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hjfsdh2222
May '18

I have been trying to shorten the time it takes to make my comic. It was taking about 13-14 hours a page, maybe more.
I have start doing 2 pages at a time which is speeding things up a bit but my process still takes forever.

I just can’t seem to get through any of the parts fast. I take way too long to get things “perfect”. I’m even get picky about my thumbnails. I feel that I’m trying to hard to make things look nice.

I’m wondering if maybe I should just let go and let the my art for my comic be crap if it takes less time.
I have noticed my art(not saying it’s perfect) is of a higher standard than other comics as far as anatomy and perspective goes.

Here’s a link to my webcomic so you can take a look:

So just give me any of your thoughts, guys! Am I trying to hard on the art? Should I short the time it takes for my process?

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    May '18

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    Jul '18
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TomorrowShines
May '18

Couple thoughts:

-Crank more pages at your current level; you'll get faster with practice. Remember, the first hundred are just warming up!

-Do fan art or some other non-comic (and optional) work at the absolute maximum of your skills; you need to be pushing the envelope somewhere.

dawgofdawgness
May '18

In order to keep up with making a webcomic, you should learn how to drop the perfectionism. I used to take about the same time per page too and in the end everything looked kind of stiff and uninspired. Basically, practice practice practice until you get rid of the habit - by that time, you'll be better at drawing and you'll be WAY faster at making pages - it's a thing that comes naturally with making a comic :slight_smile:

Your comic's art should have the best art you can create, I mean, how are you gonna improve if you're just going to draw stuff you're comfortable with? I'd say keep the current quality but spread out the hours more? Maybe do planning one day, lineart another, etc. You'll get faster, I promise.

just do the best you can. Everyone webcomic will look better than XKCD's but that doesn't mean they're getting anywhere. Good luck, we have faith in youuuu! :slight_smile:

fleohr
May '18

Sometimes you don't have to draw all the background over and over with different angles, as long as the reader knows where the character is, it's fine to draw a solid background later

LordVincent
May '18
1

This is a common misconception I feel. You should drop the perfectionism, but you should do so understanding that it does not mean dropping the quality.

Perfectionism is when you waste time "perfecting" a panel only for it to look the same, similar or possibly even worse. The reason for this is that perfectionism zones in too much on details and forgets about the full picture, or overanalyzes bits and pieces to the point that the work turns out looking stiff.

Dropping the perfectionism means producing more intuitive, more confident looking art at a faster speed. If you learn to do this (which is a skill in and of itself) you will be making better quality work at a faster rate.

Common practices to raise this skill are seen in nude model drawing classes. You can imitate them in your own practice sets if you wish; Basically grab a few references or ask someone to pose for you. Then you give yourself varying amounts of time to draw by that reference.

The time sets should be something like this:
10 seconds
30 seconds
1 minute
5 minutes

(Several hours from multiple angles if you are incorporating sculpting into your anatomy practice, but that is for anatomy learning purposes, not speed and intuition practice.)

This practice will teach your brain and perceptive eye to prioritize the full impression and image, and leave details as a secondary priority. This means that you work faster, more intuitively, create a stronger and more confident expression, and that the details you incorporate will have actual effect and truly pay off.

SleepingPoppy
May '18

There's such a thing as a happy medium. You need to find a place where you're still putting effort into the look of your comic but not getting hung up on things that slow you down. It can be frustrating, but learn to manage your time is an important skill.

Working in batches of 4 has really helped my speed. Keep at it, and listen to other artists when they talk about their methods for getting things done, and just over time see what works for you.

kuromonoart
May '18

I used to be so obsessed with having the page being perfect and flawless but after doing over 100 pages or so I stopped giving a sh*t... I guess what you really need to do is maybe to simplify the process rather than 'reducing the quality' (it's two really different things). You draw the necessary details and decide whether or not add a bit more to it. After all, it's not a gallery piece of work that people gaze upon for hours ~
I think once you REALLY get used to drawing the characters it won't take more than 3 hours for a page. Remember, please uphold onto your standard of quality, obsessing over perfection is the thing that takes time. :slight_smile:

TheBryceKrispy
May '18
1

The art works for the comic, keep the art! Besides you aren't going to improve by not trying.

Rivana
May '18

I have the same problem so I will be watching the replies in this topic O_O

frostdrive
May '18

That program your using must really suck. Or you're really slow.
14 hours to make that page???

I make my pages in almost half that time. and they're colored.

If it's the program. and it's taking you 14 hours to make a page. then I would definitely switch programs.

shiftingverses
May '18

I, too, suffer from this. I'm trying to break my perfectionism but the abuse of the "step back" tool continues.

I can do a page in 8-10 hours, which isn't bad considering how they come out11, but I've recently started an experimental project with a much looser style7 and it's alarming how much quicker the pages come together. For your artsyle I'd recommend going for a much looser look!

Generally though, here's some things that can speed up:

  • Only drawing backgrounds when you need to. You can get away with solids or just little suggestive items behind the characters. Look at Mike Mignola or P. Craig Russell for masteclasses in this level of restraint.
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like everything is drawn with a mouse using the pen tool? This is an incredibly slow way of working and makes things look very rigid. I'd save up for a drawing tablet..
  • Plan your pages out, don't draw straight ahead, do little thumbnails to make decisions about what you're darwing. They can literally be stick figures, but the decisions taken here will save you a TON of time when you come to draw the page proper.
hjfsdh2222
May '18
frostdrive

I don’t think it’s the program:/ I think it’s just my picky-ness in making art. Plus I have only been doing digital art(for real) for a few months now.

I use MediBang Paint. It’s really stripped down and nice for making comics. It almost never lags compared to other programs I have used (Krita and Hell-on-Earth aka GIMP).

hjfsdh2222
May '18
shiftingverses

Yeah well for the last two things: I do do thumbnails(even though I think I spend too much time on them:/) And I’m drawing with a drawing tablet(though I’m still sorta new to digital)

For the first thing: I used to almost never do backgrounds and yet it would still take about the same time:/ I do skimp on the backgrounds though. Maybe it’s because I put so much time into learning the figure and anatomy that I try to make it look better. But honestly my backgrounds look pretty decent for someone who never uses them. So I think there really is something to what you said about being looser:3

I guess I gotta have a background attitude about my figures now:3

shiftingverses
May '18

Your figure drawing will naturally get faster as you learn. Fortunately there's loads of great books on gesture and figure drawing that I found improved my work speed. The classic is Andrew Loomis, but it's quite old now and the techniques are very... technical! A good one I found is Figure Drawing for Artists: Making Every Mark Count by Steve Huston. The advice given is much more general and easier to follow and the break down of classic illustrations is really useful!

Good luck with it all though! It's not about cutting corners, but finding the paths more natural!

hjfsdh2222
May '18

Yeah I need to get back into the swing of learning things again. I miss learning honestly (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
I know a couple things about Loomis’s method but I never read the book. Maybe I’ll check it out. I still have by big volume by Bridgeman that I need to revisit:3

hjfsdh2222
May '18
1
PervertOldMan

I don’t mind your comments:3

First off: my comic art, no, actually any other art I do looks a lot worse than my figure studies(from reference) which I do do a lot looser actually:/
I only ever receive good feedback(or really any feedback) on those

I’m not saying I’m as good as the good artists on this site(greatest respect to them). I’m saying I’m better than the really bad artists who still get 20k on webtoons:/
You get what I’m saying?
Of course I still have a long way to go.

When I made this post I wasn’t really looking for someone to tell me “Yes, make your art look like shit”
I was looking for someone to say “Loosen da fuck up” Ya see?

I know anatomy, proportion, form, construction, perspective, shading. Just somehow I fail to convey that in my comic:/

Rowein
May '18

I say no. I really feel like you, but this is not a race and I think you can have your own pace doing things. If you think your comic needs more hours drawing it, do it and with time you'll noticed it every time you spend less time drawing it.

1 month later
ZombieOwl
Jul '18

I'll try to see if I can bring anything new to the table, but like most people have mentioned: you get faster as you gain experience(you'll find your strokes create shapes a lot faster the more you draw) and try not to be perfect.

I think it's good to keep details that you enjoy and that add atmosphere, but don't worry about the others as much. Find a way to dedicate your time to what YOU think is important to the story :slight_smile: