#love when dialouge bubbles are part of the art

[socksoinabox]

converstations

[avocadoguru]

Feedback time my beautiful masterminds ❤️❤️ i wanna start off by saying how perfect i thought this chapter was. No matter what you write or what direction you take the story or what choices you make with it, it always ends up perfect and beautiful because you guys are the ones writing it! And when someone is as good at writing as you are, it is quite literally impossible for it to not turn out good, no matter what some might «expect» or «wish» for (talking about the negative feedback i saw you talking about 🥺 im so sorry), it always turns out wonderful no matter what! I promise ❤️ Please dont let yourselves be discouraged by all that fuss that some people are saying (u deserve better my loves!).

Anyways, to the story 🫶🏻 The chapter started out so so so soft, with them sleeping next to eachother and him feeling the comfort of just her prescence and being able to relax in a totally new and unusal way for him! Such a beautiful detail by the way, the description of how his body felt more at ease than usual 🥺 and the first dirty scene, my gosh it was everything i could ever dream of !! Dirty AND beautiful !!

(So sorry that my feedback isnt in chronological order, my heads a mess haha) And the parts where Harry is so nervous and uneasy about taking her to Nialls place pretending its his, was so good because i felt like it gave us even more of an insight on his soft and more vulnerable moments, like the big, strong, powerful wolf suddenly feels anxious and restless about her thoughts on everything about «his» place and how he tries so hard to maintain this facade because in his mind, its a way to not lose her. So so beautiful and vulnerable and soft and cute and painful and just every emotion at once! All those emotions takes some extremely good writers to convey, which i am not at all surprised that you amazing writers are able to do in such a descriptive and well formulated way ❤️

And another soft moment for me, is when she made him dinner and he connected what he knew about what cooking «means» to humans, and how he thought that could mean that she was showing affection towards him in her human ways !! aw 🥺

And the second steamy scene….no words !!! I loved how much he was struggeling to keep his self control and how desperate he was as she sucked him off and just….my brain turned into the most positive form of absolute mush !!! 🌟 Him struggeling to, quite literally, not unleash the beast, leaves me so giggly but hot its hard to even describe !! 💗💗

And i also want to add that i thought the ending of this chapter was the PERFECT ending. Like, no complaints at ALL. I loved the way it leaves you wanting to just indulge yourself into the future chapter cuz of how much you want to see what happens next. Could not ask for a better ending !! It left me satisfied and excited for the next one <3 Just like stories and chapter should do! Right? 🙌 I feel bubbly just thinking about chapter 8 !!

I have so many more thoughts about every little detail in this, so many thoughts that i can’t even type them all, but just please please please know that i, and hopefully maaaany others too, notice all the little details you put in your work. When i read this story, i am so invested and captivated that i read every line as slow as possible, so that i can consume every last letter of art you write. I notice everything, and stop many times just to admire a single line or a single word or detail or idea og dialouge or storylines and characters and backstories and just everything. So just please know that your hardwork does not go unnoticed !! At least not by me ❤️

I am so sorry if this was obnoxiousely long and difficult or exhausting to read btw !! i just wanted to give some love and encouragement and appreciation to you beautiful people that i am so grateful for <3 have a beautiful day 💗

(@fkinavocado here) just wanna say that i first read mermaids instead of masterminds 😂i dunno which is more out there lol.

regarding the "negative feedback-" we never said it was negative. some people just choose to focus on the wrong things, and we can't understand why- some people insist on them having babies, pups etc- and it's odd to us, because we made it abundantly clear that it's physically impossible for them to procreate, being different species essentially. and we did so very early on- just to give everyone a heads up and have them decide if they wanna stick around or not. i get why this might be an important thing to some. and not to say that we are under any obligation to forewarn ppl about plot keys like this, but we thought it would be nice of us to do so, since we know it's a touchy subject for some. so yeah- it was disappointing to see people insist on this when we've made it clear that it won't be happening.

second, a lot of people put a lot of emphasis on "poor eddie"- which is fair, it was a cute/sad thing that he was moping for harry, but some only commented on that. which was a bit odd? like there were so many things happening in that 20k chapter and some literally just commented "poor eddie" at the end of it x_x lol

so, it was never that it was negative feedback. and we're not trying to tell people what to write us, either. we were just expressing our slight disappointment with what some ppl chose to leave as feedback (well, i was, on my own blog, but then it snowballed and oh well.)

anyway---- back to your lovely feedback ❤️❤️❤️❤️ i can't tell you how much it means to me and both of us to have you take the time and write all of this down. truly, it made our day when we saw it in our inbox, especially after we were feeling a bit disheartened after reading some of the others. and it's not to say we expect every bit of commentary to be this long and in depth- we appreciate that not everyone has a way with words etc. but just letting us know you enjoyed it is what we love to hear ❤️ we don't need the praise!!!!! we just wanna know you liked it 🥹

"please please please know that i, and hopefully maaaany others too, notice all the little details you put in your work. When i read this story, i am so invested and captivated that i read every line as slow as possible, so that i can consume every last letter of art you write. I notice everything, and stop many times just to admire a single line or a single word or detail or idea og dialouge or storylines and characters and backstories and just everything. So just please know that your hardwork does not go unnoticed !! At least not by me ❤️"- THIS BIT LITERALLY MELTED ME 😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ literally, i could never express how much that means to me! thank you from the bottom of my heart lovely, and have an amazing day too 💋💋💋

[comicteaparty]

April 4th-April 10th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble  chat that occurred from April 4th, 2020 to April 10th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is something you’ve improved with in regards to writing or comic creation thanks to working on your story?

carcarchu

Oh this one i can answer definitively. it's 100% lineart. forcing myself to have to do lineart for hours everyday is definitely a way to force yourself to get better at it while i still don't like it it's something that i can do now without being scared about it

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Colouring. I had to get really creative in expressing emotion and hinting plot devices with colour. Also got much better with drawing gesture drawings due to looking at a lot of references!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Either writing dialogue or drawing/painting backgrounds... I used to be particularly awful at writing dialogue. It was too stiff and formal, and sounded a lot like old prose. Now, because of writing a comic and going through several scripts, the dialogue is a lot more natural, and the pacing is more realistic to actual conversations. And the other: backgrounds. I really used to not even draw them at all, and doing a comic forced me to have to think about environments in scenes. So I went from drawing floating characters to having to consider where they are and how it affects the story/mood.(edited)

Feather J. Fern

Paneling! That was my main focus to figure out how to do good paneling to have clearer pages

Deo101 [Millennium]

Honestly? Everything. It's all gotten better and I've learned so much. I would say my biggest improvement is probably in my time management, and art wise is probably composition and layouts. But it's hard to pick because I've grown so much in every aspect!

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Biggest thing I learned was to keep the story small and focused - and that the smaller, more human struggles are much better in creating tension than the whole default "the world's gonna end!" thing. Mind you, I still love a good "world's ending" story, but you gotta make people CARE about the people in that world first!

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

ohohohoooo I have done more drawing in photoshop in this short time I have worked on Wayfinders, than the rest of my life! That has given me some skills for sure! Coloring is another one, and generally just efficiency and flow in a comic

Nutty (Court of Roses)

For me it's been my use of color, and getting more confident in experimenting with it to really drive home a scene's mood!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The clearest improvement I always notice is my layouts - I’ve gotten more adventurous with panel shapes and placement as time has gone on, experimenting with more interesting designs for the whole page. Some of those experiments haven’t been totally successful but it always feels like a worthwhile try. I’ve gotten some really, REALLY cool layouts out of these experiments, and I love seeing how dynamic the panels have become compared to my first chapter. Also speed. I’m so much faster now. Thank gooooooodness (edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@LadyLazuli (Phantomarine) I've definitely noticed the experimental panel layouts! They're really cool.

AntiBunny

Planning. Book 2 is when I started using sketchbook thumbnails to plan ahead. The luxury of that first draft meant I could rethink panel layouts and how to best express the events happening if I first had an idea of what was happening laid out.

Also digital art by necessity since I switched to digital during the current arc. I was decent at lineart already, but other aspects have really challenged me to grow as an artist. I had to totally rethink the way I create backgrounds for instance. During this time the background quality actually declined a little while I got used to a new method, but experience has improved my skills greatly as I force myself into new methods.

DanitheCarutor

Hmmm maybe paneling, speechbubbles and backgrounds? My current project is my second real attempt at doing a comic, but I have learned a lot of stuff from the community and general art and story tutorials. Backgrounds and bubbles were the worst for me when first starting out, I only read manga before starting so the speechbubble shapes did not fit with how English is written. Plus I've only drawn wooded fantasy settings before making my comic, so using a ruler, figuring out perspective points and drawing buildings was very new to me. I still hate drawing cities and such, but I've gotten a lot better at it and it is easier to do now. Since I mostly stuck with B&W before my current project, coloring also kind of improved? Depending on who's looking at it. Lmao If I were to think about story/characters/dialogue, I have no idea if I've improved. Honestly, I don't pay much attention to the quality. Also my brain kinda says it's all bad regardless of what I make.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

For my Improvements: I'm getting better at my comic panels, as I adjust to the vertical style. Before I've always drawn the standard format. It's more than just boxes, I try to keep a variety of sizes. I'm picking up roughly how much 'gutter space' I need per 2-3 panels.etc I'm also improving on choosing colors that fits my love of detailed linework.(edited)

OH! I'm also learning about Clip studio shortcuts, how to use the assets they provide which makes the process, abit easier on me. Things I need to change, is I want to get a good speedy coloring style, without referring to my usual coloring.(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

the more I worked on the comic, the more I feel ambitious in making different angles and perspective. So it's really hitting me out of my comfort zone which is good! lol Though I'm trying to keep in mind of my speed, what I feel like I've improved a bit is trying to keep in mind of paneling and dialogue.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Process! Space and i have definitely figured out the most productive way to produce content at the rate and quality that also provides us with time for our own projects. Comics are a useful tool that helps you discover ways to better organize your creative workflow for sure!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I think probably scenery. I used to dread drawing inanimate objects but now I feel more confident in filling in a scene & even look forward to it sometimes. Maybe also page composition and paneling but I still have a lot to learn there

eli [a winged tale]

One of the reasons I embarked on the webcomic journey is to push myself to improve not only storytelling but also utilizing art to create a reader experience that would be difficult to replicate with just words. I’d like to think that 9 months into making A Winged Tale, I’ve improved on deciding when is a good opportunity to invest more into backgrounds vs character dynamics and when should be focused more on sequences of panels and composition. While the comic is written in a four panel format, more and more I’m finding areas where the story could be told by breaking those rules (attached pic). It’s a balance and I hope going forward I will improve more in pushing the limits of panels and find ways to express the story in fun and interesting ways.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Wow that's a very good description @eli [a winged tale] I look forward to reading more of your story journey

eli [a winged tale]

Thanks so much Joichi! I’m eager to keep learning~

Capitania do Azar

I'm gonna go with planning and actually getting it done. I'm so much faster because now the process is much more streamlined to me

kayotics

My whole comic was started s an exercise to just get better at comics generally so I’d probably say every part I’ve improved at? The biggest things are probably colors and the upfront planning process

Phin (Heirs of the Veil)

Ooof hard question. I think my main improvement lies with page and speechballoon layouts and writing natural feeling dialouge. I'd say maybe also character acting?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I'm slowly learning how to create more engaging comic narrative. I read and research in the polished prem webcomics to see what makes them engaging? Like I'm going to challenge myself by creating a series of short stories with a reoccurring set of characters. Every new comic series I create is an experience, trial and error. Sometimes I skip the writeup and just go in blind, trust my own instincts. I'm glad to reach out and talk about it than in my own head. I hope by this year, I'll have at least 2 chapters of Hybrid Dolls out.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I've definitely gotten better at planning/ outlining multiple chapters ahead of time. I did not even do this when I was doing the first 10 something chapters. (I did attempt an outline before I began the comic, but the story changed significantly from the outline by the time I started the comic, and I did not try to do it again for a long while.) I can't remember when I started, but I do recall having a lot of trouble the first time I tried to do it. It's gotten a little easier each time, though. In fact, I just spent the past few days outlining the next few very important chapters, de-tangling some big tangles. I'm really glad my outlining (and overall writing) skills had leveled up, because HOO boy, I don't think my 2014-2015 self could have done this!

I also became friends with enviros. I had already become somewhat comfortable drawing perspective when HoK started, but I had a sort of mechanical approach to it, like "oh I need some enviro for these establishing shots, guess I'll draw them." But now I LOVE drawing enviros! (some types anyway...) It's my comfort activity, something I treat myself to after a long day! In the thumbnails for my next few pages, there's a few enviro-heavy panels that I have to remove, because I drew too many of them (and the pacing got too slow as a result). I have to stop myself from drawing too many of these.

My biggest improvement is probably I've come to understand my characters and my themes much better, but that's more of a "I got better at making HoK" than a "I got better at making comics." There's definitely a difference between the two.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) ah I totally understand I tried the outline method before I start but my story changed alot after I drew it. So it start to feel like a waste of time for me, but I'll still write an outline to make sure to plan where my story heads(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah! I needed to draw those first few chapters to understand the direction of my own story.

The drawing part is an essential part of self-reflection, to try to understand what it is that I want out of the story. The answer has always been there in my heart, but I'm not able to see it clearly from the get-go.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I end up breaking scenes and put them in for future episodes, since I want to get a certain flow in the story.

It could be tricky to see what it is you want out of the story until you are in at least 3 chapters in?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I needed way more than 3 chapters -- though granted, my chapters are short, so that could be a part of it

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I see the early first script as testing the water. like a test to figure out the characters personalities. Unless you are bringing in old characters which you knew before?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Even if the characters have been with you for a while, unless I have made a comic with them, there is a big chance that the characters will completely change, too.

DanitheCarutor

You know, I was thinking about about this, mostly about how I wouldn't have been happy if I was able to finish my comic the day I started. Then I realized I'm happy that I didn't. The first chapter wasn't the best, I was just learning how to coloring a comic, still fleshing out my characters and was still brainstorming small kinks in the story. I also still didn't have as much of an understanding of perspective, or panel and bubble layout. Even though I still have a lot I need to work on, I've gotten a lot better in all those aspects. Even though my use of color is weird, I've definitely gotten much more confident in it, enough so that I experiment and take a lot more risks with style. Even though my panelling can be boring, I have a much better understanding of how I want a page to look. I've improved a lot with my planning as well, like even though my thumbnailing/storyboarding only takes maybe 30, I've learned to step away for a bit if I don't like a layout, or analyzing why I don't like it and brainstorming ways to make it better. If I had magically finished the comic all at once, it would look really bad and may have been less readable.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

That is inspiring to hear about your improvement @DanitheCarutor

Natsu-no-Hikari

Chiming in! Just this week, Miko (my co-creator) and I were discussing how far we've come from when we started our first comic (https://liarsgotoparadise.com/) vs. where we are now. I think there have been a lot of learn experiences, such as art, dialogue, general editing - but especially with pacing and character interaction. We regret that we didn't stop to focus more on that interaction, as we wanted to move ahead in the story...and now we can't change that, except to start now and not allow ourselves to grow impatient. Take our time and enjoy the journey - that's our new motto. There's a time to rush ahead in perilous moments, but there's also definitely a time to catch our breaths and let the characters mingle and speak. It's an improvement that will become more noticeable going forward in Liars and our second comic as well.