. Speech bubbles went wherever I felt like, and there was nary an interesting layout in sight. I didn't really know what I was doing, so it was only natural.

I used to draw them with one of my secondary school friends who also used to enjoy illustration and making comics. We would discuss our comics for hours on end, and I remember really enjoying the process of sharing ideas and influencing each other's work. I remember that our characters would cross over into each other's worlds, and writing stories and interactions between them was endlessly entertaining. If I ever manage to dig it out, I'll add a picture of it to this post.

<- it'll go here (^^;

I took a small break.

As I left secondary school and moved on to college, I set my sights on becoming an animator, wanting to bring my characters to life by making them move and speak. I had so much fun planning and making animation that I decided I wanted to make it my career. I spent a great many hours toiling away at my desk and on my laptop, working in Macromedia Flash and TVPaint to build my skills and make animations of my characters.

At university, I did much the same. Nose down at my laptop drawing and 3D modelling as much as I could, largely forgetting that comics ever existed. Eventually, I graduated, and I was lucky enough to transition straight into a job as a professional animator, where I spent my days working on children's shows.

My Webtoon phase

Shortly after starting my job, I discovered Webtoon, and comics were suddenly not just back in my life, but taking up most of my free time!

I was introduced to Webtoon through one of my friends. They had started to get into reading romance comics on there, and it sucked. Me. IN. I found myself super engaged with the scrolling comic format, and decided to download it for myself to try it out.

One of the first proper Webtoons I got into was "The Sound of Your Heart" by Cho Seok (Pictured above). The comic started off pretty rough around the edges with a really dark and scratchy style, and I had some trouble following along with some of the jokes. It hooked me in good, however, and I soon found myself 300 chapters in and completely engaged with it. I found it funny, witty, well-drawn (not joking)

The more I read, the more I started to think "Hmm... Maybe I could do something like this?" That was when I started looking into how to make Webtoons.

After doing some googling about document sizes, a few sketches and putting my seldom-used brain to work, I had come up with a fun little concept for something silly that I wanted to try.

It was time for me to move back to comics....

More in the next post! >>

[weekoldfishbones]

"What do you like about making comics?"

I used to exclusively draw comics digitally, but not too long ago I switched to physical art. I'm going to write a post about the differences between the two processes and which one I prefer soon! For now, I've detailed my favourite (and least favourite) bit about working with comics below!

Favourite bits:

Using fun pens and pencils! (I love drawing in ink!)

Nice special paper.

Thumbnail drawing is fun!

Inking is a great focusing exercise.

Feels like I'm making something real, that I can physically hold.

So much practical drawing experience from so many different angles and expressions!

That feeling of getting a panel I'm really proud of...

Leaving it untouched for a while after finishing it and then revisiting it as a reader.

Sound effects and onomatopoeia are fun to draw.

Drawing super tiny details no one will ever see.

Filling in large areas with black ink.

Adding the speed lines!

Holding the finished work.

Drawing my favourite character(s) over and over again!

I can tell a story in as few panels as I want!

There's always more to learn.

Laying out pages to get that Perfect Flow.

Getting the perspective just right.

Digging deep into my brain to get the world out of there and down on paper!

Seeing my characters and environments come to life.

Making inter-chapter illustrations and cover art!

Placing text in just the right places to guide the reader's eye seamlessly through the page.

Least fun bits:

Smudging ink by accident.

Inking over white ink (it's slippy!)

Not being able to erase my blue pencil very well, so mistakes layer and damage the paper.

Pulling myself away from drawing tiny details because they're wasting time.

The process takes a long time.

It's an indoor activity.

I'm sat down for a long time.

Remembering to use references, then forcing myself to find good ones (it always looks better...)

Over-detailing a panel and ending up with something that's too messy.

Re-doing pages or panels (it's good practice tho)

Sizing speech bubbles correctly.

Struggling to get shock marks (these things)-> Σ(゜ꄱ ゜;) to look right.

Getting stuck on how a panel should look.

Overcomplicating simple panels and spending way too much time on them.

Reminding myself that it's okay to mess things up, because there's no rush and I can just draw things again to make them better! (it's not fun to do, but it's something I always keep in mind)

Finding the time in my day to work on them!

If I think of any more particularly big things, I'll come back and add them here. Maybe I'll revisit it in the future when I've been working on it for longer and see how my opinions and favourites have changed!

[weekoldfishbones]

"Why did you choose comics as the medium you're using to tell stories?"

I've never really been a giant comic reader, never got into DC or Marvel, and didn't truly delve into manga until I got older. I had a few triple-volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist that I would pore over and copy art from, but as a child, it never really grew beyond that.

I tried graphic novels and western comics, and some of them drew me in, but none ever really hit that sweet spot of inspo for me. I never really enjoyed the visuals of conventional western comics.

It was animation that really lit a fire in me. That fire burned for many years and charted a solid course for me to follow, until I achieved what I had set out to do, and then it all just faded away. I had spent a long time making animations. Making milliseconds of progress every day and working long hours for little reward. I got tired of doing my hobby as a job, having no creative freedom, and having it really driven home to me that animation takes so. much. time. It's a no-brainer really, but it made me realise that if I wanted to get what's in my head out into the world more than 3 times before I die, I'd have to consider other options.

I'm a bit impatient when it comes to making things, I want to be able to show my stories off to my family and friends whilst they're still here. This led me to a crossroads. I have a creative urge that I need to fulfill, but how should I do it? Should I stick with animation? I'd already dedicated years of my life and a whole degree to it, after all. Maybe games? But they have many more factors to learn than just storytelling. What about writing books? Nah, I'm way too fond of overusing commas. I even considered live-action film for a short time. I quickly scrapped that idea.

After spending a while deliberating, I chose comics.

I chose comics because I love that I can tell a story visually and make it look and read exactly the way I want it to.

I love that it's so adaptable, comics turn into animations, shows, games, books, films, and lots more!

I love that I can easily draw a page in a day.

I love that I can draw a scene in a week that would take me months to animate!

I love that I can make them about anything I want to.

I love that I can draw them on scraps of paper with a biro, or on professional paper with a whole deskful of tools.

I love that it's an art form dating back hundreds of years, with a rich history around the world.

I love that I can bring my doodles to life!

One of the things I adore about animation is seeing my drawings come alive and jump around. To see them have feelings and to speak. To give them weight and presence. Comics allow me the freedom to do all that, and to save so much more of my precious time whilst I do it.

Comics take everything I love about animation, and allows me to present my ideas in a clean, lightweight, and widely adaptable format that is accessible to almost everyone.

I'll just miss being able to have background music!