I've been thinking about making comics for a long while now but I would like some advice on how to start making one. I know it is important to just start but I think there is a general framework to do it without falling into any pits. Since your comic is almost done, I figured you might have some tips. I do have a lot of questions sorry.
Did you write out and finalize the entire script for the comic first before you started drawing it? It is the most important thing right?
2. Did you have an editor while you wrote the script? What is it like? I don't really have a clear picture on what an editor does exactly other than being a second opinion. If you do have one, where did you find them?
3. I know you are an advocate for artists to at least have an independent website but what social media do you think is best in general for an artist to have since you have so many. Another goal of mine is to be able to do art commissions as a side gig.
4. Speaking of which, how did you handle payment when you did art commissions in the past? In the end I just want a system that is fair for both parties.
5. I noticed on your neocities website that some of your artwork while you were in the marine corps was in watercolor. This is a very silly question but how did you dispose of the watercolor paint water? Did you just pour it down the sink? I am really interested in learning watercolor as I like the look of it to keep it brief.
Thanks for reading my wall of text I just feel a little lost as I don't see many artists talking about their process when it comes to making their own stuff.
1) Before anything I decide on my story's ending, then the beginning (which is the situational inverse of the ending), and then I make it all about getting from start to finish. I do a detailed outline of the whole story first, mainly focusing on all the major emotional turning points and the events/dialog that cause them. I focus HEAVILY on the story's theme and reinforcing it through every possible scene and character choice. By 'Theme' I mean the whole point or message of the story, not the plot events within a story. Brian McDonald is one of my favorite guys when it comes to understanding story structure, theme, etc. [video link]
I don't really do a detailed script like a film-style screenplay or Marvel styled script. What I do after being satisfying with my outline is this: I write/type down in short 1-3 sentences what happens on each page. I focus on just the big idea of what needs to be conveyed, not worrying about dialog specifics. For example a finished comic page of two characters in bladed combat might have a LOT of detail and dramatic action panels and some memorable dialog in the end, but the "script" for it would've been something like "Cool Hero and Dark Lord exchanging sword blows/blocks/parries as airship crashes in the background. Show Cool Hero losing ground, bleeding from wounds, make it look DESPERATE." I write it down as if I'm a cigar-chomping business suited studio executive remind my overworked/underslept director self "Make it more dramatic, da kids like dat!!!"
Oh yeah, and I got through a lot of edits during these stages. A lot of time my story blows up into something way huge and complicated, but I know the good idea is still in there, so it becomes a process of eliminating, combining and condensing elements until it's down to a manageable size AND more emotional impact.
So that's what I do before I start sketching out comic pages.
2) While creating the first draft, I did have a couple people I was getting feedback from. In retrospect I don't think it was a good idea in the early stages, but would've been better way later on. I think when you're in the early phase of something it's best to trust your gut and get at least a first draft done, since you want the foundation of the story to be YOUR voice. Once you know what your ending, your theme, and overall story is, THEN I think it's better to have a skilled person you can come to and say "Hey I'm trying to convey THIS with my story, but this scene here feels like it's just not working right. Any ideas?"
Basically having someone who knows how to help you find better routes to the destination you've already decided to head to, rather than someone who might try to suggest a different destination altogether.
3) Social media is a madhouse, but sadly it's what you have to work with if you're trying to build an audience. I think you should use whichever one causes you the least amount of stress, but still gets decent engagement for your work. Instagram seems like the most 'chill' of the big socials, since it's all just images and video, but I hate all the ads and visual clutter, and I hate using my phone for internet stuff (I'm a desktop PC oldhead)
Having a personal website and a few cozier places you can interact with other people (like Discord servers) helps to reduce the stress of social media, in my experience. Knowing that you're not 100% dependent on X, Bsky, Instagram, Youtube, Tumblr etc and have somewhere more personal to go to makes it easier to handle social media without feeling chained to it.
4) It's been so long since I did commissions so I'm prob not the best person to ask there, but usually I took payment up front, at least 50% though usually 100% and just let my reputation be the collateral in the event that I couldn't deliver. But I think doing something like 50% up front, 50% on completion is still a normal way to do things.
5) I actually did most of those watercolor sketches using an Altoids tin that I turned into a pocket paint palette, and used a refillable Pentel water brush to dab into the paints ( https://amzn.to/45OWMGt ). It's a bit messy but it works great for field expedience, and was easy to shove into a gear pouch if I had to suddenly get on the move. Watercolors are really great for portability and there's a lot of brands out there making nice pocket-sized palettes.
Hope these answer your questions, feel free to let me know if I missed anything or could elaborate more!
