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Author Topic: WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?  (Read 10307 times)

mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« on: 03 Apr 2005, 11:13 »

How much work. effort, time does everyone find their comics to be?

I think I spend my time as follows:
1 hour on pencil sketch
30 minutes on scanning and inking.
30 minutes on rescanning and photoshopping the lines
1-2 hours on fill coloring
1-2 hours shading.
15 minutes-3 hours on the text.
15-30 minutes on the posting/commentating.

Thats about 3.5-9.5 hours just to get something out that I think looks like it was done in 1 hour tops.  Normally I tend to lean towards the 8-9 hour average.

By the time I'm done I feel like I've just finished with some crunch time for product delivery at my real job!  And thats just to post one a week!

Does everyone else find this to be fairly standard? or is it just easier for some and harder for others?  I assume things get easier as I get more practice in.
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Johnny C

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #1 on: 03 Apr 2005, 11:27 »

I find the hardest part is sticking to schedule, hence I don't.
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Trollstormur

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #2 on: 03 Apr 2005, 21:23 »

two person collaborations are tough. especially when one of them is a goddamned junkie.
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torg

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #3 on: 04 Apr 2005, 02:28 »

well... i dont usually draw comics. but given my normal way of drawing, id say, i need 100 hours for skeching and 5 hours for the rest....
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fredhate

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #4 on: 04 Apr 2005, 03:18 »

For me it goes like so:

2 hours spent penciling and inking (sometimes upwards of 3 hours)
15 minutes to scan and reassemble
3 hours to color (although, I'm new to it. Hoping it'll get faster)
30-45 minutes to letter
30 minutes to update site each week (sometimes less, sometimes more)

So, that looks like about roughly 6.5 hours. Crap, I should just give up.
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #5 on: 04 Apr 2005, 08:53 »

I hear a lot of things are hard when the other person is a junkie.

I guess I'm kind glad to know that the amount of work I do isn't all that out of the ordinary, but then again, I'm not sure if i should feel sorry for all of us who do this! :P  I mean this is seriously cutting into WoW time! :)
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Dr Ted Nelson

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« Reply #6 on: 05 Apr 2005, 02:13 »

I have always been a procrastinator. As the weeks drag on and my life as a comicist sets in, I hope it gets easier. I am in awe of anyone who can do this daily. Im picturing Jeph's drawing hand being at least 10 times the size of his other hand by now.... pulsing and throbbing and taking up all the room on his computer table.

I think having the reserve of comics is probably the way to go. Having to produce one a week on demand has turned an act of enjoyment into work.

oh and "hi". Im not new, but for the longest time I was having trouble registering. I think i was lost in the shuffle when this whole board was redone in december.
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #7 on: 05 Apr 2005, 05:04 »

haha.  I was reading the part about the big hand, and immediately started getting bad thoughts and thinking "ooooo... kkaaaayyyy.... back away..." :P

Is that avatar a piece of your work?  I rather like it. :)  

I think once I get maybe a year into this, I'll be whipping them out, and it'll be much less work, but for now the work and enjoyment seem to be balanced out.  I definately hope the work never out wheighs the enjoyment.
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Parallelflux

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #8 on: 09 Apr 2005, 23:00 »

It takes me about 8-12 hours per comic strip, but I usually update once every 3 days.
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jeph

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #9 on: 10 Apr 2005, 01:37 »

Of course it's hard.

That being said, the little side project I've got going now for my own personal amusement is pretty simple. It's a nice contrast to the backbreaking labor that is QC.
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torg

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #10 on: 10 Apr 2005, 05:34 »

oh... will we see it some day?
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #11 on: 10 Apr 2005, 06:25 »

OO!  Side projects! :)
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bev

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #12 on: 10 Apr 2005, 07:04 »

My comic takes me up to 15 hours per strip to do. I know it's slow but I'm a perfectionist. None of it is done by hand, all done in the computer, the way I do it is different to most though.

I start with the text as it takes me a while to get it right due to the storyline nature of my comic, can take 2 hours sometimes. It also helps determine how much space in each frame I get for the drawings.

Now I use flash to do my comic and I'm really just not very good at drawing, at all, so all my drawings are done outside the frame, then once their done, I put them all together in the comic. So the drawings can take up to 10 hours including shading.

The composition is the last step, putting all the elements together now that my comic has taken on a slightly more artistic approach with some really odd panels. Compostion of the comic includes readjusting the text, adding layers to darken or brighten elements, and just seeing how well all the panels fit together.

Flash can, at times, be a royal pain to work with and is not the idela program for making a comic as anyone will know looking at my site today but it does give me the look for my comic that I need and only flash can give me. The positives outway the negatives but there's still a shitload of negatives.
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #13 on: 10 Apr 2005, 10:57 »

Is your strip animated?
Wouldn't Freehand be as good a tool if not better.  I used to do stuff in Freehand first, then import to Flash, but only because it had to be animated.  For stills, I just used Freehand.  When I last used the two together, they seemed to be pretty capable of the same styles.  But that was a version or two ago.

Nice art, btw. :)

The piece I'm working on now is taking a butt long time.  Its got more pieces then previous strips, an extra frame, and I keep having to redo bits.  Although its got a few firsts for me.  I've started doing actual parts on the tablet after I've sketched and scanned them.  Thats a huge step for me! :)  

Its still a butt load of work tho, this one especially.  I have a feeling that I may get quicker, but I'll start adding more complexity, so my time will always remain the same average! :)  This one however is reaching the 12 hour total range.  Its a good thing I had Thursday and Friday off from work!

I can't imagine doing a strip 5 days a week.  As one of my friends might say "Jeph.  You're a man among men"
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bev

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #14 on: 11 Apr 2005, 21:52 »

I'm quite happy using flash for now, like I said, it offers up some features no other program can give me. I guess one of the main reasons the comic takes me so long is that A) it's an action comic and most action comics update once a week with an A4 ratio strip, and B) mine is much much longer than that and I've been really putting more time in lately to make the strip much nicer to look at than it used to be.
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #15 on: 12 Apr 2005, 02:50 »

I was able to glance through some of the archives.  Its some pretty nice work.  I'm going to have to go through it at a more leisurely pace sometime.  (probably at work) :)

Time for me to start working on the next one.
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bev

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #16 on: 12 Apr 2005, 03:49 »

Ugh my archives are pretty nasty. Back in the day when I churned out a page a day without much care. It's broken up into parts so the new stuff, Part One, is where the 15 per strip work starts. Hope you enjoy it, it's a nice time killer, and it'll kill ALLOT of time...
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daneford

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #17 on: 13 Apr 2005, 12:30 »

Hardest thing is keeping up to date/being consistant and sticking with it :) If you have good art skills and writing skills the actual webcomic should be easy
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Sideways

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #18 on: 14 Apr 2005, 09:59 »

My sketch/storyboard is usually 30 mins.
Scanning & inking in photoshop is usually 1 hour.
Framing/Colouring/Shading is usually 30 mins.
Speech is usually about 15.

So, on average, it takes me around 2 - 2.5 hours per comic.

It was taking me upwards of 4 hours a few months ago... but updating three times a week has helped me find a groove.  Frankly; I needed to find said groove, otherwise my social life would've simply been gone.
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #19 on: 14 Apr 2005, 10:10 »

Whats this "So-shal Life" you speak of? :P

Being married, 30, with a family, and a job in the software industry, my social life now consists of either World of Warcraft and watching TV during dinner with my fam.  occasionally something happens with other people involved.

i think I might have stumbled upon said groove.  Next week's stuff took an amazingly short amount of time.  I think I discovered the "just draw it, and stop worrying so much about perfection because it can be fixed later in Photoshop, groove."  I just hope it stays! :)
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smilingbeef

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #20 on: 15 Apr 2005, 11:22 »

I don't really speak from a true artist's standpoint, because I'm a pretty poor artist, but each comic typically takes me an hour to two hours to do.  I start with a crappy little storyboard on paper, then get into photoshop and do it.  yes, i don't scan anything, because that's not my style. i like iconic characters and they're easily done with the old mouse (read: i can't draw for a crap).  if i was a perfectionist i'm sure this would take me a lot longer to do, but i find that the easiest way to deal with mistakes is to start with a huge canvas and shrink it at the end so any inconsistencies get evened out.  plus, i do this for fun, so why stress myself out about the comic when i've got ten other things to stress over?
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bev

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #21 on: 17 Apr 2005, 04:58 »

I had my latest social life hit this weekend. I promised myself I'd do a pic for Chookens birthday and right now it's sunday night and I still have nothing. Beer and several smokable substances hinder the creation process so to get any work done on my comic from now on I may have to keep my drinking to 1 night on weekends.
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Inlander

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #22 on: 17 Apr 2005, 05:31 »

Despite romantic notions to the contrary that seem to hold sway in our culture, I've never found alcohol and other mind-altering substances to be anything other than a supreme hindrance to the creative process.
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Sionide

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #23 on: 17 Apr 2005, 08:08 »

Webcomic'ing is no easy task, which is probably why I've been put off. I don't think my artistic skills are anywhere near good enough to make a good quality webcomic and as a lot of other people have said, sticking to schedule is very difficult. I can hardly get round to updating my blog once a day. :P Heh...

Musasa

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #24 on: 17 Apr 2005, 17:03 »

well for me it's about

one hour on linework
30 mins color
one hour text/writing
20 mins post-production
10 mins newspost/posting

so about 3 hours per comic.  And no, I can't stick to schedule either
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MrVisible

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #25 on: 18 Apr 2005, 08:48 »

Having just started my comic, I think I can authoritatively say that I know nothing whatsoever about this subject.

But mine takes about...

20 mins to 1 hour  -- Thumbnail/scripting
1 to 1.5 hours        --  Pencil Sketch
45 mins                --   Digital inking (just switched over to this in Illustrator)
45 mins                 --  Coloring
20 mins                 --  Shading/effects
15 mins                 --  Lettering

So, roughly 4 hours 35 minutes in the worst-case, 5-panel multiple effects and perspective problems scenario.

I'm hoping to get it down to three hours, so I can find out whether I have a job these days. Also, I'm hoping that at some point it doesn't suck quite so badly. But I'm keeping up with the three day a week schedule, and I have a buffer!
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #26 on: 18 Apr 2005, 09:04 »

My times better get quicker.  I unfortunately don't have a buffer and were not only in product delivery week at work, but starting up product delivery month for another product.  Software is not where its at if you value personal time and weekends.

My last one was pretty quick, but it shows on the background objects.
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mikey

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #27 on: 20 Apr 2005, 10:14 »

Wow I'm amazed at how quick everyone can make their comics.

I think the time to make one depends on a lot things individual factors.  

I avg between 10-20 hours a comic.  I don't feel I have a natural art skill in both drawing or coloring, so that's maybe why I take much longer.
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cacahuate

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #28 on: 23 Apr 2005, 19:02 »

Um... my comics don't take very much time at all... probably has something to do with my awesome action figures.
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Julie

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #29 on: 24 Apr 2005, 16:51 »

Whoa 20 hours? That is insane to me. I work and go to school so my comics take like 3 hours.
Thinking up the joke could take any time from 1 minute to 2 hours, depending on how distracted I am.
Penciling maybe is 30 minutes?
Inking, 45 around.
Greys take about half an hour too. Maybe longer. Everything depends on how much I am trying. But to me 3 hours is a lot! I guess it isn't really.
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jeph

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #30 on: 24 Apr 2005, 16:55 »

The average IndieTits strip takes about 10 minutes. The effort really shows!
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mosfet

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WebComic = Lots of Hard Work?
« Reply #31 on: 24 Apr 2005, 18:02 »

IndieTits is still pretty damn funny for the minimal amount of work needed. :)

Unfortunately, with the back to back crunch times at my work, all the extra hours, and the weekend work, I had to recycle the graphics of a previous strip to do this monday's.  I feel guilty if I don't do an actual new strip. :P

Still, it took me about an hour to do.  Some tweaks here and there and new text, but it was a nice break to do an easy strip after all the freaking software testing I've been doing.
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