Should I learn to draw faster than that or shorten it even more? Do I try for a co-artist? I don't have money.
created
Jan '23last reply
Feb '23- 43
replies
- 1.4k
views
- 12
users
- 24
likes
- 2
links
You could go back through your story and try to trim the fat more?
Make sure reasoning for actions is clear, and figure out which useless fluff you can do without. If it's not helpful for moving the story forward, or it doesn't add anything of interest or value then discard it.
That's still way too long. You need to shorten it or put it to one side to work on when you have more experience and contacts. Getting a co-artist just isn't realistic without having a decent completed or at least successful comic already out there to build trust in your ability to get things done, come up with realistic projects and deadlines and pull your weight.
So i’m in a predicament. I envisioned this story as about a team of heroes, but I’m going to have so much trouble balancing 4 character arcs, later 6, in my story like this. A lot of them add some complicated worldbuilding ideas to the story. This isn’t counting the villains.
When you boil down the story to it’s core, it’s really about 2 characters, later 3 maybe 4. The other 2 characters contribute, but they’re not important like the core characters are or even like that one third character is.
But I really don’t want to cut any of them. And their stories are built into this plot so if I cut them I can’t really write them into a different story.
You could try to shorten your story even more, but in case that´s not possible you can also opt for shortcuts to make drawing the comic faster, so you can maybe finish more than one page per week. (Though also make sure to not overwork yourself!)
Since you don´t have money to hire a background artist or someone for flat-color etc, maybe making assets for your comic that you can re-use a bunch of times could help. Like houses or trees etc. Alternatively you could also completely rely on 3d models for your backgrounds to shorten time or put filters over pictures and use those for backgrounds. (Though you´d need royalty free pictures for that to not get into legal troubles.)
I don´t know how complicated your character designs are, but in case they´re very detailed you could also make them simpler, so drawing them is easier and faster, or "Worst" case - you can also change the entire artstyle of the comic and simplify everything.
I have a realistic project I want to do and plan to make as soon as I get the things I need, but once I transition from that one to this one i’ll still have these questions to deal with in that story.
scale creep is so real. I deal with this pretty often when I try to work on my other projects. I think the thing is if the world ends up bigger than the one you have on paper then either commit to giving it the room it needs or accept dialing it down. The worst thing you can do is not give the story breathing room if it needs it, because that's how you end up with too many loose ends. If you love it that much, then you should commit to it.
The reality of graphic novel esque series is that you are just gonna learn how to work faster or accept that it might not get done any time soon (on average, most manga artists take about 10 years or more to finish a series when they are working full time). You wouldn't even need to work at breakneck speed like that, because the webcomic sphere is naturally used to sporadic and slow updates. But a few pages a month is not really sustainable unless you're really alright with that.
Make the other one first. You will understand so much better how to plan a feasible project and how long things really take and stuff once you've made a comic. Jump in and make the small thing first and then plan the bigger thing based on the stuff you learned making the small thing. I guarantee, if you plan it all out now, you'll end up re-planning so much based on your experiences actually making a comic that it's probably more efficient to just leave the planning for now.
It's really easy to get sucked into endless planning of big projects and for it to become a distraction from actually creating things. You can't plan for all the problems you'll come across by asking other people; you'll learn so much more by making the mistakes and learning from them for yourself, and working out what sort of methods and planning work best for you.
Yes, and I'm saying that you should stop fussing over all the planning on this other thing before you've made that one, and just make the simple one first, because what you learn making it will impact how you make the other one. A lot. Take it from somebody who's been making comics for over a decade.
Does it have to be entirely a comic? With that many characters, maybe parts can be in novel format which will update faster and be written faster. Comics take even longer than the estimated time because you will end up having life happen, you'll get sick, have to do other jobs, like stuff HAPPENS and so that 48 years will be like 50+. So consider novels, using the most visually exciting and impactful arcs as a few comic arcs that can be standalone.
By your own admission this is not a realistic goal. No story you are thinking about should be 48 chapters if you can only do one a year. No audience will hang around to read that. You need to simplify the art to where you can do an episode in a month max. Even at that, that's 4 years of work. Truthfully, unless you are a seasoned artist with writing experience, this also should not be on your list of comics to make. Start small. Finish some shorts. Get some experience. You don't even know what you don't know right now. Leave your magnus opus until a later date. You have time.
Their arcs rely on meeting the other main characters at a certain point in those characters lives and stuff.
I could kind of get one page a week back when I drew stick figure people on single color backgrounds or copy paste buildings that were just squares, no clothes even just sticks and a head, background extras being just circles on sticks. Now I want them to be people.
How do I make the art style more simple than it was before?
Since you want to make a comic... Start with a question if you will be able to pull it off at the level your art is. At least how close you are. Because if you believe your best art at the moment is stick men and you don't like stickmen but want your comic look like an issue of Batman, you would really want to start with something short to learn how to both write and draw.
I don’t want batman, I just want not stick figures. I can draw humans decently enough I think.
What I want to know is how to simplify my style more so than the stick people, since it took a year to do the stick people version.
For projects where i need a higher level of artistic skills than what i can currently pull of, i hire an artist or more (like an artist and a colorist).
Even if you go that route, knowing how to draw well enough to explain clearly to your artists the visual concepts you are aiming for can help a lot.
If you don't have the money for that yet, you can try to save up and set a budget to hire people. How hard or easy it will be will depend on your financial habits and situation. But if you are able to save some cash, you can stockpile enough to hire people.
If you decide to do the art yourself, you can practice and focus on different aspects. If you need a specific style sometimes a book that teaches how to reach such style can help wonders. Personally i recommend books that teach artistic principles.
How do I make my process simpler and faster than it is.
My process was:
draw squares with the fill tool to match my general plan. Those are the panels
Add the characters by scribbling and smoothing out stick shapes, then paste on the head, drawing a face on it. No height chart. No nothing. Do whatever.
Add like copy paste assets and a few rectangles to make the background if even that much.
If you can’t draw it trace a picture of it and make that a stock asset.