What is your comic process?

[roccobear]

I began writing out an elaborate post on my entire process, but my question for you is if you’re looking to simplify, I’m guessing it’s to post your pages faster?

If you’re trying to avoid burnout, the easiest thing to do is to put the comic on a brief hiatus, I know this is scary advice because hiatuses can definitely harm a comic’s popularity and readership growth, but sometimes it’s necessary.

Something I would heavily recommend is that you maybe reduce your posting schedule, depending on how often you post now. use the pages that you’re making to build a buffer for yourself so when you really feel like you can’t work a particular day or week, or whatever, you have existing pages to post and continue updating, even though you might be working on something else.

Some tips I’ve heard for streamlining process is to use shading sparingly (Do as I suggest, not as I do, lol) black and white comics also require a bit less work, and can allow you more details and props because the stage of trying to make sure all your colors flow together well and coloring in general, is removed.

Good luck, I hope that your burnout passes soon.

[BarBarKetrab]

Do you have a script on hand?
Not for my current story. I come up with everything in my head and then write down the backbone/outline of each idea as well as smaller, important details in my sketchbook or google docs file. I feel like if I already know every detail that is going to happen months in advance, then I'll begin get bored of drawing my comic. Hence, no script.

How many pages do you make?
I don't really have a set amount, but I try to make each update at least 2-3 pages long.

How much do you limit yourself to making props and details?
If I'm drawing an establishing scene of trying to show off the environment, then I'll probably draw a background in every panel. On the other hand, if I'm only depicting characters talking to each other or showing their thoughts/emotions, then I'll probably use minimal or abstract backgrounds. My style is relatively simple, so I don't really have a problem with drawing complex shots.

What are the things that make you discouraged or burnout easily?
Working on the comic for too long without taking a break and doing other things. My body needs rest!

My process of making a page:

1. Panel layout
2. Scribble sketches and speech bubble locations
3. Line art
4. Colour
5. Text and sound effects

[rajillustration]

My process is

1. Script: My script is fully written start to finish and revised several times before I start drawing. (and when I draw I tend to delete stuff that isn't worth the time to draw it)
2. Thumbnail: I do this on a photoshop document that is 3 inches wide and like...very tall. I do this at 3 inches because later I make my files 8.5 inches wide to do the drawing, and when that happens, the files will be several hundred inches long, which crashes my computer. So, we start with 3 inches, and I'll splice that into 2 or 3 parts. This is the stage where I decide how many panels I have and where the text will roughly go.
3. Drawing: After splicing, I'll make the files 8.5 inches wide, I'll perfect the font placement and the panel placement, and then I will copy all those thumbnails into seperate files so I'm doing 1 (sometimes 2) panels at a time seperately. I use a ton of layers when I color, and so this helps me from doing something terrible to my computer, and it helps everything move faster. I'll do all the linework at this stage, and right now this is the longest stage for me. Used to be coloring, now it's linework.
4. Flatting: After linework, I'll do the flatting, which is when you seperate all of your art into selections, so that way it's easy to select what part is which. Especially if I have a lot of details in my art (and I tend to do that) this saves me a ton of time later when I'm coloring. I use a free browser program for my flatting called "flatton" because it's 2021 and no one should be manually flatting every line anymore. I still have to fix acute angles though.
5. Coloring: Using the flats, I'll color everything and use clipping layers to add shadows and effects. I have a tutorial out there on how I do this but I do it pretty weird and complicated with actions and masking layers and for simple comics it's not necessary. I just went a little extra when I probably should have not.
6. Compiling: After I color each panel, it's time to put it together, I'll know what colors to put in the backgrounds because I do a quick color study on my 3 inch version of the comic (this keeps everything cohesive and nice so you have no idea I did each piece separately), and so all I need to do is copy paste each panel into the big 8.5 inch wide scroll document. I'll add sparkly details at this stage to keep it interesting and exciting.
7. Compressing: then I make sure that all the longer documents saved are less than 40 mb, and I may compress a bit in photoshop to get it under 40 mb, and at that point, I upload it. If it's webtoon I have to take it to CSP to use their webtoon splicer, and then bring it back to Photoshop to save as PNG again because CSP adds 3 mb for some reason. File size limits are my bane.

As far as limiting my backgrounds-- I usually do at least one background a scroll format page, and that's it. Sometimes more if I change scenes. That's how I get around it. I use a lot of handy brushes to build trees quickly, and I don't have complicated perspectives to deal with so I haven't used any 3d assets at this point. I also don't copy paste my backgrounds, I rarely have a need to re-use them just with how my story is written, we change locations a lot.

And for ways to avoid burnout, I think it's just going at my own pace. First off, you decide your upload schedule. I could upload my comic every week, but that would give me burn out, so I do every other. That's fine. I don't really do my comic on the weekends, and I'll actually do it every other day during the week, not every day. (on off days I work on other things and allow my wrist to recover since comic work is very taxing compared to my other art work). I take care of my hands because I had carpal tunnel once and it flares up a lot, and I also talk to other comic artists about things that frustrate me and that can help when I don't feel heard or appreciated.

I've also wanted to take a different approach with my comic this year, I really wanted to feel the joy in creating my art for myself again, especially during the pandemic as I was looking back at my life and feeling like most of my art was for other people and not for me, so it's more of a personal journey. To enjoy the moments, the process, and find more in it than just that fun buzz when you upload and get a few hearts. So in a way I'm slowing down a little bit, thinking of it as a marathon and not a race.

As for your own comic, there's not really enough here for me to tell you if it's right or wrong--but since this is all new to you if you're just starting out, I say just keep going. Our process changes as we realize the ways we like to draw individually (and it's different for each person) so keep trying out things, keeping note of what you enjoyed most, and don't worry about being perfect right now. Especially if this is all new for you.

[monochrome0M394]

aw thank you man, but i decided to redo it cus I need to add some context onto my comics-

[Lady_T_Musings]

I always find it fascinating to hear about how others plot out making their comics and art.

I start by editing a chapter of my original script for the comic to include dialogue and edits for any new story nits I need to keep in mind.

I then draw out each page in a small rectangular thumbnail to give me an idea of how much I can fit on a page that will be legible.

I'm terrible about remembering where to put the text bubbles as I draw more thinking about illustrations than I do thinking about graphic design (something I need to focus more on so that my text and art can work together and not against each other).

I then take a picture of my thumbnails and import the photos into Procreate on my iPad into an 11x17 350dpi page and do rough line art. I'm working to do nicer roughs so I can cut out this rough lineart phase and move to do clean lines from the thumbnails, but for now, I have the roughs and then do clean lines on top.

I tend to do background elements later than with the characters, so that's another thing I'm trying to be more aware of so that characters and background elements work together over looking separated. I notice that when I have background elements pre-drafted using Planner5d It's easier for me to do this, But drafting cities is a lot of work over drafting a house or room XD.

Afterward, I block out my flat colors based on the character color swatches I have and scenery (if any). I make a layer and clip it to the flats and then do my shading and highlights.

Lastly, I do my speech bubbles. I was doing them all in Procreate bc they added text options, but I am going to go back to using Affinity Designer for this bc they have lovely text editing tools that I think will look better.

Once all that is done I save the page for web viewing and boom!

I prefer to work in batches, so a chapter at a time and get them qued up before moving forward to the next set :D.

For avoiding burnout I just work on scheduled days and make sure to have things to look forward to like a specific scene, or having other fun things planned through the week, but I truly love making my comic and look forward to my comic making times, but sometimes you just need to take a break so that you don't burn out if you feel it coming.

[FightTheSun]

Process.jpg
I usually pick a past fashion illustrations and create a story/theme to justify drawing it for 40+ pages. Then I mock up a 3d head for reference, it's usually worth the time spent modeling it. I would layout the script in rough thumbnails and send that out to friends for critique/readability check. Once that's all approved, I make a colorkey (leftover animation industry training lmao) and use that to paint the finished page. To relax during the painting process I would make little fashion illustrations and the cycle would begin anew. I was always too overwhelmed by making a comic that I have to separate it segments where I can focus on one specific thing at a time.

[erudenedure]

My process is so sloppy.

I have a rough script, but sometimes I realize I need to flesh out an episode further or need to add something in, so sometimes episodes/chapters are written before or as I'm sketching it out.

Sometimes, I just know the gist of the scene and write the dialogue as I'm sketching up the episode.

After I'm done sketching it out - on a file that's 1600 x 500000 (I'll size it down later) - I'll start lining the panels. Each panel gets their own folder.

Sometimes, I'll do flats and shading of the characters before moving to the next panel. Sometimes I'll do the background too or I'll just do all the backgrounds at once. Or I just get all the line art done before doing any coloring. Depends on my mood.

Dialogue bubbles and sound effects are done after backgrounds get done.

Special effects or tweaks are done after that.

Save a PNG, which means I need to resize height to 30000px. (Clip Studio won't let me save a PNG that's more than that.)

Use the croppy extension to save for Webtoon and Tapas.

Preview to make sure everything looks good. Do further tweaks if something seriously bothers me.

Then post.

[_Cool]

Process?
I mean, I draw and re-draw, than color, then upload.
But, if I don't feel like it, then I think about drawing, and re-drawing, than coloring and uploading.
Its a GREAT process....if you want to stay stuck at 3 subscribers.

[Caro]

I usually have an outline of the whole story but I don’t script unless I have to. Some publishers require you to send in a script and in those cases I’ll just whip something up in a day or two that will end up being completely ignored when I get to the page.

I do all of my dialogue in my thumbs I think it helps the dialogue stay organic and I maybe 20% of it changes when I get to the final page because I’ll realize I could make something flow a little better.

I ink and letter traditionally because I do that waaaay faster than I could digitally and I like the outcome a lot more (I’ve done digital for years— just never liked it and have never gotten to match my trad speed).

Then I scan, level the blacks n whites, color digitally (easier to setup for print than coloring traditionally).

I’ve worked on my own comics professionally for the past few years but I still feel like I’m learning what my process is every time I start a new project.

[Fox_Den7]

I usually have my comic drawn out traditional first in a separate sketch book
Then I boot up Paint Tool Sai and get to drawing it digitally while making here and there
edits to the original page. I usually have music playing or anime in the background to keep
my mind from wandering away from the task at hand.

[Zhengo]

I usually start with a really rough outline and script. The script's usually not concrete and is more to give me a good sense of how my pages will go. After that I do rough thumbnails, and if I am satisfied with those, I will work on the pages themselves.

[GumshoeComix]

1.Sketch/ write notes
2. Script
3. Thumbnail/ Cleanup
4. Dialouge bubbles & lettering
5. Lineart
6.Colorflats and shading
7. Finishing touches

Repeat

I'm usually working on one of each with several different chapters at a time
Colors for CH7
Lineart for CH8
Thumbnails for CH 12
Script for CH 19
+
Fixing a few dialogue things in CH3 and writing notes for CH 20

so because I have a lot of things to work on at once my mind won't get numb from the monotony cause I can just switch what I'm doing whenever I want.
and I try not to work too long cause that's what usually causes burnout, because I used to have a really bad work ethic I try to limit myself to one page a day now, which is fine since I only need 3 pages a week.