#actually: better idea: i'm going to first draw one (1) 3 panel interaction

[beesmygod]

today is webcomics day. i am bea and i make "A Ghost Story" - part 3: sketch 1

ed note from the future: this got long. its going mostly under a readmore for everyone's sake. and i didnt even finish sketching, just trying to explain what is going through my mind while trying to sketch. look, if i write down my process in exhausting detail people will realize im completely insane. this is a net benefit to anyone trying to interact with me in the future who thinks i can be reasoned with. community service. thank you for allowing me to post this shit lol

hmmm. giving up on the first few panels for right now. here's what i'm thinking about as i sketch this:

too many of my panels were talking heads or constantly relied on one point perspective. i have been trying to work against this for a while with mixed results. sometimes the result is so bad i have to scrap what i did and start over but sometimes it's "good enough for TV"* and i hit publish on it. no risks, no reward after all. can't get better if you don't try.

in this first panel, i have two people having a back and forth conversation through a weird magic hole in the floor/wall. maxine is laying on a couch with hole right above her head. homestar runner will demonstrate what i mean:

however, there are logistical problems with maxine that homestar runner doesnt have. maxine's right shoulder is dislocated, so she can't lay on that side, or any side that would put pressure on the joint. im realizing i don't actually know what position would be most comfortable in her situation or how she would instinctually arrange her body to avoid pain. i start looking up videos from physical therapists on how they recommend patients sleep for some ideas.

also i start looking up what women look like sleeping on couches. how does the human body fold up. because this isn't it.

anyway, this was my first effort with the first panels.

for reference, the last page ends like this:

the top left of the sketch would have been the hopi clown back on the shelf with the "camera" tilting above it to reveal maxine. while this keeps the relevant object from the previous page in frame as a piece of connective tissue between updates....i'm struggling to fit the second character in. the one talking from the hole. maybe there's still hope for this? it's not terrible. initially i nuked it but maybe i can make this work.

fuck! she needs a pillow or two to make this work. this video is right, that DOES look naturally comfortable compared to the standard fetal position that would pull the affected shoulder inward. i didn't draw any pillows into the stupid establishing shot of the office bc its not the kind of couch you are expected to sleep on!!! this is a man's business office!!! i thought i was so smart!!

basically every couch comes with decorative pillows though, and the shot of the room didn't include the wall the "camera" was up against. my 2-point perspective failure might have paid off here lol. if i can establish that the second character is talking through the hole, he can use his rayman hands to reach across the room and get the pillow for her. it can be part of his personal campaign to show maxine he means her no immediate harm. the pillows were just out of frame. lurking. ok let's try it again. uhhhh after i eat some lunch

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*my friend kelly had an anecdote from working in animation that im going to retell badly from memory. her boss would take the work she labored over to meet by deadline and would laugh at it, saying "ah, its terrible! but good enough for TV". and while extremely mean, he had a salient point: it never has to be perfect. it just needs to be good enough to be seen. sometimes i seriously think about this anecdote when im dissatisfied with my own art. it's bad. but it's good enough for tv.

[crabbng]

I have some questions!

1 How do you draw things that are usually labeled "i've never drawn it before or i don't know how to draw it?" like do you look at a reference of it (i mean, how else are you gonna draw it) but like im talking complex things cause i was trying to draw like market stalls and i just had no clue how to draw it while looking at, it doesn't have to be perfect i just couldn't do it so i gave it up. And when you draw it do you usually have an idea in your head how it's gonna be facing which direction or do you just draw the characters then the item they are interacting with or the item/object first?

2 Second question, when do you think a outfit or hair change should happen? i think hair changes are gonna happen with the outfit sometimes but i really love outfit changes and you do those i was wondering what you think is best time? cause i've seen you have outfit changes in a day pass in the story and new outfit but i've also seen you change outfits when new arks happen so i was wondering when do you think are the best times for that?

last question

3 In one of your old my hero comics you left it without finishing it and Kirishima and Bakugo were fighting/arguing, and you said "call me when they interact meaningfully in canon again and i’ll draw another comic where they make up lmao" did you mean that? cause if they interact meaningfully and it's even the slightest bit gay material im jumping at the chance to tell you if you meant that im partly joking but if you had a way for them to make up can you just tell me so i wont be stuck wondering? this comic was 3 years ago i feel old but i was just wondering

1 How do you draw things that are usually labeled "i've never drawn it before or i don't know how to draw it?"

i draw it badly 🤣 but really, the answer is just practice. if it looks weird, draw it again. look at it and think 'well why is this going wrong, what looks weird' and then grab a new piece of paper and start completely over. try it from another point of view.

if it's a market stall that isn't integral to the story, just a background piece, i'm not going to care much about it, because the reader probably won't either. as long as its not bad enough to actually draw the eye there, i call it good. done is better than perfect, as they say.

2nd part of that question: i do have an idea in my head of how i want the panels to look. if that's not working though, i change it.

i usually place my characters first. unless its an establishing shot where the background is the most important thing, or far away shot, then characters may go in afterwards. i guess if the panel is mostly background, background first. if the panel is mostly character, character first. that's how i generally do it. just try and do it in the way that makes it easiest. if it's not working out one way, try the other.

2 Second question, when do you think a outfit or hair change should happen?

depends on the situation the character is in. chaar wears her uniform most of the time, so she doesn't get many changes. most everyone else would have access to other clothing, so it feels weird for me to not have them change. when hana and bon are on the run, they don't have extra clothes, so they don't change (except when bon gets hana a new outfit). tera wouldn't have wanted to be nude in the forest, so she just stays in her outfit, and kiigari doesn't care.

so my answer is, if they would have access to clothing and a reason to change (i.e. new day), there's no reason for me not to change their outfit. BUT! that's just me. it's also completely valid to just never change your characters clothes so they have a distinct Look.

last question

3 In one of your old my hero comics you left it without finishing it and Kirishima and Bakugo were fighting/arguing, and you said "call me when they interact meaningfully in canon again and i’ll draw another comic where they make up lmao" did you mean that?

no :) i mostly said that because i doubted it would happen (i still do). you can tell me if they ever reunite, but no, i don't plan to make any more krbk comics. i don't know how they make up, i would have to see how the story pans out.

hope that answers your questions! i rarely think too hard about my actual process, but i hope you can get something out of what i could sort out.

[kayvsworld]

ok so i’m lowkey justifying potentially trying to make a little tiny comic as an Academic Pursuit since i’m taking a class on comics so like...it wouldn’t have to be good or part of a larger thing it can just be one page or a couple of panels to start and that will be all? also i’ll get to draw my new kids,,,,hmmmm