What's your comic prep?

[Chita]

Starting up with a project is always a daunty yet extremely fun phase, and there are thousands of ways to do it. Writing the whole script, making moodboards, having just the outline, designing every location beforehand...

So my question to you all is, what is your comic prep? What are the "must have" for you to start a comic?

[DiegoPalacios]

For me, to start a comic, i need to be clear about the key characters, key events of the story and a script of the first chapters/pages.

To start publishing, a buffer big enough to properly commit to a schesdule.

[DualDragons]

I agree.

I also want to add that I find it helpful to set a boundary for myself, how long is the story going to be?

[allenT]

I'm a planner for my very first webcomic 'MAOR', i start writing story drafts on 2016, taking my time until l like the story, and started preparing more tightly on 2019. I do have some "must-haves" but that's just how i do it.

1. Confirm the design and look of the main characters, 85~90% is fine when i start the series. I have time to work on before the character's first appearance.

2. Knowing how the entire story goes, scene by scene. Solidify the structure so i don't have to worry about it later, It makes pacing and planning pages easier. I only have to concern about my page thumbnails, panelings, dialogues afterwards.
   

   

3. Testing my formats until i get an ideal setting as template. That means the toning styles, the inking style also style of speech bubbles, the gaps between panels, the effects, the output resolution etc. I print out the template and will follow it, until it needs an improvement.

And also other art references like background, cultures & stuff-- do as much the important parts as i can before starting. But there's just too many if i go detail so I might as well start the comic and collect/make more along the way.

[Legendofgenii]

That's so organised (and useful!)

My process is chaotic. Step 1 is make a brew.

[joannekwan]

A script that's 75% complete. I cannot start drawing without that.

[ninjashira]

If I'm going to be doing a long-form comic, there are a few things I always do before I start even drawing page one.

1. Have firm character designs. Not just a rough idea or a few sketches, but fully-realized character design images, preferably with a turnaround of at least the face and drawings of multiple outfits if there are costume changes.

2. A script. I know not everyone works from a script or plans the entire story out in advance, but I honestly cannot work on a long project if I don't know how the story is going to go. The script is flexible and subject to change as I go on, but I have to have it before I get started.

3. Thumbnails of probably way too much. I don't think anyone else I know does this, but for my current Tapas comic Hollow, I thumbnailed the entire series before I started drawing page one. I am not a very strong writer, and I'm a very visual person, so having the beats of the story laid out across the individual pages really helps me get the pacing correct and visualize the entire story arc. Again, thumbnails are subject to change (they've gone through so many revisions that what was once originally a 200-page comic is now a 300-page comic), but it's so much easier for me to adjust the pacing at the thumbnail stage than it is to try and figure it out as I'm doing pages.

4. 3D models of recurring backgrounds. Backgrounds are so much effort when I'm trying to figure out the math and perspective on my own, and it feels like work more than any other part of the process, so I make it easier on myself by making rough 3D models of my frequently-used backgrounds and using those as guides for my perspective and everything so I can actually enjoy the process of drawing backgrounds and adding character to them. Before I even started drawing page one, I made models of the two main characters' bedrooms and the university courtyard so I would have them ready when I needed them, and create more models as needed.

5. Formatted page templates. I made a .PSD file at the right size, dimensions, pre-established and named layers, and the layer effects I need already in there. This way everything is uniform size, my panel borders and speech bubbles are the right thickness, my lettering layers are already set up with the font and the size I'm using, so I don't have to think about any of that when I get into drawing the pages.

Basically, I do as much prep as humanly possible before I start doing the comic so when it's time to get to work, I can just sit and start drawing, rather than futsing around for ages with panels and lettering and formatting and thumbnailing.

[Chita]

@DiegoPalacios That seems to be the basic planning for a plot driven story. And god yes the buffer! I would kill to have one right now and it seems that newcomers always look down on having prepared pages beforehand.

@DualDragons That's a great point! People usually advice to know when your story will end. It's really nice to have a limited goal in mind, even if it'll change with time XD

@allenT Woah, that planning you have sent looks really pro, I'm already taking notes XD. Also I love the idea of testing different styles before comiting to one

@Legendofgenii I see you and I are the same

@joannekwan I really think that's awesome, it must help a lot with pacing, flow and foreshadowing properly.

@ninjashira You have all the pages thumbnailed?! Woah, that's commitement. To be honest I love how thought out your process is, and having all the 3D backgrounds prepared it's a really smart move.

[But_a_Jape]

I'm an extremely visual thinker, my ideas for scenes are usually detailed enough in my head that I can essentially play them as a mental film. When it comes to translating it into physical media, I start off with a rough storyboard of what I see and at the same time I decide the panel layout as I'm sketching. During this time, I fiddle with the characters' poses, angles, and blocking. My biggest weakness with this strategy is that my "mental film" doesn't include speech bubbles, I hear everything my characters are saying, so when it comes to deciding where the text goes I have to start adjusting the scenes even more (I often get a really satisfying aesthetic for a panel, then realize I left no room for dialogue).

Anyway, once all the storyboarding is out of the way, I fill in details and that's where most of the honing of my character designs comes in (if I haven't already used the characters before). I usually already have a rough idea of what the characters look like, but when I see it drawn out I might reconsider certain things, so I'll redraw or redesign some details during this process. Sometimes this will happen even if it's a character I've made reference materials for - I'll realize some aspects of their design might look cool if they're just standing around, but making their poses more dynamic could trip me up.

Dialogue is usually the last thing I settle on - the more I reread or rethink what the characters are saying, the more I feel like it should be altered a bit. So with my storyboards, I'll have a pretty solid idea of what they're saying, sometimes I'll even write it out in the draft, but by the end there will be a number of changes.

Every now and then, the final step is to look at my completed work, decide it didn't turn out as I had hoped, and redo it from scratch (luckily, this has only happened with my simpler pages).

[Shanny8]

A script that's 75% complete. I cannot start drawing without that.

This, though I have worked on a chapter that was 50% complete. My 2nd chapter was halfway done...I took a month break near the halfway point(coz my arms were shot) & during the break I finished writing the chapter.

Other than that I just need time, energy, and motivation to work on it.

[PaulDevers]

I gotta be able to know what my main characters look like, a basic premise, an idea of how long it'll go for, and a beginning and end already in mind. I don't really need much to start? It's probably better to have more than that planned, tbh.

[SagaHolmgaard]

It really depends on the story tbh. For my webcomic it was essential that I had the script almost completed for the whole thing. I don't want to end up years down the line realizing that the story doesn't work and having to agonize over how to fix it.

For shorter things, I don't care as much. I've made comics upwards to 40 pages with pretty much 0 writing beforehand. Granted, I'll usually make some form of notes, but if the plot is simple enough, then I feel fine going in without everything that's going to end up on the pages already written down.

Other things I need, character designs and locations are REALLY helpful, but again, a few sketches when I know the story is on the short side is fine. I should probably work more on design prep for shorter comics as well, but lol, I guess if I know it's a short story, I also want a fast workflow xD

[nathanKmcwilliams]

1. Listen to music
2. Take a walk, or get some fresh air.
3. Listen to more music.
4. Work at my day job, mull the ideas over in my head.
5. Listen to even more music while thinking about my story or character ideas
6. Write or verbally speak some ideas down\out while walking and getting fresh air
7. Listen to more music, and draw\write my outline

Basically I just listen to music and ideas come to me. I don't really plan much beyond a basic outline. But music is the the key for a productive nathanKmcwilliams.

[DiegoPalacios]

That seems to be the basic planning for a plot driven story. And god yes the buffer! I would kill to have one right now and it seems that newcomers always look down on having prepared pages beforehand.

You don't tell them about your secret stash of pages, that's the trick

[jmassat]

What I'm working on now is in comic strip-format, with four panels per strip (usually). My first decisions, in order, were 1) the general idea of the comic (which changed a lot, but gave me some good direction), 2) the main characters and the art style (went hand in hand, for me), and 3) the comic's format. I chose four-panel strips because I wanted the comic, and the way I envisioned the comic, to be compact. I didn't want this webcomic to take years to finish...well, not TOO many years. And I didn't want it to have an epic scope.

Then I brainstormed ideas about the overarching plot...which, again, have changed a lot, but my starting point was very useful. I won't iron out many things about my comic until I'm close to the end. I've really been making the strips as I go, with some wishy-washy ideas about my ending.

[Kiweevil]

Holy damn man that's neat stuff right there.

I just bought three corkboards to cover in fabric and do something similar, mostly to sort out timelines while I wait for Campfire Blaze to work out its kinks. Nice inspo right there, thanks for sharing

[allenT]

Gee thanks, glad it inspires you.

[rajillustration]

Yeah what I do is I write the script completely--fully--entirely, and then do about 5-6 drafts before I ever consider drawing. I change my plot a lot as I write. I do research and plan like anyone else but when I write I still change so much as I go because it's really easy to change a script and type more--it's really hard to change stuff later after I start to draw.

After my script feels good, I take some time to do some style studies--figuring out the style that's best for the update schedule and vibe of the story--so I'll do a bunch of practice pages finding the best brushes that I'll use, the best coloring method that I'll use, and size and type of font and stuff like that. Graphic design stuff.

Then I do some character design work, and some world building for backgrounds (which depends on the comic--because for some there's a lot of talking bits and you don't need that many backgrounds, actually--you barely see em because there's only one per episode, really)

And something I'm doing for my current comic is just really trying to get my pipeline solid and fast, so I've been making just a whole bunch of complicated photoshop actions so that my coloring can go quicker but still look really nice. It's been kind of wonderful, and I wish I had done it with earlier comics because it helps me focus on the things I love to do (which is paint and draw and focusing on design and art stuff) instead of things I hate (which is organizing clipping layers and double checking to make sure all my colors are consistent) It looks like this:

I'm working on getting a year's buffer before I'm done, so it'll be a while before I post it, but it'll give me plenty of time to finesse my style, get character designs consistent, and get my actions just right before I go live with it.

[Conrad_Os]

basically, what I do too, except I don't write a script per se, I just make bullet points with important events

[amthecomic]

For me the most important thing are the characters and their design. I structure the whole athmosphere and style around them. So I also don´t prepare the backgrounds because it´s so much fun to explore them on the spot.
Concerning the story, I always like to have a finished script. It doesn´t have to be the final version. A first draft is enough. All I have to know is where the story will take us.
And than I can start with the storyboard of the first chapters and drawing them of course. I really love that prepping process.