How to get started on designing comics. by katharsisdrill

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· @katharsisdrill · (edited)
$4.76
How to get started on designing comics.
This post is for @dismayedworld who likes to know how to get started on designing comics, digital or otherwise?

There are a number of things you can do, but the most important is:

1. Start immediately to make a comic.

and then:

2. Do not be too selfcritical. For every page you finish you will have learned a lot, so keep everything you make. Later you will be able to learn from your own development and it is also a nice way to visualize the progress.
3. Use the internet to find other people who just started and don't be afraid to let them see what you make. My eldest daughter who is 17 (@scarlet-rain) has made comic style drawings here on Steemit for quite a while even though she lately has had a busy time going to the gymnasium. Write some comments to her. She is the kindest person I know.
4. Read a lot of comics! and steal ideas, drawing styles etc. That is what the rest of us do.
5. Have fun and no matter what people say think of your work as hilarious comedy or great epic. 
6. Be courageous and do not let anything get you down. That is an important part of all art-making.

OK, these were psychological advices, but they are actually the most important. You learn making comics by making them.

The more practical part.


<center><img src="https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdGqWGvxhEEJmJSrDKbiSYf8Q14tUubbKgCgVimQYDCYB/billede.png"></center>


# Drawing #

Everybody thinks that other people make better drawings - (not Picasso though. He believed himself to be the best) - so a way of getting started is simply to copy drawings from others - but do it in free hand! If you like manga do manga, if you like superheroes do some of those.
 
It is a struggle, but the harder you fight the better you get.

Comics are mainly made in layers. Start with pencil and then on top of that or on another paper laid on top of your sketch, draw with a dark line. Anything can be used marker, brush, pen. (If you use a computer the layers are already there in the program - I use the free program Krita which I will recommend. A drawing tablet is also necessary. But if you can't afford it, just make it on paper and take a photo with your phone.

<center><img src="https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRqbvShmU6bEL8usndGZ9pwCpAkxzdstq4YMeQCGsQFbx/gits34jpg.jpeg"></center>



# Story #

The story is always a problem when you are starting to make comics, maybe the biggest problem of them all. There are several ways to get around this:

1. Keep it short and just depict a small situation. Someone eating breakfast, fighting, screaming or fleeing. A good thing is combining them. A breakfast that ends in fighting for example. 
2. Make a character that you like. Make a drawing of her. And then just begin the story and see what happens. If it is never finished... you will still have learned a lot making it, and the character can be reused in other stories.
3. Take a story that is already there, a fairytale for example. If it becomes to boring give it a new ending!
4. If you can't decide what will happen next roll a dice. A fast decision is much better than getting stuck.

<center><img src="https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmfNPaUkmWziQCnrPuNsaD6Rb3mh4C48eRCQSgDZxCryoG/billede.png"></center>

# Text #

Making the text can be very hard if you do not have a nice handwriting. On the computer you can simply add a nice font there are many free comic fonts out there. If you work on paper, print the text and glue it onto the paper. Then scan it and print it.

I wrote a post about text once. You can see it here: https://steemit.com/comics/@katharsisdrill/making-of-a-comic-text-and-lettering.

<center><img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmRQuQA911zHaSG1Bhu3fxiQZEYWjNgFGjUVPAhNYPvb4c/streg.png"></center>

Making comics is both easy and hard. Easy because it takes almost nothing. Paper, pencil and a black marker and you can do almost anything. Hard because it takes planning, decisioning, story-telling, drawing and composition... and most of all because you have to fit the text into the page, which can be really hard sometimes. I hope you will follow the very first advice and just start doing it. I did so when I was 13-15 and comics has been a great part of my life ever since, even the many years when painting, music and other media was my main concern. If you make something: post it here on Steemit and remember that even though artist often are competitive, art is not a competition.


<center><img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmRQuQA911zHaSG1Bhu3fxiQZEYWjNgFGjUVPAhNYPvb4c/streg.png"></center>
<p><center><a href="https://www.datataffel.dk/u/katharsisdrilll"><img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmRawgCbz3SixZRFB8kjyiL16fHK2HHwbQ8ddtdCX93cfa/Katharsisdrill_nyt%20logo_rund_300.jpg"></a></center></p>
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@roused ·
$0.05
That is a very clear and thoughtful presentation (that would work well as the basis for a video tutorial.)  I was curious if there were any comic book tutorials for creators and was surprised -- that appears to be something worth investigating.

I just watched this one [4 Time-Saving Tips (from a guy who spent 13 YEARS drawing a comic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BzCDVR-tr8) which helped me to appreciate all the work that goes into a comic!
👍  ,
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@katharsisdrill ·
Well, I have made a lot of video, but that lies 10 year back. Could be funny to take it up again. And what a poor guy using 13 years on his comic :) I have some of the same tendencies, but I guess I got over it earlier. My fascination with improvisation and things that have to be made in one go has sharpened my  focus on not using too much time on things.

But such videos are great really. I just found this one that enthusiastically explains Steve Harris from Iron Maiden's style and I never really realised how cool it is and how much of the Iron Maiden sound comes from him. Also you have to love this guys enthusiasm :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af9auIE12AM
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@roused ·
I'll need to come back to this later, super busy at the moment with a burst of creativity ;-)  This looks interesting.
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@slobberchops · (edited)
$0.03
Awesome thanks, I will send it to her later! She hassled me to buy her some pens yesterday but I mentioned Krita to her as I know you use it. 

We will see what see comes up with. She has a talent for writing fiction, but if push her about it she backs off. Just nudging a little helps I think.
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@katharsisdrill ·
$0.02
A good pencil, and some black markers is always good to have around, and you do need a digitizer of some sort to really use Krita. We bought a Wacom Intuos in A4 size for my daughter three years ago and it has really been used, so it was a fine investment, but she still work in pencil a lot and technology does not substitute the pencil any day soon.

It is true that they have to take the decision themselves. My daughter was a art-hater when she was small, so when she started making manga drawings I kept very quiet until one day she asked me to help her to get an anatomical detail right. After that it was no problem :)
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@slobberchops ·
$0.03
Thanks for the advice. She's asking me for a tablet now! I will look into that one. Christmas is going to be expensive.
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@ocrdu ·
$0.02
> so keep everything you make.

I still have a drawing of of my first drawing:

![TekProp_vsmall.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUhQyq5Rz2zHssbuHv35yTjnNJLwH6bG57x3LBwte2EZJ/TekProp_vsmall.jpg)

Anyway, some sound advice there, much of which applies to drawing in general also.
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@katharsisdrill ·
I fight with my youngest daughter who destroys her things, even fine things. That kind of perfectionism is counter-productive and counter productivity is my enemy. Part of it is without doubt that she can piss me off doing it :)
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@ocrdu ·
$0.03
But that is not *nice* at all!
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@steemitboard ·
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@veryspider ·
That's a great post on how to start comicking ! I really should try to make a webcomic, one of these days.... Thanks for this article !!!
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@katharsisdrill ·
You really should, your drawing would be perfect for a comic, and it doesn't have to be long. Many great one-pager comics.
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