Hey, do you mind talking about your process on seacritters a bit? It looks like you do it traditionally and I was wondering how you go about that? Like, from the thumbnails to pencils. What size page do you pencil on. If you have to change things for editing reasons do you erase/cover your drawings or scrap the page and start over? If you make a mistake on the inks would you fix it up with whiteout or do it in digital post? (Or do you ink digitally)
I guess I've been wanting to make a comic for ages but have been scared that doing it traditionally just wouldn't keep up with the modern industry. (Tho I suppose there's a difference between working on a whole book at once rather than something serial) Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I love asks like this! Although I'm gonna answer it in two parts, and the second part is more important so it comes first.
"I've been waiting to make a comic for ages but I'm scared that--"
Listen. Listen to me. I am like you. My brain is so good at dissecting all the reasons it might not make sense to do a thing in a particular way, which is often a way to get out of doing a thing at all. I have practiced this my whole life. I am talking to myself as much as anyone else when I say that art is very rarely practical and even more rarely efficient and it is desperately important to fall in love with the impractical, sensual, un-plan-out-able parts of making pictures come alive.
If you're at a stage in your career when you need to become economical with your work in order to make a living from it, we can have a different conversation, but I don't think that's what this question is about! If you've never made a comic and you want in your heart of hearts to make a comic and the fear of "keeping up" is stopping you from doing that, I want to help you set that fear on fire.
Art is about pleasure. If it is pleasurable for you to draw on paper, MY GOD, DRAW ON PAPER! If it is pleasurable for you to ink by hand? To rule out the lettering guidelines with an Ames guide? To lovingly render all the individual links in a chainlink fence? Who am I to stop you?!
Some of the most popular webcomics from my youth—comics that still enjoy massive followings today—ran on unfathomably erratic update schedules. Hell, I just reblogged a post from someone coming out of the woodwork to share some art for the first time in three years and people are going absolutely feral over it!
Sometimes making art takes a long fucking time. Sometimes being alive stops you from making art for a long fucking time. There are circumstances where making efficiency your god is necessary, but your first comic doesn't have to be one of them.
Figure out what brings you pleasure and draw from there. Start with something short. Let yourself play. I say this like it's easy and I know it's the hardest thing imaginable some days, but I'm always trying to remember. Every artist you know is trying to remember.
I believe that we'll get there eventually.
















