/hyw/ - How's Your Webcomic? #396

The classics never die Edition

Welcome to a new thread of How's Your Webcomic, where we share our knowledge of the craft and the progress of our work. We also get some really healthy discussion about boob sizes.

Previous:

Other urls found in this thread:

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#
discord.gg/rXMbdqP
youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g
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
youtube.com/results?search_query=how to draw comics
fontsquirrel.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;
calligraphr.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:
discord.gg/rXMbdqP

>Wise words from John Cleese:
youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g

>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

youtube.com/results?search_query=how to draw comics

HYW CHALLENGE

Finally decided to start inking the next one...

Why does Beetlejuice looks like Rick?
Nah, just kidding, that page is amazing. layout and composition is fucking great. Especially how lydia is placed on the center, cutting the two middle frames. I like it.

I'll treasure this fanart forever, man. Forever. And yeah, still, my anatomy sucks, i know, and i'm going to put extra attention to that in the future, especially the sagging breasts. Considering she's 24, i must get those breasts right. She looks way too old for her age.

Drop them advices, I need them. I'm basing her style on the kind of wear my last girlfrend wore, but yeah, bras and shit. I'm more about unclipping them than drawing them.

oh nice! i was wondering when you were gonna do this. Still super cute!

seems a bit early to change threads but okay

lol, it's the hair. They both got that Doc Brown half balding, half crazy look.

Thanks. I really need to do more comics. Sometimes I get stuck in an illustration loop out of laziness rather than sitting down and actually doing some kind of narrative.

>See the lines on the sides?
given that this is a front and back view of a shirt, no. I think I know what you mean though. I've seen those on womens' shirts (though not the example you gave here). Thanks.

With dialogue.

I originally drew this as an exercise in panel structure, no real story. But a few people wondered what it might be about so I'm coming up with something...

Wait, I fucked up, made the head too big

One more sketch for way of the gun. Example of how I want close combat between gunfighters to flow ,simple example. This chick is from further into the story not her final design.

I do this a lot. It's incredibly frustrating.

It happens when you draw the head first because you focus on making the proportions of the head correctly but once you add the body to it looks weird, Good thing cropping tool exists

what sounds better if someone is escaping from hell? "Finnley's Second Coming" or "Finnley's Resurrection"

its just for the name of one of the story arcs for after the introduction chapter.

i personally thing "resurrection" is a bit overused, and a little edgy, but "second coming" is too tame. any ideas?
its gotta be "finn's yadda-yadda" though, so it maches the other arc names

why is digital drawing so annoying compared to paper and pencil? My hand sweat goes through the gloves and fucks the texture up

Finnley's Inferno

So I started a new comic, putting the previous one on indefinite hiatus. Oops.

I keep wasting time on details which are almost lost after zooming out to 30% (pic) and completely lost at 20%. At least I managed to ink one page within a single day, that's progress considering my usual pace.

I probably also need a bigger brush because those lines are very thin after resizing the image.

WOW that BJ is hot as fuck.

nice work

A matter of practice mostly

>I'm more about unclipping them than drawing them.
eyyyyyy
Your ex was probably cute, those turtleneck crop top things are for confident and cute people.

Alright, sorry for the novel but if you're interested to try them:

-keep everything the same proportionally but nip the very thinnest part of her waist in just a tiny more/make her shoulders slightly smaller, with the length/slenderness of her neck I think you could push that a little harder without it going too poorly. I if you're goin' for thicc something like the left version might not do it for you, I pretty much just made all of her smaller proportional to the boobies.

-google up some lingerie models/porn/whatever and draw some bra with underwire/panty combos on her with reference, even if they're just simple shapes of different types (Balconettes look killer on the big titti imo, pic related) Drawing her in panties will help you structure your hip/tummy area, which looks to me to be your weakest anatomy area. (Understandable, learning to draw the opposite gender is weirdly hard, but you're doing great with some of the more subtle stuff, like the bend of the spine and the little bit of chest above the boobs.)

-I don't think you have to worry about realism this much, but pushup bras usually don't come in over a G cup, which means you're gonna have a lot of lift and separate types like pic related, where the underwire comes up between the jubbles instead of smashing them together.

Honestly drawing bras should just help you get an idea what boobs are shaped like under clothing and strapped in, which is a different beast visually from letting them float free.

EYYYYYYYYYYY

This layout is ballin', how are do you plan place your words though?

why not just draw on paper?

I guess that answers that. That'll show me for not refreshing a thread.

haha. the comic is gonna be called modern inferno. so that won't work too well

How do you determine what a character's drives and desires are? I have one or two characters that I'm having a problem with in terms of deciding what they want.

If your character wants nothing, then give your antagonist something he wants and the protagonist is in the way.

Back when I switching PCs, my old scanner turned out to be too old and incompatible with Windows 8 (no drivers), so I switched completely to a tablet and stayed with it. My official excuse now is that I have no good way to transport images drawn on paper to my PC, but the truth is that I don't want to go back to a medium that doesn't have an instant Undo feature.

get a book on screenwriting.

just don't use it as a crutch. :)

Examine your world and figure what one would want to achieve in such a world. Keep in mind the role they play in the story

Fug and here I thought I was going good with Dante references.

Ok made some quick brainstorming
>Finnley's Harrowing Escape
>Finnley's Way Out
>Finnley's Damned Path
>Finnley's not getting any of your shit Satan

followup. i can come up with good dialogue if i spend enough time with my brain, but is there a good method to become a faster writer? or is it just "keep writing normaly, and you naturally get better"?

maybe "Finnley's Damned Escape" that sounds pretty nice. thanks user! i think i'll skim through inferno again to see if it has any danske words to use

Work has been slowing me down but now that it's the weekend, I'll finish as much as I can.

Stabbing and smirking and biting, oh my.

You get good at writing the same way you get good at drawing: observing life, consuming other media, critiquing yourself and others, and recieving critique. It's harder to define what makes a good writer than what makes a good artist, but for dialog in particular, the following self-critique criteria may help:

>is this something a real person would say? Some authors get so used to narrative cliches like long monologues and "as you know..."-type exposition that they never stop to think whether a real person would talk like that.
>is this someone this character would say? Everyone has their own particular way of phrasing things, even people who grew up under very similar cultural influence.
>what is the speaker's objective in this conversation? People communicate to achieve a purpose - whether to micromanage, interrogate, impress, plead, whatever. Knowing the language habits of people in general, modified by the language habits of a character in particular, the final inflection is in what the speaker is hoping to achieve. Even if they're lying to themselves or confused about their own objectives, a person's motives will show in their language.

The most important thing to remember is that the most information content in a sentence isn't what they say, it's how they say it. Phrasing, rhythm, and word choice are powerful tools to give insight into a character's head.

dont know how people get anything done during a work day, it makes me so lethargic

This is a very rough draft of a comic about a slime who gains more physical attributes as it wonders the world, just did this in between work.

You just do it. No internet, no vidya, no TV, no social media, just drawing.

Just like me to not notice the thread is on life support before posting...oh well. Trying to learn how to ink with a dip pen.

This is good stuff. I just wanna add on with some of my own tips
>Every line of dialogue should have a purpose in the greater story, whether that to be to inform, characterize, or even just to maintain a rhythm. When writing your script, it helps to look at every line and ask yourself *why* that line specifically needs to be included.
>Realistic does not always equate to good. Real people ramble, go off on tangents, repeat themselves, and ramble while talking. This can get pretty grating for an audience to read. Don't be afraid to trim the fat from conversations to make them more concise.

If I draw comics out on paper, should I draw the boxes too or should I print a blank sheet and draw in them?

(Also hey it was our three-year anniversary on Wednesday)

Do you paint that yourself then scan it?

You're neck in the right-hand picture is a bit teeny-weeny.

good idea, I'll try tomorrow

Better to manually draw the panel borders each time, as layouts can sometimes change, even if you're mostly using a set grid.

Alternatively, print out a template grid in light blue as a guideline. You can buy pre-ruled comic boards with standard templates printed on, which isn't much different than making a custom template for your own strips.

I don't know if the artist posts here (I have only seen posts with the writer) but they post WIP photos of the watercolor process before scanning. Is quite comfy actually.

yeah yeah, practice makes perfect. i'm already a decent drawer and still improving, so i get the idea
thanks for giving me more to ponder while i'm trying to come up with conversations.. i'm sure it'll come more naturally when i get used to it
thanks for the tips though, for real

i got a decent universe building up with aliens and everything yo, i cant wait to post something

You and your great goddamn shit.
I would go with 'souliosis' or at least ghouliosis scoliosis is a spine problem. osteoporosis (that's poro, not pero) is just weak bones in general.

Complete, not going to work on this anymore, just going to upload this. I was told that my narrative is trash so far, which could be fair, although its not something that's been discussed much because its a lot more time commitment for people to read the comic and give you their opinion of it. I hope it is entertaining trash at least, although considering that's there probably not.

I wasn't criticizing your anatomy or anything, I just thought it is something to consider, although she is only 24, its probably not something that is going to effect her too much.

You really didn't. This new version makes her cranium a lot smaller compared to her chin. Hair this bushy shouldn't be lying flat on top like this, given the height of her hairline.

>I was told that my narrative is trash so far, which could be fair, although its not something that's been discussed much because its a lot more time commitment for people to read the comic and give you their opinion of it.
No, no, it's not like that.
If someone tells you your storytelling sucks after 32 (if that number in filename is correct) pages, what are you gonna do? Reset the whole thing? What if someone tells you your storytelling sucks after 150 pages? Once the pages are done, it's game fucking over, you're stuck with what you have, unless it's the most recent page or two, I suppose you can still redraw those.

So what do the pros do? They show either the script or the rough draft (very, very rough sketches with text and panels laid out) to their editors or friends or otherwise trusted people and ask for opinions. That's where you have to ask. If you ask when your whole comic is done, it's way too fucking late man!

I want to tell you than I've been your fan at least in the /hyw/ scope for probably years already and I do hope you'll achieve whatever you're looking for eventually, but don't whine like that, it's unsightly. I'm also a bit drunk, so you probably wouldn't get this post out of me otherwise.

ANYWAY! I think when you make a comic, you need to decide on certain guidelines that are NOT directly related to the story and very carefully examine your script or draft to make sure it follows those guidelines. Maybe you want to draw in readers fast, you have to focus on that then, make things interesting quickly. Maybe your want to focus on worldbuilding, fascinate your potential reader with amazing things he wouldn't think of himself, go for that then. Maybe you have a specific storytelling device you want to use - I remember a comic shilled here that made a point of drawing as if it was a movie, with 4 or 5 same size horizontal panels per page. Cool, go for it! Just focus on that and not on dreams of getting attention, IMO.

Post limit hit.

I hit the 2000 character limit, so let me explain a bit further.

You need to decide on those guidelines and stick to them. If you want to change things around, do it before you get to finalizing pages, after that it's too late. And if you chose a particular storytelling device as your focus, stick to it, don't start to regret after 30 or 50 pages that you didn't focus on the glitter to pull in readers instead, that's just work wasted and your motivation going down the drain.

I don't really know what you want to go for with your bakery owner magical midget girl comic, but I wish you good luck!

Also link plz, I'm too drunk/tired to use Google and someone else might want to read your comic too.

this, just do the stories you want man. you have a unique perspective, keep doing you and fuck what other people think

gloves?

I did this in 5 minutes and I don't care for improving, enjoy it and fuck off

What software do you guys use to add text to your word bubbles? I'm using the one embed to Fire Alpaca but it's very sluggish and lacks flexibility and different fonts are very scattered and hard to find.

>blambot
but also fontsquirrel.com/
just make sure you're checking the licenses.

I'm the guy who wrote that overly long post and I just reread your comic. You're setting up for some 45-50 page long chapter one that introduces several characters, all in action. This is fine. What's not fine:
- your speech bubbles are sometimes out of order
- you made typos when you were lettering by hand
- the cameo by your porn characters is useless and a waste of pages, unless they're supposed to play some role in the comic later on
- stick to one style please. color all pages or greyscale all pages or black and white all pages, don't switch every two or three. i think it looks best when you're coloring it, especially since it tends to clear up some of the busier panels and your palette is nice.
- same goes for the font. dude, anime ace is fine, just use that, really
- you draw weird boobs at times and boobs are very crucial to the appeal of the comic. (note: your mileage may vary)

If you wanted to draw in readers fast, you might've been stretching the first chapter too far; cutting out the incantation redhead and her team as well as both cameos and sticking to the midget and the soon-to-be-zombies would probably work better. Still, I think you're doing a decent job at chapter one even for serious standards (i.e. not "it's just a webcomic bruhhhh"), as long as you end it with something interesting, a definitive hook - that's what your comic has been lacking so far, it has quite nice art, some magic, some action, but no definitive hook. I can't really tell what would work best so I hope you can think of something on your own.

So once again good luck and I'm going to sleep.

Clip Studio Paint has it all.

It's really not that bad. I get up early to draw 1 hour before work, then 1 hour after work. It's all about setting up a schedule.

That's a shame to hear. But honestly, my early chapters aren't too good either; nobody's are. You read the criticism and improve from there.

There's things I wish I had differently today, But had I done them in the first place, I would have still wondered what my comic would be like if I had done something else instead. Never lose sight if why you wanted to draw comics in the first lace

>- same goes for the font. dude, anime ace is fine, just use that, really

Not that guy, but how do you choose a font for your comic? I've been going by instinct but I don't feel secure doing it.

It's okay to do it backwards. What kind of stuff do you want to draw them doing? then, ask yourself why someone might want that
I guarantee Togashi Yoshihiro wasn't like "man I want to write a guy that wants to meet his dad, and a guy who wants money to act as a charity doctor, and a guy that wants to murder people.. but how do I link them together?" i think he was like "i want a setting about people who become licensed multipurpose special adventurers, i'll think of reasons why they all want to be one later"

I really appreciate the time you take to say that, I understand. I had posted storyboards of the chapter in the past, the reason for sharing them here is because I kind of smother people who I usually go to with world building stuff, so they might be too on-the-same-page as me, unfortunately.

The goal for this chapter is "action scenes" "magical girl shenanigans " and "showing off characters".

I understand, the current storyboard was implemented at the end of 2015, and I have been working on it through out 2016, because I am bad at time managements so there are lot of time in between pages to have second thoughts, but I am still fully committed.

Thanks, these observation really helpful. I don't know what a hook would be, that might depends. What I wanted out of this comic was kind of nebulous so I guess that's why its unfocused, something to think about.

At least according to the original plan, those characters all have plot relevance, they are not just porn characters.

Thanks. Also, I tried doing the schedule thing as well, although I only able to reliably do about 30 minutes to an hour every other work day or so. Bulk of the work are still completed on weekends.

fun comic.

As someone as simple as me, I always find Clip studio paint very heavy and overwhelming I simple can't get into it the more I try

Just cut out any kind of social life

What you lack in actual drawing control, you make up for in paneling choices
Well, not make up for, but still. Great stuff. your script, so to speak, is very good.
(to anyone who remembers, did the jelly in Unicorn Jelly gain more attributes as it traveled, or did it just stay a unicorn jelly? That comic sure contained attributes of being good)

Interesting style. not sure the front and side views are consistent
As for your lines, i like the tuft on the top rear of the profile view's head. That's something we do in digital inking too, where it has a more practical use (prevents trapped pixels)

Congraturation! Not every comic makes it that far.

how do you deal with the fact this will all be forgotten soon and it doesn't matter really?

Huh, I really didn't expect that. Thanks user

Super fun and right up my alley.
is that a female deer though? I see antlers

Sounds like you're describing a social life. Your friends will leave you, art is forever.

It is reindeer?

>tfw drew my own gf
True ascension

Reindeer don't have cute little black-dot deer/dog noses though, they have two-nostril cow/hippo/horse noses

Maybe it's a Ranma situation

Coldfusion, cease the animal sperging. Real deer don't turn into cute girls, it's fucking fantasy

I was just asking if it's a girl deer or not. Because a girl deer that turns into a girl human is a top quality gf
but a fella deer that turns into a girl human is just a good guy to make friends with, yknow? and make sure not to eat.

do you really want to see my sonic '06 fanfic that badly?

SWEET REMINDER OF TOMORROW'S CHALLENGE!!! ARE YOU READY TO GO TOE TO TOE WITH LAST CHALLENGE'S WINNERS?!?!?!

Eh, I talk to my friends about this before. We joke that she is a trap.

Wait, now it's a goat?
...
Okay sure, whatever. I'll give it a go.

>Have already the idea and all
>Have not started drawing yet

This also reminds me I didn't repost the challenge pic and info because I was in a hurry, if someone can repost it it would be really appreciated, seems I will be off for a while and phoneposting is a pain.

>Okay sure, whatever. I'll give it a go.

What? Are you okay, confusion?

Sorry, did that look like bait? I was half-serious, half-self loathing.

New thumbnail. Does this flow intelligibly?

At the current detail level I can't tell exactly what's going on but the layout is fine

>tfw no one likes my comic
>tfw even dewd has more patrons than me now

Dewd draws a-lot.

He might not be a good artist, but he is a attention whore at times.

At least yours isn't mine

Fixed the problem of word bubbles, I use Powerpoint to make the wording and just place a text bubble underneath, the resuklts are decent.

Dewd Has Patrons? How retarded can someone be?

Thank you. Yeah, it's probably not consistent - I'm still figuring out how to keep a character design looking the same in turnarounds, and also experimenting with my style at the same time. It's a little haphazard, but that's the way I learn best, I think.

This is the other character I'm working on pinning down the design of. She's supposed to be kind of cute and goofy, using more rounded shapes than Isaac (goggles kid) whose design is more angular.

Kept you waiting hu?

We are also running our third challenge! Now fortnightly!

>THEME: post apocalyptic - cartoon - animals
>GENRE: FREE PICK (choose any genre you want on this occasion!)
>DEADLINE: August 13 (ONE MORE DAY)

Remember that you can play with the theme as you see fit, we want to see how creative you can get!

How can I clean up my drawings without making them lose their vitality?

One or 2 threads ago he mentioned that he finally got his first patreon, now he gets $1 dollar

more than anyone else in the thread

Try to invent the line - in other words, use the sketch as the basis for a new drawing rather than copying what's underneath. Don't be afraid to improvise, either - practice drawing in ink without an undersketch every once in a while to increase your confidence in putting down lines blind.