Creator with day job, how many panel can you draw a day?

[teagirlvn]

Do you keep a stable update schedule for your comic ?
Do you have time to do anything else ? Dating, drinking, gaming ?
I spend the whole last night to draw a single panel... and start thinking may be my drawing speed is a bit slow, wonder how is everyone doing ?

[globetrottingfox]

Hi, I go to uni is it still valid?
It usually takes me between 1-2h per image to draw yet I do very simplistic panels
I think the right time is to not stress out about "how much it takes to you" as long as you can keep updating regularily!
I usually spread the work across few days in order to avoid losing sleep!
Hope that helps

[rd_inks]

I can get it all done in about 4-5 days working around 30 hrs a week. Though I'm dropping this down soon.

On the days I work, I normally get back and have about 2-3 hours spare every night which is enough to get each stage done (layouts, dialogue, pencils, inks, cleanup, post)

[Wumbl]

I work like 8+ hours on work days, come home and work a couple of hours. Normally that's enough to get one page done, or most of a page.
I don't do it panel by panel, though. I do the whole page in one. That means I do all the lineart in one go, all the colouring and then all the shades.

[villainesayre]

Since I've started my own business I work more than 8 hours a day, usually at weekends too - I'm so exhausted after work that I even stopped drawing sketches and illustrations, not even thinking about drawing comics. So recently I don't draw at all, after work there's dinner (in the evening) and sleep or just playing some games/reading books to release stress.

I wish I could go back to working on comics on a daily basis or just have the energy to draw/write/create. I have one advice for people in a situation like mine: even if you don't have enough time to create actual artworks/comics - think about it constantly, create in your head, browse through pictures, see other artist works etc. When commuting you can browse through tumblr/twitter and still learn from works posted there.

Finally answering the question in the topic: when I was working on my comic Names (which you can find on tapastic of course) I was studying and working part time. I was doing a whole colour page in one day (I had one day off from school and work). So that means I drew about 4/6/8 panels in one day, starting with a sketch, followed by lineart, colouring, adding effects, speech bubbles, text etc. Each week it took me about 10-14 hours to finish a page while livestreaming and doing basic home chores.

Please take into consideration that one can overuse their hands while working so much, as I did while I was working on my diploma (visual identification and a 48 page comic), working as graphic designer and drawing a comic as a hobby. I'm now struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome and I'm far from drawing on a daily basis as I used to...

Sorry for a long post, I usually don't have much possibility to write in English so I use every post to not get rusty with it ;u;

[MGComics]

So, even If I haven't published (well, only my 1rst chapter) I have been doing 1 page or 2 pages a week. I do try to have a fixed schedule, though saturdays are the only exception:

5:00-6:30 AM - Get up, shower, do house chores like washing dishes and preparing clothes
6:30-9:00 - Work on Comics
9:00 - Rest of the day, engineering school work, YouTube, freelance jobs cuz I need money

For the days I go out early from school, 7:30 pm I have a little time at nights

9:00-10:30 PM

On sundays I work on art all day long because almost nobody can interrupt that day from me.

Of course It's not perfect but I always know what I have to do any given time instead of wondering what should I do. We can do that for school and work and we cannot follow a schedule for our dream?

I have a schedule of what I'm supposed to be doing, in Google Calendar
Thanks to having a schedule and discipline, I get to out once a week with my boyfriend. ONCE.

Very rarely I go out more than that or If we do go out It's probably going to be about homework.

If I go out two I end up regretting and not sleeping well... It's not often I go out, to be honest I do enjoy It but I have ended up sacrificing friends & family a little. I think It's worth It for my specific goals in life, and because I have true friends that even If I don't go out with them often they support me and when we do see each other It's amazing

I enjoy being introverted. I do have time to read webcomics because It's fast and in my phone.

I usually only watch shows on my own when I'm burned out - which does happen when you have too much work

I love my life though so I know It sounds a weird life but yeah

I do not believe in life balance If someone wants to be great at something instead of ordinary. But I'm passionate about this topic and how to increase productivity and stuff. Sorry this was long lol

[Doubtcent]

My free time has been mostly a mix of making comics, playing online games and going to the gym. Otherwise I'm at work or going to school.

I usually spend around 3-4 hours each day drawing. Probably not great for my health, but it is my passion.

I was away from comics a while ago, and it was the worst time I've had in a while. Now I'm getting back into the thick of it with two comics under my belt. Now I just gotta remember to work out every so often to loosen up the joints and stay healthy.

[anitacomics]

eeeh, it depends on the content of the panel of course! It usually takes me around 3 hours to make the pencils for a whole page, but I do draw in a very toon way so there's not much details to take care of.

Anyway, the point isn't the speed, but the quality. It's better to spend a bit more time on the drawing than working at full speed and having a less-than-your-100% result. Been doing that for years, I achieved nothing and now I'm also ashamed of the comics I did in that period and cannot show them to anyone. Speed will come with practice

[Sanz]

i try to keep up making GodTown although last year i bit off more then i could chew with Los Esmeraldas . and had to stop i'll pick it back up eventually. this year i know my pace and what i'm doing I work 32 hours in the day and go to school. so in my free time i try to get what i can done i find i usually have a few hours after work to work on it. about 4-5 hours every other day then the no work or school on the weekends. so thats when most of my work on it gets done. although i can only update once a week it's still something. even then it's a little much. it's working for me so far. i know im slow lol and ive accepted that.

[deltastic]

It does really depend on the panel. If there's a closeup of an object or eye, could take all of 5-10 min. Something with complex backgrounds, or an expression I really want to nail, or a bunch of characters interacting, can take half hour to an hour for just the one panel. And that's just the linework, not counting all the prep and post that goes into it to be a page.

I'm leaning on my speed though, been drawing about a chapter a month of the comic I work on, give or take. I used to really care about meticulous artwork, and my pages would take 15-20 hours per each one. It was grueling, and I never felt I made any headway. I also didn't have any time to do any of those things you mention: dating, video games, eating sometimes >_> These days I take it more easy, and though pages aren't perfect, I am a lot more happy with my work/art/life balance. It's so easy to get burned out.

I have a 9-5-style day job, some days after work I'm too tired and do nothing but relax. A lot of days I can fit in 1-2 hours of art in the evening. On the weekends if I have a day free I will sometimes draw for the entire day. I can work on artwork from 9am to 10pm with only little food breaks, and bang out a good third of a chapter, or an illustration. I'm a freelancer, so besides the webcomic I also do other paid artwork and extra just-for-fun arts.

I think everyone's speed and comfort level differs, and the best thing is to find the right balance that speaks to you! Some people are slower, more detailed, methodical- and that's okay! Some people are speedier and maybe not so detailed, but that's also a viable way to comic. No matter what you do, if you're drawing, you're improving so keep at it!

[LCT_m_a_d]

I try to put out a page a month but I really don't stress about it. Since my comic isn't my fulltime job(im a programmer), Im more focused on the creative experience of developing a story as opposed to just being efficient. I also know I need to fuel it with perspective. Healthy living, hanging out with friends and family, reading, is all crucial for developing myself as a creator. I dont do much gaming or tv personally.

Sometimes we make the productivity of drawing efficiently more important than creating experiences that fulfills us. I say if you are working hard on getting deadlines done and its getting worse + you are finding less time for social life, then I suggest spend less time at the drawing desk and more time experiencing life.

Right now the rave today is all about productivity even at the expense of delivering less quality. Or just grinding away at goals and cutting out other people and everything inbetween. This never works out.

Really, being proud of the work you've done and how you've lived your life in the processes is far more satisfying than just accomplishing things.

[punkarsenic]

im in full time education, that counts.

Do you keep a stable update schedule for your comic ?

yes! i have a buffer of about half a chapter right now, which means at 2 pages posted a week im over a month ahead of schedule, and i dedicate two days a week to drawing my comic, in which i get 2-4 pages done.

Do you have time to do anything else ? Dating, drinking, gaming ?

not.... really... but i do manage to go out of a night about every other week. i have less time than day jobbers bc homework, and also i need more rest time bc of disabilities

I spend the whole last night to draw a single panel... and start thinking may be my drawing speed is a bit slow, wonder how is everyone doing ?

that does sound pretty slow, depending on the panel. obviously a sweeping landscape or intricate crowd scene is gonna take more time than a simple head shot, and it also depends how much detail youre going into / how labour intensive your style is. its best to go for a low-labour style for comics, given that it isnt a single image you can slave away over, but several of equal(ish) importance. generally, though, speed will come with time.

[Shanny8]

I just stick to the schedule of one page a week. My day job requires a lot of me some days more than others, so I've learned to temper my expectations down a bit. I try to get done as much as I can without me doing crazy stuff like staying up super late on work nights(I'll stay up late on Fridays & Saturdays, as seeing how I dont have to get up early the next morning).

I also dont put tons of energy into one panel(I work an entire page), so there's no way to gauge how much time I put into a panel. Collectively, between rough pencils, backgrounds, and tightened roughs I usually put about 12 hrs-1 day into a page. My pencils arent the tightest, nicest looking art- coz I know I can clean it all up during the inking process...

With me working a day job, my time is split between the day job, working on my comic, trying to have relax/social time, and sleep. I dont have all day to put a lot of energy into a single panel.

[teagirlvn]

Yeah Uni is even more terrible than day job I must say, all those endless homeworks, assignments are nightmare, I'm glad I already graduated. You are right, avoiding losing sleep may be the key, I often feel too tired to start drawing after work, or can not focus at all. Thanks for the advice !

[teagirlvn]

Each page a day is really fast for a coloring page I must say, my comic is in webcomic style, the longgggg page type, I'm not sure how long should a page be, so I normally just rough-sketch the whole chatper out, split it by scene, then start working on panel by panel, this is my first time making comic so I don't really know how the work flow should be..

[jiany0u]

It takes me 3 hours to draw a panel, so I can draw on average a panel each day after coming home from my 9-5 before going to bed. I then upload Wednesday or Thursday and take the next day off from drawing.

But actually I don't draw a panel per day, I do a step each day instead. So I do sketching on Saturday, pencils on Sunday, inks on Monday, etc, which averages out to 3 hours per panel and 1 page a week.

[teagirlvn]

Don't worry, I bet everyone here love long post. I was too tired to draw anything when I first started working too, school and parttime job took more time, but dealing with real responsibility make people more exhaust I guess, not to even mention it's your own business.
That is a good advice, I normally spend my mini free time between work to read or listen to something, I should use it to think about the comic, may be buy a small notebook so I can write down anything popup in my head too, thanks, that helps a lot.

[ahkwardkat]

I work between 40 and 50 hours a week as an assistant manager / cashier, so i am pretty busy. I used to have a nice large buffer, but I lost it when I got sick and then a week later had a relative die. I lost all motivation to draw and stopped for a while. Sadly my buffer is all gone, so I am on a bit of a hiatus.

I also have an animation I am working on for an internship, so that takes up a large part of my time. When i am in myA game I can finish 2 pages a week from white paper to pencils, inks, screentones and text/editing. Working traditionally is a bit slower, however I simply cannot replicate the look digitally. Though honestly I doubt I would even if I could. I sell my originals at conventions and plan to use them as rewards for future patreon and crowdfunding.

My advice is have a HUGE buffer. Even if all you have done is the inks of a whole chapter, all you need to do is the colors and text. It will save you a ton of time.

I have absolutely zero life. My schedule is the following and I stick to it religiously unless i HAVE to deviate.

430am - get up to get ready for work
530am - clock in (mon,tues, thr)
1030am - clock in (wed, fri)
3pm/4pm - clock out (depends on paperwork level)
5pm - eat dinner / clean house
6pm - start drawing (5-10min break at the top of each hour)
12-1am - bed

On weekends 7am-12/1am is ALL work only stopping to eat, stretch or use bathroom. It varies from animation to comic work. I also live in a tiny town, 800 people, so I am far away from any city, about 1hr, so there is nothing to do here. I have to be on call 24/7 as assistant manager and I usually get called in a few times a week. I just got back to whatever my normal schedule is at the time I get off work from being called in. So I never go do anything, it is an hour away at the city to do anything, too far away since I am on call. If I go up there, I usually have a good reason, like groceries or a doctor appt.

I can easily spend a whole night on a single panel, but I try not to. I am slowly getting faster. I take about 10 to 15hrs per page. It sucks though when your schedule is so unpredictable due to being called in and never knowing how much time you get. I had 57 hours last week due to call ins and barely had any time except the weekend to work. This sunday i wont have much time, called in for that day already.

In a way I can see uni as harder, but I also see outside of uni harder depending on circumstance. When you have bills to pay and a home to keep and car to drive and insurance and all those other adult rhings, it gets WAY harder. For me personally, uni was WAY easier. I was far more productive than I am now. But everyone is different.

Overall between work and animation/comics, I pull about 90-100 hours a week. However I refuse to post pages I feel bad about or incomplete, so until my buffer is built back up, i am on haitus or post irreularly. My readers are generally very forgiving, so I am happy for that.

Overall you can choose quality or quantity. It is smart to have a ton of work done before hand. Learn how fast you work and adjust your buffer to that. Understand that while you have one, things happen and buffers can be lost. Try to maintain or GROW your buffer each week if possible. ouo

[teagirlvn]

Your life sounds not weird at all to me, it's almost like mine, except HOW THE HELL CAN YOU WAKE UP SO EARLY IN THE MORNING, I need to wake up at 6:30AM everyday and I feel terrible about it, morning people are all monster...
It's great to have friends that care about you even you don't hang out with them very often, my friends are like that too, properly because they are too busy themself, lol.
Having a neat schedule sounds great, may be I'll try to make one for myself, but follow it or not must be the hardest part, haha

[TGping]

Try out the pomodoro technique, keeps me on task and focused for the small amount of time I have dedicated to drawing. Without the pomodoro technique the hours I put into drawing would be unfocused and unproductive. The extra bit of structure it gives me is exactly what I needed to speed me up.

Google pomodoro technique, and figure out how many pomodoros it takes you to do something. It takes me three to four pomodoros to do a WHOLE page 11x17 page, fully penciled. That is three to four 90 minute sessions.

Sounds like a little organization could help you out a little.

An 11x17 page broken up into scroll format:

TITANOMACHY- :: TITANOMACHY Issue 1 page 18 | Tapas