How's Your Webcomic? #318

Share your comic with others!
Link your website and portfolio!
Critique and comment on others' work!
Previously on HYW: →

Today's special activity: make a bump image using your comic's characters. It's funny! Do it.

Other urls found in this thread:

myscriptfont.com/
artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/
quickposes.com/pages/timed
senshistock.deviantart.com/gallery/
shutterstock.com/
pinterest.com/characterdesigh/
tumblr.com/theme/39018
pastebin.com/kNR2W5mV
docs.google.com/document/d/1uwfOSHXfrgvcf--PkPz9jXL6p5RqIsrYvXYwgQpgT3k/edit#
youtube.com/watch?v=4j-Lz0D5_ck
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_1.pdf
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_2.pdf
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_3.pdf
chrisoatley.com/category/podcasts/
web.archive.org/web/20140625035030/http://paperwingspodcast.com/
blambot.com/
cienciasecognicao.org/rotas/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Robert-McKee-Story.pdf
miss-melee.tumblr.com/post/143483233951/
mediafire.com/folder/9pf1nwwa92lbp/Comics_for_making_Comics
rolandoortiz.tumblr.com/tagged/Illustration
luckyhazard.the-comic.org/
twitter.com/EISAKUSAKU/media
dologhon.thewebcomic.com/
zyxcity.tumblr.com/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

Scrub Authors GOODIE Bag
Here’s a short list of sites that any new webcomic artist or writer will find handy:
>*-Struggling to find that perfect FONT? Create your own using this link;
myscriptfont.com/

>*-Don’t forget to brush up on that ANATOMY:
artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/
quickposes.com/pages/timed

>*-What’s a list without some reference STOCK IMAGES?
People: senshistock.deviantart.com/gallery/
Scenery: shutterstock.com/

>*-Here's a big fat compilation of CHARACTER DESIGN REFERENCE:
pinterest.com/characterdesigh/ (surprisingly not a typo)

>Links to get a rough WEBSITE started up:
Easy to use tumblr webcomic theme: tumblr.com/theme/39018
Do’s and Don’ts for starting a site: pastebin.com/kNR2W5mV

>Contact sheet if anyone wants to put information down, like their site and webcomic:
docs.google.com/document/d/1uwfOSHXfrgvcf--PkPz9jXL6p5RqIsrYvXYwgQpgT3k/edit#

>DISCORD CHAT going on,
Ask for an invite in the thread.

>Wise words from John Cleese:
youtube.com/watch?v=4j-Lz0D5_ck

>Invisible Ink:
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_1.pdf
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_2.pdf
courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse456/07su/administrative/invisible_ink_part_3.pdf

>Paper Wings
chrisoatley.com/category/podcasts/
web.archive.org/web/20140625035030/http://paperwingspodcast.com/

>Fonts for your webcomic on Blambot:
blambot.com/

>Writing Resources:
cienciasecognicao.org/rotas/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Robert-McKee-Story.pdf

>Guide to promoting your comic:
miss-melee.tumblr.com/post/143483233951/

>Comics for makin' comics!
mediafire.com/folder/9pf1nwwa92lbp/Comics_for_making_Comics

This is my first time as the OP of a HYW thread,so I hope I'm not stepping on any toes.

I'll start off with some stuff character concepts I've had floating around.

Finished this. Hoping to start my own stuff soon.

Also here's a facial study everyone in the previous threads has recommended me to do.

Oh, this is nice, do you have a webcomic?

just starting one; I can dump the few pages I have for criticism.

These pages were drawn almost 2 years ago, and I've learned a lot since then. I work on a3's instead of a4 (traditional art + scanning) and I've learned quite a bit about what makes a shot dynamic vs static

Oh, I saw this before, got a link for the sake of archive?

Pardon the handwriting. How's my dialogue?

Context: Magical alien girl is told she's not supposed to influence humans because it's bad for them. Humans want her to join their superhero club. Is their justification here being delivered naturally enough? I want to avoid big speeches. I also want to maintain a good amount of moral ambiguity. Nobody is supposed to be 'right.'

jesus the lettering has gotten degraded. I really need to re'assemble this section from scratch.

www.napapiiricomic.com

Also, here's an attempt at going further with color, I've never really used color before so I'd appreciate the feedback.

the ellipses "yeah..." would fit better in the second panel rather than the first, sort of a "where are you going with this line of questioning" sort of thing.

Maybe break the third panel monologue into two word balloons, give the reader some a pause to breathe a bit.

Also "Wizard up on crime" didn't quite register at first, its a bit clunky of a turn-of-phrase.

you're doin' good, kid. you now have the mantle of OP... but are you truly ready?

are you prepared to be bombarded with unwarranted self importance, unsolicited advice, ego vs ego, ego death, people who ask for advice and never take it, dewd spamming the thread, "why even make a webcomic?", "shut up coldfusion", "let this be the last thread", maybe the dreaded "bad form™"?

with great OP comes great responsibility

since I was asked to share more, up next on my list of updated character art. here a small teaser. (need sleep)

You're making me miss Scribbs and bones

OP here, I knew what I was getting into. Bring it on.

>tfw you spend more time daydreaming about your comic than actually working on it

there's nothing wrong with that, that's literally how writers start writing their books, you begin to forge ideas of what you want to do in your head, playing out the scenes you want.

a lot of people do this for months or years before putting pen to paper (or finger to key?)

more please, you're great!

So, still writing this side story, but decided to color a page to pitch in Smackjeeves and see if there's interest for a short side story about these siblings and their twisted shenanigans.
No text because I'm rewriting it.

Any guides/tips for screentone? I'm trying to get something like pic related, but mangastudio can't replicate the effect.

you posted this in the last thread and i was hoping someone responded but i'm guessing they didn't

i wanna learn about this too, i know it has to do with like density or some shit? i just wish there was a decent guide around

There's a light gradient in this one too. The closest I could get to this was using premade screentones off google images, but they're very small.

Manga Studio 4 had a set of pre made tones you could use. Not sure if 5 or CSP still have them, but they look like that, and you can make custom gradient tones. I used them on an old work of mine and they were fantastic, and I didn't even scratched the surface of what you could do with them

blog?

Everything reads just fine. I would only suggest condensing Panel 4's dialogue. In particular, the two smaller sentences at the end don't really fit the beat.

Your panel layout is hugely improved, though; this page is visually pleasing to read.

>Unsolicited advice
I don't see what's wrong with this one. If you post in here, you kinda are soliciting advice and discussion. Otherwise, what else do we post comics here for? A desperate plea for positive feedback?

>when your comic has more updates than total views

suck my balls hangman at least you have a comic and don't have crippling coconut fever that prevents you from finishing anything

>tfw you can't drink coconut water without becoming a bed-ridden, trembling mess.

>coconut fever
the fuck is this sounds like a wednesday night casino special

Why would you want to, it taste like garbage

You have poor taste or don't work a physically demanding job. It's a great pick-me-up.

We'll you got me on the second one, but I don't know about the first.

aside from the (embed) issues it appears you did fine.
This art is pretty gnar gnar, my good man.
SWOSH!
I need to have shirts get grabbed and torn open way more often.
take THAT, prime directive.
kawaii. I was resistant before, but puppybrows are growing on me.
twisted shenanigans can be fun. the hands in the last panel are a bit tiny though. unless he's tiny.
I think unsolicited advice here was a euphemism.
perhaps he's drinking from hairy old coconuts. only young coconut juice is good

Is making a webcomic in pixel art a good idea?

>update comic
>post about the update on twitter, tumblr, deviantart, facebook
>check back next day
>0 views

post example.

I didn't started it yet

Link here we will see it

just pretending you're real for a moment, yes. pixel art is pretty cool. Like anything else, it can look good or bad.

One way to accomplish something more tangible during those "months or years" of daydreaming, is to sketch the stuff that you're picturing in your mind.

I love daydreaming about my comic and my characters, and it helps me come up with new material or improve existing scenes. However, when I think of something new that I like, I try to draw it as soon as possible. Usually this means a hasty sketch with pen on a piece of note paper, but as long as it captures the idea that's all that really matters at this point.

I've got a shit load of these quick notepad drawings, and I put them up on a board to look at when I need inspiration. Much of the time, the stuff I've thought up isn't going to factor into the near-term plot, but it helps provide direction to things I want to do in the present.

TL;DR sketch the stuff you daydream about, and you'll feel more productive.

If you sweat out a lot at work, like doing construction or something, it's great for rehydration, more so than just water or stuff like Gatorade. And adding things like a little cinnamon or some cherries helps the flavor.

I have one on rough workdays so I can focus on drawing in the evening.

Ey yo, Sisters guy
There's no way to comment on your site, so when you ask us for feedback on the limited palette... y'know.. how?
Anyway it's pretty interesting. So light, so much fleshtone. I haven't seen a limited palette done like this before. Might be a little odd for taking place inside a van

Wish I could have talked about this before the last thread bit it.

I get what's going on, but maybe there's some way the flashbacks could be more distinct? Like being desaturated, or even oversaturated to make it more dreamlike? The usual standby is black margins but that wouldn't work here. The edges are smudgy so maybe trying to paint the characters without lineart would create a stronger contrast? There's a lot of options, but flashbacks are a good time to experiment, kinda like the pages where Hazel is recovering from her hypothermia.

Kid Radd was a good webcomic, yes.

It's also from a time when well drawn comics weren't easy to find for free.

I actually like how kid radd worked on several levels. like, his internet was bad even for the time, so his pixel art was literal pixel art, not blown up to size.. they were real actual-size pixels with just html causing them to display bigger, and then higher-res text overlaid. that way each comic frame was a TINY file, and only loaded one at a time.

I'm not dissing it, I'm saying that making the same thing work today would be far more difficult.

that's true. in more ways than one, the browser tricks he used don't work anymore. the archive offers you a compact version of firefox you can use to view it

How do you guys handle a character that is smatrer than you are as a writer?

>smarter
Fuck.

I'll let you know when it happens ^_--

seriously though the best thing you can do is research. Start looking up everything you hear but don't understand, when someone says it. Take that down as an example of a thing that a real person says, that another real person doesn't understand. Try to stick to those.. if either of those conditions aren't met, you're looking at some bad writing

...

>tfw you get excited over an email notifying you of a new follower but it's just a spam bot

Simply put, intelligence isn't just about figuring things out, but also how fast you can do it.
You can take something that took you weeks to figure out and have your character solve it in seconds.

Part of it is also being able to understand different mindsets and working through them.

>Realize I've always been big on comics, but never really put much time into looking up webcomics.
>Google.
>One of the top ten results for webcomics, period, is a furry Bleach ripoff where the girls have tits two times the size of their head.

ha...hahaha...oh

it's not as if there are any forms of media where the top of the pops isn't retarded.
check out some Cred Forums reccommendations instead.

the color kinda kills it.

After rolling a pair of sheets into the trash, I finally came with some face I like for another of the OC of my webcomic. This is Asteria Bell, also known as Lady Wadjet. She's a female (slightly more bold) Indiana Jones, who is also a low tier magician.

Next one will be drawing the first licensed character, just for completing the gang, and the final one will probably be the librarian girl, who is also an OC (but I haven't decided about her final looks yet).

good name
face looks like outta venture bros or twilight princess, but as long as she expresses well it'll be fine

>good name
You don't know how happy that makes me. I usually suck at coming up with names (the first character was also a lucky guy, it seems). So freaking happy, god.

I probably will fuck her face a lot of times in the comic itself, so she's probably going to be more expressive than visually consistent. That's one of the reasons why I've started sketching the characters; because I need to remind myself how they are supposed to look main reason being because it's fun.

Her face looks like it's at an angle compared to the head/hairline.

yeah i mean asteria bell sounds kind of magical and kind of fancy, and wadjet is just a cool word in general, and anything referencing egypt is going to sound both magical AND indiana-jones-y, so it works. says a lot in just two aliases.
how do you go about designing faces, just curious? i wonder how one arrives at that kind of arrangement

Oh, that's something I'll have to watch in the future, then.

Well, this time, because she's going to eventually hook up with Hawkeye, I just looked at how his girls generally look. It's funny, but a lot of old marvel girls tend to look the same: high cheekbones, rather almond shaped eyes, well defined jaw. I think a strong face was fitting in his taste as writers tend to put him in ships with amazone-types. So I went for an Olivia Wilde-kind of girl for the face.

I know, she doesn't look like her: but I didn't wanted her to. Because I know I also suck at copying, to be honest (and well, I don't like her that much: I mean, she's gorgeous, but...).

For Mr Christmas, I just tried to draw the kind of boy I tend to like. But I guess his face is fine for his character (which is a young man kind of classic hero, in short).

bwump

Finished this page.

gotta say, icey and darky powers don't usually get combined, and i like the look of it.

Been mainly getting used to clip-studio and making (proper) character sheets for the main characters. It's very good practice, and I'll give me a chance to finally update that webcomic list I have. Been meaning to recommend Carrion Girls, Sisters, an Miss Melee for the longest time but I've been so busy

I think my comic was improved a lot by constantly daydreamming about it. When I started I wasn't sure where it was going nor how long it would last. Now I've got just about most major events in the story and the ending planned out in my head

holy shit, this looks.. even better than usual. is it just the pencil lines?

Well, I'm trying to take my time with these so that I no longer get into situation where, say, I'm drawing a fight scene but am unsure of how Rich's froggy hand would look. I also did a fair bit more looking up how certain things were worn or constructed

Working on the logo again, how does this look so far?

These are some cute as heck characters.

damn, them legs go all the way up, then back down, then back for another pass!
pretty bad. i like the symmetry, I'd say go with that, but make the letters a lot more legible as letters. The basic shapes of the logo pieces and letters are okay, other than the V. I'd lower that thing down a lot. then lighten the darker green letters. and once you're done, add a lot more logo-gloss and crap like that

Alright, I'll try to fix it

On second thought, lemme try to use Inkscape to make it.

Thanks!
It's funny because, while this wan't my intention for making them small and rater cute, I think their appearance does contrast nicely with the harsher tone the world takes as the comic becomes more plot-oriented from the next chapter onward (rather than very episodic as it is now)

Kinda gives the feel that Rich & Gwyn are such a small part of a much bigger world (at least when I try picture the future chapters in my head); especially when they're the size of 10 year olds compared to human adults seen in the comic. And I REALLY want to get started on the next chapters, but I do need more damn Clip Studio practice!

I hate Inkscape

This is definitely getting somewhere

No joke, that did wonders for my motivation!

that's what I'm here for

now if someone would like to help me out, i'm hitting a total blank. what should a prison chamber with a big lava pool in it (meant as another layer of containment, maybe?) look like?

A giant cauldron or a furnace or the impression of an anvil

While a pool is great, what about walls of lava, falling like small, slow waterfalls, converging into small canals?

i actually... think i may have done that once!
this is just one room in a larger priz.
furnace.. yeah that makes sense. okay I put some machinery in the room and I think it's working now. thanks!

name one good web comic here

yours

mine

ours

it's all shit, these threads were a mistake, let's not make another

done.

It's a tad outdated but here it is.
rolandoortiz.tumblr.com/tagged/Illustration

do please click on index to view more.

do people still remember Clara?

She is pretty cute from the hips up, but why did you give her elephantiasis?

Bridget is fit btw.

As a way to warm up for next week's comics, I did drawings of some of the characters, Ben "Battle Face" Fatone, Tuler Dula, Lizzipon, Cylupan and Remy Mattron.

Also, a first look at a new character, Batteka. He may look similar to Ben, but that's just because he was mutated in a similar way, he's not related. He is going to be important to the plot, however, that is to be discussed at a later time.

Nice fitness.

Cool artstyle.

You think it's too much?
I mean, her original design was a fair bit inspired by the Rayman nymphs, and I do tend to exaggerate shapes...
Although after drawing for so long, I have noticed that I have the tendency to, when designing a "good" character, make them shorter and rounder, while "bad" character tend to be designed taller and leaner.

You said Lizzipon was 30 right? Because that is one VERY young looking 30 year old.

Still neat art nonetheless.

Finished this page amazingly fast compared to the last several pages.

if the only black character in my story is the villain and he dies

is that considered racist?

there are a couple other minorities in it if that helps

The only (main) black character in my comic is an eunuch slave. There's a difference between a character being villainous and a character being stereo-typically racist

Absolutely racist. Wait till BLM hears about this

So, I was working on my current strip, and found that reverting panels 2 & 3 also works, if not improves the flow.
Which one do you think works better.

Depends on what you're trying to communicate. In the first one she looks like she's just trying to remember/still contemplating the situation, while in the second version she has already come to a conclusion, or has at least a vague idea of where this is going and feels bad for him.

Truth be told, people will consider that, pointing "unfortunate implications." As absolutely stupid that sounds, quite a number holds that with weight. I think it's a general rule of thumb that if you add any "minority" character, make at least 2, so that you could compare. People and their fucking representations.

Take a stand and do what you want. Maybe the story is only conducive to one black character. It's time to end PC

I see what you mean. I think the first one fits better for what I want to do. Thank you!

What's the white orb Tuler is holding? Looks like she's charging something.

That new guy is creepy, but cool.

Nice work there!

ohhhhh it's you. man every time you show up i don't recogmize your style. you're improving a lot

Thing is, she looks fine in her dress, she looks a little weird without it but as long as she's standing up it seems valid as a statue...
but imagine her doing almost anything else. sitting? knees up over her head. trying to grab her feet? too bad. they're out of bounds. running? she'd look like a clothespin

huh. I have an RPG story i've always wanted to make into a video game, in which a major source of plot stuff is the interaction and conflict between the fantasy-europe and the fantasy-asia (a tanuki foundling is adopted by euro-types and grows up practicing western-style wizard magic, etc), and the twist later on is that fantasy-africa turns out to be the source of a major faction of the villains, and their rhino-man general just wants recognition and full participation of their land, equal to the other two
it doesnt make them worse than the others, it's just that their relatively worse treatment gives them an excuse to be villains that's more interesting than just "felt like being bad". anytime some group is seen as the loser, making them bad doesn't necessarily mean you're picking on the minority, it can just mean you're realistically portraying the oppressed and giving them a little sympathy.

>it's the drawing portion

luckyhazard.the-comic.org/

lucky hazard is off of hiatus!

>tfw your comic is already late but you keep tabbing back to Cred Forums to check for (you)s but there never are any so you perpetually waste your time

Yeah, he's supposed to be a young looking 30-year-old, stated in this comic.

I haven't mentioned it in the comic yet, but Tuler Dula is a psychic. She can manifest spiritual energy around her, and with enough charge, she can even use spiritual energy in a way to distort reality.

She can only distort reality with a fully charged psychic punch, so it's mostly a last resort kind of thing.

Cooked a new page. Time to color them, as always, feedback will be appreciated.
Making the store front was such a breath of fresh air. The format feels very limiting sometimes, I need to do things like this more often.

nice to see him learning his lesson maybe

What they did is fine. The only reason it looks weird is because there's nothing clearly segregating the last two, so the protagonist looks like he's walking in on his evil twin brother fucking his waifu.

I don't know if this is really an objective kind of thing, but from my experience straight-on shots of buildings only really work if they don't take up most of the frame. Closer shots like panel one tend to look better from an angle.

I thought about it, but I don't think I could pull off a good angle with the workspace available, I would need a bigger panel, and probably a wider shot.
Artist limitations, sorry.

Let's hope the lesson sticks ha ha

Reality warping punches, that sounds awesome! I can't wait til she's important to the story.

Yeah, with THAT attitude sure, but the way you learn to do it is by taking chances! Don't stress about it right now, but I strongly encourage you to take a shot at doing it with a similarly sized panel sometime. You might surprise yourself!

just trace it till you make it

I have time to experiment, so I'm gonna humor your suggestion, and while I agree on taking chances, knowing where you stand helps you sort this stuff.
There's no shame in admitting you're not good enough, as long as you don't use that as a shield to deflect criticism.
I'm gonna give it a shot, and get back to you lot later.

it's 2016, tracing is a natural part of digital art

I agree it would look better at an angle, but I think this still "works" well enough.

I'm too green for a digital background, trace or not. I'm gonna have to pass. Once I finish the color of the previous strip, I'll start drawing the building.
It'll be fun.

mines going terrible
and its unoriginal

we need more newspapery comicstrips around
we also need more of the pre-modern-newspaper-comic types, the only one I know doing anything like that was Minus

Post link.

>Ed, Edd, and Eddy, as drawn by Bill Waterson

pump

New update finished! Time to try that building drawing.

psst, not sure if it's intentional, but it's
>LA fleur bleue

Cool, I used a translator, and it said "le"
Thanks a lot, will fix.

Is it bleue? I thought it was bleu, admittedly this is due to me thinking la cordon bleu.

I'm going a disservice to my French last name here, but no idea, to be honest. I've seen both were used, so I'm not sure they're the same word.

it's either the use of it in the adjective, or the gender.
blanc becomes blanche, noir to noire, etc.

Hoh, I've thought about this before, does concern me a tad. But if it's not an issue then hooray.

It's all practice as usual. I've been observing people more often in the streets as well as practicing with new mediums. Recently, I've been exploring and recording results with Copics and Faber Castell ink pens, brushes and polychromos color pencils.

I am studying the work of twitter.com/EISAKUSAKU/media

He keeps good records of his process, very generous of him.

Ok, so I made a quick fix. I can make this the final version if it's better, but I personally don't feel it yet. Thought?

The angle's a bit steep, but otherwise it looks great. I prefer it.

You should go with what YOU like best, though; it's your comic, not ours.

yeah. either way whichever one you don't use, save the other to use later.

Thanks, both of you. I'd like to try one more time before settling on something. When I get the chance, I'll look for pictures of Harrisburg to get a better vibe of the sidewalks and the surroundings. What's bothering me now is that it looks too flat, I just need to polish them a bit more, and I cab probably salvage them somewhat.
Thanks again, I'll be sure to ask for feedback again when I have more to show.

also it's always fun drawing little stray cats walking by and stuff

Here's the cover for the newest chapter of Monster Lands. It introduces The Destructor, who will be somewhat important.

beefy!
he's not a woman is he?
i keed i keed

bomp

sneh. slow thread.
uhhh everybody post something you DIDN'T use from your comic?

>FLYERS
you son of a bitch EF

I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

excised panels, scenes, plotlines that weren't working...

i wish i had some to post for you but i haven't drawn much for my comic yet, just writing it right now

Haven't got any of that shit. If it's not going to be in the comic, I'm not going to waste time and effort drawing it. If something gets cut, it's before it's ever on paper.

well I wasn't expecting you to post images necessarily, possibly just a few sentences. maybe a sketch

you're a rare case then, a lot of people write and draw several drafts and still end up cutting entire panels that don't end up working due to page consistency or composition and having to switch things around. it's part of the learning process for beginners but i take it you've been doing this for years so you're past that stage

in any case I would have been interested in hearing "I was considering an arc where..."
Better than just bumping like this

Discord chat invite?

They are the same word. An "e" is often added at the end of adjectives when the subject is feminine.

>tfw you want to work on your comic but you remember you have no readers anyways

Eh fuck it, why not. We developed the Sisters for about three to four years worth of ideas before it became anything.
>Erin did a lot more magic and used it arrogantly.
She ended up being the most conservative, and her arrogance became something based around the secrets she keeps rather than power.
>Beatrice was queer.
Probably still is, but definitely on the D-train.
>Jam had vaguely summoner type powers.
We decided on magic being more unexplained and Jam works best as a focus character on trying to figure that shit out.
>Conrad was indoctrinated fully into the Cult and was sent to bring the girls in.
Conrad ended up being a lone gunman with backers sent to find info on how to kill their dad, who leads the Cult.
>Erin mirrored her Mom, Beatrice mirrored her Dad.
This got flipped
>Handsome Dan was the normie who gets clued in and was the antagonist.
He was going to be someone who hated Erin for a long while, and he'd threaten Child Protective Services because of Jam. He ended up not being clued in, and having casual sex with her.
>Conrad was going to be a girl at one point.
Too many chicks in the cast, though he was a shapeshifter. This would've been, not by his choice.
>Sammy and Jam would've been slightly antagonistic.
Frankly, I like them better as best bros. Sammy would've been a little self-righteous about things.
>Chel was a popular.
She's pretty vaguely defined, but she's essentially a girl with an eating disorder, a decent job, and ownership of her hobbies now. She was going to be a lot more fan-girl about magic, and not in an endearing way.
>Aethon would've been the original first bad guy.
He works better as a transitional villain to explore the nature of spirits.
>Mothman would've been a bigger character.
Didn't fit the tone. Was a bit too pulp urban fantasy, and the comic works best when they aren't fighting big bad evil monster villains. This isn't the Dresden Files.

not surprised at all YOU've got some beta stuff to share. More, that is.

you know, I do like the idea of a 'just starting to gain powers' kid whose first manifestation is summoning. especially if it came at a young enough age that people thought she had imaginary friends.. there'd be a bit of Drop Dead Fred / Little Monsters shit where she gets blamed for some of the shit the critters do, but the ones that could talk would help her out with shit too. Actually reminds me of that pilot I saw recently about an orphan girl who's always had ghosts around her, as her family and teachers, and only just started going to regular school..
also i guess there was a girl in xanth who could make her imaginary friends real

>There was a religious group that rivaled the girls.
They're still present, but drastically shifted in tone. They work to keep people in the dark about magic because it invites evil things to prey upon you. Douglas is one of them. They're no longer a big thing, more a group of concerned citizens with guns, agendas, and they don't want more members because that means more people who know tragic truths.
>Beatrice was a more solo ghost hunter.
Actually in an earlier comic draft. Craig was added to grant levity and because he was a good pairing for her. Plus we love a Zak Bagans character.
>Beatrice and Dan were together.
They knew each other growing up, so it was fitting; but the relationship was toxic as fuck and they really only had each other because they viewed the world in a nasty light.
>Tarot/American Magic and shit like that were more prevalent.
Stopped giving a shit about that since I started going deep into theological research on Satanism, Gnosticism, and Christianity. Felt better to hit the Satanic panic stuff.
>Much smaller cast.
Which I hated, because we've learned to appreciate the bus people aesthetic of the group. It didn't allow for longer storytelling.
>Beatrice dealt with ghosts and had spirit sight like Guy and Orea.
We stripped her of that rather than letting her keep it alongside her current powers.
>Dan, Beth, and Guy were from short stories I wrote.
Handsome Dan was this pulp character I got published once. Guy and Beth were from some short stories I wrote called "American Necromancer" which I never posted around.
>The Strip Club, Tassles, had its own cast.
Which, thankfully, beyond Peebs has been pretty much dropped.

Fuck me, there's more. I know there is. I've got a cloud drive full of stuff.

Yeah, we appreciate the comment. We've gotten people for it and against it on both our sites, and really its just the nature of the beast for this hell month.

My friend basically told me it's pathetic that I'm creating characters and making a story out of it. I know I shouldn't care what others say, but. I guess listening to it enough times you start to wonder whether or not they're right. Do any of you deal with situations like this?

They don't sound like a particularly great friend there. Did they have any specific comments on your stuff, or do they find every creator out there pathetic?

maybe your characters/story are shit and it actually is pathetic

Oh yeah, have some character designs for the new dudes for our new issue "The Witness." Top guy is Julius, Scott's ex from when he was living in Brooklyn ten years ago. Scott chopped off his arm with a fire axe. It is a funny story. He probably looked a lot better ten years ago.

Bottom guy is John, the lawyer. He runs a Murdock & Nelson tier flophouse law firm in a crappy plaza next to a pawn shop and a gym. Scott's probably the guy who kept the lights on. He's actually from a Handsome Dan story I wrote about anger management and he was being bullied by a crazy abusive girlfriend.

They're not huge players, but I like it when we get to flesh out the background. This issue is more about Craig adapting to this shit, Aethon/Hockomock's next move, and a background threat coming about. Next issue has some tension and violence that I can't wait to get to.

>That pilot.
I liked aspects of that pilot, but it had some growing pains within it. It isn't a bad concept, but I felt they held hands with it a bit too long during.

In regards to manifesting summoning stuff, it had potential but it stopped fitting the world we were building. Every character sort of has their own wheelhouse of what they deal with magically speaking, It felt more fun to have Jam being a little bit more of a chav Damien from the Omen than having her poltergeisting stuff up.

But as a skill set, it could be super cool if properly done and it fits the world. We were going to do a mini for Comic-Con but time crept up on us, and it did involve Jam summoning something. We'll probably use it as the capstone epilogue for this arc. Jam, Chel, and Sammy go to that comic-convention Chel wanted to go to.

I generally wait until I have something outlined before I go telling friends. It prevents me from growing complacent or from letting them judge things in vacuum. Context is key. Don't get discouraged before you have anything to be discouraged about.

>it's a link your friend your comic and he signs off without saying a word episode

I certainly hold no illusions that anything I do is likely to ever make a big difference in the professional realm, but I wouldn't be creating art if I didn't believe there was some grander purpose to it. It's an important thing, and the source of a huge amount of the first world's prosperity. anyone who thinks it's pathetic is a profoundly sad person

Your friend sounds like a dickbag. That's how fiction is made. Does the guy just not consume any fiction since it's apparently lame?

Yeah that pilot shares an issue with Twelve Forever in that it's fun and quirky but it really has no legs. They'd have to rework the premise hard if it got picked up

Ennui GO! guy here. I recently just scrapped a story arc I was going to do. I'm still doing it, but COMPLETELY re-writing it.

In the latter half of October, I'll be doing a storyline I'm calling FRANKENHOOKER. Originally it was going to be a noir/supernatural murder mystery about dead prostitutes, corrupt cops, a hard-boiled detective, and a frankenstein's monster. I scrapped the whole thing because it was kind of dark, and not in a fun way. Just kind of in a grim way.

I'm still going to be using the character, but I've completely re-written the story to be more fun and with a 50's horror vibe instead.

excellent, that sounds like it'll fit your comic better
i get the strong impression from time to time that you're capable of a lot more than a silly comedy. Have you considered splitting your efforts between two different comics?

She looks fine btw, don't listen to that other user.

Man I would if I could. I have to spend half my day working on commissions to pay the bills.

I don't consider comedy to be a strong suit of mine at all. Especially not gags like in Ennui GO. If I had the choice I'd probably do an action comic, but that'd take more time than I've got available.

well you definitely have comedy chops. granted it's offbeat humor, not structured or evidently-studied humor, but it's definitely funny
and yeah I was going to say, you wouldn't be able to reasonably take as many shortcuts as you do in EG! to do action justice. oh well, hopefully someday. in the meantime i'm glad you're paying the bills.
Maybe for now you should just start the writing process. it won't go anywhere, you can sit on it and add to it gradually until the day when you're ready.

I've got a few projects on the back-burner. I think it's important to not just work on one thing, even if you can't give it your full attention.
I'm going to be submitting an action comic to the Creators for Creators grant, see how that goes. Hopefully it'll show off a bit better what I'm capable of.

My computer is fucking half-dead and I'm in the process of transferring files. Otherwise I'd have plenty to dump.

Or they might just be really shitty at composing their comic. It can go either way.

Working on the cover of my first chapter

interesting design for sure. background is pretty interesting, though this current arrangement makes the figure look REALLY tall or else up on some very high balcony looking down.

I'd still work on the logo a bit more. It could use something that makes the letters stand out more as letters. Some beveling, some inner ridging, something.

Oh, so which one applies to my case?

Wait, what?
This makes a nice segway for something that's been in my head for a while. I've been using song titles for my strips, and I've been told it's not a big issue when it comes to copyrights and stuff, but are sports more protective of their stuff?
I picked the FLYERS for a silly reason, but now I wonder if it's ok for me to use real team names.

how do i deal with the crippling depression of drawing web comics?

hey hyw, can I get your guys' thoughts on this rough scene I tried out? I don't normally draw figures in aerial pov, so I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.

I'd like to know how it looks overall (particularly the pose), and if it communicates the things I wanted to: Something falling on the protagonist, the protagonist's long hair going straight down because gravity, and the staff being held in the right hand.

looks good but i'd just fix the anatomy on the hand thats closest to the viewer

I'd say the staff being held is the only thing not transparently clear because its hard to see the hand holding it.

here is another updated design of Nina, I still want to work it a bit more but there it is.

New alternative for panel one.
I tried an interior with the characters not being in the front like usual, I'd like some feedback about it, see how it works.

The last one is the best by far, as it establishes the scene that's taking place way better.

Great stuff

Thanks a lot. I'll be using the third one, then. I just need to polish it a bit and I'll be ready to color it.
Thanks again.

Hey guys so
I'm somewhat decent at creating stories and writing and I've gotten to the stage where I want to share them with the world in a comic.

Problem is, I have very little artistic talent. Now, I have no problem with paying for an illustrator but I do want to make a storyboard equivalent.

Would I get laughed at for using stickmen or even fucking Lego to make the storyboard or would the illustrator just accept it?

ur fine just draw it

first page of a new comic. im on page 14 now . I used to post in /jp but I'm posting here for now.

I guess I'll just dump the first scene just because

This. What you need to transmit to your artist is a scene, don't worry about quality. Look up storyboards, and you'll see for yourself

its pretty corny but thats on purpose

my coloring can be a bit inconsistent

it's kinda shit

Practice.
Try and fail and try again.
Keep struggling if you really have a passion and learn.

just a few more pages

eh, maybe i will stop posting after this scene

ok I'm done back to your regularly scheduled comics

do you even have a story yet?

Your composition needs work.

You're almost too focused on your characters. It's an action scene but the sense of space is lacking and the actions taking place are not terribly well conveyed. On top of that, your characters are really stiff.

Go read or watch something with action scenes you like to get a sense for how to convey your fight to an audience.

Pro tip: if both characters stay on opposite sides of each other with nearly equal distance for a whole fight, it looks like paper cutouts are being wiggled around more than two characters fighting.

ok. I don't take criticism well but I'll try to work on these things. thanks

recheck your perspective on the CD rack in the bottom panel. the boxes should start off bigger and then gradually get smaller (if they're all equally sized) , yours are doing the exact opposite.

Hey, the fact that you're not pitching a fit means you deal with critics better than a lot of people. Don't be down on yourself.

Oh yeah, I knew I fucked that one up. That's one of the things I gotta polish, but I'm glad you picked that one up.

Thanks guys.
I do, yes.

But really, DO spend time studying composition in things like comics, film, etc. Your writing skills needing to be up to par is a given, but you want to be able to present a scene that is striking instead of limiting the artist. Heck, you might just start drawing it yourself!

Just do the stick figures. Nobody that's a professional is gonna laugh at you.

If the stick figures are done well, maybe.

I'd rather take a squiggly crayon man or a good script by itself to be honest, because more intent usually comes across.

just saying the name isn't a big deal. showing the logo potentially is, but it's really unlikely anyone's ever going to get on your ass about a comic

as someone who does commissions, i really really appreciate something, even stickmen, in storyboards that I'm allowed to copy

Reached page 20, which is sort of a small milestone. I'll probably start advertising for the comic and set up a real domain etc. once I hit page 30 or so. I rarely post in here so if you want to check the comic out: dologhon.thewebcomic.com/

Thanks again for the advice lads. Now that my fears have been silenced I can get to work.

Hopefully see you in the future.

i just read all of what you've got of dologhon. and then i read it a second time. really impressed with your architectural stuff as well as the worldbuilding you've got going. some of these panels are so well designed that i feel completely immersed in the story, which is an incredible feeling that i rarely get from a comic.
i just wanna say keep up the good work, i'm gonna follow this one.

WIP of the next page!

"La fleur bleue" is how you'd say it. If you wonder which gender a french word is, it is USUALLY the same as Spanish

Man, LOTS of things
A lot of things were foreshadowed throughout the chapters which I wanted to have in chapter 7-8, but I way, WAY underestimated how many pages I'd need to include all that, so a lot of it got cut off.
I actually had a fairly lengthy email exchange with CG guy to discuss the mess that the conclusion of this arc was before I re-wrote it. I DID teach me to know my limits and plan the whole arc from the start next time.

Things like a clan of (good) werewolves or the Kelpie coming back were also cut off my mind before I even wrote the first draft

Other than that, a LOT of fairy history and more insight on the three kingdoms of the North got cut since it wasn't relevant to the MAIN plot

In today's comic, Lizzipon's flashback arc begins. Since it's gonna be a war-story, I thought of giving it a sepia tone.

zyxcity.tumblr.com/

>If you wonder which gender a french word is, it is USUALLY the same as Spanish

Thank you, that simplifies everything for me!

Damn, so Lizzipon was also an orphan. I wonder if his parents deaths have to do with those aliens.

Yeah, sepia seems like a good choice. The previous flashbacks felt too WIP-ish because of the black and white.

Can't wait to see more.

I have an idea for a limited run webcomic (a couple hundred panels in my estimation) but I can't draw. What are my options besides finding an artist to collaborate with (seems unlikely unless I pay, and I don't want to invest money into this)? I am mediocre at Photoshop and decent at technical vector graphics like user interface elements. I used to do /3/ but that was years ago. I thought of doing an Italian-style photo comic but I have doubts if it's a good idea because I generally don't like the look.

P.S.: Are sprite comic completely passe?

For some reason the first few panels remind me of EENE. Good stuff.

It's a cliff overlooking a town camp in the distance, that's what I was going for. Should I make the logo's lines thicker to make it seem more visible?

Your options are to either dedicate yourself to a craft or be a huge douchebag and con some poor sap.

It doesn't really matter what you choose as your medium - traditional pencilling, 3D rendering, papercraft, stop motion puppetry, interpretive dance - what matters is that you put in the effort and dedication to make what you want to make.

So basically don't look for easy alternatives because there aren't any. Find what you like and practice.

thanks, and yep, still gotta keep working on those hands

Well I'm glad I got the hair right at least, it was any interesting problem. I'm wondering if the pose lends itself to clearly showing the right hand. I'll play around with it in the future, but thank you