What are the shortcuts you use when making your artwork?
I myself I have this one hand pose I use several times. I can draw it without thinking and it's a neat little hand that easily makes a pose more dynamic and conveys either a "questioning" or a "nonchalant" feeling.
Nov '23
Apr '24
My characters are effectively sprites that I can copy, paste, and manipulate. Mostly in regards to the head/face.
I 3d model rooms in CSP and then convert it to lineart. I hate drawing backgrounds with a burning passion so this just means I only have to colour em.
Although sometimes I still hand draw everything anyway, it's good to still get a bit of practice in. I also don't like any of the tree or plant related models, so imma just do it myself.
(so these were completely drawn by myself)
I used to do all steps for writing a script on paper, but with time I do most pre-work in my head visualizing the finished product, I can write scripts extremely easily.
@KevinReijnders
well, you see, this is how I shade
I apply a texture of small lines to define the shadows, the I copy it twice to define volume. I usually rasterize the layers so the program goes faster.
now here's where the quick action comes in.
I have it set to apply the masks and fuse the shadow layers (I have to select this), then, it select the pixels all this layers occupy, and select the modify selection-> round up (I think that's what is called in english). then it changes my brush color to the blue I allways use for shading, then it creates another layer and fille the selection with that blue.
now all I have to do is move it belolw the lines and done!
I suppose the only "shortcut" I use is 3d modeling for backgrounds/perspective caus I hate that stuff so need to make it as easy and quick as possible for myself to not give up on my comic 
Also after Ive made a bigger establishing shot with a background I often reuse it for smaller panels, many times just blurring it a bit or even flipping it so I can reuse it as much as possible 
I set out a template file for all my pages, set to the correct dimensions and with layers already created.
Then I load and resave that as the new files and I don't have to create new layers each time, plus it makes sure my pages are all the same size.
I do the same with manuscripts for paperback publishing too.
Oof I feel that, 3D modeling is a life saver for me as well when I need to do more complex backgrounds. Also a nice excuse to fire up Blender again and do some modeling, still have a love for that stuff haha.
I have a simular thing as well! The dimensions I use are saved as a preset in my Photoshop, but the layers, text bubble templates and panel bordering is all saved in a single template file. When starting to layout a page, I copy/paste the assets from the template to the workfile.
I don't know enough about how to use art programs to have many shortcuts (but I do intend to delve deeper into it this coming winter). I have recently started using some shortcuts though, namely, reusing certain background elements.
Here is the first time I did it, though you can't really tell. When I draw a background I draw the whole thing, regardless of what will be visible in the final image. In this particular one, I drew the whole throne room, including the throne, which became blocked by the foreground characters:
So the next scene, when Darion was actually sitting in the throne, I reused it, along with the whole back wall:
Similarly, in this one, I drew the whole Great Hall in detail even though the characters in the foreground would obscure most of it:
I really liked the way those windows turned out, so I reused 'em for a following scene:
And again:
And (I'm ashamed to admit it), again:
But sometimes the easiest shortcut is to not draw a background at all. But there's more short-cuttery going on here: That wolf was reused in another scene (shown a few images above. Normally I'd never C&P a major scene element, but the wolf is frozen in mid air by magic, he literally is paralyzed, so this was the easiest and most accurate way to show that):
3D MODEL on CSP I am very bad at bodies otherwise.It shows in my comic badly through I have done my best to fix it. Also I keep any new face that I make so I don't have to draw it again. Also I will try to use blender as much as possible if it something complex.
@Aster
You just reminded me that I need to start making some models for my comic before I start doing my next chapter, thank you.
Count me in as a 3D model user! For example, I made a model of a school bus because trying to figure out the angle on all those chairs was way too annoying, lol.
I also do 3D models to help me out especially the poses and perspective and whatnot. I still do the construction inside the models to be more authentic with it and it's been working with me.
Sometimes, if I have to redraw backgrounds and has plenty of details, I can copy and paste that bg again and adjust it a bit to keep the continuity as much as possible... we're going Hanna-Barbera style!!! because why not? It's already drawn, anyway... why not use them again and again to speed things up!
I memorise poses, hands, faces in simple structures, train them so I can draw and bend them without reference.
I don´t know if this really counts as a shortcut or is just part of the learning how to draw
Reference slows me down and makes my drawings stiff because I try to stay too close to the reference
and often the poses are not good or don´t fit with my cartoony style
Excellent idea, honestly I wish I designed my shots more with reusing backgrounds in mind. Would save a ton of work haha.
3D model gang represent 
The best shortcut of them all, endless practise and repetition. Ngl, probably part of why I am able to redraw the same hand pose over and over again without much thought, is because I've trained myself to draw it.
My shortcuts aren't usually shortcuts without force of habit and repetition, but usually they are:
Script + thumbnail done at the same time (Script in PC with StimuWrite, then copypasted to Google Doc for basic grammar or typographic errors, Thumbnails in traditional with pencil, just big enough and understandable to take a picture to redraw on top with my tablet)
Add speech bubble and dialogue, if you don't have to send high-res files with no dialogue to anybody you can excuse yourself with those parts to avoid needing to do unnecessary inking or coloring
3d models and backgrounds
Lineart with a bigger brush in a vector layer, then thin out. Confident strokes for main lines and shapes, leave detail for last
I use one single brush for sketching, and another brush for inking
Have prepared a color palette to easy select base colors, shadows and lights
Coloring and shading by using the Fill With no Gaps Tool3 CSP asset
Save your backgrounds and Vector Lines, you can re-use or tweak them a bit
Using references is good, a trick to avoid copying them or redraw a lot is to trace the basic shapes, then morph a bit to match your style (Obviously better said than done)
If what I'm doing is solely mine, I don't bother in making it perfect, looks wonky? Ok fuck it, moving forward. I'm not getting paid nor receiving tips for it.
keyboard shortcuts. You can also customize them to better suit your hand position.
reusing/tracing backgrounds. Draw one background and use it multiple times.
panel templates. Create a default and adjusted if needed. It’s so much easier than starting from scratch. I also feel like the premade panels help me to organize my thoughts better.
I straight up skip a step or two most artists have in their process (lineart, clean colouring/shading) 
Huh, that helps? :0 Maybe I could try linearting again at some point ...
I reuse backgrounds all the time! I usually have to make tweaks to fit each strip, but having an old background to reference is helpful. 
The 3D Models in CSP are absolute time savers in helping me get references for the more complicated scenes in BLACK OUT. Additionally, it pretty much just helps me skip the whole process of sketching out and figuring out anatomy since I do give myself the time crunch of finishing and getting a chapter out each month. Despite that, I don't exactly use 3D models for EVERYTHING.
(Here's one example that I didn't use 3D models for)
Yo, I did something similar when UBERNATURA was a comic.. Not this exact handpose, but depending on how the character was feeling (despite their personality) they'd do a specific hand pose
Also eyes are based on one's nature, and not on their emotion so faces don't have to go through a lot to portray emotion
This is such an efficient way of doing things. I myself have a basic color pallete for the entirety of trespasser saved as swatches in my Photoshop, and use a seperate document for specific scenes to always have all the basics at the ready when I need it. Really speeds up the process.
Livesavers these things! I have even gone as far as editing shortcuts I would always accidentally fatfinger haha. The amount of times I started typing text instead of rotating my canvas is inumerable.The text tool is no longer bound to T but to H instead.
People able to design their scenes so they can reuse backgrounds make me jealous.
Honestly, if your sketches are clear enough to serve as lineart, why the hell not go for it! Also creates a nice loose/dynamic style in my experience.
3D model gang rises up once again. 3D modeling has been such a Godsend, makes my life so much easier.
I feel seen!
For Photoshop users:
1) if you spin your canvas round a lot like I do, clicking the crop button once orients it upright again.
2) you can animate GIFs for your comic in Photoshop - like this 
For Cintiq users: invest in an Express Key Remote and assign commands to each button for much faster working speed. I can't work without it now.
For general digital artists:
1) if what you're drawing doesn't look right (especially at the linework stage), cover it up with a layer of white, reduce the opacity and trace the whole thing again. I find this helps highlight problem areas and can make the drawing more cohesive stylistically. It's is also good for warm-ups.
2) Drawing on an enormous canvas can reveal qualities in your brushes you may not have noticed while using them on a smaller one.
Crop to reorientate has been such a Godsend in my workflow, that I've set up C as a shortkey to reset rotation in pretty much any program that will allow me to do it.
Ugh same, I cannot live without expresskeys anymore. I'm also lucky to have one of the older Cintiq models that still had the expresskey build into the device itself. I'm so sued to them by now, that when I start working in a new company one of the first things I do is import my wacom settings to the worktablet haha.
Same, I'm completely wed to the cintiq + EK remote. I've thought about moving to an iPad pro but I can't imagine lifting my pen off to use gestures like a savage. 
I bought an ipad pro and I barely use it.
The feeling of the pen on my xpen 22e is so much better than the apple pencil
on the ipad. I had a Wacom companion some years ago and the ipad is much worse
I literally spin my canvass around. I use a Dell Inspiron 16 (it's a 2-in-1 with a fantastic screen) for drawing , and I fold it up as a tablet, select "rotation lock", and then flip it all over the place as I'm drawing
The invincible comic used to use the same pic a few times to add some emphasis to scenes or show thinking. I always thought it was pretty clever
I don't take many shortcuts simply because I love the hand drawn feel however for buildings I draw them once and insert the image of the building into any bus I can use it for
I like doing animation style panels especially in conversations. Body language is a huge part of a characters personality.
The shortcut is now I can reuse backgrounds multiple times.
If it works it works right 
I can respect that. There is something about the act of creating itself that just feels so satisfying to do.
I love this, now yor panels aren't just part of a comic book anymore, they have become animation keyframes!
That's one thing that helped me to determine the poses in panels, I started to treat them like the keyframes of animation.
I copy and paste my backgrounds when possible 
I also make then very blurry when they aren’t important, so you don’t focus on them and I don’t have to put details in 
Also using multiply layers for shadows helps a lot.
I'm just now learning to reuse backgrounds; it saves SO MUCH TIME!
Wish I thought of that before​
Also I have a face/personality set burned into my memory. I don't have to always try to come up with every detail of a character because of personality types and how each has a matching face to go with it. Less thinking, more OC!
