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Jeph, could I get some help from you in regards to artwork?

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deepbluevibes:
I'm not a TOTAL beginner at artwork, but i'm far from decent.

My artwork would be a bit less "attractive" than the very first comic you made, if you want a comparision.

anyways, i'm a film major, I edit films and all that, etc. but lately i've realized that while that's something i'm good at, for three years now i've been writing this story of mine and film just wouldn't be able to do it.

(mostly due to needing billions of dollars for special effects, not to mention the story is longer than lord of the rings)

The thing is, I want to try making a webcomic and actually doing this for real somewhat over the summer.

So my questions are as follows to you;

1) What did you do to improve your artwork? I know you obviously drew and practiced a lot, but did you take any classes, have any training methods, etc.? Your artwork has really progressed a lot in such a short time, and obviously some of it's talent, but i'm guessing there was SOMETHING else there along with the hard work :P

2) What kind of supplies do you suggest using? I've tried to use blue pencils (the ones that don't show up when you scan), but i've also heard that they're bad to use. What do you suggest for pencils, inks, paper? I'd be doing artwork at first that isn't that detailed but would move on later to more detailed things, obviously.

3) What do you suggest for an "after" program for effects/toners? most of the comic will be in B&W, so I was just wondering if you knew of any programs that would work well with scanned pictures. I haven't been able to find *anything*, so this would really be appreciated :)

4) If you have the time, I'm pretty sure you're not exactly into the style of story i'm making, although I could be wrong, but I was wondering if you'd want to ever take a look at a story summary I have for the story? Just to get your opinion on it, etc.

I really value your opinion, I read around 70 webcomics and out of them, you're one of the few creators who has a very good grasp on human personality, i.e. how to make characters seem real, and not just fake comic book characters.

This is a skill I also consider myself to have, and I know it won't show much in the summary because it's just the plot points of the story, but coming from you, if you're even the least interested from just this, that means i've got something decent :P

Thanks for reading all of this, and if you ever need any music videos/film work/song lyrics made, i'm up for it :)

deepbluevibes:
was this a bad thing to ask or something?

Spinless:
No, you just asked Jeph specifically and assumed he'd read this.

My advice: Fuck cartoons at first. Draw as realistically as you can and practice practice practice. That's really all there is to it.
If anybody thinks that there's more to drawing than 'Practice' they're an idiot. There's no 'secret advice' or anything, every person you ask will always tell you the same thing.
This applies to everything.
'How did you become such a good guitar player?!'
'Well, I ate a jar of mayonaise everyday for a week and BAMF instant guitar god.'
'Really?'
'No. Go practice.'


nah, I'm kidding. If you want to be a good artist, wear a turtleneck and a beret, wear sunglasses all the time and grow a goatee. The rest comes naturally.

logosmonkey:
Exactly what Spinless said... practice your ass off. Don't get stuck in one particular style either.. especially when you are just starting out. Copy other peoples work, for a beginner it's quite acceptable and honestly I'd probably say mandatory. If you see a work you just love, copy it... copy it a million times. In the process you'll find all these little things that the artist did and you'll say .. oh wow.. I never thought about drawing X like that... thats cool. Theory books are great too. Just remember to spread out, don't stick to just one artist or style.

deepbluevibes:
what kind of inks/pencils do you reccomend, and what kind of paper is good? paper that won't let the ink soak through etc.

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