Last Sunday on Facebook, the Comic Underdogs kicked off a new and exciting monthly activity – Shameless Self Promotion Sundays! The idea behind this being, with such a robust community, it’s difficult to find everyone’s origin stories and the comics they’re attached to (especially if they’ve been an Underdog for a while). To give everyone a chance to see what everyone else is working on while avoiding the ever-destructive self-promo spam, every first Sunday of the Month, the Underdog facebook page will open up a discussion post for creators. There is, however, a little bit of a catch. In order to post there, you’ve got to answer three predetermined questions about your comic and/or your process. Only then are you allowed to post a link to your own work. Then, at the end of the day, the thread is deleted (to avoid constant bumping and spamming) and normal conversations resume.
Last Sunday, this recipe for discussion turned out to be such a success that, after reading what everyone posted, I felt a pang of loss knowing that all these great insights were about to be lost to the void. In a rush, I copied the entire thread and, after a bit of discussion with the team, decided that, after a bit of formatting, the discussions held within the thread made for a really great, introspective look into the processes and challenges of many members of the community. Thus the new monthly Underdog Self Promo Sunday Recap was born! This gives folks who miss the Facebook event a chance to learn more about their friends and colleagues and to grow as a community. So, without much ado, I present the Underdog Self Promo Sunday Recap!
The Questions
What did you learn in the past month while working on your comic?
What tools did you use to make your comic?
What are your goals for the coming month?
1. In the past month I learned to let myself experiment with tools I haven’t used in a long time. This pertains to…
2. The tools I use – I draw the pages in Photoshop and then print them out on bristol board where I can ink them by hand. At first I swore by the brush and 102 nibs, but after doing the first chapter of Hamlet & Juliet I realized I wasn’t quite getting the look I wanted. I decided to pull out the old 512 nib which I haven’t used in ages. I think the 512 helps me create the line art I desire. After inking, I scan the pages back into Photoshop for color and lettering!
3. Over the next month my main goal is to simply keep up with the comic and let it get a little bigger so as to attract more readers.
1. Last month was pretty interesting because I went on a research trip to the US for elements that I want to add to the next chapter of the comic (which involves Westerns, Civil War, robots and body modifications). I learnt about armors, robotics, weapons and fashion of the early 20th century.
2. I use Photoshop and Krita (for the sharp lineart/brush look), I do rough thumb sections (8 pages at a time, to have some sort of consistency) which are scenes, and I set a color/lighting scheme before making each page.
3. For the coming month we’re going into promotion mode, given that we’re near the end of this arc and it’s just the perfect time to get some new readers on board.
1. I have printed copies of One-Sided? and bring them with me to Comic Conventions, and I get all types of funny reactions from couples. While some women on Facebook accused me of objectifying women, other women thought the comic was funny. Mostly, and especially at Cons, couples burst out laughing at the episodes’ punchlines.
2. I do all the work on my computer. I use Manga Debut and I have a Bamboo Wacom drawing pad. Awesome stuff.
3. I plan to have several more episodes of One-Sided? up. At least three more. I hope to have all twenty-seven pages of the first issue of Mir-Riok up, but that one takes a lot more work. I’ve always got a project going, so it’s more like “finish a little here, finish a little there.”
1. Last month I attempted to do some simple animation for a page of the comic — just some fireworks (how fitting for the 4th of July).Stephen Leotti knows I’ve been playing with animation and making small tests on DA.
2. To make the animation I keyed the animation (rocket trajectory) using manga studio and made the fire work itself in Blender and composited together with the hand drawn art on the comic page. All of the frames were exported out and the final gif built in GIMP, which is really good for that. I used EZGif (website) to compress the gif to make it a more reasonable file size. If you go to the page I have linked to this post I have more details in the author notes area which is under the comic.
3. I’ve finished story boarding the next chapter and there is more (complex) animation I want to try. There is a big climatic scene coming. So it’ll be a refinement of my animation process.
1. I learned when to use storyboards and when to let the artist free.
2. Last storyboard I did with my tablet. But I still think it is faster when I simply sketch on a piece of paper.
3. My goal is to terrorize my artist enough to keep a tighter schedule.
1. These past few months, I learnt not to worry so much about the stats! Just to write this comic for myself. If I enjoy it, hopefully people will too. It takes time…
2. I draw everything on a Mini Ipad with Art studio app. I recently bought the new Adonit Jot pro stylus which I found very reliable. (I did change my screen protector to glass!)
3. My plan for the summer is to take advantages of my holiday months to get a buffer and speed up my posting schedule. I feel that the story can use a bump forward..
1. I have started ReplayComic less than a year ago so it’s pretty fresh and I am learning something new with every page.
2. I use Photoshop, for sketches and inking and coloring.
3. What have I learned in the past month? That I hate drawing same backgrounds (complicated backgrounds) over and over again. I plan to learn how to make my comic more popular next month since I didn’t manage to reach big audience just yet!
1. So far his month – July 4th – I’ve started the first two pages of the latest chapter of my web comic. Very unusually personal and emotional work. It is exhausting but I find myself trying to say so much with it, yet ironically, it also has more silent, dialog-free panels than any other story in the series. I’m learning that silent panels and pregnant pauses can carry a lot of emotional weight.
2. This chapter won’t be finished or posted for awhile, at least no earlier than November, mostly because it’s a longer chapter than I’ve done so far. My goal is to be at least a third into this new chapter by the end of July.
3. I produce my web comic in Adobe Flash, and I use heavily modified Cartoon Solutions models for many of the cast, mainly for constancy and to reduce repetition from having to draw the same basic elements over and over. Composition, backgrounds, props, coloring and shading, etc, are hand drawn work. 4. On a side note, I’ve discovered “Calvin and Hobbes,” absolutely brilliant, and I’m wondering how it slipped by me for ten years, plus the 20 years its been out of production!
1.I learned that I shouldn’t make art promises if I feel it’ll be too hard to accomplish because it means is not going to happen at all.
2. I used only MS5 (CSP) for the drawing part of it. Old crappy 10 inch Yiynova.
3. This month I need to create 8 pages for the webcomic and around 200 sketchcards, too late for what I learned XD. Well I also owe a ton of commissions but 2 big ones so hopefully I’ll take care of all this.
1. I learned that sometimes I just need to power through my insecurities if I want to get something done.
2. I have a Monoprice tablet, and it’s drawn in Manga Studio. I have another comic that’s done entirely in Ulead PhotoImpact X3.
3. My goal is to keep my momentum going and hopefully get this bit of Area 42 finished.
1. Jinxed started 1-1-2015, and although people have really been digging the fantasy series, I need to raise awareness to it.
2. I use a Microsoft Surface Pro 1 with Manga Studio 4ex to illustrate the series.
3. My goal is to spread more awareness to Jinxed.
1. I learned that even the simplest ideas can take time to execute. This past two weeks I was working on this massive eleven page update that had my lead character having a conversation with himself during a psychological breakdown. It was meant to be really intense. I think it turned out well, but I knew that each of the pages were going to need to flow together in order to justify it being one massive update. I was so frustrated every day that it wasn’t completed. For some reason I didn’t think that eleven pages, concentrated, was going to be a big deal… It was.
2. I used Bristol board, 2H pencils, Ink & a #3 Winsor Newton paint brush, a scanner, black watercolor paint, photoshop CS6, and Illustrator CS6 (for lettering).
3. I’m going to be traveling a bunch this coming month so I am hoping to get at least four pages done (1 per week) – which may, in fact, finish the current chapter of the book.
1. 1 year and a half off the Net to take care of a family member killed off any following I had before
2. Good ol’ Intuos 2 with a mixture of Manga Studio Ex 5, Photoshop, pen and paper and Open Canvas (Even tried a bit of the new PaintStorm Studio
3. Keep up the upload rate, build a buffer, find back some audience.
1. I learned sometimes it’s good to take a break if you’re getting stressed out. I took a few weeks off to work on a writing project and now that I’m almost finished with it, I’m almost ready to get back to work feeling refreshed.
2. Photoshop and a Wacom tablet.
3. Just try to get as many pages done as possible so I can be ready for the project launch hopefully in September.
1. My comic is Matt Against the World and I was working on it full time, but now I’ve started working a day job again, so one thing I’ve been learning this month and for awhile now is how to fit it in with less time. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to fit a lot of social media in, but I’m slowly starting to figure out ways to get everything done.
2. I’m a writer, but I like to avoid the computer as much as I can so my main tool is an old school pen and paper. The main thing I’m working on this month is a full length comic based on our comic strip.
3. Hoping it will get done sometime before my hair turns gray.
1. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been doing Indie comics since 2002.
2. Whatever works. It all depends on what my expectation or desired outcome is.
3. Finish the animation pitch bible for the comic.
1. This past month I have experimented with mixed media, more out of necessity than creativity. When used very carefully, a powder blue acrylic paint makes a beautiful looking sky. It makes me want to experiment more with painting rather than the markers I generally use.
2. I do all my comic strips on Bristol board paper. Generally, I use india ink markers, cheap colored markers. Sometimes, finances force me to use sharpie markers. I draw, ink, and color the comic strips, then scan and upload them.
3. My goal for the coming month is to stay on schedule. I used to publish every day, but that was too much to keep up with. Now I publish Mon/Wed/Fri, and I sometimes have problems keeping up with even that schedule. I’m on summer vacation however, and for now I no longer have any excuses for tardiness. Yet Life still tries to get in the way…
1. I really need to work on the way I design word bubbles! Far too often I try to cram too much into small spaces and end up with messy, clumsy looks. I’m working on this in two ways; for Tosheroon I’ve gotten word bubble brushes and am focusing on keeping words fitting cleanly within them, and for both comics I’m working on being more concise and dynamic in word placement.
2. I’m a digital girl, and my weapon is a Lenovo X230 tablet named Bradan who runs GIMP with HUGE numbers of fonts and textures that I’ve collected over the years grin emoticon
3. My goal is to tell the best story I can every day. Right now I’m pushing to get to Part 2 of Parmeshen (FINALLY) and trying to stay focused…considering I’m on Facebook right now yeah that’s going great! wink emoticon. I also want to work at becoming more connected with other creators as this month and those to come pass; I have a bad habit of holing up for months at a stretch and treating anything not related to my projects as a distraction. But as a creator, I’ve learned just how important it is for work to be read and commented on, so I’ll do my best to really start paying attention to other people’s work!
1. I had a post that was just a huge vent session for all of my frustrations and it went better than expected.
2. I use watercolors and a scanner, I hope to someday use grown up tools like photoshop
3. Doing more posts and submitting stuff to anthologies/other websites:
1. I learned that keeping to a schedule can be really tough with unexpected life events.
2. I mostly use Manga Studio 5 (Clip Paint Studio). I absolutely love the inking tools. smile emoticon.
3. My goals this month is to get back on track with posting new pages. Also to create some 3d models for background reference.
1. I learned that when I am feeling glum about my art and comic, I just need to push through it.
2. I use a Cintiq and Manga Studio.
3. My goals for this month are to keep plugging away at my two comics, and maybe try starting a mini-series.
1. What I’ve learned in the past month is that an artist needs to take their time on their work and try not to jump ahead of schedule. Keep a steady pace so you don’t burn yourself out.
2. Next Reverie is drawn on comic boards with traditional pencil and inks, then it’s fully colored in PS on a Wacom Cintiq.
3. This month, I plan on finishing chapter 2 and starting chapter 3. But before chapter 3 starts, I plan to do some revisions – create a better cover for the first volume, do some editing to the site’s layout like adding sections, changing the overall different look, etc. I also plan to put chapters 1 and 2 on Taptastic right before 3 starts.
1. What I’ve learned is that filler is nice between updates. I’m updating consistently but posting art keeps people coming back to the page on days other than Monday.
2. I thumbnail my pages on my cintiq, then print them out and letter, pencil, and ink them traditionally. Then I scan the page to color it on PS with my cintiq.
3. This month I’m applying to get some ads on my site from project wonderful so soon I can see some revenue!
1. This month I learnt that maybe I should concentrate on fewer updates of higher quality rather than trying to keep up a weekly schedule. I was happy with my first two weekly updates but not so sure about the last one. And I’vebeen playing with brushes a bit, but can’t say I’ve learnt nearly enough yet…
2. I use a Wacom Bamboo and Manga Studio 5, which I’m a big fan of. I’ve just started using the “story” feature which is useful for the comics I’m working on at the moment
3. Next month I’m posting 2 updates, both considerably longer than my previous ones, but I don’t want to break them into parts (I don’t think half a gag comic really works, even if it’s a long gag!)
1. In the past month I learned I actually enjoy coloring but hate flatting. I’m currently finding flatters to make the process go more smoothly.
2. I’ve been using pencil and ink on Strathmore Smooth Bristol but have recently switched to a Canson paper that has a little more tooth and was surprised at how well the ink takes to it. My new paper of choice.
3. My goals in the next month are to improve my artwork (obviously) but to also get this story fully colored. It’s my favorite one thus far and should look as professionally done as I can make it.
1. Over this last month, I’ve really been grappling with what I want out of making a comic. It’s always seemed really clear why I wanted to be an artist before, but lately I’ve been losing that. I think forcing myself to update lately has helped. In addition, I’ve noticed it does get more attention when I update a page at a time. Readers seem to react the same to a single page update as to a 30 page update, so it seems silly to dump it all at once.
2. Paint Tool Sai and a Cintiq, that’s about all there is to it!
3. This month I want to get myself into a habit of doing more work than I need to and really build a backlog. In the past I’ve struggled with keeping an update schedule, so this month I want to be about getting into a regular work flow.
1. Probably not best shared here, as it involves a lot of political anger.
2. FormZ for modelling, Poser for render engine, Photoshop for compilation.
3. I have a major storyline coming up that’s going to be a bit of a radical departure for my strip’s fairly quite approach. So we’ll see if it comes out like I want it to.
1. Well, I didn’t learn or try a new technique that involved my comic whether it came to writing, pacing or layout (I always struggle with that) but I did add a step to my work flow. The biggest problem I have is making a damn storyboard for my comic, once I have it, the comic is a breeze. It is a medium that’s meant to be seen and words don’t always cut it. So what I did, during the making of the storyboard, I cut out all distractions and sketch it out with paper and pencil, then scan the image.
2. This transitions to the software I use: after the pencil sketch I just scan it with my phone and upload to Skydrive and import into Clip Studio paint(Manga Studio 5).
3. My goal for the coming month is to make this “comic buffer” I’ve heard many cartoonists raving about lol.
Charlie Wise
1. Let’s see…I learned how to draw a van, how to line shade better with a brush, and learn how to draw sad clowns holding sad puppies forMarius.
2. I’ve been inking with metal pens mostly, but since I’ve switched back to 14×17 paper, I’m using my brush more. Plus, technical pens, Microns, Coptics, and lot and lots of erasers.
3. My goals for the rest of the month are, since the play I’m in opens in two weeks (TWO WEEKS!) I won’t have rehearsal, so I’ll get back to a regular schedule. And i want to get better at showing people hitting each other
1. I learned that Reddit gets mad if you upvote your own comic from multiple accounts. But in my defense, I have multiple personalities.
2. I don’t draw the comic, I only write it. Wade uses I guess a pen or something. I use my mind, and I use Google docs to share the scripts, and I use voice memo on my phone to record my ideas.
3. My goals are to get a 2nd G*d D@%& Patron in my Patreon account. One Patron is embarrassing.
1. I learned how to install a local copy of WordPress on my computer so I can monkey around with the website with less risk.
2. We use Celtx, Gimp and Blender
3. My goal? To not kill my husband (he’s the writer, I’m the editor)
1. I learned that sparser but tighter linework is much more effective than trying to get every possible detail into a frame.
2. WACOM tablet and Photoshop Elements 5
3. To have everything set up for the finale of the current storyline.
1. I learned how many people love and support my comic. I took a break last month, but received nearly 40 pieces of fan art!
2. When I make my comic, it’s on my Surface Pro 2 with Photoshop.
3. I want to get back to posting my own strips again. There’s something so satisfying about creating so many people enjoy and it’s a hard void to fill.
1. I learned that keeping a regular schedule gets harder the more I try to improve. Cranking out one a day is easy when you Ctrl + C Ctrl + V, but when you actually put effort into it…not gonna happen.
2. Paper, pen, scanner, computer stuff
3. I need to do something special for my 10 year webcomic anniversary.
1. This month I learned more about Photoshop video layers.
2. Photoshop and edge animate.
3. This month, my goal is to cram a lot of dialogue into two pages.
Joshua Yu
1. Well, I learned from some feedback on how I should improve my comic in terms of color and composition.
2. I usually do my comic through Photoshop on a tablet.
3. As for this month, I plan to do 4 more pages and hopefully finish the 1st chapter as well as prepare for an upcoming convention in September.
Sarah Driffill
1. I learned that if I get myself in a schedule jam (something I’m usually very good about avoiding), my readers will be understanding and I don’t need to be afraid to ask for a little help. While I plan to keep things running smoothly as long as possible, it made me very grateful to see they had my back while I got things in order.
2. I use Manga Studio 5 and a Wacom tablet, with occasional use of Photoshop Elements 9. I’m very pleased with my gear, though I feel like the tablet pen nibs wear down rather quickly. Perhaps I’m too rough on them.
3. I’m working on a short graphic prose side comic to tell a bit of backstory I won’t be able to fit into the main plot, but still wanted to share. I’m also wrapping up the current story arc this chapter, so exciting things are happening right now.
1. I’ve learned that buffer is great! There were a couple of weeks when I was away and just couldn’t get a page out. Fortunately I had buffer pages to spare… unfortunately I had plans to update twice weekly in the run up to the finale of my comic which probably won’t happen now.
2. Paint Tool Sai, Paint Shop Pro.
3. FINISH THIS THING. FINISH IT. I’m really on the last lap now, but saying goodbye to these characters is going to be emotional!
1. I learned that very stylized panels might SEEM like they’ll take you less time than a regular panel, but sometimes they take even longer, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing… Just focus on making every panel look good, even if it takes longer, and it’ll pay off in the end!
2. My sketchbook, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and a Wacom Intuos Pro.
3. Get updates out on time, work on self-promotion more, and advertise!
1. Different webcomic (and art) communities have different people, so I’ve had to craft my commentary differently. It’s been interesting to be back up on Tapastic, where there’s a lot more younger readers compared to my main site.
2. Manga Studio and Photoshop on a Wacom tablet
3. Finish new webcomic and upload it on Line Webtoons!
1. I learned that I actually do pretty well with lineart that’s a little bit thicker, makes it easier to show off pen pressure AND helps make my lines look a bit cleaner while I draw faster.
2. As always, I use Fire Alpaca for everything.
3. What I hope to do is boost up my page buffer count to something that can last at least a month, I’ll be job hunting again and I’ll need all the time I can get to call places back and interview. (The buffer thing is something I say all the time but DARN IT I MEAN IT THIS TIME IT IS MY #1 ISSUE).
To be featured on this page in the future, simply take part in the Underdog Self Promo Sunday next month by joining the Comic Underdog Facebook page!
makingcomics.com
Fascinating read! And thanks for letting me part of this, that was unexpected 😀
Glad you liked it! We’ll be doing a Self Promo Sunday the first weekend of every month over in the Facebook group, so keep an eye out for that so you can always participate!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/webcomicunderdogs/