Comic Genesis Forums

Just wondering. How far in advance do you draw your webcomic?

For my comic, I just scanned August 14th strip. It's being colored now (it's a Sunday strip)

Sweet sassy-molasses!! August!! I draw for http://lightofthestars.keenspace.com - which is updated weekly. I lined that up to have a few in the cue - and now I try to finish each one at least a few days in advance. As for thatguy, I finish each comic the night before (or day of, when I'm running late). I can't imagine being 3 months ahead

I usually try to get a ten week buffer running while I'm on school holidays so I don't need to worry about it during the ten week terms and I can plan and teach and stuff instead of drawing the kids on anything other than the blackboard to entertain the troops. Then I let it whittle down and do a few whenever I get the time until the next holidays trundle by.

I do it that way out of necessity. I don't know how far ahead I'd be if I didn't have two and a half month periods of flat out work to do instead.

Also, I find it easier to develop a few story ideas over this time so when the time comes to make them all up I can basically sit down and get them all done in one fell swoop.

As I said, I do it that way because that's the way it works best. They'll all tell you something different though. Take it as you please.

I just put them up when they are done.

3 months... wow? for me it usually two or three pages in advance... i update randomly anyway.

I try to be a week ahead, but usually, I'm down to the wire for each update (i.e. the day before). But I do have a great deal of the script planned out well in advance.

When a page is ready, i update. then i start working on the next one

I try and keep a good week in advance. I also try and do a good 3-4 strips per "sitting". At one point I had up to a month and a half in my buffer, but I knew I'ld need that becuse I run a youth program that is extremely active during the month of february and my ability to do the strip then would be extremely limited.

I'm a "do everything at the last second, make it up as you go along" sort of chap. Planning is for losers! Ha ha!

*drives off a cliff*

I write out the idea for the next question and it's answer in advance and research it. That takes a good number of hours (worst case was well over 40 hours). I also sketch out anything I think I might have trouble drawing or can't picture in my head.

But for drawing itself? I do that usually the day of. Except when I get into a drawing binge and do three or four comics at once.

Started out a month in advance. (2 updates a week, that's a 8 page buffer.) The buffer has shrunk to 4 since then.

whenever i get apoclet of time, i can usually bang out a multitude of strips.
since my comic runs every three days, it gives me some time.
it runs every three days until June 9th. but after i fill in the text and editing the ne pages i just scanned in, my comic'll be daily from June 12th to July 24th. and in that time, i can get two chapters done. and since everything is
outlined . . . (i don't script it, ugh which i should) then i can be done with this comic by the end of the year. yeeeah boy.
mid 2006 kids!!

Comics take 8 hours+. Building up a buffer of 3 months would require forgoing any socialities for 3 months.
'course, it's a moot point seeing as I'm not updating.

Ahead?
I'm usually weeks behind my updates and sometimes have to skip whole months.. XD

I had yesterday's comic finished eight minutes before update time... >.<

It takes me ten million years draw anything, and another 5 hours at least for inking. And I'm super-behind as it is. I usually have thumbnail skteches 3 pages in advance though so I can scrap any weak ideas and panel layouts before I actually draw it.

Sometimes I have a buffer, sometimes I do them the night before, sometimes the day of.

About ten minutes, on a good day.

On a bad day, about -11 hours.