Fanfiction comic for practice?

[iamABLE]

Has anyone thought of doing one to raise your artistic or writing skills/ experiment?. im thinking of doing one myself or drawing someone' s idea

the stories would be short story format though/ episodic that change from series to series to make sure practice material is varied

[Tanisha]

I did a doujinshi fanbook of Shugo Chara with my friend and it helped me and her learned a lot of things like pacing, emotions of characters and just new ways of inking/paneling. It's easier since you're working off an already made story, you don't have to focus on actually making one from scratch. So yeah I would say just go for it. You might learn a few things~ c;

[iamABLE]

i just might, thinking of a zelda short story

[ToonDoctor]

I would strongly suggest against it for many reasons that have to do with the law but also your own personal development as a creator. No one will judge you well if you just borrow. People will have difficulty evaluating where your contribution starts and end. In terms of reusing the material in case you add a cool innovative spin, you are screwed. Technically, anything you create does not belong to you. If you introduce something worthwhile, the copyrights holders can take it away from you.

What I would suggest is to start with a derivative idea but with your own spin. Work from that and see where it goes. It may surprise you.

[serenitysquirrel]

A short DJ-type comic would be ok, and is also ok to sell in small amounts at a convention AS a DJ/fanfic work, like an AU or the like. But anything long-going would be ludicrous.

Another option might be to do 4-5 page stories and post them on tumblr. MANY artists end up making notice through fanart before easing the public into their own characters and such.

[Kamikaze]

I think fan work is a great way to practice, get your name out, and in general have fun working in the medium. However, you eventually want to start working on original works. Fan work is an amazing sandbox for practicing, but don't let that fan work be the ONLY thing you can do. Good luck!

[iamABLE]

thanks for all the replies guys

[shazzbaa]

Do what you're inspired to do! Things you work on don't have to have a finished form that you can sell or use to be worthwhile. If you feel really fired up about a Zelda comic, then man!! DO A ZELDA COMIC!! If you want to share it with people, DO IT!! Lots of big names have started out with fanart and built from there -- and frankly, lots of big names are drawing fanart still, because that's something they get a lot of enjoyment and peace out of next to their original works.

And yeah, the first long-form comic I did, I worked with someone else's script, and I learned a ton from that! I'm definitely a proponent of the "start with a smaller story first and see how that goes" model. :>

[iamABLE]

thanks appreciate the advice

[justieno]

Its definitely a good idea, you'll get a lot of practice drawing new things plus as long as its parody then im pretty sure you can use copyrighted characters no problem, family guy does it and so does a ton of other people

[iamABLE]

example unscripted mayhem = zelda WIP
i dont really plan on taking it far, just trying to build up a portfolio.... actually was planning on being the artist to someone else's story but haven't had any luck joining a team
@justieno
@shazzbaa
@Kamikaze
@Tanisha

[Amirai]

Many manga authors in Japan get their start that way. I've got a fan comic about Kyoshi from Avatar the last airbender and have been learning a ton from it.

I would definitely recommend working on something short, though - my comic is at least 300 pages long so it's going to take a while to complete.

[Tanisha]

It's looking great so far! I wish you best of luck!~^^b

[Aspie_Gamer]

By all means OP, go for it. Its how I cut my teeth drawing in a manga style.

[AnnaLandin]

I won't tell you NOT to do it - it can be a good way to practise, definitely! - but honestly, I'd recommend you focus on your own stuff.

You can do short oneshots with your own original ideas, if it's practise you're after - and in the end, you'll have spent all that time and effort on something that is entirely yours.

This being the internet, fan-work is a way to get noticed - but creating comics takes a lot of time, and if it were me, I'd much rather devote that time to my ideas, rather than playing with someone else's toys.

[iamABLE]

this is true, but honestly i have 10 000 ideas that i could never finalize and instead of just watching others make comics due to my obsession of creating something with a good story i figured i might as well get some actual sequential practice in. Also as you've said its really hard getting noticed.

[AnnaLandin]

this is true, but honestly i have 10 000 ideas that i could never finalize and instead of just watching others make comics due to my obsession of creating something with a good story i figured i might as well get some actual sequential practice in.

I think that's a reason to focus MORE on original stuff, honestly. The longer you put off working on it, and the longer you worry about making it good, the more of an obstacle you have to get over when you finally do start working on original stuff. Postponing stuff doesn't always make it easier - sometimes, it makes it seem more difficult and scary. If you get stuck on the idea that it absolutely has to be great, it's going to be difficult to do it at all - perfectionism is something we all have to get over.

You don't have to jump in the deep end with your first project! I mean, I'm drawing an epic story that I will be lucky if it clocks in under 1000 pages - but it's not my first project. I started out doing small oneshots and then slightly longer stuff, and then slightly longer stuff again. You can start doing 5-page oneshots, or 10-page stories. I once did a 7-page story just to practise fight-scenes and panel-layouts.

But if you really want to do fan-comics, when go ahead and do fan-comics! They can be a lot of fun, and they will definitely get more notice for free than original stuff does.

[DuneDeca]

I think working on fancomics is an alright idea, as long as your not making any money off of it. I wrote several fancomics myself before finally starting SwitchOut and they are a great way to advertise your skills and interest in comic work.

But as a warning ahead of time, don't plan anything large or long. If you quit a comic before it's finished, it can usually lead to disgruntled fans. Don't let anyone tell you that fanwork won't get you anywhere though, some of my most loyal fans discovered me through my fan projects.