Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Webcomic Artist

Hi there!

I've been drawing a Webcomic for over 2 years and have published over 200 pages

I've heard form a few people around the site that they're interested in starting their own comic, so I can answer questions about working on a comic and starting your own!

I had no idea you hadn't been publishing the comic for such little time -- I love seeing when you post your comic panels in the moderator conversations.

Do you have recommended resources for learning to draw? What's your process?

I want to make a webcomic for some time now but I keep getting in my own way.


Honestly I think I want to know what IS the best place to post a webcomic? I hear such bad things about webtoon and most others don't seem like they get any traffic unless it's well....stuff 'rated R' what do you use or suggest?

Aw thank you! That's very sweet of you! I started drawing this comic in about... March of 2021 but didn't start publishing it until January of 2022. So I'm actually just a sliver away from my 2nd birthday

When it comes to art, it takes theory and mileage to improve, and a good thing about webcomics is that they give you a lot of mileage really quickly. You have to draw pretty much everything that exists - all different kinds of characters from all different angles, doing various things, emoting in various ways. Backgrounds, objects, animals... you name it! So even if you do absolutely 0 study, you are going to improve just by the fact that you are drawing so much. Every time you finish a page, you're going to look at it and think "Man I messed up that background. The character is giant compared to the car." Or "The faces on these characters look weird..." and before long, you're going to have to draw that subject matter again and you'll have learned a little from your previous attempt. And then again. And then again.

I actually didn't do any study at all until just a few months ago. But now I'm slowly beginning to bring in more structured theory. I mostly use free resources from Youtube to study Two I watch frequently are:

https://www.youtube.com/@ProkoTV (Probably the best youtube channel when it comes to fundamentals, and anatomy. Has premium courses behind a paywall, but you can get a lot from his free content)
https://www.youtube.com/@YTartschool (Focused on concept art - also has a paid course)


I also use these sites to practice anatomy and gesture:
Gesture / Anatomy
https://line-of-action.com/
https://www.adorkastock.com/

If you want to make a webcomic... you should DO IT! Comics are for people of all skill levels! They are for people to tell all kinds of stories! Don't let yourself hold you back!

It's one of those things you don't get better at unless you do it. So if you say "I'll do it when I'm good enough." That time will never come, because there's so much about comics that you don't learn unless yo do them! Even if you are an anatomy master, you can't practice things like paneling, pacing, lettering, writing and drawing in a way that makes your intent clear to the reader... UNLESS YOU ARE DRAWING A COMIC! Don't stop yourself! Your first comic doesn't need to be your magnum opus! Make something that makes you happy and learn in the process!!

Onto your other question-- this is something that people are actually struggling with right now. With social media on the decline, more and more sites algorithm based even people who have been drawing comics for a decade + are struggling to get their art in front of people. Not to mention fewer people will go to a self-hosted comic site than 10+ years ago. Webtoons is full of comics with teams behind them and single creators doing it as a hobby struggle to keep up. Readers are over saturated with highly polished comics publishing 60 panels a week, and your average reader expects that as the standard. (Not to mention... the abysmal work conditions for these creators)

https://comicfury.com/ is getting a lot of good press recently (I've actually been thinking of mirroring my comic there...) It is a small independent site, with an active reader base, and permissive of many kinds of content.
Self Hosting is a very good option if you have the know-how. This means you won't ever be surprised by a provider suddenly closing down, changing TOS or implementing changes that impact you.

This podcast episode talks about getting started and the various perks and cons of the hosting options out there!

Thank you so much I appreciate it. And your right I need to get out of my own way and stop being so scared lol

1 // What inspired your webcomic?
2 // Which page of your webcomic is your favorite?

1) There wasn't a particular ONE THING that inspired my comic. A lot of these characters have been kicking around my head for literally half my life. But all I had was the beginning of a story, and a few interesting chunks in the middle. But in early 2021, when I was particularly overworked and depressed the ending finally came to me and I had to create it or I'll go mad. So I guess... overwork and depression. 🤔 To those who read my comic, it's probably no surprise that was my state of mind at the time.

When it comes to other media, I think Final Fantasy and various cyberpunk influences show. There's also a handful of Australian books (Cloudstreet, Carpentaria Boy Swallows Universe) I feel like you can see a strong influence.

2) Oooh interesting question :3c

I'm quite fond of this one. (Content Warning: F-Bombs). I think the characters all turned out very good, and I feel like I did a good job at environmental worldbuilding.

Where do you hope to go with your webcomic? Is it going to have a set arc you're working toward and then be done, or is this as far as you can tell a forever passion?

Hiya Kim!!!

This is something that has actually been on my mind for a while now. This comic does have a start, planned end, and chain of plot-points that link the two together. If I stick with it long enough, there is a finale that I will reach. However, I've had to tell myself that I have to be OK with not reaching that point. This could be a 10 year commitment and that is a long time. My life and priorities could change or I could just grow bored of the story.

However, I've joined wonderful communities, made good friends, and drastically improved in my art so even if in the eventuality that I want to call it quits, it's not a loss. The real prize is the friends we've made along the way 🥹

This is a difficult thing to articulate, and people can misunderstand it as "I don't like my comic" and that is not true. I love my comic and it means a lot to me. I want it to be as good as I can make it. But it honestly doesn't have a great deal of mass-appeal. It's weird and convoluted, and obviously made my an amateur who is experimenting. If I ever want to pursue comics seriously, my current comic isn't going to be a run-away success. However, it has taught me a lot and I can put my knowledge towards any future projects I choose to take up.

Have you gotten any plots for your web comics via dreams? and similar/related, have you ever had a dream where you were working on your web comic and woke up mad that all the work was gone? LOL

Maybe not from dreams, but a large number of plot beats have come to me while trying to fall asleep.

As for drawing in my dreams ... Thankfully I can't say that's happened yet

How do you stay motivated on a long haul like webcomics?

I've tried long-haul projects in the past but no matter how much passion I have for them, I either burn out, or run in circles on one specific part of the project and never manage to make it part of the larger whole. With stories, it's trying to get an arc to make sense and do all the things I want it to do. With art, it's just getting hung up on trying to not make my very serious and emotional stories told with art that looks like a child drew it.

That's without mentioning the conventional burnout that comes from working on something for long hours a day in a mad rush. I know how to run a sprint, but I've never figured out the marathon.

Hiya Aardbei

Most important thing - and I cannot stress this enough is to embrace the 70% rule.

It usually easy and stress free to get your work to 70%. It takes a lot of time and effort to get your work from 70% to 100%. Maintaining a long term project at the 100% mark is unsustainable. You will burn yourself to a crisp. Aim for 70%. Perfection is the enemy of the good.

And as you get practise your craft, your 70% actually shifts. You can find you can do more with the same amount of effort.

Here's a video taking about the concept.

Another thing that really helped me was publishing my work publically. I mentioned earlier that I started drawing in March 2021 but started publishing in January 2022. Keeping my project under wraps for so long had a lot of benefits (which I can go into if anyone is interested) but making my project public made me more committed to it. I now had a deadline and if I fussed over things too long, I'd start to fall behind. You learn how to say "It's fine! It's good enough! I have spent way too long on this already!"

You may not be 100% happy with your work but you need to move on. Add something to your writing like

ADD LATER: (they somehow segue to this topic of conversation)

And move on from it. You can work though it later. Better to have it out thsn stall the project forever on a tiny detail.

Art will improve with time, plotholes will be filled, but you can't exhaust yourself expecting to work at 100% capacity at all times.

This is such a good and healthy answer! Thank you!