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Jan 2020

I am looking into making a sci-fi shonen battle and i just need to know of there is there is a way to tell if you're ready to start drawing. Also some advice would be nice too.

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    Jan '20
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    Jan '20
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I'd say if you can draw at all, why wait? As you go you'll improve over time.

You'll never git gĂĽd if you never start. Even the best in the game start off as little babies who draw terribly with their little baby hands. I say draw now and improvement will come naturally. And if haters wanna hate? Well, it's just some pfp's on a screen, their opinion doesn't matter in the bigger picture.

How can you tell if you're good enough to draw comics?? By drawing comics. It's a trial by fire; you just have to do it. ^^

Just get started, and if you get stuck on something, take a break and go practice it. Maybe start with individual scenes (INCLUDING speech bubbles; there's a learning curve for using those, too) and work your way up to pages and short narratives, before diving into a full saga.

The more comics you make, the better you'll get, and the better you'll understand how much you have left to learn before you can create the comic you want.

Just draw. There are comics that have great amusement factor or great stories with simple art. First example I know of is Robert and Triangle

http://www.froup.com/tr/tr.pl?11


This one had some gags at first which eventually evolved into a full story.

Second is XKCD


Rarely has a plot, but goes into funny/intelligent jokes and observations

In other words.... just draw. If the story or jokes are making are good then people will love it.

Looks like you're asking two questions.
One is about drawing and the other seems to be aimed at STARTING YOUR [first] COMIC (SERIES).
-
Please don't be like 92% of the internet and start sharing EVERYTHING you create.
Please don't.

When should you start drawing? Yesterday.
When should you start making a comic? Yesterday.

When should you start uploading pages and actually start (sharing) this series?
When you can demonstrate a handle of the basics.
When you've learned you don't need to reinvent the wheel.
When you've read and studied enough (classic & popular) comics to recognize the good from the bad.

When you've done a demo of everything and made CHOICES about your style.
Like, figured out your word balloon system.
--Chosen some proper and fitting fonts.
----- Have shown your close circle (not random people on the internet(s) your work and they can follow it....


If this comic idea is some kind of sweeping long saga, don't do it first.
Make some short stuff as a learning experience.
Get a handle on making a comic --

And then you can know how long everything takes and what it takes to make a comic series.
DO NOT LEAD with your best idea first.
-
That will avoid the same 10 problems all creatives face when they don't plan and leap into the fire.

There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to being ready with graphicart. Hopefully this is a bit more specific and intermediate starter.

The first is quality. "Can you articulate drawings skills in a way that triggers a reaction with the audience?"
The other is contextual. "This page or sequence is supposed to articulate thought XYZ". Does it work?

As an artist don't measure yourself in terms of "am I good enough?"
The answer for myself is always "no". Because I can do much better if I put more effort into my work, even though I am putting in exceptionally high effort.

The better question to get into a habit of asking is, did this work of art deliver everything it was supposed to? If not, what can I fix later and what do I just need to refine/redo to make it perfectly right?

If you're starting out, just have fun with it. You don't need to put pressure on yourself and say "but am I ready?" Because that's a comparison trap. You aren't trying to do it professionally, I'm assuming, so there is no risk here. Just make it a story that you are having fun with, share it with people you trust (you don't have to put it all online youknow, if you're worried about what other people think. I make loads of stories that never saw the light of day) and that's a good way to start learning how to draw. Takes years of practice, so you just gotta enjoy the journey.

How can you tell if you’re good enough to draw comics

You exist => you can draw comics
???
PROFIT

If you want to draw a comic, just go for it. Don't worry necessarily about being 'ready to start.' If you wait until you feel comfortable drawing, you will never start. Personally, I feel it is best to strike while the enthusiasm is high. I put off starting my webcomic for months, but once I started creating episodes and posting them, I could feel that rush of adrenaline from seeing my work posted for the public to see. That just made me want to create more, so even just putting a pencil to paper helps you when you are first starting out.

Here's hoping it all turns out great for you! :smiley: :+1:

It’ll always look daunting until you start and work up to getting comfortable with it. Comics are a great teacher and you’re starting out so you shouldn’t have to worry about how the content looks YET just practice making that content. You don’t even have to put it anywhere online if you’re uncomfortable with it. But the sooner you start getting into the habit of doing it, the sooner you’ll see improvement.

There’s also a lot of documentation that actually working on minor details and spending a lot of time on small things actually hurts the progress of whatever it is you’re trying to do (be it drawing, photography, writing, etc) and the more effective way to teach is by trying to complete more projects than just trying to do one “perfect” project.

I mean if you have the dedication and time, or can read or right. Then you can create a series you want to portray.

The term "good enough" is just saying and you won't able to find out if you don't try.

As long as you dont copy or plagiarize. At least thats what I've been taught.

The truth is, you'll never know if you're good enough- you just have to try and hope that people will like your work. If you've studied and practiced on foundation concepts such as storytelling, story flow, panel flow, and working backgrounds then it will be a little easier; even if you havent studied them, you can learn as you progress with your comic- that's one of the joys of making a comic: you learn as you go, becoming better with each page, each issue/chapter/installment.

If you can hold a pencil, you're ready to start drawing :slight_smile: Anyone is good enough to start drawing a comic. The more you do something, the better you get. If you're thinking to start a comic with the idea that it'll be suddenly picked up by some big manga company, then I'd say that's pretty unrealistic. If, however, you simply want to create art in the form of a comic as a means to express yourself and share a story, then yes, you're good enough to draw comics. Whether or not you intend to share what you've made or just keep it to yourself is up to you.

The thing is with art is you're always learning, practicing, and refining you skills. If we all waited until we were 'prefect' before we started creating something, there'd be a whole lot of nothing out there ^_^;

My advice is like Nike's slogan "Just do it" If you need help, this forum is a great source of information and most of the creators on here have helpful advice.

You can't! The best you can do is just kind of go for it! Think about what you want to have happen, do some skeletons, find some references from some of your favorite works in the same genre! Your going to get better the more you go along, and never stop really. You'll look at the first page you drew and hate it a year from now, but that's normal everyone does.
Trust me, if you wait, you'll always say 'I can get better' or 'There'll be a better chance later' and those days will always be pushed back and you'll never start. Just need to try.

The thing about drawing comics is you can only get good at drawing comics by drawing comics. So you should just start drawing them and if your main concern is "but I want to do the dream series that's in my heart justice!" then... draw a different comic first. Do something simple, like a standalone 10 page short.
There's a reason when they're doing portfolio viewings, publishers don't want to see just pinup illustrations, 'cause no matter how good they are, drawing a pinup and drawing a standalone illustration are different things. Comics are all about visual storytelling and clarity, and you have to draw a really wide range of expressions, props, actions etc. that are often things that would never come up in a single illustration. There's a lot of crossover with things like storyboarding because you need to think about continuity a lot and the 180 degree rule and how it clashes with trying not to cross the tails of your bubbles.
Outside of reading some good books on the subject (like Making Comics by Scott McCloud) the best way to learn is through experience, making mistakes or overcoming the problems and building up the patience and stamina needed to draw a comic. It's way more effective than waiting to be good enough to just dive in and make comics because you'll get better a lot faster and make friends and useful contacts along the way! :slight_smile:

You don`t need to become a master to start drawing comics.

Mastery comes with practice, practice comes with doing. You can`t learn to draw well if you dont draw at all.

If you are wondering if you are ready to publish your comic online consider this:
what art style are you aiming for and what you need to do to learn it or to develop it.

You don`t need to draw perfectly, you just need develop the art style you want for your story.
Improvement will come with drawing.

The first thing you need to determine is that why do you want to create your comic?
Is it just to get it out there to be enjoyed by anybody that fancies it? Then as everybody else's said, you should've started yesterday.
Or do you want to create a comic that will be popular and of quality and maybe even earn you some revenue someday? Then open up a couple of webcomic network sites and look up the top 100 popular comics on each of them. The time will be when you'll be able to say "I draw better than that!" about at least 50% of them.