Have you had a mentor for your comic?

SirGutsalot 2017-08-31 02:29:28 UTC #1

When I started out with my horror comic on Tapas (Tapastic back in the day), I met a person on here who is now a pretty big name on Webtoons. They gave me great advice and recommended that I extend my reach by also going on Webtoons. At the time, I think I had about 200 subs on Tapastic but then going on Webtoons they gave me a challenge. If I didn't get 500-800 subs in a month, then I should give up the idea. Anyways, after a month I ended up with 660 subs, so I was really happy with that. These days I have 6.7K subs on Webtoons and it has been really fun. I wouldn't have gotten there without the help of my trusty mentor.

What about you? Has anyone helped you, given you tips that made your comic more noticed or better as a whole?

dawgofdawgness 2017-08-31 03:28:15 UTC #2

Not sure if this counts as a mentor, but sometimes I'll draw something really dumb and I'll be about to post it and my older brother would look me straight in the eye and say "Don't."

I think it's saved my comic many times.

azureXtwilight 2017-08-31 03:29:45 UTC #3

Not sure about mentor, but every time I wanted to post something I have doubts with, I'd PM @phenylketonurics Not just that, they are a great influence and their comments usually changed my perspectives about what I am doing!

ashriott 2017-08-31 10:51:21 UTC #4

I don't have a mentor, but my sister is the only one I trust proof reading my work before I draw it on paper. She gives me advice on plot holes or if things don't make sense. She also helps pick out parts of my art that look weird. Essentially she's my "editor", but in other ways she is my mentor xD

fleetinginfinity 2017-08-31 13:23:33 UTC #5

No mentor specifically, but the best advice we've had has come from professionals at conventions. A few in particular who are always glad to talk with us and offer advice on what we have done since the last time we spoke with them.

XzynderVexymous 2017-08-31 13:28:27 UTC #6

Yes, someone did help me with the format of my comic. They helped me extremely and I'm very grateful cx.

revisionstudios 2017-08-31 13:40:39 UTC #7

No, not particularly, BUT I've gotten feedback from a few professionals (also at conventions!) back when my comic was in its infancy and it was REALLY BAD writing. Bless their hearts for slogging through it and still giving me advice. It definitely helped shape us back then. I kinda wonder what they'd think if they saw my stuff now!

Testaccount 2017-08-31 13:50:37 UTC #8

I've never had a mentor for my writing, but I would love to have one! Maybe in the future I will =)

KoreanTacos 2017-08-31 15:12:49 UTC #9

No senpai wants to notice me... but my wife is there to stop me if a comic strip I make is going too far.

sarrowsmith10 2017-08-31 15:20:51 UTC #10

I've never had a mentor. I've always really wanted one. I have, like many people, got snippets of advise from professionals at conventions but that's really it. It always bothered me as I was learning that no one wanted to give me the time of day to help me. So, now that I've learned a lot (usually the hard way, by failing) and I've published and feel pretty good about what I have created, I try really hard to help other artists. So I've done mentoring for a number of comics.

I do however have a mentor for marker and commission work. She has done work for Copic and has a bunch of how to draw manga books out. She really got me started and keeps me supplied with Markers. She taught me so much and is all around awesome. Here is her page:

DiegoPalacios 2017-08-31 16:30:20 UTC #11

Yeah, older brothers are the best editors. I always show a page to my brother before publishing.

phen 2017-08-31 18:06:32 UTC #12

Oh yo, I am always so excited when you tell me your plans for your pages and how you want certain scenes to feel, IT IS SUCH A SYMBIOSIS! I'm extremely lucky being able to take part in your work as you do in mine, you know? It's the most amazing treat~

NanettesClouds 2017-08-31 18:26:06 UTC #13

So I have an open hang out and a bunch of artists have popped in there over the past few months, some of the regulars like @MinNCompany and @LordVincent have been very helpful, giving me loaaaads of advice and feedback. It's been neat being able to work with such big fish as them on a regular basis.

Luminosophy 2017-08-31 18:35:40 UTC #14

Sort of. A couple years back my boyfriend (writer) and I attended a short night course at a university about comics. It was taught by a professional editor + writer who had done work for Marvel in the past. Because we took his course he offered us some free continued critiques and we caught up with him again this year at a con. He always has stuff to point out but it's great because I'm working towards him eventually saying "This is perfect". xD

He seriously helped me though. I restarted my series a couple times based on his feedback and I'm glad I did because the previous ones were just straight up hard to read. I had no idea what I was doing with panels. I'm also grateful for my illustrator friends who'll always point out egregious anatomical or perspective errors as I work on pages.

joe_galindez 2017-09-01 01:56:47 UTC #15

I've had many writing teachers, but my dad was my first editor. Might seem a bit extreme to go over a five-year-old's work with a red pen, but I learned a lot. He said I should take my first draft and cut it down to half its size, then cut it down again and maybe I'd have something printworthy.

Heliox14 2017-09-01 01:58:56 UTC #16

I don't have many editors, but I'd have two friends who'd read my stuff and tell me if it's good or not.

Strontium 2017-09-01 02:28:25 UTC #17

I had an editor - Hannako Lambert - for chapters 2-4. However, I wouldn't call her my mentor, because we were really in a mutual editing relationship and both knew how to make a comic.

My comic mentor will always be my cartooning teacher Cheryl. She was the one who introduced me to comics. She helped me discover my art form. Although I started making my webcomic long after I had graduated from the class, she taught me the fundamentals I still hold to today. She is a wonderful teacher and I'm saving the dedication in the fourth book all for her. I still see her around and I visited the classroom a while ago to show my book to her current students. Apparently they were really into it! Cheryl is the best.

Vanesalisa 2017-09-01 04:21:13 UTC #18

sadly no just me , myself and I

sandpaperdaisy 2017-09-01 15:03:22 UTC #19

I've got this awesome guy I always make sure to bounce ideas off of. He's a HUGE comic book fan with an impressive collection of Indy and unique comics. He's also an artist like me but mainly focuses on guitar and writing, both of which he's AWESOME at, so since art is my main focus and writing is more secondary I'm getting his input on my writing and ideas for my upcoming long-form comic. I also like illustrating with him as the main writer. He says he thinks we compliment each other and I agree.

If you want to hear some awesome jazz, here's his page:

http://talesfromtheclarkside.com

And here's his instagram which is awesome ink drawings, comic fanboying, and guitar porn. He has some COOL guitars!!

Aspie_Gamer 2017-09-01 15:08:31 UTC #20

Nope. Been flying solo with Life of an Aspie since Day 1. I've tried reaching out a while back for a mentor (art wise), bbbbuuuuuuuuttt that didn't play out the way I wanted it to. Honestly, the best thing I can really do is embrace using reference material which for the longest time I was really militant about not using because like many young artists, I fell for the lie hook line and sinker that ref material is "cheating" or that its somehow the same as "tracing".