Aug 2022
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Aug 2022
Sep 2022
Lensing
Aug '22
darthmongoose

I´ll definetely do the background thing for the next 8 pages I´m drawing, I have way too much background going on and in the end
some of it is also covered by the speech bubbles so I didn´t even need to draw or color it.

I think I found a good solution for speech bubbles and the panel borders which are fun to do and also relatively fast.
I want them to look different than in other comics and also have a nice edgy shape around the text and so I sketch around
them with a ziczac line and then draw over them with a custom rough looking brush. I use the same brush for the panel
borders, it would be faster to use clip´s panel borders but in that case I go for the invididual panel borders because it
gives the pages a hand drawn character which I really like

rumpenstiltzkin
Aug '22

I dont think I do a lot - im still learning new tricks as I go - but I already have a fairly simple style for my comic, so the characters are fairly easy and quick to draw for me.

And I do shading very simple as well, just a quick multiply layer with simple strokes, not going to much into detail with shading and lighting either (exceptions for closeups tho)

And I copypaste my backgrounds a lot, and for some chapters Ive built some simple 3D shapes that helps me to do same background in different angles quickly.

XiuLyn_12
Aug '22

Determining panel positions and making body poses and angles I rarely do is probably the most time-consuming part when making my comic. :sob:

So I use many pose references from apps I downloaded on my phone. It helps me a lot instead of pulling my hair to get the pose correct, lol.

TroyVSTheWorld
Aug '22

I've learned that both readers and artists don't care much for backgrounds so I don't draw anything back there (unless it's immediately important to the viewer) and just use every panel as a different canvas and just kinda paint. Never been much of a painter and don't know much about digital painting, so I mess around with different colors and brushes.

Though, it's honestly just a reference to enemies in Earthbound having their own backgrounds.

Demy
Aug '22

I recommend saving a bunch of assets. Like bgs, sfx, linework, etc.

A few of my bgs are just assets I made months ago that I can just plant into the comic. Also through the asset store, you can probably find something that works to save time for you. Like a leaves brush or a rock brush or even a few 3d models that you can convert to lines.

I also recommend using the pallete function in CSP so that you don't have to fish for colors every time and maybe save some other colors you use often for stuff like overlay for a sunset or whatever.

And this might be a stretch....but maybe try to go from thumbnails to lineart instead of thumbnails>sketch>lineart. You need to make sure that you can get accurate proportions without a sketch though.

Lensing
Aug '22

Coloring and inking makes me love CSP, I´m using the palette funtion and did exactly
what you descrbed with fishing colors before, it did cost me most time.
I don´t like sketching in the app for some reason and still do it with Autodesk Sketchbook.

I do storyboard/thumbnails/sketches in one and go to inking from there

Lensing
Aug '22
TroyVSTheWorld

Yeah, that depends on the comic, for a webcomic I would use way less backgrounds I guess,
but I´m doing kind of like the euro Asterix, TinTin, Clever & Smart influenced style and they have
backgrounds in almost every panel but they save time in other ways

BoomerZ
Aug '22

All digital shortcuts:
1: Don't use separate thumbnails. Just zoom out and make the page smaller. Then zoom back in to fill them out.
2: If you use a sketch layer for pencils, don't make a finish product that you have to trace over completely with your inks. Keep it simple. "the hair goes here" and draw a outline of the outside of the hair.
3: after you do your layout/thumbs, put all you dialogue into the panels. Not the balloons, just the dialogue. This will give you a rough estimate of the space that will be needed to have that dialogue. Also this will tell you what you don't need to draw as it will be covered and won't be seen anyway.
4: while filling in flats, pick two colors (skin and hair for main character) put them on the color choices and "x" back and forth for them and fill all the pages with those colors. Then chose the next 2 colors. assembly line the process so you aren't changing to new colors all the time.
5: Save palettes for each character (specially if they always wear the same clothes).
6: On Clip Studio Paint, save your workspace, color palettes, shortcuts, and modified brushes (etc) to the cloud. This way you have it in case the computer dies and you need to reload clip on another computer.
7: back-up, back-up, back-up. Save regularly (for example at each stage: after all the inks of a page/panel is done) have a secondary backup in a second file on the computer incase that save you are working on get corrupted for some reason. Buy a portable harddrive (not a flash drive or ssd) for nightly saves to it. This will be your master in case your house gets struck by lighting or the like and your computer gets fried. Every time you finish working for the day, leave your computer, go eat, etc... save to this portable drive. If you really want to be safe with your creations/art, having a place to save not on site is best. Like a cloud. Something that if your house gets destroyed in a flood, robbed (they take you computer), or some disaster that destroys the place you live, you don't lose anything.

JaveCraze
Aug '22

i spend less time then i need to
"hmm, maybe I could make this panel just a LIIIITTLE bit better.." NOPE. it's done. voila.

Lensing
Aug '22

My characters do have "glove hands" instead of hands so that is definitely a time saver.
I can draw hands but it´s not important for my storytelling when I draw funny stuff
and hands take time

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TroyVSTheWorld
Aug '22

Glove hands are great! They definitely need to be used sparingly, but often times readers won't have a problem with them.

JogVodka
Aug '22

I do the border layout first in blue with the shape tool then do the art within it like normal. When I'm done with all my art i move my bordered layer way up at the top and change it to black.

I also use the shapes tool for the speech bubbles cause it saves time plus looks way better than anything else I do with it (I make an oval, stretch it vertically at first with the shape tool, then stretch it down with the resize tool to give the horizontal edge more bolden)

I don't really color since it's a mainly grayscale comic but i have a reference sheet for all the colors I need for the important stuff in one image.

RedLenai
Aug '22

Personally, the things that I've done recently is the following:

1- Thumbnailing in traditional, since, to me is way faster than doodling in the computer. I feel I have a better grip and waste less time since I avoid pressing Ctrl+Z besides I can glance at the script without switching windows

2- I make the panels of the entire chapter in a big Canvas (9000 x 9000 pixels at 200dpi approximately), then start doing a rough sketch. Personally I like to do this since I don't force my computer's memory/graphic card, neither I have to scroll and can work more comfortably.

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3- If there are panels that don't require background or are very complex, I just make a clean sketch right away and keep them ready to ink (Sometimes I even ink them in between of the following things)

4- After the rough sketch, I like to grab my 3d backgrounds (CofCof, done in the Sims 2), which are basically screenshots that I later accomodate to the panel.

5- After that, I place down the 3d models from CSP that I mostly use for fullbody views or very specific poses, and as well, I can arrange them so they align better with the backgrounds.

6- Then, I sketch and ink everything. I also do the lineart for the backgrounds since I want it to some or less blend a bit with my drawings.

  • Another cheat for inking is working in a Vector Layer, and using a bigger brush that later you can reduce it's parameters and make the lines smaller. That way, you avoid focusing in too many details and can keep up with the core lines first.
    • Besides doing this, you can also save time by working in Vector lines, while using the Vector Eraser you can remove lines quicker especially if these are clashing against another, this is very good for detailed hair.

7- Color base everything, then apply soft shadows and lights to the whole panel

  • Another thing that helps a lot to save time is having a color palette, to quickly pic the colors especially of the main characters
  • This is a life saver, this bad boy here has made base coloring extremely easy

8- Apply solid shadows and lights, highlights, minor ambiance corrections, details and such.

9- Lettering and speech-bubbles

  • Another way to save time, is to have the script already corrected and clean, the only thing left is to copy-paste the text.
  • I use a Speech-Bubble brush, so basically I encapsulate the words and then correct it a bit with the Operation section, instead of searching which speech-bubble I'm gonna use.

10- Export everything in the format of the platform I publish, I know by memory this, so it really doesn't take much time (Webcomics App, Webtoon Canvas, Tapas.Io and the High-Res version)

Lensing
Aug '22

Thank you for the detailed answer, it sounds very structured

Lady_T_Musings
Aug '22

I'm still adding to this list of time savers for comics, but like these are some of the main ones I like to put in my face.
1. You don't need all them layers lady
2. Preselect your colors and STICK TO THEM gal
3. 3 passes on line art is 1 to many, stop and move on
4. If your stuck on a scene that's not coming together just stop. Work on something else and come back fresh.
5. Could this be better? Sure. Is it so bad you need to redo the whole thing? No. Are you sure? No, but I'mma move on anyway.
6. Script it out before you draw it out.

RedLenai
Aug '22
Lensing

I'd also recommend dividing the tasks in this order, now, this may sound a bit too ideal and don't even I follow it always but:

  1. Thumbnail the whole chapter in one day, if you have more time, gather already your 3d backgrounds and arrange the panels.
  2. Don't worry too much if you can't get the anatomy right, use a model with a preset pose and just tweak it a bit so it aligns with what you're looking for.
  3. Sometimes, if you feel confident enough, just make the lineart in top of the 3d model, like that, without sketching.
  4. Limit the times you'll allow yourself to press control+z or how many times you'll be fixing a panel. It may not be perfect but you gotta move on.
  5. Let's be honest, we get distracted quite easily, be it with the music, videos, or just social media (Like, I'm doing that right now), so it'll be important to erase any kind of distractions be it for one or two hours and try to do a sole focus thing. (Which is extremely hard but you can notice the difference later)
pterodami
Aug '22
1

I created a personalized template with all the layers and folders I'll need, I don't use many after all. When I open a new document, I also already have things like the margins of the page and the palette with the colors I'll use. I use Krita, it's really easy to make.

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Lensing
Aug '22

Really good answers / advice my friends, thank you.
I will try to apply all of this to the next part of my comic book.
The first 8 pages are finished and I did all time consuming beginner mistakes you can imagine :smiley:

1 month later

closed Sep 9, '22

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