Webcomic tips
In the conclusion for now, some things I’d really recommend doing if you’re seriously considering making a webcomic (or really a comic in general). Some of these don’t really apply to strips or gag-a-day type of comics, but I’m not talking about those here.
1. Write down ideas\sketch stuff, LEGIBLY. “I’m gonna remember it later” NEVER works. And if you scribble it somewhere on a piece of paper, you’d better scan it or retype in one doc later, because tiny notes always get lost among other doodles in my skethbooks.
(i know it’s hard to keep everything clean and organized, but this mess is just not productive)
If your project is a collaboration, save your conversations. If you’re working alone, make a blog for your ramblings. You have no clue what tears of relief I cry when I open that blog and rememeber I don’t have to painstakingly look through my heaps of sketchbooks and folders for a tiny idea I’m not even sure I wrote down a few months ago.
2. Inspiration folders, or even better, inspo blog with tags also help with collecting and remembering ideas. Color schemes, landscapes, style inspirations, atmospheric stuff, maybe some photo references, all those neat things.
3. Basic tier: character design sheets. Top tier: common poses, expressions. God tier: outfits they wear throughout the comic. Holy cow tier: turnaround sheets for all those outfits.
(I’d die trying to find good pages for references without these)
4. If you haven’t finished detailing the plot, don’t even think about moving on to drawing the comic. You’re gonna regret it when you come up with a really cool plot element that can’t be incorporated anymore because you’ve already drawn all the parts you could’ve tweaked.
5. Don’t just define the plot, make a script. Writing down the lines and the brief description of the actions serves me fine:
(notice that I approximately divided the pages & the text that’d go to each panel on a page)
6. Hard mode: make thumbnails for all the pages, if possible. At least whenever a new chapter starts.
7. If your story involves some convoluted chronology shenanigans, you’d better write down the events of your timeline in the chronological order.
8. Backgrounds. You can’t avoid them, bro. Like half of the comics are backgrounds, especially if your story involves a lot of adventuring and looking around. I know it hurts, but you’ll have to become friends with them. Read some tutorials, practice on photos, go out and sketch some streets, use 3d programs (like Google Sketch) to understand the perspective, use sites like houseplans to visualize your buildings better, I don’t know. Just be prepared for their imminent evil.
9. If you’re drawing digitally, pick a brush size for the lines and stick with it. You don’t want your lines and detail levels to look all wonky and inconsistent in different panels. And I don’t mean the cool stylistic varying lines, I mean this:
Also, things on the background should have thinner and/or lighter lines to avoid distraction. Usually less details too, unless you’re making a busy background with a simple foreground to help it pop out. Or wanna draw the attention to an object on the bg.
10. Readable fonts. Even if you chose to ignore people with poor sight or dyslexia, the majority of your readers aren’t gonna be excited about struggling to decypher this:
Also, as much as I love my black speech bubbles, colorful text on black still kinda hurts the eyes. I wouldn’t recommend doing that for all the characters. Black speech bubbles are usually used for creepy, inhuman voices. And yes, having a colorful outline in this case helps.
11. Probably newsflash, but did you know that panels have their place, order and functions? They do! My favourite thing ever is how I used panels when I was like 12:
(comics ain’t rocket science, but this one is)
The composition of the panels and word balloons always serve for a better reading experience. They guide your eyes over the page, so that you never feel lost or confused. The images in the comic equal frames in a movie, so it’s pretty damn important in what order you look at things and how quickly you can understand what’s going on!
(Eric Shanower & Scottie Young’s Wizard of Oz)
12. One update a week is fine for testing waters. Don’t overestimate yourself, especially if you have a pretty busy life outside it. A stable comic that updates slowly, but regularly is better than an unpredictable erratic one. You can always pick up the pace later, if you feel confident enough.
13. Try to always have a buffer - a couple of pages in reserve. If you’re making the pages much faster than you’re updating, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if those paces are equally the same, it’s goddamn HARD. But on the other hand, if something happens and you skip an update, those come in handy.
If you’re looking at this list and thinking “wow that’s a LOT of work”, you’re totally right. And it’s okay to be intimidated at first! But that’s why it’s important to start with something small. Once you get the formula down, these things will be natural to you.
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How I draw skin Part 2: DON”T DRAW NATIVE PEOPLE WITH RED SKIN!!!! A tutorial
For the first tutorial on how I draw skin, see the post here.
But seriously, I’ve seen too many drawings of Native characters with literal red/pink skin to count so just in case some of you are having troubles with drawing Native people, I’ve provided a guide for you. Please take my swatches if it helps!! and no more red skinned people, please <0<
Disclaimer: this tutorial is mainly about the artistic depictions of Indigenous Peoples in North America, where the slur and redskin caricature originated, but it would still be racist to draw other non-North/Central/South American Indigenous groups like this so…..don’t.
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The ONLY WAY to combat the lack of funding in arts education is for professionals to take a few hours a week to share their skills for FREE, to empower and encourage the next generation of artists. THIS IS WHAT THE INTERNET IS FOR. Here’s 200 tutorials:
How to draw ANGRY EXPRESSIONS
How to draw BATTLE DAMAGE
How to draw BIRD HEADS
How to draw BOOKS
How to draw BOTTLES and GLASSES
How to draw BOXES
How to draw BREAKING GLASS
How to draw BRICKWORK
How to draw CABLES and WIRES
How to draw CAR CHASES
How to draw CATERPILLAR TRACKS
How to draw CAVES
How to draw CHARACTERS (3-SHAPES)
How to draw CHARACTERS (FLIPPED-SHAPES)
How to draw CHARACTER SHAPES
How to draw CITYSCAPES
How to draw COMIC COVERS
How to draw COMPOSITION
How to draw CONTRAST
How to draw CONVERSATIONS
How to draw CREATURE TEETH
How to draw CROSS-CONTOURS
How to draw DETAIL AT DISTANCE
How to draw EARS
How to draw FABRIC
How to draw FEET & SHOES
How to draw FEMALE HANDS PART ONE
How to draw FEMALE HANDS PART TWO
How to draw FLAGS
How to draw FOOD TRUCKS
How to draw FOREGROUND MIDGROUND BACKGROUND
How to draw GAME BUILDINGS
How to draw GEMS and CRYSTALS
How to draw GHOSTS
How to draw GIRL’S HAIR
How to draw GOLD
How to draw GRASS
How to draw HAIR (1940s styles)
How to draw HAIR IN MOTION
How to draw HAPPY EXPRESSIONS
How to draw HEAD ANGLES
How to draw HOOVES
How to draw HORNS
How to draw HORSE HEADS
How to draw IMPACT DEBRIS
How to draw IN 3D
How to draw INTEGRATING LOGOS
How to draw INTERIOR BASICS
How to draw IN-WORLD TYPOGRAPHY
How to draw JUMPS
How to draw JUNGLE PLANT CLUSTERS
How to draw JUNK HOUSES
How to draw LAMP POSTS
How to draw LAVA
How to draw LIGHTNING and ELECTRICITY
How to draw MECHANICAL DETAILS
How to draw MUSHROOMS and FUNGUS
How to draw MONSTER HEADS
How to draw MONSTER TENTACLES
How to draw MONSTER TRUCKS
How to draw MOUNTAINS
How to draw NEGATIVE SPACE
How to draw NEWSPAPERS
How to draw NOSES
How to draw OVERGROWN VEGETATION
How to draw PEBBLES AND GRAVEL
How to draw PERSPECTIVE BOXES
How to draw PIGS
How to draw PILLOWS and CUSHIONS
How to draw POD HOUSES
How to draw POURING LIQUID
How to draw ROBOT ARMS
How to draw ROCK FORMATIONS
How to draw RUNNING FIGURES
How to draw SAND
How to draw SAUSAGE DOGS
How to draw SEA WEED
How to draw SHADOW COMPOSITION
How to draw SHOULDER ARMOUR
How to draw SIEGE WEAPONS
How to draw SILHOUETTE THUMBNAILS
How to draw SMALL FLAMES
How to draw SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE
How to draw SMOKE EFFECTS
How to draw SNOW
How to draw SPACE BIKES
How to draw SQUIRRELS
How to draw STICK FIGURES
How to draw SWORD FIGHTS
How to draw THE HORIZON
How to draw TIKI STATUES
How to draw TREASURE CHESTS
How to draw TREE BARK
How to draw TREE ROOTS
How to draw USING THE SHATTER TECHNIQUE
How to draw VEHICLE STANCE
How to draw VINES
How to draw VINTAGE PLANES
How to draw WATER
How to draw WOODEN HOUSES
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