Anyone working on a comic or graphic novel? I'm currently

>>3057539
>inb4 edgelord

I like that kind of stuff

have you read A Serious House on A Serious Earth already?

>>3057557
Why yes.... I remember that I loved the art but not the story.

>>3057557
Yeah, it's probably the best graphic novel i've ever read. Haven't found anything that's similar to it though.

>>3057570
not me.

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>>3057539
I'm working on one, though it's shitty animu. I'm trying to get through the sketching/thumbnail phases for the first two chapters before I start inking. I dumped my sketches for the first chapter here:
http://imgur.com/a/TkH2S

If you're not familiar with making comics, you should check Scott McCloud's Making Comics and Understand Comics, as well as Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential art. They're all really good introduction to the medium.

As for your comic, the art is nice, but I feel it falls flat as a first page. The readers are thrown into this story with no context or narrative, and the vagueness of it all makes it hard to get interested in the story. Readers won't even know where this story is set, who the character are, or why they're supposed to be interested in them.

Consider adding in an establishing shot or two to set the scene, maybe you could add some detail shots of the character's expressions and mannerisms so the audience could get a better grasp on the character's personalities.

You should try to hook your readers in from the very first page, and show them what your comic's about and why they should read it. Rather than starting with a conversation between two characters the audience does not yet know about, you could use your fist page for something more immediately engaging, like an action scene or intriguing imagery.

Blacksad has some great paneling and visual storytelling, as well as lovely art. You should check it out, since I think it could take you really far if you applied it's storytelling techniques to your own comics.

>>3057539
terrible and boring flow, looks like a cliche meme picture, gross...beautiful art though, research calvin and hobbes the dude who did it has lots of tips on flow, hell framed ink is a great book and its always on the book torrent threads.

>>3057539
fuck that's good, but the dialogue is bad. really don't skimp on the dialogue it's just as important as the art.

>>3057597
Thanks man! I've read some of the Blacksad comics, and they're absolutely fantastic.

And the pic i posted is nothing more than visual exploration. The story is still in the idea-phase aswell, so nothing is really established yet, everything is still an idea.

Thanks again, great tips.

>>3057616
>>3057618
That pic was made just so i can gradually develop a visual style for the comic. I'll eventually find a writer to work with.

Thanks for the feedback dudes.

>>3057621
i'm serious about the dialogue there's too many webcomics with good art/ bad dialogue.

don't be one of those guys who says "oh dialogue is just words" know styles of dialogue too.

AAA falls into a similar trap where they have a bunch of shit that they just ignore, and even though these games are beautiful, no one cares because AAA does everything except make good content.

Hell, most things these days are all flash and no substance. icing and no cake, sizzle and no steak, etc.

I have high hopes for you which is why my post sounds so camp.

>>3057627
batman comics are your friend then, and if you will stick to this style keep your eyes on alex ross

I'd like to make a comic but I'm absolute shit at writing, especially dialogue.

>>3057539
Looks great. Try not to get exhausted from painting everything, I've seen some artists do the whole thing on tapastic and it can be incredible, but I imagine its very difficult. I like the way you made the letters.

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>>3057616
>framed ink is a great book
It's really not. Your most entry of artists can find some use for it but that's it. I'm a firm believer that anything from Framed Ink along with all sorts of art inforgraphics one will inevitably pick up in the search for info on composition should learn it and then immediately cast all such painfully standard and generic knowledge aside. That's why so many people fall into the generic compositional trap. Their work becomes predictable and most seem like they're just working their way down a compositional checklist of things they need to have to make it work as told by these "compositional rules"They're so bound by the rules they learned and can't even conceive of a world beyond it.

Speaking of my distaste for rules and general artistic conventions, I'm not a fan of the comic convention that is having an entirely new shot for every panel. I can't stand it, it reminds me a lot of movies and their rapid montage cutting/editing like so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKhktcbfQM

That's a bit of an exaggeration but surely you can see my point. Maybe I'm just a fool who can't grasp something so obvious but I don't see a real point to it other than trying to keep the readers attention or something?

Anyways, my "ranting" is over... I'm also working on a graphic novel (which I'm still writing but nearly done) I'm going to attempt to replicate the long take in films (for example: https://youtu.be/Gnflhnjxng4?t=1h53m15s

I do realize that I will be fighting against the medium itself and the attention span of the reader in attempting this, but I do have an idea to combat this issue so it's not completely hopeless.

>>3057637
Dialogue and Characters are extremely important to me, so i'll definitely have to get a writer to help me out with it. Thanks for the compliments, man.

>>3057643
Alex Ross is fucking insane, thanks!

>>3057649
Make one anyway, it's a fantastic way to force yourself out of your comfort-zone, and you learn alot when it comes to composition and anything you decide to make the comic about. If you suck at writing you could collab with someone who don't, or just steal a story from a book or a movie and change a few things to get you started. The idea for my comic is basically a bunch of stolen bits and pieces from different stuff that i sprinkle with my own ideas.

>>3057654
Thanks. Yeah the way i did that page is a bit too much work to fill an entire comic with. I'm trying to find a way to simplify it while keeping the painterly "polished" feel. I absolutely love really painterly stuff, but i find it hard to stop myself from rendering when i've started a panel i like.

>>3057654
Is Tapastic a comic creator or something?

>>3057539

As many have said, the dialogue is a tacky breed of coy. Also your artwork reminds me of the cutscenes from Max Payne. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.

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>>3057951
And as i've said the dialogue is nothing but placeholders at the moment, visual exploration was the aim of that page.

Just looked up the cutscenes from Max Payne, and they're definitely in the same vein visually. Thanks for the tip!


Pic related: I'm thinking about implementing alot of panels purely meant to juice up the mood and atmosphere, but i'm not quite sure how to do it in an elegant way. Playing with the idea of the main character having several flashbacks and nightmare-like thoughts throughout the story (A consequence of her being in the hands of the villain some time ago, who's main "power" is planting mental distress in his victims by manipulating their thoughts over long periods of time). Any advice and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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Here's an idea for an opening page.
Once again, the dialogue is just there for
placement.

I'll probably have a way more striking and vague pic before the opening. Something like
>>3057996
Just to hit the reader with a more striking start.
Maybe some sort of nightmare-ish sequence
would be a good thing to start with, literally
inside the head of the main character. That
would be both visually cool and clever i think.

>>3058020
Please do moar, OP. I'm in love with the style.

Been trying to make a comic myself, but it's been hell trying to start it because I keep changing the story and don't have access to a laptop. Making traditional comics not look trashy is pure ass. Still fun though. Please keep it up

>>3058028
Thanks man, that's awesome!

I'm sure everyone feels like that sometimes.
I'd love to see some of it if you want to share.

>>3057539
Blog anon?

are all the panels going to be this rendered or is it only for some shots. You may well burn if it's not a short comic.

>>3058076
I don't think it's going to be that long a comic, but i'll still have to compromise a bit on the rendering. I'd like to be able to make more than one page a day, which would be the result if i go with the level of rendering in the op.

>>3058075
I don't have a blog, and i'm using my instagram to promote and share the development of a game i'm working on with a small indie team. I'll be sharing the making of this comic there aswell though.

Artbytobias on insta (Artwork further down)

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Some more exploration stuff.

>>3057597
I liked what you had so far anon! Do you have a website that you post updates to?

>>3057539
Stop fucking with the text, it's cheesy as hell

>>3057539
>fonts fade into background
>transparent speech bubbles
Fundamentally unreadable, no matter how cool you think it makes this.

>>3058201
>Fundamentally unreadable
you're like the black and white people who can"t do shit from the infomercials.

there's no way a person is this retarded

>>3058119
i like it you dip

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>>3057539
I removed everything wrong with it

>>3057597
Nice story board, now actually fill it out

>>3057539
I think the text works out well, just drop the splatter-texture you've pasted all over it, that's what's making it hard to read for some (and makes it look cluttered).

Am i crazy or didnt someone post a mega link to an art book in this thread before?

>>3057597
I disagree: I think that if done right having a little bit of vagueness can be intriguing, a pinch of mystery, instead of having everything laid out in plain sight from the getgo. I'd say it'd suit the visuals. Of course in case it ends up being overdone your criticism is absolutely valid, I just think it's way too soon to say this comic is already falling flat on its face. It's the first page, let it build up a little, not even I am that impatient no offence

Anyway, very nice pages you got there, I'm actually curious to know what happens next. Do you have a site where I can see updates of your comic?

>>3058020
For first page you have to show more the city not only the street lamp.

>>3057539
It looks great to me, them skillz make me jelly. Many criticized you for the dialogue but I really don't see anything wrong with it. The transparent speech bubbles look alright too imo so yeah, don't listen to these morons

>>3058259
Underrated post

>>3057948

it's a comic hosting service

>>3057649
you don't need dialogue to make a comic. try making a wordless comic, practice telling a story without words. then google dialogue exercises to improve your writing.

Tip: I think the most important thing to remember about dialogue though, is "show not tell." avoid shit tons of exposition (explaining what is going on through dialogue) and instead show the reader what is happening through action.

one more tip 'cause I'm a boob:
good characters write themselves and will tell you how they want to speak. work on character building and fleshing, try hirohiko araki's method from his book about making manga, it's really useful

>>3058535
>Tip: I think the most important thing to remember about dialogue though, is "show not tell." avoid shit tons of exposition (explaining what is going on through dialogue) and instead show the reader what is happening through action.

I don't think this should be thought of as the case 100% of the time. There are simply things that can't be shown without coming off as being shoehorned in for the sake of showing because one is afraid to tell.

I think the guy who said the dialogue is unreadable was using a hyperbole but I found it bothersome to read. The way I think about it, anything aesthetic on lettering can't go over its readability so you might want to scrap the effects and keep it clean.

>>3058542

it's a balancing act. you want to look for the right amount of showing + telling that works in harmony.

when I say "avoid shit tons of exposition" what I mean is trying to convey too much through exposition, or dumping information on the reader via dialogue when you should have measured it out with pacing or used action to convey meaning.

don't take my word for it though, here is a better resource:

http://www.makingcomics.com/2014/04/21/writing-tropes-expository-devices/

>>3058480
>I disagree: I think that if done right having a little bit of vagueness can be intriguing, a pinch of mystery, instead of having everything laid out in plain sight from the getgo. I'd say it'd suit the visuals.
Oh, I might have poorly explained myself then, I think vagueness and mystery and great for the start of the story. I just feel in this case there was too little, so it didn't give enough for the audience to latch on to and wonder about. In saturated mediums like comics first impressions are important, and audiences are more likely to stick around if they're interested from the very start than if they have to get through several pages before they're intrigued. Not saying I would drop this comic on the spot if this was the first page, but this is what I've experienced and observed.

>>3058112
>>3058112
Thanks. I don't got a site for this comic yet, since I want to get a good buffer in before I start properly posting it online. I still got a ways to go ;-;

>>3058542
>There are simply things that can't be shown without coming off as being shoehorned in for the sake of showing because one is afraid to tell.


this is sacred advice. A lot of the time there's some really cringy but absolutely necessary expository thing.
>The explosion happened, and we were sad.
>but then a man came.and everything was better..
>this story takes place in blah blah blah.

only writing nerds care too much about making the intro show not tell.

the most important thing is to really impress people regardless of how you do it.
think of how many people wade through absolute garbage because it has potential.

>>3058589
Lol this isn't me at all.

Everything you said is something i'd definitely say myself tho. What the heck, dude.

This is somewhat related, I'm making a webcomic for fun with a friend who is a writer.

Can anyone list some good webcomics that have good art? Most are pure trash. I grew up with Heavy Metal so I tend to prefer more classic european drawing styles that are high in realism.

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>>3058638
Unsounded
Ava's Demon (Though it's a bit more like a picture book than a proper comic)
Devil's Candy (Pictured)

And that's all I've got from what I've enjoyed.

>>3058638
Kill Six Billion Demons is drawn by a huge Moebius fan

The lot of you just like to hear your selfs talk huh? Where are the comics?

>>3058638
>I grew up with Heavy Metal so I tend to prefer more classic european drawing styles that are high in realism.

Then you should be looking at french comics baka.

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>>3057539
I've been working in a comic this last year, more time in the idea. The story is Sci-fi Fantasy stablished in an alternative universe the art style is retro-futurism that shows a present that have a lot the past influence, with great and terrible parts (I was tired of dark futurism, so Thought about something like the Fifth Element)

The story is about five people who get together a long time ago for acomplishing a revenge. All of them have lost beloved people so they so with the time they form with time a family together

six months later they are messaged by archeologist from London to tell them about an ancient treasure, wich is related with an ancient kind of people (now extinct) who could dominate the elements of the galaxy to protect their worlds.

The search for the treasure and the resurection of this powers in the Earth will change the times that they live, showing classic conflicts in the subplot as: should I renounce an individual life with pain or lonliness for a life of unity but without pleasure or love? Should humanity governments use people with powers (those who represents the universe) for their own interest or act unilaterally even against them? Should they be under responsability as monks who protect universe or should they be free even if it means caos or wasted potential?

I have more things like characters fears and desires that I will explore logically in the main plots

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>>3057557
The third Bogdanoff?

>>3059934
Niggers and furries, every character is ugly as sin, and an autistic rant of a plot synopsis. Yep, your comic will be a hit in the west.

>>3059960
sorry for the ugliness that was and old sketch from one year ago. I change that style and design but still didn't scan any page.

I came with a large plot but I'm not good in summarize when I come here

>>3057557
I read like five pages of that comic before concluding that the author was too pretentious to make the text legible.

>>3059934
>>3059960
Looks better and has more potential than most people on /ic/.
>>3060710
Don't feel like you need to apologize to this asshole, he's just tearing people down to make himself feel better, like a lot of people on /ic/.

>>3059934
You should work on structure alot more. If everything in this sketch was structured more correctly, it'd look a thousand times more appealing.

The subject matter is very approachable, so it's a good idea to stick with it. Keep working on it!

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Here's another exploration panel.

I'd love to see some more work from you guys.

>>3062544

those are some gross fake-looking tits, but maybe that was the idea.

Stylistically it's very nice.

>>3062554
It's definitely not meant to be a pleasent panel. Glad it works!

>>3062570
I'd fuck the life out of her desu.

>>3062574
Same senpai

>>3062554
It looks great. I love the "fake" tits. Really adds to the style.