Webomic Artists Association [THREAD]

I suppose it's time for me to make an introduction... and hopefully, meet new people!

Hello everyone! I'm Raymond, and making webcomics is a more recent idea of mine... mostly because I have given up on animation and my writing skills went from 100 to 0 real quick LMAO
I have been working on my current comic since the end of summer holidays and I'm publishing it on several different sites. I usually try to make one page per weekend, and if I have time - maybe some sketches. A singe page usually takes me from 4 to 8 hours, depending on the characters and backgrounds.
I'd also like to share some of my tips I find helpful! I'm also open for giving some advice :DD

• It is good to sketch a few pages at once and finish them later - it usually feels quicker in the long run!
• Don't publish all you have at once! Give yourself enough time to work on pages while people are reading the chapter you posted. When I upload a new chapter, I have at least a few pages of the next one done.
• Don't be afraid to re-use backgrounds from your previous panels - the process of making a comic is long, after all.

Oh yeah, forgor about one of the most important parts...
If anyone is interested in my edgey funney comic, here you go!

Title: X III MMXX: 3rd October Revenge
Creator: @ray_enigma
Genre(s): Action
Content warnings: Gore and violence, frequent use of swear words
Link(s) to the comic: Webtoon || ComicFury || ToyHouse

If I can ever figure out WTF I'm doing to actually START mine, then I want to!
However, the initial stuff is painful. I hate exposition, lol.
If I ever actually get off my ass and actually do anything with it, then I'll def share! The best I can do for the moment, is to share the characters of it! There's no real information in there, but there's at least ht eintro stuff. 

I'm thinking I'm going to have it that I just draw a bunch of assets to swap around. Maybe.
I'm not sure. Lol. I'll figure it out.

Also, I'mma have to give yours a read! 

I draw a comic about witches. Modern fantasy. I don't update regularly.
It's about sisters, helping each other out. About the dynamics of their relationship. It has magic and ghosts and a werewolf, because for some reason my MC's get along very well with werewolves. 

The first couple of pages were kind of a short story, meant to introduce the characters and the world, but I'm setting up something long term now.

I tried posting the comic at various places, but I could not keep up so now I just dump it on Deviantart. Right here: the Witchy Twins

Here's pics of my MC's, Kaylee and Raina:

Amber-Lynne decided to check out your characters, they look awesome - I love their designs! Seeing a comic about them would be great! Also the struggle is pretty understandable here, lmao.

CrowAway welcome to the neverending hellhole of webcomics /lh. Also a comic about supernatural and weird creatures? :eye emoji: definitely something for me, I'm a huge fan of unearthly beings! Good luck on your webcomic!

Ghanima not updating the comic regularly is actually both pretty understandable and relatable and it's sometimes very hard to find a schedule, or even time to make the comic. You have a really nice artstyle, by the way! (Also, let me know if you'd like your comic added, and if so - I will do it as soon as I get onto my laptop)

Title: HAPPYLAW

Creator: me... I don't really have any sources of inspiration :) I've always loved to draw and tell stories :)

Genre(s): It's a dark fantasy/horror, but I'd say it's also a heartwarming and surreal fantasy with notes of lightness woven throughout. 

Content warnings: None.

Banner image: 

Link(s) to the comic: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/happylaw/list?title_no=498580

RayEnigma

Heh, thank ya! The story with them has similarities to the story of Narnia, has magic and a world ending prophecy.
I think it's an awesome idea, but I gotta just... you know... DO it. XD

Gingasnap hello! I'm actually happy to see you in here, not gonna lie :eye emoji: tbh I kinda wanted to interact with you since I find your stories and characters interesting, but I'm like, super awkward FHJDJSHF
I have mentioned it before, but I'd really like to say that again - your comic really intrigued me, and the way you published the chapters (especially on webtoon) gave me a better idea on how I should publish (so huge thanks on that!). Also 2 years, dang- that gives me hope that I can actually finish my comics without scrapping them LMAO

(for anyone reading this comment -  yes, Sacrelim is worth reading and you definitely should give it a try)

-slides in

Tell us something about yourself! Natasha, illustration major working towards being a graphic novelist. But I'm still keeping my options open with webcomics

What  inspired you to make comics? Mostly reading a few comics growing up. But I didn't get the chance to fully get in & explore them until recently. 

How long does a page take you? Not counting pre-planing (scripts and thumbnails) I'd say anywhere between 3 hours to a day. Longer if it's digital

Have you ever tried making a comic before, or are you still planning? A few attempts. The first major comic I tried to launch ended up getting canned because the workload was too much for me at the time. Made a few short 'zines (that I still need to find a way to publish) last year and I'm currently working on a short story that i'm hoping to publish before next semester.

Share some of your experiences and tips, ask other people about theirs, start a conversation! My BIGGEST tip is to start small. The main reason I think my first comic project fell through is because I was taking on too much despite not doing big comics beforehand. Even though I took a 4-year break from them after that, I think the time I spent & how I eased myself back in with mini comics helped a lot. It also allowed me to find mediums I'm more comfortable in and how to use shortcuts efficiently (eg: I found working traditionally & with greys more efficient for me than full color)

So I don't have any links yet, mostly because I'm still in the planning & scripting phase of the story but I'm working on a short story about my main 'sonas, Jade & Iri trying to replace their computer. It's a comedy that pokes fun at how frustrating it is to buy a computer. I'm looking to drop all the pages at once so it might be until next year when I'll have stuff up

Tell us something about yourself!
hi! I'm snail!! I'm freshly finished with education, and taking the opportunity to make as much stuff as I can to see where I can go with it before I try to get a real job,, wish me luck orz

What  inspired you to make comics?
I started making comics because I wanted to tell stories!  but also because I was getting bored of drawing my ocs just floating in the void,, comics gave me a bigger variety of things to draw :-)
I also just really like comics as a medium because it's the perfect blend of words and pictures for me,, I really struggle with prose, but comics hit a nice sweet spot!

How long does a page take you?
I usually draw them in batches of 2~4, so it's hard to tell,,  I'm usually able to get 4 pages drawn in about a week?

Have you ever tried making a comic before, or are you still planning?
I've been drawing comics since I was like 13, so I've made a lotta comics!  lots of them were kinda bad and never got finished,, most of my older comics aren't available to read online anymore bc they're kinda embarrassing haha
currently I'm planning a couple shorter comics to draw between bigger projects- I'm like 10 pages away from finishing my main webcomic, so I'm in a weird transitional spot at the moment ><

Share some of your experiences and tips, ask other people about theirs, start a conversation!
seconding Gingasnap on making a story you really like!  the more self-indulgent, the better :-)
I guess my advice would be to try and enjoy the process of making your comic as much as you can - your enjoyment will shine through in the end product, and with something as labour-intensive as comics, why make something that feels like torture to draw?

my comics!
more-or-less all of my recent comics can be found here, on my website!  factory town is currently my main comic, and I've been working on it for juuust over 2 years now. it was never meant to take that long, but hey. I guess that's comics for you!
also, I did 24 hour comics day again last weekend!  I'm very happy with what I came up with this year (the dragon knights),, it's pretty rough around the edges but it makes me smile :-)

library submission for factory town VVV

Tell us something about yourself! - I'm a teenager who loves making dragon-related content, as well as just fantasy in general (you can blame HTTYD for that!) What inspired you to make comics? - I found a couple of comics on Scratch which I thought were really cool, and I kind of just went "if they can do it, I can" (turns out I procrastinate a bit too much and was really bad at writing dialogue at the time, but I've improved a little now) How long does a page take you? - At most a panel with shading, complex background, etc. will take an hour and a half (rough estimate). It really depends on the amount of panels and how complex the panels are. Have you ever tried making a comic before? - Yes! One is a murder mystery with dragons but had a rubbish title and rubbish dialogue. The other had no plot. Neither are particularly great, but I'm thinking of restarting them. Share some of your experiences and tips, ask other people about theirs, start a conversation! - Make sure you can actually draw your characters in multiple positions and from multiple angles before you try making a comic. It sounds really obvious, but I didn't and what there is of my first comic kind of sucks. Plan your comics beforehand. You'll be faster and get writer's block less often. And write out a script for each chapter. Don't be afraid to cancel a comic you aren't interested in writing! If you force yourself to write something you hate, it'll suck and all you'll get out of it is bad art and a load of frustration.

snail-legs welcome! Glad to see that people are enjoying the thread! I can relate with the old comic thing, haha... just found an old webcomic of mine, and man, I LAUGHED OUT LOUD because of how bad it was. Also you have time to finish up to 4 pages during a week? I'm jealous now lmao, you're s p e e d
Also I'd really like to mention that you have a great art style and the colours you choose are lovely! Factory Town has been added to The Library!

Jade-Everstone hello there! Hopefully you become a graphic novelist in the future! But yeah, webcomics is also a good start and an option worth considering.
I need to admit that mini-comics are great to begin with. I remember starting with 2 bigger projects in the past, which both flopped (mostly because I didn't make the whole script before I started... lmao).
Also I find it interesting that you find working traditionally easier, a lot of people I have met prefer to do their work digitally. Personally, I find working traditionally harder and I make a lot of stupid mistakes when finishing up, so you have my respect for that.

Robinsnow a fellow dragon and fantasy enjoyer I see! :eye emoji: enjoy your stay!
Restarting old comics and revamping them is a great idea, making them better is probably one of the best things -  as long as you enjoy it.
AND OH MY LORD THIS ^^^ PLANNING COMICS BEFOREHAND. All of my previous comics have been abandoned because I didn't really bother to script them in my head or on paper, which was a huge mistake. Scripting saves your time later on, and a lot of your nerves, too.

@RayEnigma (I figure you're probably subbed to the thread so no need to ping?)
thanks aaa,, and this thread has been great so far!!  so many comics(+other things) to add to my reading list!
and I'm mostly able to draw so much at the moment because I'm "not in employment, education, or training" hhhh,, I live w/ my parents and have enough discipline to ignore the siren song of video games in favour of making comics and stuff o(*￣▽￣*)ブ
I'm hoping to eventually get a job in a creative field, so for now I'm gonna spend my time taking advantage of my current situation best I can,,  gotta beef up ye olde portfolio haha