Hey so I know you probably get this a lot, but I wan't to start a web comic and your's is such an inspiration! I love everything about the art! I merely dabble in art but I want to become serious about it. But I'm not sure where to start. Can you tell me how you learned what you've learned and maybe some tips?
Thanks!! I’m glad you like the comic! There’s no big secret to starting comics, but I’m happy to share what I’ve learned over the years!
1- In order to start, all you have to do is START! I didn’t know anything about comics when I started making them, I was in high school and doing them just for fun. That’s all you need, and really, that’s the only way to begin. Make them for fun, make them for yourself, share them or don’t if you don’t want to, but just start making them.
2- Like I said, there’s no big secret. It’s all the product of years and years of hard work. I’ve been making comics for longer than my adult life (and I’m an old crone by internet standards). It’s almost entirely practice. You can’t get around that, there’s no cheat to go faster or way to skip those 9 999 shitty comics before you get to that 1 good one, but it’ll come if you put in the time! (I promise)
3- Study whatever and however you can! Ok, I didn’t really, but one of the things that helped me immensely were the drawing classes I got in college studying animation. Now here is a HUGE CAVEAT WITH SIRENS AND BLINKING LIGHTS. I am not saying you need to put yourself under a mountain of debt to get into a fancy school. My animation diploma is from a public school, the equivalent of a trade school outside of Quebec, and it only cost me a few hundred bucks a session over 3 years. I would never have been able to afford an art school outside of Quebec, and I doubt I’d even have been accepted. You don’t need a fancy school, or an expensive school, but if you can get some good classes, they helped me IMMENSELY. Look for local life drawing workshops, perspective drawing, composition, illustration. There are now TONS of online workshops if you can’t get them locally (Schoolism, Skillshare, CGMA, etc), that’s not even counting free videos and tutorials on youtube and the like.
4- Don’t neglect the writing! Drawing is HOW you get the story of a comic out, but writing is WHY people will care about it in the first place. If you can get a class, go for it! If not, self-study! the Writing Excuses podcast and Brandon Sanderson’s university lectures (on youtube) are phenomenal ressources for that.
5- Also books: I cannot overstate how good a book Scott McCloud’s Making Comics is. Get your hands on it IMMEDIATELY! If you like a particular art style, consider a book on that too! Disney’s animation books are great ressources too, even if you’re only going to be drawing pictures that don’t move. And there are lots of good books on writing (I like John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story, even if it’s a little technical and abstract.)
But really, if you want to go from dabbling in something to doing it, there’s only one way to go about it, and that’s to just sit down and do the work. There’s no miracle, only hard work and a lot of love for your craft!
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