The art of cutting corners

[Anywherebuthere]

Having a palette, like Starline, is one of the best things you can do, as it both saves time and promotes consistency.

I find writing well in advance in a story-comic can help you catch problems ahead of time, before the drawing point comes up, and edit them out.

Don't write TOO far in advance....

I run into problems makeing certain that I'm not writing myself into a corner for my ending by doing something STUPID in the present.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

I don't like cutting corners. I spend close to 20 hours on a page. Even if no one notices, I do.

I guess one way that's sorta like cutting corners is that not every panel needs a background. As long as there's an in-depth establishing shot, then that's good. But if you never draw backgrounds, then that's just weak.

[RemusShepherd]

Don't write TOO far in advance....

I run into problems makeing certain that I'm not writing myself into a corner for my ending by doing something STUPID in the present.

Well, if you write that far in advance, and your story has an ending, then you might as well write the entire thing. Then you can't end up in a corner.

My philosophy on cutting corners is not typical, and I don't recommend other people follow it. I am a writer first, and an artist second, and I intend my comic to stand on its story, and I insist on having a reliable update schedule. So I will cut any corners -- copy and paste, trace photographs, eliminate backgrounds, anything -- to get the comic out on time. Because I'm such a slow artist, it takes me upwards of 12 hours per page to do my comic, and even at that speed the art quality is poor (I know it, you know it, let's not kid ourselves. ) I'm willing to sacrifice quality to insure that no updates are missed and the story rolls out as scheduled.

Sometimes I even skip character costume elements (I keep forgetting that damn rosary). That's unintentional, but I don't worry too much about it when it happens. I might go back and fix those fuckups if I have time.

But I'm not trying to make a living at this. Someone for whom comics are more than a hobby would probably have to have a very different philosophy.

[Subhuman]

I am a writer first, and an artist second, and I intend my comic to stand on its story, and I insist on having a reliable update schedule. So I will cut any corners -- copy and paste, trace photographs, eliminate backgrounds, anything -- to get the comic out on time. Because I'm such a slow artist, it takes me upwards of 12 hours per page to do my comic, and even at that speed the art quality is poor (I know it, you know it, let's not kid ourselves. ) I'm willing to sacrifice quality to insure that no updates are missed and the story rolls out as scheduled.

I'm primarily a writer, too, so I can see where you're coming from by focusing on storytelling above all else. But I think you're cheating your audience by half-assing your art. People read comics for the art and the story - one piques their interest, the other keeps them hooked. If you cut corners on the most visual, immediate aspect of your comic - what people first see when they load your page - you might be ironically hurting the impact of your story.

[Black Sparrow]

Remus does bring up a good point. With the exception of a few that can render a Rembrant in ten minutes, comicking is often about Time vs Art vs Story. The way they're prioritized is completely at the descretion of the artist, and not all can be utilized well at the same time. Remus' priorities seem to lie in Story-Time-Art. Me, I'm more for Art-Story-Time. That's why I only update once a week.

[RemusShepherd]

I'm primarily a writer, too, so I can see where you're coming from by focusing on storytelling above all else. But I think you're cheating your audience by half-assing your art. People read comics for the art and the story - one piques their interest, the other keeps them hooked. If you cut corners on the most visual, immediate aspect of your comic - what people first see when they load your page - you might be ironically hurting the impact of your story.

I know, and I agree with you. But if I didn't half-ass my art, I would only post one page per month.

This genchan I did looks good, so I *can* draw well. But that one figure, no background, took me eight hours to do.

It's not a matter of my *wanting* to do better. I just don't know how. It's beyond my abilities. And I realize it.

I stand in utter *awe* of you people who are able to draw a human figure in less than four hours. You totally amaze me. I can't compete with that, so I don't try. I do what I can given the deadlines I've set for myself. That's my philosophy. Again, I don't recommend anyone else follow it.

[McDuffies]

I apparently can't draw without cutting corners. I tried, but I cannot.
But I find it that it speeds a lot if I have formulalized process of generic tasks like drawing panels or lettering. When I get the hang of the fastest way to do those boring side-tasks, it speeds my work a lot.
I tried making template hatching patterns and re-using them put it turned out that cleaning of the edges took some time so I gave up on it.

[Wrathofautumn]

I cut a lot more corners than I used to. I never drew backgrounds with much detail in my earlier work, but I took a pretty big step in putting in a lot more detail when chapter three came out.

You're probably right, though. I've had to redo pages on the last minute before I could continue. A bit of proofreading with my scripts wouldn't hurt.