Any other comic creators work in Adobe Illustrator / Affinity Designer / Vector format only? Let's see!

[CMYKat]

Just wondering! I'm still fine-tuning my work flow - so far I sketch in Procreate and do everything else in Adobe Illustrator, but I may be investing in CSP for my iPad to do my panelling, thumbnails and sketches in instead, for the additional resources. I'm literally just curious as I've been talking about it a lot lately (and I'm tired of being told I'm doing it the hard way it's my work-around for dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD).

My finished work can be seen in my comic itself:

Peculiar Threads | Tapas

[Kaydreamer]

I don't use a vector program, but you're not alone as an ADHD-er using a less-than-ideal program to create their comic because it's what you're used to. I persist with using Procreate for my whole comic because of how much I love and am used to the program.

I have to say, the art in your comic is gorgeous, and the fact you're using an unusual program makes it look really unique! I've not run across too many vector-style comics; certainly none with that level of detail.

Blue Star Rebellion | Tapas

[CMYKat]

mmkay, 2 things:

1) HECK thank you ;0; That's kind of you to say!

2) holy damn i'm instantly in love with your artwork and Blue Star rebellion's premise. Promise I'm not sucking up! I'm terrible at being an active subscriber and for that I do apologize, but I'll do my best cuz it looks pretty wicked.

[ApplesOverIndia]

I am a write and 100% not an artist, but I use both Photoshop and Illustrator for work and have learned that on the rare occasions I do have to draw something, my brain only works with Illustrator. I can't just draw the line and have it work - I have to go in and adjust the curves and all that. Your art is gorgeous, and it actually makes me think maybe I could possibly make semi-decent art using Illustrator, because it certainly isn't going to happen with any of the "normal" programs. I don't think I've seen vector art like that before, and I love it. Please ignore anyone telling you it's the "hard way" - it's gorgeous.

[CMYKat]

This is crazy-kind of you to say! ;w; Thank you so much! I really hope you take the plunge if you feel you can make Illustrator sing. It is a very capable program and as you've mentioned, it's fun and helpful to have so much control over a line even once it's on the page.

I'm trying to find more ways to record my illustration process for TikTok and Instagram, and also to help folks have some appreciation for how the program works. I either get "wow you're setting yourself up for failure with illustrator since I personally hate it so much" OR I get "pfft oh yeah, veeeectors, the 'fake' way to draw" xD Assuming people are thinking about functions like Image Trace, which I don't use.

For me it helps to think of vector-rendering as making paper art, where the art is built up upon using different shapes. I also use strokes as shapes rather than as an outline - I find otherwise artwork looks a bit colouring-bookish.

Just some food for thought for some questions you didn't ask! Again, if you ever decide to try making some art in a vector program, best of luck to you!

[rajillustration]

Ah, it's been so long since I've seen someone appreciate Illustrator! Ever since they were no longer part of the Adobe package when it went digital most people I know stick to Photoshop. I miss making little pins on it though (I used to do laser engraving with it, so I do have fond memories of the program, back when I used CS3 haha)

You got really lovely stuff! I think it's good to use the program that you are most confident in. Like I don't use clip, I use photoshop over it because that's just where my brain is most of the time. Overall it's about what is the fastest for you, and not what is the fastest for someone else. Like I used to make a painterly comic for the longest time because I wasn't comfortable with lineart in any way. I've since switched over to more traditional linework, but I wouldn't have switched over at all if I didn't have fun with painterly stuff first, although it wasn't as efficient.

[ApplesOverIndia]

Yes! That control over things once they're drawn is so important. It just meshes with how my brain functions 10 times better than Photoshop or other things. It frustrates me when people have such hate for Illustrator - it's definitely a different way of thinking than traditional art, but that doesn't make it bad. I like the connection to stacking paper shapes - I can definitely see that in your art.

What's your Instagram? I'd love to see some progress videos to get a better idea of how you do things. I tried to draw a person from scratch in it once and definitely got the coloring book look, but the way you're doing it is completely different.

[OffBased]

I don’t use a vector program anymore for drawing (and even then it’s not really suitable for making comics) but I used to way back when I first got a tablet. It’s called Mischief. You can zoom in and out on an infinite canvas—it was pretty cool!
I use Inkscape just to make logos. My watermark was made that way, and for now I think that’s all I’ll use it for.

Your comic is gorgeous in that style by the way and I’d love to read more of it! Seconding Apples in wanting to see your process and Insta

[kitschensyngk]

When I started making comics, I was fresh out of college, unemployed, and didn't have the money to shell out for Adobe Illustrator. Luckily, I found Inkscape, an open-source vector program that was free to download, and I've been using it ever since. I like being able to make small adjustments to nodes and paths to get the art just right.

Aside from comics, I've also used it for graphic design, abstract experimentation, and general fiddling about.

Nachos Con Carne | Tapas

Words. | Tapas

[CMYKat]

Thanks so much again!

In response to you and @OffBased, my instagram is LynxVSJackalope, and my TikTok is CMYKatGraphics (it's pretty bare). I have a few vids to convert and then will hopefully be uploading stuff later this week. I have shared some process shots on Instagram in my earlier posts.

[CMYKat]

That's wicked that you've made Inkscape work so well with this method of story telling! Your work looks great! I'm terrible at Inkscape so far but since I'm really not looking forward to upgrading to CC (I'm still using CS6 cuz my equipment is like 10 years old but its gonna fail on me eventually), I am trying to learn freeware stuff. Have you found any good tutorials or anything or did you mostly figure it out by playing around on your own?

[kitschensyngk]

There are tutorials out there (inkscape.org and YouTube are good places to start), but mostly I just played around with it to see what I could do.

When I first started out, I was using Inkscape along with a very old version of Photoshop to arrange panels and background art, but over time I learned clipping, masking, and how to do image effects on Inkscape and also traded my mouse for a Bamboo drawing tablet, and now I do almost all of the work on Inkscape.

Of course, there are certain things like abstract backgrounds and certain patterns where I need a program like Photoshop. I use GIMP and Krita to make those, and then import them into Inkscape.

[StoneGuardian]

I use adobe illustrator for 95% of my comic! I've done some backgrounds in Photoshop and some in a 3D modeling program but otherwise everything is in illustrator from thumbnailing to the final page

I personally find it so much faster for a comic and I always feel really slow going back to photoshop to do work. My sister is the opposite and she really struggles to work in illustrator, so I can understand that people find it un-intuitive when coming from other drawing software. But I love how much you can alter everything once its drawn and how easy it is to create assets!

@CMYKat Your work is so lovely and it definitely looks fantastic in that classic illustrator made style!

This first page of mine is a good example of mixing the 3D modeled backgrounds with illustrator drawings, I mostly model backgrounds when I'm struggling with perspective! But I'm definitely getting the hang of things more and more as I go

Here's my comic if you wanna see more examples https://tapas.io/series/Oh-My-Frog/info

[Kaydreamer]

Aww, thanks so much! I'm delighted you like it! Don't stress about being active, I'm just glad people are enjoying it and reading it. Everything else is just cherries on top. I hope you like what's in store!

[CMYKat]

Your work is gorgeous!! Love the feel it creates in your comic as well - definitely looking forward to seeing more!!

If you don't mind me asking, what 3D modeller do you use? I'm realizing it's not cheating to use those as a resource, because meanwhile I'm struuuugglin to get anywhere with backgrounds quickly. I just don't have time to take an entire class each time a scene shifts - and that's okay xD

[Lady_T_Musings]

I don't believe in there being a wrong way when it comes to the medium you decide to make your comic in.

Your comic is gorgeous and it's awesome that you found a way to create that works for you. I do pretty much my whole comic MagicalMashup! in Procreate too, much like @Kaydreamer. I used to work in Clip Studio, but I didn't like the mobile layout or subscription model for the iPad version.

Procreate is such a convenient program and I love the mobility of my iPad so instead of working over a multitude of programs and transferring files all over the place, I stick to one for the most part. I use Affinity though whenever I need to make a logo or something for branding. I'll also use it for text, but ever since text features got added to Procreate, I'm more on board with doing almost all of the comic in Procreate now. I do love Affinity designer though, but learning how to manipulate lines again is a bit different than Adobe Illustrator, but it's possible, just takes a lot of experimenting. Also, colors are easier to keep track of in illustrator than in Affinity, but it's possible, still learning on that front.

[StoneGuardian]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it!!

I use a program called Autodesk Maya, it's free for students but otherwise very expensive unfortunately. I definitely think its great to try modeled backgrounds if you can being able to make one scene and then move the camera around for as many background shots as I need has been hugely time saving - even the paid creators do this!

I think you can get a free online version of Sketch up (I've never tried it) which I think is the more the style of modeling that the premium comic creators use (not entirely sure xP). There's also Blender which I haven't used but the modeling style is more similar to the one in my comic and it's free too.

This is an example of my 3D modeled scene in Maya, and then I added the sky and foreground in Illustrator

[CMYKat]

daaaaahaaahaamn i wasn't expecting that xD I was picturing like $50-$75 a month for some reason. But, having looked into some of its uses I can ABSOLUTELY see why, it's like studio-quality! I've heard of Blender and started looking into it shortly before I had to cancel my Skillshare subscription, so, I guess I'll make some time to learn! Thanks for passing all of this on!

[StoneGuardian]

No problem! I hope you find something that works for you