CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I'm in something of a bind. I've been writing my own comic for about a month now, and I LOVE writing it. Not to mention the scripts got approved by a writer I greatly respect.

Problem is...I HATE, no, LOATHE drawing it. I'm happy with the designs, but drawing the same characters frame after frame has proven to be a challenge. With each frame, the character resembles his/herself less and less...it drives me insane!

Not to mention creating the layout, which is also a pain.

So what I'm asking is: Does anyone know of a website that has a tutorial/tips/whatever on drawing comics? I've looked at a few...but those were more on creating a comic than actually drawing them.

I'd also appreciate it if anyone who draws comics might tell me how they do it...if, uh, that's not a problem or anything. XD;;

Thanks in advance~

Are you specifically looking for tutorials on drawing manga or western style comics or are you happy looking at any drawing tutorials that will be useful in drawing comics, whatever the style?

Have you considered making the script into a book?

Have you drawn character turnarounds? I think they'd help in making sure the character looks consistent from every angle.

.rai//

Are you specifically looking for tutorials on drawing manga or western style comics or are you happy looking at any drawing tutorials that will be useful in drawing comics, whatever the style?

Either way, it doesn't matter.

Have you considered making the script into a book?

I thought about that, but a lot of the comic relies on physical humor...it wouldn't be the same in text format.

Have you drawn character turnarounds? I think they'd help in making sure the character looks consistent from every angle.

I did that, but now it's pretty dated. That may be a good idea to draw a new one! Thanks!

Well, I don't have a tutorial to offer you, but I'm not sure that one would help with your agonizing over drawing the same characters over and over again. Unfortunately, that's part of the process. With large projects, it seems that there are often times that you have to force yourself to work on them when you are not in the mood to.

I usually sketch stuff before I ink it. Even after I got a tablet, the sketching process allows me to rethink everything before I set it in stone. If you scan your artwork in, it might be a good idea to skip straightedge work and do as much of that on the computer as possible to save time. I don't know if this has helped you at all, but these are some things that have helped me. Good luck on your project!

Layout is something that can take a while to learn. Unfortunately there really is no how to do panel layout manual, just a how to NOT do a panel layout manual. Essentially design (which is the essence of panel and page design) is something that is learned through experience and trial and error, not a lesson book, since there are literally millions upon millions of ways of lay out a comic page, and each can have an appropriate use for some type of story. The trick of it all is training your eye to see the five to ten possible options and choosing the option that will work for you, and for the images you have chosen for that page and the story you're telling.

Another option is to ignore layout completely and do a set size and format. Many webcomics such as Penny Arcade, Megatokyo (for the first couple years), PVP and others use a set format, or even a set number of panels per page to make thier comics.

No one really worth listening to, unless you plan on EXACTLY copying their drawing and layout style, is going to tell you that THIS is THE WAY to lay out/draw/color your comic (I left out lettering because there are some pretty definate guidelines to that floating around out there). They may even provide a how to as to how THEY put a comic together, but you are bound to be missing something from thier process, since everyone has their own little quirks in comic construction. But thats not going to be how you put a comic together in the end. You are going to put it together YOUR WAY.

I do recommend the book by Scott McCloud called Making Comics. It covers the concept, philosophy and process behind writing a comic. While it does not tell you HOW to draw a comic. (As I said any good teacher will tell you to just practice and practice your charachters and elements so you can represent them correctly throughout a story. There is no magical way to force yourself to suddenly know how to draw charachters consistantly, just hard work. Its like memorizing songs on an instrument... I estimate that it takes me about 2-300 playthroughs before I know a song from memory. I would think that representing a charachter, or at least a coherent drawing style would take AT LEAST that much work, if not more.) It WILL tell you how the parts of a comic work to communicate a message to the reader so you can understand how to use them to make an effective comic.

Another book is his Understanding Comics that explains how comics work in the mind and why they only work in certain ways, as opposed to just words or just pictures. Will Eisner also wrote a book called Comics and Sequential Art that may be helpful, though I have not read it yet.

One thing to look at though: http://www.tokyopop.com/aboutus/mechspec5.pdf

This is the mechanical specifications and suggestions for TP's rising stars of manga competition.