Wanna make a webcomic? Here's 10 things not to do.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
2:13 Prologues
5:06 Resolution
7:55 Lettering
10:20 Genre
13:20 Money
16:03 Crowdfunding
18:50 Perfection
21:06 Redraw
24:25 Contract
27:59 Validation
"Never draw in 72dpi!" **Draws comics traditionally** Never let them know your next move
Lol
Paper has a higher DPI count than any other format. 😏
Also important addition to her explanation: the DPI strictly only matters if you set up your digital canvas by physical measurements. If you say you want a 4inch wide image at 300DPI, then it will create a 1200pixel wide canvas, because 300 dots per inch X 4 inches is 1200 dots. Basically it just does the math for you, that's all. Same if you select canvas presets based on physical measurements, such as A4. And if you are a traditional artist, this number is your scanners DPI or "scan quality" setting, so this still matters when digitizing your work and sending it off for printing. Although for this volume of work you would probably hire a service and hopefully they know what they are doing. Even so, if they ask you for scan resolution, you would face the same number game. Some scanner services or scanners default to 150DPI which would not be enough. Overshooting at 600DPI is fine though, you can't have "too much" resolution, the printers can figure out the scaling. If you create a digital piece that might get printed one day, always set your canvas by the physical size of your desired comic format, and then set 300 or 600dpi, so your art program can then actually calculate the proper pixel count needed to represent your artwork with enough detail for printing, and do not enter how many pixels yourself, let the program do numbers. 800 pixels printed at 300 dpi will always be 2.66 inches for example. Doesn't matter if you entered 800 pixels 9999999DPI in your art program. Printing needs actual image data, and that is stored in pixels, more pixels = bigger image. This is probably obvious to a lot of people but I have seen a lot of artists get it confused and end up with undersized canvases and then complaining because they technically worked at 300 or higher DPI. Lastly, if someone really messes up and is panicking about their work being unprintable, I recommend looking into scaling apps such as Waifu2X, this can salvage a lot of your work. You will need to go over everything and fix up the artifacts, but still faster than literally redoing your entire comic. It works well to up to 2X size with most art styles.
smart af
But if you want to have a A5 comic book it's recommend to draw it in A4 to get a better quality, keep that in mind, always draw a size bigger
Another tip do not make your main characters design overly complicated. You will be drawing them hundreds of times and you don’t want it to take up the entirety of your time to just draw that one character.
I consider myself an aged and wise individual who got a head start in avoiding bad character design and overcomplication. And then I created my favourite new main character! I followed all the rules I knew and kept them simple and distinct, aside from a face marking I realised I can't draw twice without accidentally adding inconsistancies... But far worse than that, is that I added spots to their design. Which in my head I still considered "simple". And they are. But 50% of the time drawing them is now just getting the spots to look good. They dont have to be perfect, they dont have to be the in same place. But spots by their very nature, are THE WORST THING EVER. I knew stripes were bad, but spots are 100 times worse. So as some bonus advice. Never add spots as a major pattern in your character's design ever. For a hat or scarf it's probably fine. Just the face or just the arms, probably fine. But most of the body? You'll just find yourself trying to do anything you can to cover up that part of them. And dreading the idea of having to draw them again. There's so much that can be said about character designs. There's so many don'ts to keep track of.
yeah thats why my 3 main characters is a guy with yellow hair and a red shirt, a green circle, and a blue square
@@Jakeimator why do i keep thinking the red shirt is another character even though its obviously not
This is why Dusk's design (and everyone else for that matter) is simplified in the actual comic and more detailed on the cover and non-comic art I make of them.
@@dusktheowlgryphon can i see
i think the lore dump prologue is tempting bc webcomics take so long that it can be hard to feel confident that you'll ever get to the part of the story where the lore matters, but it's really a disservice to your own motivation to blow all the stuff you're excited about early
Imo it's really extra tempting if you're writing fantasy, because it can take a lot of time to get to a point where that exposition can enter naturally. So there's the worry of, "Oh no, are people going to be confused at first? Is it going to make them stop reading?" At the moment, I'm keeping overt exposition out of my comic itself, but I have worldbuilding articles on my comic website for anyone who *does* want additional information in a more lore-dumpy way. That's a solution that made sense for me.
To me I find lore dumping to be bad writing in most cases unless it establishes something core to the story that is a motivator but lacks importance - say a McGuffin like the Ring from Lord of the Rings. Short and to the point. I on the other hand like world building through backgrounds - the principle of show don't tell - basically if you wouldn't say it if you lived in such a world, why would they? No need to over-explain even if it causes the reader to feel a bit lost at time, just make sure to clue the reader in, in some way down the line.
It's tempting because inexperienced authors subconsciously assume the world they created is objectively fascinating, because they've spent so much time and energy into it, and thus, everyone else should be just as enthusiastic as they are about it once they know about it. It's not a conscious thing but it's there (happened to me several times) and it's often linked to one's ego. It's a humbling experience to realize most people will find the lore you built boring af if not introduced properly.
Perhaps you could save all the stuff that you can't just add in the main story and save them for side stories, another story, or an entire book dedicated to the lore alltogether.
And if you have to gt stufff out, an in universe reaon why someon would talk about it help, that can evn jut a history nerd geeking out about history in th background. Who is a know it all. That can b more, mbut also a know it all. Hll thy probably ar good if its jut one trait. Also its probably good not spilling out everything at once. And characters nerding out about something , can be very in character. Or stories that are vagu enough to invest in universe. But not all at once.
The very first fact you provided on lore dumping is... pretty much the very thing I'm doing in my fan Murder Drones comic. Might have to rethink things ;w;
If you HAVE to lore dump...at least make it after a few chapters of actual story so the reader cares about the information or at least has motivation to skim it and keep going!
I plan to do it as additional material. Comic should have enough information to work on it's own, but making some illustrated lorebook in a meantime is not a bad idea. Just set priorities right: comic first, other materials second. If comic won't hook the audience, noone will care about the worldbuilding :p
@@Kjorn90 🤯 I do the lore stuff but only as notes I create on Evernote and Milanote as part of my planning process. I now think I could do it as part of a companion piece for any of my fiction ideas if they become real.
😳 I feel seen, as it reminded me of a fanfiction I was working on, because in earlier drafts of that, I explained certain spy gadgets the lead character would use, but after seeing that the source material was more 'show, don't tell', I instead moved my focus to the spy operation and the gadgets in action, only touching on them earlier in the story instead of explaining the whole thing.
Can I get a link to the comic? I wanna check it out
I'd love to see a "Things you should absolutely do in a webcomic" video eventually! I just finished a comic for my final assignment of my degree and am admittedly deathly afraid of posting it online and expected to fall into every single one of these 10 pitfalls (I didn't, but a lot of these things you also don't just run into without actually publishing your work) so learning that I didn't was oddly comforting - and if I ever do decide to work on a webcomic I'll definitely be better prepped going into it now!
Me too! Do you have any videos you’d recommend? Because I’ve been looking for good ones, but all of them is “NEVER DO THIS!!111!!!!!1!!!” And it makes me kinda sad lol
Yes, I agree too, pls do a tips video or send a link -- your art is really good and I know me and others would love a tips video and/or a 'things that help me' vid ☺
I bet if you buy the book You'll get a dozen times that you would in that video
@@dissonanceparadiddle yeah I was gonna say that
Things you should do: post it, evem if it sucks. You either will get no feedback, or you get some useful feedback. There are very few downsides to it. If you have made every mistake in the video still post it. The failure you're afraid of is necessary. I've made loads of mistakes and all of them were necessary to my growth as an artist. Most likely the artists you love and compare yourself (especially manga artists) to have failed 500+ times and you're just judging yourself on step 1? Or step 20 even? Nah, be nice to yourself. Also try tracing pages of artists you like and you'll figure out what mistakes you are making. And if you want to print a comic (or anything) go to your local print shop. Be honest that you don't know what you're doing and need help and it might cost around 30 or 50 bucks (dunno in big cities) but they'll do test prints and it's worth the experience. I did this on my university project. I also put it online as well. I learned that my university project was wayyy too self absorbed and not even a readable interesting story. I just wanted to prove that I could write a full manga. Now I live in Japan and have won a few manga contests but am still not anywhere near where I could debut or be at the level I want to see from myself. I currently write 16 page comics and that's the general expectation of most manga magazines. If you can write an emotionally moving story in 16 pages then you can write a moving story in 32. Hope that helps. Also the book Bird By Bird is a pretty good read for how art processes of most artists actually go: work hard, cry, send it out, get rejected, repeat. It's not about the win it's about enjoying the process.
=Video tips/timestamps= 2:13 Don't start with a long infodump/expostion-heavy prologue 5:10 Don't draw at 72DPI 8:00 Don't have bad lettering 10:24 Don't pick a genre just because it's popular 13:21 Don't make a comic just for the money 16:05 Don't run a crowdfunding campaign before you've made the comic 18:53 Don't aim to make the perfect webcomic that everyone loves 21:10 Don't redraw old pages 24:31 Don't sign a contract with a publisher without understanding the terms 28:04 Don't rely on external validation for motivation
Thanks for the timestamps! I fell asleep because of painkillers and missed a few!
nice
you are a great person
"Don't pick a genre just because it's popular" Truck-kun: "I got you on my list."
@@NoirArt. honestly I do want to write a short Isekai, specifically because I'm currently in love with a bunch which technically means I want to because it's popular. But I've always loved Isekai, like digimon was an Isekai and it was bomb
Regarding Number 8: As my friends, McKay and Gray would say-"Save it for the Blu-ray." Don't redo any pages until you're polishing up for a physical or e-book release, just as an anime typically won't polish up episodes until they have a Blu-ray release.
That's exactly what I'm doing with my comic. I want to go back to that first 15 or so pages SO BADLY but I know if I do that it'll kill the momentum on actually finishing this first arc, and I definitely want to finish this arc.
Ohh I love watching McKay and gray! They have such great advice :D
On the topic of not redrawing old pages, personally I love watching a person's style and skills improve as the comic continues. It's inspiring. If you'd like to go back and redraw a page after like a month to show how things have improved, that's alright, but IMO don't replace your old pages with new ones.
Every time I think my art looks bad, I just remember, Tower of God started out looking like a sack of potatoes. Being able to see the contrast between then and now is, like you said, inspiring.
I did that on my first webcomic. I ended up deleting it for a number of reasons. Now, my current webcomic is at a place where you can see the improvement in the episodes as you go on and it's fun to look at xD
@@sonowbrand7824 to be honest I made it through 100+ chapters and it’s still kinda potato-esque
@@artloveranimation Yeye ofc! But also keep the og version to show the improvement. Seeing how far you've come with your art could also help w/ motivation (at least it does for me).
Gunnerkrigg Court is like this! The first chapter is *wildly* different from the current one, I love it so much!
Honestly, this was weirdly comforting for me. Especially the part that you should enjoy doing your webcomic despite it not being extremely popular. My motivation for a really long time was to have something that I could read in 10 years and it has worked for about a year. And I really do love making them. I guess a fear of losing readers etc has been killing my motivation recently but getting told directly that popularity doesn't matter is so comforting.
😊 I make comics on tumblr for my own enjoyment. Not for the fans. I tell myself I'm sharing them because I want to hear people's thoughts and share my ideas and the stories I've made. I made the comics because I wanted a story that went the way I wanted it to go. If I couldn't found one like that, the chances of someone else doing so are slim. So if I share it, they can have that satisfaction when looking for it as well
same. it reminds me of a website game called Welcome Home, where the creator started making his stuff like 5 years ago but only recently in the last year has it become popular and he’s come much more successful. it definitely takes time and patience that i’m trying to accept
a “things you should Definitely do if you’re making a webcomic” would be a nice video, as i rarely see the ‘do’s side of ‘don’t’s ! besides webcomic making can be pretty scary with how daunting it is so it’s nice when there’s something to ease the pressure
Yeah good idea!
good news
1. Do NOT lore dump in the beginning. Introduce a hook to lure your reader into the world. 2. Set your DPI to 300. Any lower and it'll ruin any printed copies. Check the page resolutions before you draw. 3. Avoid bad lettering. Pick an easily readable font, space your lines well and give your words space within the word balloons (Hint: A capital H should be able to fit in each corner.) 4. Don't pick a genre just because it's popular. Passion helps to boost your popularity and portfolio. 5. Don't make a comic just for the money. You'll likely not make much. Try your hardest, but have a backup plan ready. 6. Don't run a crowdfunding campaign before you actually make the comic. Are you trying to look like a scam artist?! You need proof of your work before you try for a Kickstarter. 7. DO NOT TRY TO MAKE IT PERFECT. NOT EVERYONE WILL LIKE WHAT YOU MAKE. Make something that makes you happy and excited and you'll find your own audience/niche. 8. NEVER remake your old pages!! You WILL get stuck in an infinite loop and never get future pages done! You can make changes to old pages if and ONLY IF there is issues with clarity and/or composition. 9. Do NOT sign a contract (ESPECIALLY WITH A PUBLISHING COMPANY) without knowing the full terms. Having money given to you can be tempting, but they WILL try to swindle you. Review any contract handed to you with a third party, especially with a legal party. Focus on weighing pros and cons. 10. Don't rely on external validation for motivation. It can be gratifying for other people to enjoy and praise what you do, but using it as a crutch can ruin you. Remember- You should be your own biggest fan. Even if you have a million followers or just one, the best love you can get for your comic comes from you.
Yeah exactly!
thank you
Rule one is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how to be a good writer. Webcomics are no different than books. You have to be able to write. They are just told with pictures instead of words. (Lots of people who can draw are not good writers).
@@monkey6207 That makes no sense. i see people who can draw and write very well. What are you on-
@@LENN0X...8812 They didn't say someone can't be skilled at both art and writing, just that it's not common. Storytelling is a skill like any other. It takes a lot of experience and studying to become good at it.
Regarding the redrawing: I love about webcomics that the drawings often start amaturish, but then when you are a couple tens of pages in, it is a beautiful professional looking style. That is super endearing. It need not be removed.
Aw, that’s beautiful!
@@basedbinyin No, u
Kinda like when I made the adventures of c and a the first 3 or technically 4 books didn't look that well but then the 5 book look....... Still goofy cartoonish but I drew them much better and I added lighting and I made the characters stay a bit more stabilized because the characters were "unstable"
It's like Lackadaisy. Tracy Butler has been making the comic since I was 11 or 12. Now I'm 30, and the comic hasn't even finished it's first arc. Things take time. Things Happen. Sometimes there are losses of loved ones. And you can't work for half a year from depression. Just keep trotting forward! The work will be done before your eyes. Almost like magic. Also, just start a webcomic. It doesn't matter if you are good. Learn as you go.
Jfc, that is not "taking time," that is dragging things out well past the point of anyone still actually caring just to keep the paychecks flowing, or maybe she just doesn't have any ideas beyond it and is desperate to keep it from ending.
@@mattpace1026 exactly... it shouldnt take that many years to finish 1 arc. kind of ridiculous
22 years is pretty rough but it's hard to argue with considering Lackadaisy is one of the most beautiful webcomics I've ever read... That being said, I sure don't want MY webcomic to take 22 years to get put of arc one lmao
Also DON'T have your characters going through a miscarriage in your COMEDY gaming comic.
Im at a loss for what this is referring to…
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@@benoloughlin9215| am too at a |Ioss, || could never possibly understand what this cou|_d mean
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Fellow Fire Alpaca users great news! The dpi is automatically set to 350 and can be raised to 600! If you want to check, for me it was right underneath the paper size option when you go to make a new file. Great video btw!
Yep! I should add for Krita users (like me) that Krita 5 defaults to 300 dpi! In my case, I set it to instead use 600 dpi as a side effect of a different project that later got shelved. However, GIMP 2.10 (which is more of a photo editor) still defaults to 100 dpi if I recall correctly, though some artists might use that to paint like I've seen some other artists paint in Photoshop.
Same thing with Ibis paint! It's defaulted at 350 so no need to go and dig into the settings to find it!
DPI doesn’t matter, CANVAS SIZE matters!
ibis paint x also does so!
Currently making an indie game, but I decided to watch this because I'm thinking of doing a webcomic for another story of mine once I'm done with my current project. I was surprised by how much of this was applicable to developing my game, especially since I'm releasing it serially in chapters! A lot of these are just good tips for indie content creation in general.
Good luck on your game developing 👍
Oh what’s your game about?? I looove indie games (especially pixel art ones!). I’m making a comic myself right now, so I love hearing other people’s stories!
@@BobRoss-nj9et It's a Pokemon fangame called Pokemon Blooming Beast. It has an emphasis on plot and mystery and two of the four planned chapters are already out, with about 5 hours of gameplay. I have some videos for it up on my channel if you're interested! Obviously, I'm not exactly working from the ground up with an original idea, but this is my first time attempting a project anywhere near the scale of this, so I'm really happy with how it's turned out so far.
@@krlw890 I’ll be sure to check it out!! Sounds interesting!
All of these are so good, but the crowdfunding one has me cackling because an ex-friend from back when I was an art student did exactly that! She also tried to get me to write the whole comic for her, so no prizes for guessing how it turned out haha.
oh god i feel you so much.
@@LibrocreatesL2I choose to take this comment at face value
@@elliswebster7041 what do you mean? lol
@@LibrocreatesL2 I didn't know how to put it but I found your comment funny removed from the context 💀
@@elliswebster7041 lol
You should absolutely make a “Thing to do right” video. This video was honestly more helpful than any other webcomic help video ever
I held my breath when you started talking about DPI. Back when I was learning about image resolutions, there was a LOT of misinformation about DPI. I’m so glad you had it right! DPI only affects print. It really makes me happy this is becoming more widespread.
I am just genuinely shocked that its not as widely understood as it was over 40 years ago. With all the computer graphics/digital illustration being taught in school and college these days, I'm really confounded how there could be any misleading information about DPI being related to printing. Sorry for the vent. I really am shocked to hear this.
DPI is arbitrary anyway as it just specifies an automatic conversion if you use inch/cm/mm measurements when creating a document as opposed to px measurements; DPI in print is set when printing. This is more or less a technicality but for people who are more comfortable with pixel measurements they might get some odd idea that setting 800*600 px but 300 DPI is good
Definitely agreeing with the whole 'being a fan of your own work'. Creating your own webcomic is incredibly difficult and you'll always run into times where you want to give up your work. I am still working on it (slowly because I do have other commitments in life), but I want to keep going because I just want my OCs and their lore to be out into the world.🖌✨
I'm not an artist, I've never made a webcomic, and I don't plan on making a webcomic Even so, several of these are good points that can be applied not only in other artistic fields, but also in every day life. This has been very insightful, thank you.
Thanks for the tips! My webcomic is currently very in its planning phase, but all your advice has really helped push me forward! And I’d definitely be interested in a “things to do in a webcomic” video!
Looks like I'm about 8/10 out of the points you brought up. I won't lie, it's rather validating to hear that I'm at least somewhat on the right path. The ones I tripped up on so far are redrawing old pages and perfectionism. Telling myself "it's good enough" and moving on is easily what I struggle with the most, and it's because I love my characters, story, and art so much that I want to share it with others with it's best possible foot forward. Also, THANK YOU for bringing up lore heavy first pages!! I know it's hard for writers to step away from their worldbuilding and consider the story from an outsider perspective, but if their goal is to share what they love, not many people are going to want to engage with the work if it feels like homework. Everything needs to start from the ground up. If I don't have a reference point for what to care about in a world, why should I care about the world? Make me laugh, worry, cry, and exclaim in triumph alongside the characters! I'll care about every detail that can affect someone/something I love much more than when it's in a vacuum.
I started my comic on Webtoon 10 months ago and seeing this video teaches me valuable advice I never even thought of like the carefully read the contract part and be your comics biggest fan. Those are pretty good advise as I’m recently having a break due to motivation loss and unreasonable pressure. Ever since I started my comic, I now understand the stresshood of making something, even as it’s something you are passionate about. I always feel much better when watching videos like this. I’ll be looking forward to a top 10 things what to do for your webcomic vid ❤
I feel the same too. I'm currently in my artblock and it's been long ago I published new ep. It's really drowning lately and I often overthink did my ideas catch readers attention or not. I also thought to redo the series. Good thing this appear in my suggestions, at least my worries lifted. Anyways, what's your Webtoon?
@@naraichikuro1608 Shiny Scars. Fantasy romance, Full of dragons and mythical creatures-and blood. Somewhere on canvas.
This was so much good advice. In the early 2000's I had made a series of comics and RPG books with a friend. We learned a lot of this stuff the hard way. I cried when I put my first art into a slapped-together printed book because I hated my art, but we did it anyway. I was in it for the fun. I loved my characters and the world and the language they spoke, but my writer was always frustrated by the lack of acknowledgement. Indie work just doesn't get the same amount of eyes on it as big studio work. After years of him reworking and restarting the series, I got fed up and stopped drawing things until we had solid story arcs and a production plan. I had already proposed mini arcs and an overall story arc to span over a set amount of production time and basically got told no because he didn't like the amount of attention that we pulled (we had one fan somewhere across the country). We parted ways. He died around a year after. It really sapped my drive to even *do* art. Lately I've been involved in RPG communities, writing adventures to take my friends on. I've grown to really have fun with the characters and yearn to make something again. I've looked for things that were popular or things that might be good to explore based on things in one genre that I'd want to change, but could never find something that stuck with me. You've really spoke to me in trying to find something you love. I had it so ingrained into me that it had to be something that is marketable and is up to 'industry standard'. But, in just the RP community I am a part of, I saw that when I created something to have fun, a life-changing amount of people flocked to have fun too. Despite what you ever intended. I need time to figure things out, but this video has given me such a better mindset. Thank you.
Star: So you want to make a webcomic, do you? Me, a game developer who randomly came a cross this video: D-do I?
SAME LOL But I try both lol
Make a webcomic about your game I don't care if your drawing is bad Do it
I'm definitely waiting for a "Things you should do in your webcomic" video! I'm getting ready to start to draw my first ever comic and I've doing a little research on how to handle it. All these tips are very precious to me, thank you very much!
Point 1 is something I almost fell into before redoing my prologue completely. (I'm still working on the final version) The initial storyboard featured some antagonists in a ship control room talking about their plan--then I realized that it would be far, far more interesting--and accomplish the same thing--to actually center the prologue around that plan *actually happening*.
My first episode shows how serious the series is gonna be. On the cover it’s about spooky paranormal beings, but actually it’s just the characters goofing around most of the time with some lore sprinkled in
A lot of these tips could also apply to general novel writing as well as that’s what I’m currently doing. While I’m not making a webcomic, my partner is and I think she’ll very much love this video!
I am guilty of redrawing old pages twice, but for different reasons. The first time it happened exactly as you said with the sad consecuence you said, someday I might pick it up. The second time was different, as I asked artists to help me with the sketching since mine was not good enough for what I wanted. People kept thinking the style was my own when it was clearly not, and decided to start over now that I'm at a level I'm satisfied with. Sure is a lot of backtracking, but rather to keep it consistent on that part which I think is the most important.
It's really funny that you mention Romance as your specific "famous" webcomic type, because I just love Romance, and it will definitely be one of my main focuses in my own comic. Almost every comic I read, whether fantasy, sci-fi, slice-of-life, drama, also has romance as one of their themes.
Thank you so much! I've had trouble actually start making something, but this has given me enough inspiration to make, at the bare minimum, first panel (which is a huge step for me). Keep creating good content!
Although the majority of these tips are just "Do what you love" and "Perfection is not possible" but I still liked the video and kind of got me thinking about some of my own work.
I'll definitely be buying your book this week! You've helped so much with reigniting my love of storytelling and drawing!
Thank you so much for making this video! I've been working on this story for a long time and these tips have even helped with my worldbuilding and other stuff. I've been thinking of making it into a webcomic as well and now I have some things to look out for! Thank you again! Hope you have a great day/night!
Lol the “just trust me bro” part 😂 I’m excited to get a copy of your book when it comes out! Thanks for putting this together!
these are fantastic tips that every comic artist should keep in mind. very excited for your book release, congrats on nailing the execution for this kind of informative content btw!!
Thank you for the great tips! I've been reading Castoff for quite a while now, so I've seen some of the ways you implement your own wisdom, you def have a lot of experience.
This video is so awesome! I love the practical advice. I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist, but I’ve never made an actually good comic, and I’ve been too scared to post it online, with any hope these tips, combined with some good ol’ trial and error, can help my art and storytelling to get to a point I’m satisfied in.
Your tutorials and tips on webcomics are some of my favorites to watch, idk why. You cover some things that alot of other don't and make it fun at the same time :) My webcomic is in the later stages of development with the first half of the plot having a clear outline. I'm thinking of doing a sort of "pilot" comic for both the experience and maybe gathering experience. I've done test pages before but I really need to get into using a more simplistic shading style 😭
I'm happy to say that I've done so much research that I already knew all the advice you gave in this video! It was a good refresher, though serious at times, it's all neccisary info for young artists to hear. Not everyone has friends they can ask these questions to so I so appreciate you making a concise video about the subject!
Thank you so much for this video! As a person who has been planning to make a comic for years, that don’t make it perfect tip has helped me realize something I should’ve sooner. I’ll be thinking of getting this book, and I’d love to see that companion video you discussed at the end.
I'm very excited for the book!! I decided to go ahead and back the kickstarter because I want to make my own webcomic but starting it officially is super hard to do and the book looks really really cool and I'm hoping I can actually get my webcomic written, drawn, and posted on Webtoons and Tapas in the future!! I can't wait to be able to get my hands on the book and read it fully and make lots and lots of notes!! I usually hate doing notes but this is making me excited to do so lol!
I think there might be a time where it’s okay to do a redraw of some of your first pages… if there truly is a HUGE improvement in art, and you’re still struggling to get an audience, redrawing the first few pages can be a way to draw in new readers who would drop it otherwise, and let them know that the art gets better, so they can focus on the story for the first part. Obviously this can be exactly the trap you described, but I think maybe after like, two years minimum it’s okay to redraw a few? Assuming you’ve been updating regularly and there’s truest that signifies an art shift. Redraw as LITTLE as possible to hook a new reader; for instance the first three chapters on webtoons where they prompt to subscribe after the third. THATS IT. but yeah, generally moving forward is the only way to possibly get a webcomic done. They’re a huge undertaking!
YES!!!!!!!!!! totally do another video on 10 things you should DEFINITLY do in your web comic! I stumbled upon this video and enjoyed it a lot! also your voice is very pleasant to listen too. it has a lot of character.
Aww I can relate a lot with #7, I’m currently working in the start of writing a Webtoon and I keep thinking how can I make this more relatable for everyone. but you’re right, I should not worry about making the comic universal but more so just be more confident in my ideas and not think about that too much.
This is all AMAZING advice, thank you SO much for making this video! I'm currently in the beginning stages of creating my first webcomic myself, and, even BEFORE that, I've always loved to write (even if nothing I've written has ever been made public), and one point of yours that I ESPECIALLY agreed with is that, if you're going to write a webcomic, it should tell the story that you WANT to tell. You shouldn't do it JUST for the money or the fame, and it shouldn't just be based off of whatever's popular - your story should be one that you ENJOY writing. Often, a big difference I notice with a lot of cookie-cutter melodramas and "romances" that try too hard to take themselves seriously and be relevant for the sake of fame or profit, vs. much more light-hearted and comedic stories made by writers and artists who are very obviously just trying to have fun, is how much the writers and artists seem to love and care for the world they've built and the characters they've brought to life. If you just go along with what the more popular creators are doing because it's popular and you MIGHT turn a profit, chances are you'll just end up twice as burnt out, churning out episode-after-episode of what you DON’T love, putting in less than HALF of the effort and care that you would've otherwise put into something you DO love. Write the story that YOU want to read, not what everyone ELSE is reading - it'll turn out WAY better, you'll love what you're doing WAY more, and the attention you get will be all the sweeter.
This was a very helpful video. As a web-comic artist myself who is making a comic series right now on WebToon, I appreciate these tips. I'm also relieved I've avoided most of these problems (Except #8 since I had to redo the whole story from scratch. It was worth it though).
Thank you for the awesome tips!! These are definitely going to help me in the future 👍👍👍
I'm so excited, this kind of info is just what I've been looking for. Instantly subbed and bought your book
As an aspiring webcomic artist, this channel might be what I need to finally get Star Strewn Skies started. Instant sub.
Thanks Star. I started my first webcomic this year and have been pretty demoralised working on it. I'm lucky if it gets 5 views. But you're right, I love my story and I'm going to keep at it!!
Sweet! I’m excited about the volume 2 of your book!
I'm writing a comic myself and glad to have found this video, I sort of have already fallen in the loop of redoing a page OVER and OVER and that's what is keeping me from progressing. its kind of nice knowing others fall into this pitfall as well, and now i can try to get out of it
"Dont start with a wall of exposition" Star Wars:
TURMOIL IN THE GALAXY
Hello Star, Manga artist and writer here, thanks for the advice. Btw, the passion in your voice shows in your craft which adds another layer of charm to this video. 👍
That last point is SO SO helpful, not only for comicartists but for general artists and writers as well. I LOVE my webcomic, love every single character in it, but in the evening after a long fulltime job day and gym, it often takes that initial small extra kick of a nice comment to get me going. SDaving those positive comments is so very helpful, cause your memory hates you. Your memory remembers mostly the bad and rarely the good, and this is a great way to force it to remember the good!
This was wonderful advice! I was inspired to start making a webcomic after Lackadaisy’s Pilot dropped, I’d been following the progress for a few years, but when I found the webcomic I fell in love with it. I want to return to art and strive to hone my skills so I can bring my own stories to life like Lackadaisy’s creator Tracy has. I’m gonna go back to school and start studying so I can create my own animations and other projects as well. I’m more motivated than I’ve ever been to create my own series and I can’t wait to get my work out there. I’m so excited for the future! 😍
your videos always bring a smile to my face, star! ^^
Great video! I couldn't agree more on nearly every point you made! I've given panels like this at cons and REALLY hammer home that exposition dump issue that so many people do. Love that you covered that up front! XD
Got your book :) This video was very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for the advices! I feel very inspired :D Also I love your art styles ❤
I appreciate how you were able to give your subjective opinions while remaining objective overall (which can be surprisingly difficult). This was some sound advice & I'm thankful for it! 🤔👍
This video helped me a lot, I've been making a webcomic for a year now and I have a lot of difficulties finishing a chapter, even if it's short it can take me a whole month to finish it. It has also been difficult for me to have a new audience in the English community since my native language is Spanish. But anyway I have not given up, I have always shared my story with my only best friend for 5 years until now, I finally dared to make a comic of my story and I will not stop until I see it finished, because I know it will be worth it. I keep making mistakes but I try to fix them as I continue, the few comments I receive motivate me to continue, thanks for uploading this video 💜
This was a great reminder! I seriously want to get your book now!!
Please do the other video about things To Do! I got the old version of your book and I love your videos! You're really helping me break my mental barrier and but the story that I've had in my head for years, on the paper :D
My favorite part about this is that it doesn't just apply to making a webcomic, you have inspired me as a writer to know exactly what my driving force should be in a novel. Thank you very much.
Yep, this applies to writers too. A lot of my friend writers burn out because they write genres they don't particularly have a passion for but have a lot of fans. They're good writers + popular genre/tropes, so they get tons of fans and support early on, but then they can't keep it up for several months and just go into hiatus. They can't even write the original story they wanted to because they lost their drive. They do it (and I was tempted to do it too at one point) because of the need for external validation. Though good writers, their passion projects aren't in popular genres, so they have only a few readers, which is disheartening. In the end, just write what you really want to write, otherwise, it becomes work rather than passion. And if you're going to work, then might as well just get a part-time job that pays well rather than torture yourself by killing your passion. For me, you should write even if no one else is going to buy that book. If your goal is popularity/money, you'll kill your passion. Just separate money-making from passion to preserve your sense of self. Sounds cheesy, but that's how it is.
Thank you for this video! I've been working out a webcomic story primarily featuring owls and crows for several years now, and that whole time, I was hard set on the birds looking "painterly" and realistic. However, I've finally realized that that's something I could do if I ever get to the point of doing art for a living. As it stands now I should go for something simpler. (It'll be a lot easier to show the birds emoting, at the very least.)
Fantastic style and use of colors. After watch how your speedpaint here i want to read what ever you do. It's so pleasing to the eyes.
Thank you very much, I was thinking of starting a web comic but I wanted some tips based storyline. That first tip helped so much! I will continue watching your channel so I don't make terrible mistakes like these lol
I’m an author in the making, trying to write my first real story I hope to one day make into a webcomic or similar. My friend sent me this for support, and I’m glad I listened to the whole thing. The last point especially is something I struggle with on a daily basis.
Thank you for all your tips , it was really helpfull :D !
Thank you SOOOO much for making this video. I learned a lot, and I am going to pick up a book that I had been procrastinating on for a while. Again, thank you!!
I know you said that you seemed negative at some points, but honestly, now I feel more motivated to make comics! You were being honest, but you also made sure to focus on self love and self confidence to keep yourself motivated. Thank you so so much for making this video! Also, congratulations on the book!! I saw the kickstarter and I’m happy to see how successful it is (and I think I might pledge to it too!)
I think a things to do in webcomics would be interesting! This is an interesting video! I do very much agree with the point you made about making webcomics for money. I remember, even when I was a middle school weeb wanting to make manga/comics, there was a little bit of foresight that I still hold onto to this day: it would probably be a good idea to have the funds to financially support myself as I work on getting my future comic career off the ground. Sure, I currently have a job while I chip away at a Kingdom Hearts fan comic. But at least I now have a way to support myself while I have fun with this comic. And you know? I think that’s really helping me at this time. Also trying not to kill my wrist while making comic pages is a STRUGGLE, but I’m slowly getting a handle on that lol maybe bring up resting your wrist in a potential things you should do in webcomics video? Cause I feel like that would be very important, considering how strenuous art can be on the wrist!
Agreed with the wrist thing. Nearly every time I don't do some stretches, my hand will start cramping up after awhile.
I've been thinking if I should start making a comic someday, and this video highlighted some blurry spots I had and got me the motivation needed to start! ^^ I'm not doing it with the idea of getting popular or rich as you said, in fact I would be so stressed out if it became popular at the first episode/chapter (🌈let's imagine if this ever happen 🌈) and having the duty of continuing it. I would personaly prefer doing the whole thing before ever announcing it, so I could enjoy making almost* everything in it. :3 (*I say almost because I had breath pain seeing you drawing each key from the laptop, until you decide to just make squares with a line 😂💀 16:30) I love this video, and I'm more likely to buy your book now
oh what a wonderful video!!! this just gave me all the nice vibes good luck with your book!
What you said about redrawing old pages made me feel better, I've been tumbling the idea of redrawing the 3rd and 4th episode of mine as i did with 1st and 2nd for over two years now as im sitting on 47 by now. It's been bothering me a lot and when you said that it's enjoyable to see the artist grow through the process i decided to let it be. It may not be perfect, but it's a memory of something i once spent a lot of time on and it wouldnt be fair to throw it away, even for the nostalgia reason :D Thank you for the amazing video, hope you have a wonderful day ^^
I respectfully somewhat disagree with the first tip! When I get into a fictional world, the question I'm subconsciously asking the writer(s) is "What makes this YOUR fantasy world and not just A fantasy world?" Exposition immediately helps me get interested because I know it isn't generic--there is a long history which has informed why everything is the way it is now--unique to this story! Taking too long or adding unnecessary detail _can_ bore readers, so that's why it's a "somewhat," but I hope you understand my perspective
One should not conflate exposition with infodumping though. 5 pages of just the world's history IS boring, even if it is different and unique. I like these dumps because more often I'm more interested in worldbuilding than the characters (At first at least), but I also understand that my tastes are quite uncommon and not everybody wishes that every fiction story had a deep rich setting with an accompabying wiki site that has everything described in great detail. ^^"
I think lore dumps are okay as well as long as they’re properly incorporated with the visuals and kept short. For me, I say just follow the “Show, don’t tell” rule of thumb
A unique world always shows through though, even if every detail and the entire historical timeline isn’t info-dumped up front. One of my favorite writing exercises is “come up with a character and then describe a location from their point of view. Stick only to describing the location. How much of their age/circumstance/personality can you make clear in the way they describe the location?” - you can do the same with a unique world. Sure, you can give the broad strokes - briefly - if it’s integral to the story, but it’s much better if I learn that country x hates country y by seeing their citizens interact or through jokes made in a bar or by the stories kids tell while playing (with the potential for more detail later on as it becomes relevant and after I’ve grown to care about the characters and their world) than by getting pages of “and there was a war, and 13 years of battles, and then it ended, but country x still hates country y because z”
A skilled writer knows how to give world history without exposition dumping though. Last Airbender does this masterfully. We are told “there’s a war, avatar disappeared a hundred years ago, my name’s Katara” and that’s pretty much it. We’re not told how the war started, why the avatar disappeared, etc. Those are left as hooks for the audience to keep watching. Giving overviews isn’t bad, but going fully into the exposition can rob you, the storyteller, of some of the mystery you’d get to feed your readers otherwise.
One of the only times someone can have a successful crowd funding for a comic that hasn’t been made yet, is if the person has made comics before, are already known for past works and have a fan base that will eat up anything they write.
thank you so much for this insightful video! honestly it’s very useful even to people like me, who are more interested in making shorter comics! (rn I do 1-4 page ones for practice, my goal is to do 20-40 ish page comics!) i have the ebook version of your books original release, which I very much enjoyed, and have recently backed ur kickstarter! keep up the amazing work and again tysm!!
I’ve been in the writing game for a long time and oh BOY, that lore dump fact. I remember someone left a review explaining it to me and I immediately fixed it after thinking it over. They were so sweet that they left another review telling me how much better the writing was and as a twelve year old, that made me keep going.❤
#4 is something I have to repeat too often to remember to new authors that ask "how to get a lot of views?" Or when they skip ideas they love because it's not how it's "supposed" to be done. At least if you stick to your hubs and fail, you can still hold your head up proudly knowing you told YOUR story, YOUR way! And if you tell your story, that you believe in, you get that amazing feeling of reading the story and realizing "i like reading this!" Which is a feeling that any writer should experience in their life
My answer to this is just draw p*rn then if views is the priority. It's luck if someone's passion project coincides with the popular genre/tropes.
a short and simple Lore dump at the beginning can actually be extremely useful to introduce your world and story concept. because you can basically show a montage of all the cool stuff people can expect in this comic. I always use a short lore dump at the beginning to hype up the world and the concept before the actual story starts. because a narrator is explaining something, you aren't bound to any character or situation, which gives you total freedom to show any visuals you want. It's basically like a trailer for your comic to hype up your readers. (this only works if your world is unique, like for example in one piece or adventure time)
I wanna get into making webcomics very soon and this video was really helpful, I’ll keep all this in mind when I do!
The fact that I am working on a webcomic right now while I listen to this makes me identify that there are several things I have never considered when planning the project. Anyway, I am pretty sure I am on time to correct those mistakes and start having a better attitude toward them. I am lucky I am just a guy trying to make a comic to see how it works, not for money or fame, but to learn how to make these projects from zero. I am sorry if my comment is senseless, I am writing this around midnight while I should be sleeping, but I am pretty sure it will be worth it when I show myself I could make it. Also, thank you for the tips and for giving us the tool to be a step ahead from the beginning. We really appreciate you share your experience with us so that we can make our path a bit easier. You are amazing! Keep up the good work and I wish you lots of success in your "How to Webcomic!" project!
Question: If you have A LOT of different webcomic ideas you feel a degree of passion for, how do you determine which one would be worth the commitment over the others?
Something I do is see which one I naturally think about more. I am someone with over TWENTY fictional worlds, but my mind only NATURALLY goes to about a few at a time. If you're drawn in without realizing, that usually (for me) means that I'd be more likely to enjoy developing it more.
Something I do is see which one I naturally think about more. I am someone with over TWENTY fictional worlds, but my mind only NATURALLY goes to about a few at a time. If you're drawn in without realizing, that usually (for me) means that I'd be more likely to enjoy developing it more.
TIMESTAMPS: 2:11 (1) Long Infodump Heavy Prologue 5:09 (2) Never Draw at 72 DPI 8:00 (3) Have Poor Lettering 10:20 (4) Pick a Genre Just Because it’s Popular 13:19 (5) Make the Comic Just for the Money 16:02 (6) Crowdfund Before You’ve Actually Made the Comic. 18:50 (7) Aim to Make the Perfect Webcomic That Everyone Loves 21:06 (8) Redraw Old Pages* 24:26 (9) Sign a Contract with a Publisher Without Understanding the Terms 28:00 (10) Rely on External Validation for Motivation
A lot of these could also be things to learn not to do for any artist.
Don’t start with info dump (story not textbook, not appealing) - Dialoge/context clues/pick up over time by context/watching characters “work in naturally” Do not draw comic pages on 72dpi - printing, 300 dpi Bad lettering - font type easy readable, good spacing on letter, make sure not overlapping. Make sure u can for capital H between space bubble and text in said bubble Do not pick genre cause popular. Do what ur passionate most comics are just for fun cause will not really pay the bills / will have to rely on something else also rip burnout and doing webcomic will take a long time (not get rich scheme can take years to make a little profit) Don’t run crowdfunding before starting. Like Investors u gotta show a worth while product before it shows Do not aim to make the perfect webcomic everyone loves. Can’t please everyone / will be universally loved. Make something YOU love. Do not constantly tweak till perfect it’s a waste of time. Do not redraw the pages. Horrific loop. Unless lack of clarity. Planning on printed edition Do not sign with contractor without understanding terms. If paid to publishing. If too excited can sign bad contract a lot of people can be taken advantage of (intense workload, barely minimum wage (do not for minimum wage)) (signing away rights and getting it cancelled thus cannot continue) (ask as many questions as possible etc), what are they offering to help? Tokyo pop raising scandal External validation, don’t rely on others for it (make it ur fav comic to you) but if u need it (can save validation if u need it, screenshot and stuff) :v
Thanks for the info! Currently writing a concept script for my webcomic, so this is super helpful!!
Awesome advice for folks just starting out. I lucked out starting my webcomic back in 2001 as there were not all that many doing it, and we all knew (or knew of) each other. I also lucked out from that timing as by 2007 I was making a living wage from my comic and I'm still doing so to this day. I really liked hearing you advise folks not to set out doing a webcomic to make money as that's the fastest way to get frustrated and burn out. I've always had stories and characters digging away at the back of my head since I was around 6 years old, and always wanted to be some kind of story teller. Do the work because you love doing it! ^_^ I had to take a break from the actual comic do to my own mental health, but the fans are still there, thankfully. If you love what you do, folks pick up on that, and like-minded folks will fall in love with your work as well. =)
It's crazy how pointing out that less than 1% of freelance/comic artists make a livable wage makes "artists" (people who obsess over the money question) viscerally upset. People want a reality check until it's the truth they can't reconcile. Talent =/= Success Your life will be easier if you stop thinking about your skill correlating to your income. I promise.
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Thanks for the video. I'm finding my love for comics again and I'm very happy that the algorithm sent me your way. When I listened to my father and basically gave up on a career in art, I moved my way into a career in graphic design. I think life has its own sort of algorithm that helps guide you along the way. I'm too late for the kickstarter, not that I've ever backed kickstarter's before, but, I look forward to buying your book.
This was a nice video. It think alot of this advice can be applied to any creative endeavor. I have been getting into web comics recently and this was insightful. You have a new subscriber ✌️
Absolutely loved the advice! I'm planning on making a webcomic in the future and will 100% take everything mentioned into consideration!
Thank you for the free advice. I may not be working on a web comic, but I was making some of these mistakes in a story with visuals.
The first tip about the lore dump absolutely saved me. In my original script, I had a chapter long lore dump I was considering scrapping and reformatting. This helped me make up my mind for certain that its a bad idea
Thank you for this!! I have been thinking about making a webcomic for YEARS, I have some characters and a basic story set up, it's just a matter of sitting down and making the comic! I now feel inspired to continue working on it, taking note of what not to do as well