How long does it usually take to finish an average episode?

[titaniumskin]

Hi everyone! So I recently am interested in working as a webtoon artist and I was wondering how long does it usually take to finish an episode for people who have a similar style as me?

Does it take all time of day, is it too demanding?

The work I have attached took me almost 18-20 hours to complete (as I was figuring out their outfits as well as trying to perfect everything). As this was just a single scene with no bg I'm scared it might be impossible for me to finish an episode with multiple panels every week (because that's usually what is needed here). Or do you guys think I'm over thinking?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[HGohwell]

So, obviously, lots of variables. Having character sheets and colour pallets pre-made helps streamline a lot, as does a plan. And obviously, your shots are going to vary, some will just be headshots, some will have more complicated backgrounds, some will be simpler, some will have multiple characters, others just one. And of course, as you work you'll work out ways to streamline your work even more. And, of course, it depends on what you're considering an episode. Some people consider that a page, some people consider that to be more like the standard webtoon contracted episode which is roughly akin to a weekly manga.

So, based on some slightly older numbers we once worked out here on the forum, a contract for a webtoon in scrolling format (again, remember this was worked out a while ago based on old data, so massive pinch of salt) is around 50 panels an episode, which is around 8-10 traditional pages depending on panelling, and the general consensus is that you would be working this as a full time job of something like 8-10 hours a day at least 5 days a week.

Now, that's the professional standard, and very few hobbyists will publish that much at a time. Much more common is a page or two an episode, or closer to 10 panels, but again, this varies massively from person to person. It's about finding what works for you. Personally, I do an entire big chunks at a time, which takes me anywhere from a week to 2 weeks working for 4-6 hours a day and then breaking that up into episode chunk that's usually between 5-10 episodes depending on good stopping points.

But, in the end, you have to find a rhythm that's right for you. Dive into it and see how long it takes you to make episodes and experiment a bit. See if you can find easier and more efficient ways to do it. You'll speed up naturally with time, and you should try to be several episodes ahead of where you're posting to allow yourself time anyway. You'll probably find lots of time saving hints around, like doing things in batches (all your sketches, then all your inks, then your colours, for multiple episodes at a time) finding ways to cheat the details and learning where to focus the quality and time (not every panel needing to be as perfect and details, saving that for impact panels) and so on.

[titaniumskin]

Oh wow, thank you so much! This was so helpful!

[darthmongoose]

That is a really beautiful drawing, but if you try to make a comic with that level of detail solo, you'll either need a very slow update schedule, or you'll burn out super-fast or damage your health. Comics I've seen that have a high level of tightness and detail like that, like say "Beware the Villainess!" still aren't even on that level while having entire teams working on them and using just unedited 3D models for most of the backgrounds.

As a solo creator, I usually spend about 18-20 hours per update. My updates are two standard comic pages stacked, so in that same kind of timeframe I'll draw in the range of 6-12 panels. I work part time, so I can really only work around the hours of a part time job making my comic, but I still want to maintain weekly updates for performance and stuff, so I had to come up with a way to balance output qualify with speed.

I'd recommend considering either pitching to a publisher to try to get assistance based on the quality of your work, attempting to hire some assistants, or looking for ways to draw more simply that you still feel looks good and finished; perhaps look at the design of comic and animation characters for inspiration on the level of detail that's appropriate for these things. You'd still be able to lavish your covers, really important panels or illos with this kind of detail, but as a solo creator, where you spend your time budget becomes very important.

[titaniumskin]

Ahhh, thank you so much!! Being a solo creator is definitely close to back breaking your amazing for juggling work and being a solo creator at the same time. So I understand that high levels of detail should be saved for impact panels and the rest should be just good enough and not perfect.

About publishers, I genuinely don’t have a single clue how and where to pitch to one. Or if i want to work in a group (for example different writers and storyboard artists and such) I don’t known where or how to find them either x/

And many collaborators are usually hobby work, and as I’m short on money I unfortunately can’t afford to work for free so thats also a big bugger.

[darthmongoose]

Well, to start you off, this other thread has a collection of advice on pitching!

Just wondering. Also, how would we go about showing a pitch? How do you make a portfolio? Am I better off self-publishing my comic? I just want next year to be the year where I finally get into the professional world.

Buuut... it is a lot easier to pitch things if you have some finished comic pages/episodes under your belt first.

So I think maybe you might want to have a go at experimenting with simpler styles specifically for making "internal art" in your comics. It's a really good skill to develop; being able to create pages fairly fast, but still turn out something that could go to print. It can feel a bit scary if you're comparing yourself to these high-end studio-made Korean webtoons, so I recommend you head over to Tapas and filter to "community" or "free to read". The top performers in these are generally made by an individual creator, or at most an individual with an assistant, but are still probably making at least some sort of income and are definitely publishable quality, so they're a much better bar to compare your work to and to get a realistic sense of what's possible than stuff made by a team. Smaller indie publishers can also be a source of inspiration. Whenever I feel anxious about the detail or quality of my work, I look at comics like Lumberjanes or Heartstopper and remind myself, so long as it looks confident, finished, consistent and tells the story clearly, it doesn't need to be so perfectly detailed that every panel could hang on somebody's wall!

Some people save time with sketchier line art, some use black and white, some use 3D models for backgrounds, some reuse pre-drawn faces, or make or use brushes that replicate complex textures and patterns, some create very simple, cartoon-like designs, some avoid shading... There are lots of ways to do it, so you should find something that works for you!

[RedLenai]

Well... you can always not post your series the second you finish a chapter, a lot of authors actually make a buffer with lots of episodes scheduled in a weekly manner, however they also calculate the time it takes to them to make a chapter so they know exactly when to release episodes to make sure the buffer doesn't get too close to the actual chapter being made. That's why a lot of people either work on Seasons or Cours.

Of course, if you're being paid to make something weekly, then you'll have not only to find shortcuts to make the work faster, but at the same time you'll somewhat be motivated to work for many hours a day. If you're not under a contract, then take it easy, do it at your own time.

[BoomerZ]

I'm going to say something you might not want to here but if you took even half that time to do one picture, you won't be able to make a comic. By just doing the math, that's 10 hours, with no background. Now multiply that by 30 panels (about a good number to tell a story in one episode) and you have 300 hours. That's basically 8 weeks as a full time job to finish that. So as a solo creator, I would say that is not possible to make and also have an audience. My suggestion is to simplify it to something you can draw much quicker.

[river121693]

It definitely would be impossible to finish multiple panels by that quality a week by yourself. Each episodes are typically 7-20 panels. Taking in your estimate for that drawing, and counting for writing, backgrounds, panel layout, and storyboarding etc, i'd say you'd literally be spending 13-20 hours a day on a comic of that quality.

My suggestions would be to simplifying everything, go black and white, finding shortcuts and cheats to speed up the drawing process, or hire some assistants.

[theyrebothakilogram]

it takes me about a week when I'm on break and about two weeks when I'm in school lol

[rajillustration]

So as was mentioned earlier, this is a very lovely picture! But it's also very illustrative, and it has lot of detailed elements we typically don't put into comics. I do the same thing, actually, my illustration is very detailed, my comic is less detailed. You have to pare back your details for the comic itself, knowing that in your promo illustration like this one, you can keep all those details, you can still keep your babies as shiny as you want! (but not in the comic or it won't be finished in your lifetime)

So ways we simplify is through choosing what you think will do best for you and your style. Things like less detail on the hair, flat shading instead of cell shading, making our own assets for clothing details instead of drawing the detail every time, and reusing facial positions while still redrawing different parts of the image, so after you've drawn like 200 panels or so, you can start reusing a lot of stuff (we all do it, although you want to be careful about doing that too often where people can catch that you're doing that), I personally make my linework really thick so I can stylistically lean into a cartoony style that is very quick compared to thinner styles (although sometimes the thick linework also effects genre and age demographics so, again it's all up to you).

Backgrounds are typically not drawn in every panel, like you can do as little as one background a page, only showing background when changing the background, or if it's significant in some way to the story. And when you read comics you probably don't even realize people just...don't draw backgrounds most of the time. It's great. Some people use 3d assets for their backgrounds (it does take some work to make those mesh into art style, so there's a little bit of like research that may have to go into that to make it work for you) I use a lot of brushes that just deposit leaves, trees, and grass everywhere to make things easier, and most of the time, they're outside so I don't need a 3d room.

So, overall, it doesn't matter if this took you 18 hours, so don't despair. Truly, doesn't matter because this isn't a comic illustration. Instead, time yourself making 1 episode as a practice run, and you'll probably see a lot of different things that could be simplified or processes that you can make automated in your program to get that art out faster. I think it's good to make a bunch of episodes before you even start posting, so you can get a solidified style out there that you like, as well as a flow that feels realistic with your other life priorities.

[system]

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