I’m good, but not THAT good

sorry I am honest. If you want to draw and progress and learn and so on - you just need to do it for yourrself at first and maybe post some short stips in your instagram - you have plenty of time since you are 16 to improve ( ah youth!). Because nothing is so demotivating as seening zero subscribers to your story which is gonna be lost forever between webtoons 400 ep series with millions of subs.

I mean there will be few followers to cheer you up but no one actually likes poorly drawn comic with weak plot. ( I mean you can't make a strong one if it's first time... unless it's generic schoolkids story)
Just decide for yourself what is that you want - fame and glory or making art and stories. Because it's no need to mix them from start. You will improve eventually and this pint you might think of changing the nickname and accounts so people don't be scarde remebering your old works

I started with my first webcomic at 16 too, and I was also bad at anatomy, backgrounds, etc. But drawing comics has improved my art faster than anything ever has. At the end of the comic, my artstyle was completely unrecognisable in comparison to the first pages. So, do it!!! I believe in you!

Best way to improve is by doing, in my opinion. Trying something small at first is a good way to start. If you don't want to make short stories (I know I had grand visions of 1000+ page fantasy epics when I was 16) then you could look at a specific scene in your story that excites you and just try to draw that scene in a couple or a few pages. Then you will not only become more familiar with your workflow, you will also have something to show people when asking for feedback (which I know is scary, but it is a great way to improve)!

Oh, the terror. (sarcasm)
Just do it. I mean it. The quicker you start, the faster you'll become better. If you will actually draw the comic, with the backgrounds and such, not just flying heads all over the empty place.
Beautiful panels by great artists became like this because artists were drawing a lot and learning how to draw =)

Better start with something short first, like @Saga wrote, you may try some scenes on a few pages. Putting yourself in a life long journey with thousands of pages most likely will be very disappointing after a few pages.

Just one thing: don't expect this story to become a hit overnight. Or in a few years even. Or you probably will have to draw a few of them first to find even some following. Not discouraging you here, not at all, just plain truth. What you feel looks pretty decent, other people may not. And vice versa, you may hate your art, but people could like it.

Well, I am 30 and still not that good. How long have I been writing? On and off, maybe 10 years now. Are my writing of quality? I say, no.

It takes time. That much I understand. It also doesn't hurt to gain more experience, have ups and downs, and fail a couple of times.

What is important is you do what you love on a regular basis. Draw every day; write every chance you get.

but I'm just itching to get my story out there. It's just...when I see these beautiful artists and their panels, I somehow get insecure.

If you're really itching to start a webcomic but haven't really mastered how to put perspective in your drawings yet, then I suggest this video: The Minimum Viable Story1.

Jake Parker also mentions (not sure if it's in the same vid) that you can start making your own comic by "copying" a scene in a known story. When they meant "copy", they don't actually mean copy everything. Of course, give credit where it's due. But iirc, they meant that you can copy some parts of the story like the plot of the story and some poses/gestures of the characters, but replacing some of the aspects (ie. characters, etc.) with your own.

As an example: a scene in Watchmen. So it's like 5 pages in length and a total of 10 panels or more. One can replace the characters and setting with their own ideas, but one can copy the plot and climax or whatever.

What the "minimum viable story" means to do is to actually practice your skills and build up your confidence & ability to create something big & lengthy. (man, how I wish I knew of this way before I started my webcomic). Also, it's for you to never start with something "big & lenthy" that you'll one day regret and just drop. Hope this helps.

Full disclosure, I'm 11 years elder to you and at 16 I was in the exact same boat. I also started with anime and didn't do any structured life drawing until I was 19 and in college for an animation degree (I spent the first year in college learning I didn't care to become a Psychologist.)

Today, I'm finally at a point where I can say I am successful. I am making a full time living from work on comics, but not in the way I thought I would. It's better than I thought it would and I never imagined myself quite...here.

More on this later. Let's focus on you.

There's a lot of general advice here but, I'm hoping to give you something more specific that you can act on immediately.

The question is, can you see yourself doing this every day? Drawing and writing every day, simply for the enjoyment of it. Would you do it even if no one paid it attention?

It's satisfaction, not passion, that sustains you over time. Passion and love might lead you to the thing you enjoy, but do you enjoy the process is the question.

If you love the process of making a webcomic, nothing else is relevant. All outcomes are no longer important. What's important is making and finishing the comic in a manner that gives YOU satisfaction. Then moving on to the next one.

If others enjoy it, if you get featured, Hey, Bonus! yay. If they give you Ink, if you make money from it--More Bonus. Yay. \o/

But in the end, scratch that itch. Just tell your story. We're just storytellers, that's all. Tell it as if you were telling a treasured friend something you find exciting and go off. Finish the story.

--
Here's something encouraging, if you only improve by 1% every day, you triple your growth by the end of the year. 365 days, 365%. All that matters is everytime you sit down to write or study or absorb good content or just draw, aim to be a smidge--and I mean the smallest smidge--better than you were yesterday. (Read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/590652.The_Slight_Edge1 for more on this concept)

Big overnight success happens after a decade of unseen tiny successes. No one will see your hard work and when you succeed in a way they CAN see, they'll call it talent. It falls on you to give yourself credit for all the work and study you do that only you witness. Others are unreliable in giving you credit where credit is due. The only one you can truly count on for your success, is you.

See, success happens on an exponential curve ONLY if you continue doing the useful tasks every day. You don't realize you're on an upward trend until you hit the truly exponential explosion. The "overnight success".

Until today, I honestly assumed I'd never breakthrough--as a thought experiment. I'd ask myself, would I still do this if no one read it, and if the answer was "hell yeah, I would read it." then I'd make the story. Nothing else mattered. That I wanted to make it happen meant it was going to happen. To heck with everything else.
--
Here's the most specific words of wisdom I can give you that will actually give you your next steps:

List every skill you need to make a successful comic and decide what specific resources you need to become proficient in those areas. Then Act on it.

Note, This will feel like a lot. It is a lot. But you don't have to get good all at once. Remember the thing I said about improving 1% every day? You only have to take one of these things and learn or practice them at least 1% a day. It helps to think in terms of years. Don't underestimate the power of doing small seemingly insignificant tasks daily. 99% of life is maintenance

Another thing to remember is that when you start learning things--you become really aware of what you don't know and what you can't do yet. That internal editor wakes up and starts poking at you. And that can feel VERY discouraging.

When you feel that way, just go back to the core and tell the story. Trust that you can tell a story cause as humans we do that every day. We tell people about stupid stuff that's happened to us, we share news about others, we tell each other about our lives in the form of stories. Stories are hardwired into our culture, that's why readers can tell a good story from their gut even if they can't tell you WHY it's a good story.

Just always know you can do this in a way that no one else can, because you're you and you have your thoughts and your opinions of the world and a story is nothing more than putting on a mask and revealing exactly what you think about the world through metaphor.

Here's my list of relevant skills to make a successful Webcomic (All of which I STILL cycle through and practice throughout the year):

I think this is more than enough to get you started, and from here you expand to whatever it is you need to learn to tell the story you're trying to tell

'More on this later'
Background on me and my credentials...I guess. Tl:dr: I ramble about my art career so far.

I'm about the same age as you and have an extremely similar experience. Recently I gained more confidence in my art but realized I had a weakness with backgrounds, drawing characters interacting, and pacing for comic art. In my case, I knew the only way I'd get better at these things is to practice. I've always loved web comic and wanted to make one, so I just went for it. Now, I've been working on my comic for about 2 months (and created about 10 strips) and the improvement I've already seen is crazy. I think if you are going to make a web comic as an amateur artist you need to make sure you won't base your worth and talent by how popular you are or how people react to your comic. You need to have enough confidence to be proud of what you are doing even when nobody else is. I know that's kind of grim, sorry.

The good thing is, the Tapas (and webtoon) community are really kind 99% of the time and the best way to learn things is to try and practice. There will never be a perfect time to start, so sometimes you just have to believe in yourself and have some hope.

I started off drawing anime and even tried to make a different webtoon a few years back. I only got a few pages in and I crumbled under the criticism. Looking back, had I kept with it, I'd be a lot farther as an artist and a creator if I had stuck with it.

If you want to talk or want a friendly review, we can talk on discord or something. Sometimes it helps to talk to someone in the same boat.

Yeah, I was the same and not only that... but I absolutely hated doing realistic stuff. lol I think my high school just made it really unfun. They had us do sooo many self portraits which I hated because I have a really plain, boring face and drawing myself just really didn't interest me. College was better because there was gesture drawing and drawing nude models, though still lifes were still a thing and they are also pretty boring. Just... try and find the fun when you can. Like I finally got bored of self-portraits and eventually made one that was half-realistic, half-anime style.

There's already been a lot said, but the best advice is to draw. But also while drawing, try to do something different. Push yourself "ugh, I don't want to draw that building" or crowd scene or whatever. Make it a challenge to yourself to draw it. Just do it.

It doesn't have to be crazy like that though. It could be like "I want to try a different angle" "What if I did the eye like this instead?" Question what you make, but also remember... finished, not perfect.

Also keep doing art practices like gesture drawing. Watch art tutorials and how other people draw. Try to mimic techniques for your own style. Also ask for critiques and get feedback. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got is when my friend told me outright "The head is too big." I hadn't realized I was drawing heads super huge in comparison to the body.

Hey, I'm actually a lot like you. I started digital art 6 years ago and I am currently 16 years old. I've been writing for roughly around that time. So, yes, I know firsthand what you're feeling, that gnawing feeling that "this artist is good at x,y,z, can I really compete with that?", it's still something I struggle with now.

Before I start - a lot of people start off with drawing anime/anime-inspired art styles. Me included. I was a gigantic weeb during my "Art style discovery" phase and that's why my current art style reflects a lot of anime characteristics. And I haven't taken any actual art classes, yet, so I know fuck-all about realistic art styles, lmao. You don't have to learn still-life or realistic art styles or anything like that to start off with art - though it does help.

Something that one of my favorite webcomic creators (Miranda Mundt, creator of Muted on Webtoon) once said, "finished is better than perfect", and I agree with that especially as you're doing your first comic. No one's first comics are perfect. No one's first episode is perfect. What's important though is that you just keep drawing and you'll improve naturally.

I started doing comics a year ago and guess what? I'm sort of able to draw backgrounds now! I'm also sort of able to draw other body types now! Hell yea, improvement.

Something I do though is that I watch a lot of speedpaints/art livestreams. I picked up on how to draw anatomy from speedpaints, they're actually helpful. I also sometimes see art tutorials on my timeline (mostly instagram) and I save them for future reference.

Regardless of what you decide to do, I genuinely wish you luck on your art journey!

Pretty much everything I could say on the topic has already been said (and in a better way than I could), but I'll still chime in!
I'm an outlier who DIDN'T start out drawing anime ...and it didn't make me an inherently better artist than those who did, sigh. When I was your age, OP, my art looked like this...

look if you dare

oldart.png470x682 151 KB

Now I'm a lot older (not gonna say how old exactly cause i'm embarrassed about it lol). I spent several years mostly walking in circles and improving very slowly (if at all) because I wasn't motivated enough or didn't really have a clear idea of how to improve. Don't do the same, seriously.

These days, there are many popular artists online who are very young, and seeing how they're already good and popular, with seemingly little effort, can be disheartening for anyone older and still not quite there but don't let yourself feel pressured like you HAVE to be one of these amazingly talented teenage artists to ever matter as an artist. Remember it's okay if you don't become known with your first practice webcomic.

The more you learn, the more you'll feel like you actually know nothing and never did. This will be actually a good sign. As long as you have a strong motivation and a genuine drive to learn art, you can do it - good luck!

I mean...I spent my years at 16 just pushing paint around and drawing cats. You hardly need to have everything figured out right now.

Thing about being 16 is that it takes longer to learn stuff when you're a kid. Just kinda facts of life, so don't burn out trying to keep up with people who are 26 (and sometimes we have a perception that some kids are just nuts good at drawing--but in reality it's because they only draw one type of thing. I was mad good at replicating photos at 16. But that was all I could do, vs now when I can draw just so many things in so many different styles). You'll get there, you'll get older, it's fine. Like part of the reason why people tend to grow SO MUCH in their 20's is because their brains are literally getting better at learning. You'll be fine, even if it's not coming together immediately right now. Until then, I hope you have fun with it. This ain't school and no one's grading you.

Essentially this: https://badspot.us/O-Comic-Two-Cakes.html2

Your early work is going to suck.

Everybody's early work sucks.

Even the greats.

Just stick with it.

Keep drawing, learning, improving.

Don't let other artists intimidate you.

Study them.

Learn from them.

Use what you've learned to adapt your own style.

One day you will look at your early work and think it sucks.

It is okay to think your early work sucks.

It means you've gotten better.

I understand feeling insecure about your art when you're constantly surrounded by so many great artists! It can be difficult but you're right: there really is no rush to learning.

The thing with webcomics though is that if you want to create one, you should just jump into it and do it, whether or not you're a beginner at art. I think a lot of times, the most difficult thing with webcomics is a.) starting and b.) continuing to the very end of the story.

I don't have much to say other than just go for it right now! This webcomic can be a great opportunity to make you practice putting characters in an environment. You'll be able to grow and expand what you can do with characters and environments if you start. While you do that, its good to still learn fundamentals (life drawing, etc) on the side

^-^ I hope you continue growing and learning!

My biggest suggestion is to keep practicing and don't start posting until you feel confident with your work. I know there might be a pressure to make a webcomic right away but if you feel like you still need to improve your craft before you start posting, that is OK.

I will also suggest that before posting, you should create about 10 to 15 pages before posting the first page. I notice some newbies will start posting right away than get burnt out after the 3rd or 4th page because they got a bit overwhelmed.

I will also suggest starting with shorter stories before taking on long epics.