Anyone who switched from traditional to digital comics?

[cookieroach]

I currently do my pages traditionally (sketching + inking), but I'm soon running out of paper again which made me think about the pros and cons of switching over to making the pages completely digitally. I'm worried about if it's a good idea or not, so I'd like to hear if someone made the switch and how did it work out for you? I'm mainly worried about being glued to a screen all day (my day job is also just looking at a screen), making my eyes tired and destroying my eyesight even more

And also, did anyone make the opposite switch, from digital to traditional?

[sorible]

It was kind of gradual for me. I used up whole sketchbooks for sketching and inked digitally, and then started practicing doing it all digital. it was a bit hard to get used to. I always thought it looked so much better when I drew it traditionally, but I eventually preferred it since you can adjust the sketch/lineart easily.

If you're worried about staring at screens too much, you can get blue light glasses to help with eye aches and set alarms to take breaks every once in a while. There's also some stretches and eye exercises you can do in between working. Other than that, there isn't really a lot else I can recommend.

[cookieroach]

Yeah sketching digitally is also what holds me back, maybe its good to take it gradually as you said. Maybe make a couple of pages digitally and see how it feels like. I do like making illustration digitally though, and it's so much easier to edit stuff.

It would be nice to be able to work in higher resolution as well. Thanks for your input!

[Bokyongyo]

I'm half and half but when I started I was fully traditional, even with coloring in greyscale.

Now I sketch and ink line art in traditional and then clean up everything while adding certain things in digital.

So yeah, I'd say my process is split 50/50 evenly.
Only reason why I started focusing more on digital was because it makes my art just look more presentable after cleaning up everything. However I could see myself moving to going straight digital, it would just have to be a slow transition overtime.

[cookieroach]

This sounds pretty similar to what I'm doing. Sketch + ink traditionally and then editing/greyscales digitally. I started out making the greyscales traditionally as well but it just looked messy, digital is just better for flat colors!

[Dialusion]

I flip between the two regularly but I started traditionally. The shift took a bit since it's essentially learning a new skillset, but using a tablet with a screen that I can draw on compared to a tablet without one was the tool I needed. To practice, I would draw traditionally, scan/take a photo of the drawing, change opacity and draw over it till I got comfortable. Started the shift in 2018 and worked on it on and off each year. It wasn't until this year where I dropped the entire traditional stage and could complete a drawing from start to finish digitally (and be happy with it). It's a huge time (and money) saver.

I stare at a screen all day too, but regular exercise and time to just step away helps out (plus blue light filters on my glasses are a huge bonus). I'd say do whatever is best for your health and your eyes. But both have their perks. Keeping a traditional skill set in use is never a bad thing, but it's also good to expand your abilities. The cost of paper is a problem, but paper much cheaper than eye accommodations.

[Llyrel]

I did the switch from traditional to digital with my comic. Truth to be told, I was already mixing the two techniques starting from the very first page... then my markers started to die on me, the pandemic made it incredibly hard for me to find supplies and I decided to make the full switch to digital

I also used to prefer sketching things traditionally, and I still do my thumbnails that way sometimes. I found that working with a screen tablet (an iPad Pro in my case) made the transition from traditional to digital much easier. But yep, my eyes are definitely suffering a lot for this @sorible gave you a couple of very good suggestions there. One thing I like to do is to search on Youtube for some "pomodoro session" videos and play them while I'm working, so I can be reminded to take a pause after roughly 25 minutes

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

I'm a staunch traditionalist, though I dabbled in digital for a while, some years ago. When the tablet I was using gave out, though, I didn't bother to replace it and go back to digital. That said, I still have a lot of feelings and conflicts about this topic myself.

I draw my comic by hand, and fully color it in markers. I like to think I'm pretty good at it (I get a lot of 'holy shit, that's MARKER?'), and I don't see very many people doing full marker work, so I like to tell myself that it makes me stand out, that it makes my art different from the sea of digital work out there...

...but it doesn't stop the doubt that maybe I should be doing digital. Like maybe the markers are holding me back, somehow. Because there are things that markers can't do very well, but my usual response to such limitations has always been "well, I'll find a way". And that has served me well so far-- I can do things with markers that seem improbable because I'm stubborn and inventive. But despite my efforts, they have limitations. Not the least of which is simply trying to get the colors to transfer from page to scanner to screen relatively accurately. I don't even want to contemplate the hell of printing yet. Add in the concern of acquiring (expensive, and potentially out-of-stock) supplies, and... yeah. It hasn't been a huge problem so far, but only because I'm creative and have a LOT of markers. (I STILL haven't been able to get a refill of YG13. It has been nearly a year.)

I also don't enjoy the idea of having to start at the bottom of one learning curve (digital) when I'm currently near the top of another (markers). It will take me years to get comfortable with it, figure out all of the tricks and settings and tools that digital artists seem to use, and get my art back up to a point where I feel like I'm confident with what I'm doing. The confidence hit... isn't one I'm excited to take.

I don't WANT to move to digital. It would feel like giving up, conceding defeat, and being 'like everyone else'. But I sort of can't shake the fear that my art won't ever be as good as it could be, won't be seen or taken seriously, or liked as widely, if I don't.

[afuji]

I used to draw and scan my comics. It was fun to make it all on traditional paper but correcting my lines back then with whiteout and white paint was so time consuming! I'm amazed I even took that much time to do all that...

Went to half digital when I got more comfortable with SAI. I say half, because I used the program to digitally color/add screentone. I think I went fully digital a few years after that!

It is nice to see the finished comic on actual paper though
I often look back at my stack of comic pages and it's fun to see the differences and progress I made.

[FafasMcMelt]

I made a comic from start to finish traditionally, only to then edit it on photoshop afterwards because a used an awful scanner to scan it. I moved to digital art, honestly because I feel it's easier to get better results, despite the absolute lack of eye-hand coordination.

[Shanny8]

Made the switch like 6 yrs ago- had a peer who posted a commission for me and the digital inks looked so smooth, it made me go out and get CSP...I had originally bought my Wacom tablet to solely color, but I found myself messing around with Clip Studio until I got confident enough to give it a try in making my webcomic.

I still jump into my sketchbooks and scribble stuff traditionally, though.

While I like the aspect of "not wasting paper", there is the other issue of amassing a ton of digital files to save somewhere. I dont trust the cloud enough(only for the purpose of transferring files mostly- things get hacked or crash) so I stick to backup external drives.

I have an iPad but still trying to get used to working on that small of an area(10 inch); I currently retired the Wacom tablet for a Huion 22" screened tablet.

[cookieroach]

Thanks everyone for replying! It's so interesting to hear how people switched over to digitally, and it seems like it takes some time to make the switch and to find what works for you! Sometimes I get the impression that it's so easy for others and I'm struggling by myself

@Dialusion I guess I'm a bit impatient, I've made a total of two pages digitally and was a little bummed out it took me longer than traditionally xD Kinda good to hear that it takes time to get used to it. Yep, health has to come first, because without eyes, no comics

@Llyrel Yeah I started using an ipad a couple of months ago, it's the first time I've actually enjoyed drawing digitally somewhat! I used a non-screen tablet before and couldnt get into it at all... Yes taking pauses is so important, really good suggestion!

@Scarlet_Cryptid I really feel the same way about maybe I "should" be working digitally, because it feels like everyone else is doing it. I really think traditional has its charm, and for me digital lineart doesn't have the same feel as digital. A lot of what you wrote resonates a lot with me.

@afuji Yeahh I love my stack of pages as well xD argh there's just so many pros and cons to each that it's hard to decide what to do...

@FafasMcMelt yes digital is just so much cleaner, I also do editing digitally, I can't imagine doing for example lettering by hand

@Shanny8 Yes organizing digital files is really hard for me, it always turns into a mess. I use an iPad as well and was actually surprised how nice it is to use, especially the pencil. I haven't used other screen tablets though, so can't really compare

[Shanny8]

Yeah since I dont believe in using Apple's iCloud, I use a [monthly paid] Dropbox account where I transfer stuff back & forth between my laptop and my iPad. Havent been doing much art lately(coz my day job work has went through the roof and I've been trying to nurse my injured arms/hands and my stress/anxiety/sanity)...I probably also need to take a LOOOONG break from playing Animal Crossing.

I really dig working in digital coz I can just take it with me- whether I work on my laptop with a USB stick or work on my iPad. Now that I have the Huion tablet, cant take the laptop around conveniently anymore...which is cool coz I need to get used to working on my iPad.

[MudKipper]

Yeah, I switched to digital. Want proof? Check my comics lol

[MudKipper]

Or just check my art lol (not that u need proof lol)

[Iris-Grimoire]

I used to sketch pages traditionally since my sketches are a little better when I'm hands on with the final result (graphics tablet+tendinitis introduces some stiffness), but my scanner is absolutely garbage and camera pictures didn't work too well; so I switched to digital entirely.

Unfortunately, eyesight destruction might happen either way since it's naturally going to be a long time looking at the screen, just gotta make sure you're at a healthy distance and adjusting the screen light to something that's not straining.