What is your comic process?

[monochrome0M394]

I've been wondering about this for a while. do you have a script on hand or you have outlines for the comic episode? how many pages do you make and how much can you limit yourself in making props and details? what are the things that made you discouraged or burnout easily?

mine's that I used to draw 4 pages. before you say that I should do 1 per page, I wanna let you know my comic layout may be too small (it's around 940 x 14440), and here's the example for it-

I can easily draw multiple pages. If I don't put too many details or not paying attention to the background, i liked it so far but is there anyway to improve this?

[BreakingChalk]

Once I have the idea for the chapter/arc:

1. Start with very rough sketches of four pages, including all dialogues.
2. Once I have all sketches for the chapter, I do more for the next ones, as much as possible and in parallel to what's next
3. Work with two pages to do the lineart FOR THE CHARACTERS
4. If I get tired of working with the same two pages, I work with another two for the lineart, in case there isn't anything to color/sketch yet
5. Once a page has all the characters' lineart, I start with the backgrounds
6. Once I'm done with the backgrounds, I start coloring, all while working with another pages' lineart, or sketches.
7. Draw dialogue bubbles and write their texts
8. Onomatopeias and effects
   9.Once I have a chapter's pages fully done, I go to Powerpoint to change their resolution, as well as to work with my "Chalk's talk" section. It also serves as the first revision for any errors I should correct.
9. I go back to SAI to do the spanish dialogues and do revision again.
10. I do step 9 for the spanish version once I've fixed the english one.

So I work in parallel with Sketches, lineart, coloring and resolution.

About your process, I can't think of a major problem with it, so I guess it's good!

[IndigoShirtProd]

do you have a script on hand or you have outlines for the comic episode?

Yes, I do especially when I'm typing out the dialogue or need to refer to page layout. I do my pages in batches so I'll usually set up the panels for all the pages I'm working on first before drawing anything.

how many pages do you make

I usually work in batches of ten pages. Any more and I'd have to take a longer hiatus.

how much can you limit yourself in making props and details?

It really depends on the panel. I usually have an establishing shot at the start of scenes which gives me leeway to not have as many background elements in certain panels. And usually during dialogue scenes, the backgrounds are pretty limited.

what are the things that made you discouraged or burnout easily?

Just life in general. If I work on my comic for too long, I usually get bored and work on other illustrations instead. Sometimes I get frustrated with the returns on my work or feel overwhelmed by the pressure I put on myself and feel like taking a break. I get burnt out regularly, but I get irritated if I don't work on anything so I'm usually back on my grind pretty fast.

I wanna let you know my comic layout may be too small

I always recommend working bigger. My working files are something like 2500x3800 pixels or whatever. It's just easier to scale things down without making it blurry if I want to post on other platforms or print the comic.

i liked it so far but is there anyway to improve this?

In a general sense no, because there's a lack of context. This doesn't seem like an average page. And you know, depending on the style, some comics work better with less details.

[Kaydreamer]

I have a script, but I don't know how many panels a script chunk will spread itself over until I'm storyboarding. I'll allow myself to add, remove and tweak dialogue during storyboarding as well.

I get around having to constantly redraw background details by drawing a background very nicely once in an establishing shot, then copy-pasting that into panels. I'll sometimes put a gaussian blur over the background where needed, to ensure the focal point is the character. (That said, I love backgrounds, and will happily spend the time on them where they're needed.)

I also break my vertical comic up into smaller 'chunks' to work on, due to Procreate's layer limit, but I storyboard it as big, long files. I also make sure those 'chunks' flow into each other seamlessly, by using gradients at the top and bottom and matching the colours between chunks.

[monochrome0M394]

I always recommend working bigger. My working files are something like 2500x3800 pixels or whatever. It's just easier to scale things down without making it blurry if I want to post on other platforms or print the comic.

I used to do that. but it easily makes me burned out and I won't able to post large files on tapas because I won't know how much I amped up the details and my laptop won't be able to process them and possibly corrupted them. what is the recommended canvas size thou?

Just life in general. If I work on my comic for too long, I usually get bored and work on other illustrations instead. Sometimes I get frustrated with the returns on my work or feel overwhelmed by the pressure I put on myself and feel like taking a break. I get burnt out regularly, but I get irritated if I don't work on anything so I'm usually back on my grind pretty fast.

same life is a harsh mistress and yeah I kinda feel the same way too.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I used to do that. but it easily makes me burned out and I won't able to post large files on tapas because I won't know how much I amped up the details and my laptop won't be able to process them and possibly corrupted them. what is the recommended canvas size thou?

Yea I just keep the working files and size down the ones I upload. Just any size that's bigger and feasible. I picked the size I'm working with because I plan to print my comic in the future.

[monochrome0M394]

In a general sense no, because there's a lack of context. This doesn't seem like an average page. And you know, depending on the style, some comics work better with less details.

quick question. what how much context do I have to put on a comic. and where exactly?

[crossedvessel]

I don't know much about "pages" cause I work in scroll format, but I usually draw between 20-40 panels an episode, for instance 800x 51200 (not the longest ep but ish) except for the last eps I've been drawing less.
So, I already have a script cause I first started writing the story as a novel on Wattpad, so I do some storyboard, then I start sketching each panel on a strip, and I start drawing each panel
First linart, flats, shadows, environmental lights, highlights.
I get discouraged when I spend more than 2 hours in one panel, cause I don't like to think about drawing when I'm drawing, I like watching TV shows while doing it, so when j spend more then 2 hours is because something is taking longer than it should, then I most have done something wrong 🤣🤣🤣🤣 it frustrates me, (this doesn't apply to non comic ralated illustrations or cover art cause these should take longer)

That's it

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

I start with a script (which is a mish-mash of dialogue and descriptions of what happens in a scene, including occasionally pointing out what things should be close-ups or whatever), and pre-design major characters and settings before I start drawing. I started out trying to draw a batch of pages at one time, but that just got confusing and frustrating for me, so I settled into a comfortable rhythm of drawing one page from blank to finished every week.

First, I thumbnail out the page in my sketchbook, nailing down the storyboarding and dialogue. Sometimes this is easy and goes quick, and sometimes it fights me.

Then I draw out my panels, throw in 'lumps' for where my characters and important visual elements need to go, and draw/write in the word bubbles, making sure the art and word bubbles are balanced in the panel. Then I ink the panel borders and word bubbles before I ever start on actually drawing. (Since I'm working on actual paper with traditional media, I hand-write in the text on the page, but I erase it later in photoshop and type it back in with a font I made of my handwriting-- I just like having the text on the actual page, too, because I like to be able to flip through the finished pages later and read them.)

Once the panels and word bubbles are inked, I rough pencil in the actual art, and then go over my pencil lines again with a darker pencil to clean them up. Then I ink them with Micron pens, erase my pencil lines, and start coloring. This is easily the most time-consuming part, and routinely takes me at least a couple of days. Once I'm done coloring, I go over my ink lines again to clean up edges and darken lines that got faded in the erasing/coloring process. Lastly, I sign it.

Then I scan the pages. Since my scanner doesn't do 11 x 17 inch paper (I've never heard of a home scanner that does... I'd seriously consider investing in one, otherwise), I have to scan it in chunks and align it in Photoshop. Then I color correct, remove blemishes, darken the panel gutters, re-add the text, and size it for whatever platform it's being posted on.

Once all of that is done, the page goes to live in its final home, the portfolio I keep my finished comic pages in.

[wekanian]

I outline the plot points of my series to get all ideas organized, maybe identifying plot holes, and see which needs to be foreshadowed and where to put them.

Next step is arranging the points into bullet list. Each item is the content of an episode. This helps me feel grounded to where I am with the story.

The actual comic making, I just thumbnail them together with the dialogues. I don’t do scripts because it kinda goes together when I thumbnailing an episode. Then sketch it digitally, flatting, and polish as needed. Copy-paste panels when applicable

[monochrome0M394]

how Do you do outlines? I've been trying to use scripts but it took very long for me-

[wekanian]

Basically, I only lay things out that I might forget in the future. And spread them to help me organize my ideas.

I don’t try to come up with details unless it is necessary. Details usually come by themselves and just then I will write them down.

I also use codes when I haven’t come up with names for stuff yet.

These look like shortcuts but it help me writing the general flow of plots unhindered. Stopping to think up details will get me distracted

I also mostly design on the spot, take a screenshot of the new character, and that’s my character sheet.

My outline usually looks like this:

And my thumbnail for episode is like this:

[monochrome0M394]

ooooh thank you for your advice! i might try that

[wekanian]

Watch out for the design tho. My characters live in modern world so their designs don’t need to be as intricate as those in fantasy worlds. Characters that need intricate design will need serious planning

[monochrome0M394]

don't worry i have spend weeks deciding on the clothing theme on my characters. the first story i did was a bit of both (aka urban fantasy) but yeah i will keep it in mind.

[dewarcomics]

I tend to brainstorm a bit on what are the key things that happen on the chapter I'm working on. for my current comic I aim for approx 15-20 pages per chapter. I then sketch out the pages and panels not trying to make it tidy but enough to see if the panel layout and the drawing itself reads well and has a nice pacing to it.
I also quickly write the dialogue and bubble placement aswell. (though these tend to change once I'm at the inking stage)

Sometimes I write myself in a corner or I went a direction that I doesn't feel right, which means I either start over from scratch or if some pages are still good I reverse the clock so to speak and go from where I feel I gone the wrong way writing wise. That being said I often don't plan the details in advance to keep the spontaneity and creative drive.

I have key plot points already in mind but the detail in between how I get there is essentially improv. I also go from chapter to chapter the further in the story the more vague the details I have until I get to that point.

[ninjashira]

• I absolutely have a script on hand. It's not a super in-depth script, it's just dialogue and basic actions, not even broken up into pages or panels or anything. I figure all of that out at the thumbnailing stage. But because I have a very specific story to tell with a lot of story elements that build up to each other and reference back to each other, having a script is very important for me.

• I work a little atypically in that I do huge batches of pages at a time. So I'll do like 20-40 pages in one go between semesters at college, then set them to auto-update over the next 10-20 weeks, so I don't have to worry about keeping up with my comic while I'm in school and keeping up with my homework. So the pages that are updating right now were drawn in November and December, and will update until August. And over the summer, I'll knock out another 20-40 pages and have them update until winter break next year. It works out well for me, though I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea to work that way.

• I don't limit myself on backgrounds or props, except in how it fits the story and the style of the artwork. I don't skimp on my backgrounds. I try to always have at least one really nice environment on every page, and I've got 3D models that I made of recurring props that I'll trace over so they match the rest of my art style. I like having really believable props and environments, so I try not to skimp.

• I may be in the minority here, but I don't really have a problem with burnout or discouragement with this comic, and I think part of it is my working method. Doing it in two or three batches throughout the year gives me a nice break from it. So I'll work like a madman and crank out a couple dozen pages, then I get to take a break from drawing this comic to focus on drawing other things and doing classwork and experimenting with stuff. Then a few months later, I crank out another couple dozen pages, then do something else for a while. It makes it so I'm not just working on my webcomic all the time, and I have time away from it for a while, which then just makes me excited to get back into it when it's time to do my next batch.

[MeltingCORE]

panic

Just kidding! My manga is an anthology to tell side stories from my novel. I insist on doing full-color and to be honest... I just take my time painting each page. I do try to keep the updates on Mondays though. And I do have scripts I work from.

[jcmraz]

I write the script for the chapter. When I do a page I decide how I want the page to look and include the parts of the script that would fit the flow and panels I want to include. Then I put in a 6 panel grid and design the page's panels over the top of that. Then it's layers of sketching until I have that done. Inking and then shadowing. Move it from procreate to csp for paneling, touchups and text

[lomcia]

I had recently qna and someone ask me that question, how I make pages. If u want I answered here:

Laos Chronicles | Tapas