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

[genjiOtori]

"when we were your age we'd go back from work and do everything at home that needs to be done, sleep less etc"

Sleep less is probably the most horrible advice anyone can give. How are you supposed to function properly if you don't sleep enough? You get a proper meal when you're hungry. You take a break when you're weak from physical labor. Why shouldn't you give your brain a break when it's tired from being used?

Gets me angry every time I read something like this °^° You're actually more efficient and get more work done when you get 8 hours of sleep. Period.

[villainesayre]

@teagirlvn I've only opened this kind of business since there was none of that kind in my small city. Everyone at the beginning told me that I won't last long because there's no demand for that. After more than a year I can tell that a demand is very high and that's why I'm overloaded with work. I still don't earn enough to hire someone else to help me, so I'm struggling alone heh. I have rather new tech and I've been working in photoshop for more than 11 years now so I'm quite efficient when it comes to digital work. It's just that I'm simply overwhelmed with work!

At the beginning I was bringing work to home with me and that's where I stopped drawing comics or even single panels. Now I don't do that but I still lack the time to draw...

@genjiOtori Hope my parents would understand that... I sleep around 6 hours during workdays and at Friday night when I'm totally exhausted I could sleep for the entire month - on Saturday morning my mom usually turns on the radio really REALLY loud in order to wake me up around 9am (I'd often sleep till dinner, that's how exhausted I am).

[anitacomics]

Take your time then, making comics is exhausting and takes SO MUCH time. You'll realize it...and you'll still love it.

[MGComics]

Oh I was just commenting how I would treat myself ... better than you guys at least? lol I will definitely listen to your advice! I think that is very valuable <3

Thank you for your insight. Lol It matters what you do. I'm lazy by nature too but here we are, working so hard so we can create this. So yeah, I still think you're hard working specially when you have to do sacrifice to do what you love and maybe leave a legacy behind

[Houndstooth]

I work on batches of 2-4 pages at once so it's hard to tell exactly how much I'd get done per day. I generally manage to do one page of inks, or one of flat colours, or three of shading if I get on with it when i get home.

I'm at work 8:30am-5:30pm every day except weekends, so when i get home on a GOOD day I'll be non-stop drawing from 6pm-11:30pm (I don't eat dinner)
On a bad day (ie. it's been a long day and I'm exhausted) I'll generally work from 8:30pm-11pm.

Weekends I tend to reserve for sorting out stuff I've let build up over the week - I'll prioritise laundry, cleaning, etc. I rarely work on comics over the weekend to be honest, I spend that free time working on other projects - I make fursuits so I'll have a day on that rather than the comic.

But I'm fairly lucky in that I don't have a social life, I don't go out, it takes very little time to get to/from work, and I have very little to do with myself other than draw so I can just sit down and go for it when I get home.

[teagirlvn]

Haha your life is almost exactly like mine, except I'm still living with my mom and she don't force me to do housework, since I'm making money with my drawing at home too, so I have around 4 to 5 hours per night. You are right, I should just keep going without worrying about the speed, it's my first time doing comic so there's a lot of thing I should learn by doing it slow first.

[teagirlvn]

You are totally right but I'm afraid I can not fully follow it, I mean, my ideal life should be exactly the same as you said, I understand what good and what not at the point, but the urge wanting to finish a piece of drawing don't let me go to sleep in time, although I know for sure that I will regret it tomorow, the force is just too strong sometime, haha, I think most of the creator here can understand that, but then again, you are totally right, I really should learn to control myself for a healthy life.

[teagirlvn]

Yeah I realized my speed is quite slow compare to everyone in this thread, that "take my whole night" panel is only a small one with one character and simple background, I figured out the reason why I was that slow because I'm not used to drawing natural gesture, expression, I mean, I only draw single-image artwork up until now, the character is always cool and has some kind of unrealistic dynamic pose, but the way to express a character in a comic is very diffrent, way more diffcult, a lot of thing need to take in account, just a very "normal" pose took me a lot of time to make it feel right, because I have never really draw any normal pose, and dealing with expression that much before.. I really should to learn those thing first before worrying about the speed, thanks.

[ratique]

Full time job-human here!

How many panels I can draw really depends on the artwork, and drawing is only half the battle - writing and coloring also take up a lot of time. I would average it at about 5 panels if I can work for a couple hours after coming home from work, feeding the dogs and myself.

And no, I don't have other hobbies. I stay away from games purposefully, even from books (unless I can listen to them), or TV shows that require my full attention. I keep my weekends and vacations empty in order to draw. If friends visit, we usually draw together.

This may sound awful for many, but I enjoy drawing. It is a hobby and relaxing to me. If this isn't the case for you, a huge project like a webcomic can quickly turn into a burden. And I also can get tired of it.

Depending on how dedicated you are, you will either work through it or take a break (maybe even give up on it). And that's fine - you are here because you want to anyways.

[teagirlvn]

Man, you only sleep 3-4h a day, are you even human ? I know it possible, but totally not good at all, take more care of yourslef.

I live in the biggest city in my country, but I rarely go outside, there're a lot of places to play here, but I dont want to, I have no interest in those places, it's not like I bored of them, because there are places I have never go in even once, bar, pub, KTV, bowling, billards.. etc... When I hang out with my bestfriend, we only watch movies together, sometime at home, sometime at a cinema, or just sit in a coffee shop, look at the street and talk about stuffs, checking internet news, I feel happy enough just like that, so I guess where is not really that matter, but who is it beside you is the main point of a fullfil life.

I agree with you uni is way easier, I was just talking about the timing, but sure, we can not compare real burdens on our shoulder with those easy homeworks and assignments, I'm working now but still living with my family so yeah, I have no right to talk about those at all.

Your comic is really good, I like the art a lot and I can feel how much effort you put on it, as I thought, animators people are all monster..

Quality or quantity is a really hard choice, but after reading everyone comments, I think I will focus on Quality to learn more about making comic first, quantity can come later.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, I learned a lot from it.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Well if you have a major urge its important to indulge it for your well being. Life isn't meant to be practical, its meant to be experienced for you personally. I guess that means you need to prioritize art and work really high. Its also healthy to see friends and family. So it sounds like everything else is probably neglegible, health and sleep aside.

For me art doubles as my entertainment so I dont watch much tv and haven't done any gaming. Ive seen artists stretch themselves too thin with hobbies. Variety is good but it needs to be purposeful.

There's no right way to do it. Embrace and prioritize what what you love and need. Build your own perfect life

[teagirlvn]

Thanks for the technique, I normally sit still for 3-4 hours straight, without even drinking, I was focus but not that productive. I tried the technique yesterday, short breaks does help a lot, I set-up the clock to pull me out of focus after 30minutes. go drink water, do some stretching and when I come back and look at the page again, everything become more clear, I can see what I should do next instead of keep going too far into details, my body feel less stiff as well, who know such simple change can make that much diffrent.

[teagirlvn]

@teagirlvn Do you post your process somewhere?

No, I got this advice from someone: "never post any sketch, wip if you want to stay motive", and I think it's true, whenever I post a sketch, or a half-done drawing, the urge to to finish it faded away, because people already see it, when I finish and post the complete version, it's not really something new anymore, so I don't usually post any sketches or wip, even for single-image artwork on my Deviant Art, unless I already given up on them

[TGping]

Awesome! eventually you'll get into a rythm, and you'll focus up real quick. I personally do 20 min intervals with 5 min breaks. Four 20 minute sessions is my personal pomodoro. Any longer and I zone out, you know draw the same line over and over.

[ahkwardkat]

The trick is to grab 10 to 20 minute power naps when you get a chance. I do it based on how I feel. Some nights I might go to bed earlier if I feel I really need it.

I do not have any in person friends. The last time I went out with a friend was August and that was to a bar beause they convinced me I needed a night off. My family is very muvh against what I do and so I have nobody except the internet beside me. Nobody IRL is supportive of me.

Thank you! Aha yeah, Animators tend to be a bit more hardy than the average bear. XD all are insane people. I do think that quality matters, so that is why you focus on what level ypu cam acheive and how long it tskes you to finish a page to that level. If I do it right i can to 2 to 3 pages a week, but I post one or two a time. That way I maintain or grow my buffer. (Except for hiatus times like now OTL )

However, mental and physical health is needed most. Do not neglect yourself! I am on hiatus for physical and mental rest. So take caution when looking at your own schedule. Do not risk making you sick. A burnout mwntally or sickness can make it hard to return to comics.

[deltastic]

Yeah, exactly!! Go easy on yourself. It's good to get a baseline and compare to others, but also the only thing you need to concern yourself with is what works for you. Even if you start out slow, with practice you will get faster, trust me! All the best!

[BraniAndNess]

It is a struggle! I have a 9-5 studio job and for now the most I can manage is one page a week... One page a week isn't a lot, I've been wanting to upgrade to 2 pages a week for a long time but I'm afraid of burning myself out and I don't think I'm able to do it right now, sadly! However, I post the new page religiously every Monday morning and haven't missed a single one since I started!

I usually make the thumbnail on Monday, Sketch the page Tuesday through Thursday, start inking on Friday, and then I spend the whole day Saturday finishing the inking, watercoloring, toning in Photoshop and lettering. Sunday I recuperate, do chores and cooking for the week, go out or hang out relaxing with my boyfriend. It's a pretty tight schedule! I can miss one day if I have an event or something, but I have to make up for it the next day... I draw about 2-3 hours on a weekday, and use the rest of my evening to eat, relax or watch shows. It's needed or I'll go insane haha...

[kyupol]

anywhere from 0-2. I do more when I get a long weekend. Which is only during holidays every month or every other. Cuz I work 6 day workweeks... 45-55 hours a week...

[PaulDevers]

Okay, I may be cheating a little, as my comic's black and white and super simple, but I can sometimes squeeze out the entire strip in a few hours! I've been meaning to upgrade to two strips a week, and I sometimes do do two strips anyway if one's has a backgound that's too copy-paste-y for my liking. But I'm also starting to draw a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, significantly more elaborate comic to run at the same time. And that is usually like... 1-3 panels a week right now. Not posting it yet, though. Want to get more done first.
I've been kinding of abandoning things like idle time, mostly because I like to draw and that's already my idle time. I got DnD every Thursday, and now I'm DM, so all my time is divided between college, work, DnD, and my comics! I don't get much sleep ha ha.

[Divine-Angel]

I work a full time job too.

Schedule:
I do keep a stable update schedule. I upload on Saturdays, but have no specific time in case I'm running late with the update.

Free time:
Hmmm..... well, I do have 1 day off a week to do whatever I need to without worrying about finishing pages.. Even my family tells me "No Drawing!!" on that day. lol.

Content:
I usually spend 25-30+ hours drawing a week. Per panel, I'm not too sure of, since I go by pages. (My comic is the Long type of comic layout) Everyday I would try to finish 4-6 pages. I have also been going back and forth with how my steps are done, so sometimes I would complete all the steps for 4-6 pages, or I would make the outlines for 6-9 pages each day and color it all in on Fridays.

Creating comics takes a lot of determination, researching, writting, and LOVE. If you don't love it, you won't be motivated to do it. At least that's what I think.