How long have you been drawing Comics Seriously?

[kazukitakamura126]

I have always liked to draw and it was a great way to express myself because I am quite shy only talking when I need or want to. Anyways back to the topic at hand, I actually started drawing comics back in sixth grade I made a gag comic entitled Tim and Al. It was basically the misadventures of a wise old turtle and a dumb young turkey. Then when I was in 10th grade I decided I would make a more serious comic entitled "Darkness Within". I basically was about a guy with half a demon inside of him and the other half of the demon he had controls the body of someone who looks very similar to the protagonist. Then in 2012 I published my first comic The Osana Empire: The Rebellion through Lulu but, it didn't sell well and I discontinued it for a reboot of one of my older stories Blessed Relics. I had some difficulty keeping a story going without starting over, it was a vicious cycle I went through until my latest story Seishin Patona. The characters had a special charm about them that made me want to continue their tale.

Sorry for the long monologue but, I have been making comics seriously for 9 years now. How about the rest of you how long have you been drawing comics seriously?

[joannekwan]

Well I've been drawing sequential art since I was 10 or so. Inspired by all the cartoons I watched, I would draw out stories with my own characters on printer paper and staple them together. I had my first long series beginning in high school but I just drew those in spiral-bound notebooks. I ending that series after graduating and while I was in college I mostly just wrote down story ideas and worked on character design, sometimes I would draw short strips of them. I didn't start another comic series again until early this year with Demon House.

[scythe]

Since November last year, so about 10 months.

[mappypaint]

I've been drawing comics way back 1994. I guess not seriously yet though but it did made me decide to take Fine Arts for college. Then in 2005 I made some gag-a-day comics about my friends and a story one (which I didn't finish). In 2007 I made the first version of my current comics, U-Speed. I didn't get feedback from friends so I didn't continue the story. Then in 2010 I decided to remake the story and upload it to a webcomic hosting site (smackjeeves), where it is still ongoing and now found its way in Tapastic. ^u^

So I guess it got serious when I went online with it.

[whydocowsfall]

Do you consider putting webcomics online as drawing comics seriously? Because if so then I only started about a month ago! When I was 12 I drew a few gag comics but quickly decided they were awful (it was true - I'm no good at being funny) and gave up on that idea. Only recently did I consider the fact that I could try a more serious storyline, and I started thinking about Polyphemus as a comic about half a year ago (though the story concept has been in my head for approximately three years now). I kinda feel sad about the fact that I gave up so easily early on. They may have been awful then but I should have stuck at it to try and improve! I feel like my comic now would be better had I done so.

[Dorian_Grey]

I started creating stories about anything, cats, dogs, dragons, sharks and things like that when I was about seven years old.
I would staple together loose leaf paper or buy those spiral notebooks and make a cover and everything.
It was sloppy as hell and utterly amusing to see.
I started making comics for fun though during junior high and high school more so because I had friends who would want to read it, or collaborate and we would come up with horribly written tales of pure fun about robots or elves or wizards.
I would say in college/after high school though is when I got more serious about my story telling and writing down my ideas. My artwork got more serious and I took up some illustration, worked more on character designs and composition and color theory. I started some comics but I never posted them online at least because I felt unhappy with the story or it felt like lackluster ideas. Only this year when I started Unravel a month ago now do I feel it's something I am really invested in.
Now that you mention it, it's really interesting how small things start out and grow.

[kazukitakamura126]

I did something similar when I was in middle school where I wrote short books using printing paper, I mainly enjoyed the drawing part.

[kazukitakamura126]

Congratulations on the success you found with your comic. I was in a rot for a few years where I couldn't make a story last longer than 6 months. T_T The currently story Seshin Patona I have has some charming characters with a in your face plot so maybwill be the one that reaches completion.

[eagle1]

I've been doing art for decades. Serious art only started about 10 years ago, when I decided to start putting in long hours of practice. I still can't draw comics to my satisfaction, but my regular drawings and paintings are saleable and I have made my living off just my art in the past.

I use other methods for my comics besides drawing, and it seems to work out well.

Eagle
(and from the first doodle, I was serious!)

[kazukitakamura126]

Posting your comic online I think is serious as far as what you want to do with it. I have those regrets too so I understand your feelings. I had a great character, her name was Eota and she was basically a dandere (shy person) who was very dramatic. She was very determined, I saw so much of myself in her. However, I kept starting over because I couldn't get a good story and her character started to stagnate.

[kazukitakamura126]

I made a few gag comics in middle school as well but, high school was the time where I wanted to take my comics more seriously. I know what you mean when you say small things can grow, in my case it sometimes grows too big for me to handle. (I know that's quite lame of me though T_T)

[kazukitakamura126]

I am glad art has helped you tremendously throughout your life. With practice you can make comics that are as top grade as you drawings and painting.

[eagle1]

No, I have come to realise that all the practice in the world is not going to change my ability to draw comics. It's a combination of consistency and my OCD. I now use a 3D programme for the first part of my comic drawings, and then do the inking and painting by hand. A very different process than my paintings, but I am happy with the results. I have been practicing drawing comics longer than most of the people on this forum have been alive, and finally had to accept that I was not going to get it the way I wanted to. So I found a method that would let me achieve the main result, which was seeing what I saw in my head, on paper.

Eagle
(Know your limitations)

[Waterdrain]

Wow, it's really cool reading everyones past experiences with making comics
I started drawing comics when I was in the 5th grade and I remember my first comic series being called "The adventures of nick and mike" It was a gag comic also and I would draw them all of the time after school. Since then I've been drawing comics non stop. So, I guess I've been drawing comics for 11 years.

[Kamikaze]

My team and I are pretty new to the comic game. My husband and I have a background in animation, and decided to create a comic around this idea we'd been pitching as proof of the concept. It turned out beautifully, and while we've been only been around for a short while we've been gaining steam really quickly. We often don't really know what we're doing, considering that animation and comic production have certain differences, but we're learning with every panel!

We celebrated a year of making our first comic, Kamikaze, this past July.

[BitStrange]

I have been creating comics for 5 years this month (August) now with 2 comics under my belt. Even though one of my comics is on hiatus since last August my newest one will begin this October =D

[kazukitakamura126]

It's good that you use the skills you already have to make comics, I think that's quite clever.

[kazukitakamura126]

It's good you are honing your craft at a young age, I didn't start to look at my comic and say "Wow that looks good" until 2011.

[kazukitakamura126]

Congratulations on anniversary of your comic. Comic and animation seem to search one major thing in common, they both require an understanding of how thing move. I also watched one of your videos on YouTube, it was quite insightful.

[DynamoToon]

Ive been drawing bad comics since 5th grade. But Ive started drawing comics online for about 2 months.