Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[soulmoose]

Hey, I'm currently trying to start up a webcomic, but I can't draw worth squat so my friend and I are both doing it, I write and he draws, like the folks over at MacHall do. It's kinda frustrating though, and I wonder if any people also have this problem or have found a solution.

[Stifled Dreams]

I really don't feel like writing a comic but I'd love to draw one, and about a year ago I asked a then good friend to write it for me. I took one look at the characters she came up with and her first comic, and I said as tactfully as possible, "I don't think this will work." Yeah, we aren't friends anymore (not because of that, though).

Basically, I think it is hard, because he's gonna wanna change things you write and you'll want his art to match your vision, probably. The only thing I can say is, try to be flexible, and good luck.

Yeah, I'm giving bad advice, I think Sideways does his comic with some other people (and his is really good!) so he could probably be a lot more helpful.

[tasteslikeevil]

A friend and I tried to collab on a comic breifly when we were in high school, but it quickly fell apart. I think the tricky thing about collaborating is not only do you have to share the same vision, but you both have to be equally dedicated to it. Making a comic is a lot of work, and because of that it can be hard to get both people to put an equal amount of work in at all times, especially with two different schedules. Having two creators can also slow down the creative process somewhat, I've found. That's why I've turned down all offers by other people to colour Edwitch (my current comic) thus far.

Not to try to discourage you! Just saying, you're not the only person to have trouble with collaborations!

[soulmoose]

Not to try to discourage you! Just saying, you're not the only person to have trouble with collaborations!

That's good to hear, funny thing is that we're both in highschool, coincidence or destiny? Anyway, we both have fairly similar schedules and such, it's just that we usually just do our part and pass it on, I'm feeling like it's not really a collaboration but more of two seperate projects with the same outcome. And that usually results in us both not getting what we expected.

[Primate]

Most people working solo rarely get the outcome they expected when they started. In fact, some people hate their own finished work but can still get respect and make money from their creations. You get used to it. Or you quit. Or you start drinking heavily. One of the three.

As for working with others, it helps if you have an understanding of what they're actually capable of before starting. It lets your tailor your work to each other's strengths. Not that the average high schooler has a large enough body of work to let their partners make the necessary adjustments, but you've got to start somewhere, don't you?

Remember, that lack of satisfication is also what will drive you both to get better at it.

[JJMitchell]

Sideways could probably give you some ideas ... if he is willing and has time at least.

I believe there are three people who work on his comic.

[Sideways]

Yup.  There are three of us.

But ours was a marriage of convenience.

Dean: Writer
Kev(me): Cartoonist
Ryan: Tech guy

It works well because while Dean /can/ draw, and well at that, he doesn't have the photoshop skillz.  His biggest love in life is the written word, and he has come up with some funny (and some really obscure) comics.

I can't think up a funny comic idea to save my life, but I can draw pretty well, and I have some photoshop skillz.

Ryan can't draw... but he's a tech guru.  Seriously, there's little related to computers that this guy doesn't know about.

So Dean writes all the comics, I draw them, and Ryan created our site (from scratch) and maintains it.

Keep in mind that the three of us have also been friends for over a decade now.

[soulmoose]

In response to Sideways, I have the same set up as you basically. I write, my friend Sage draws, and we have a photoshop skillz/tech guru Helen. So far all of our specific areas work quite nicely, but we're having some troubles with work ethic. Sage and I have been wanting and planning this out for a year or so, and Helen joined just over a month ago. Sage and I work our butts off and Helen just kinda sits there with a comic while we pester her to color and put it on the webpage. She's an awesome person but I don't know how she's gonna work out.

[tasteslikeevil]

Aye, the work ethic's always the rub when it comes to something you need to put out consistently, like webcomics. Things will become oh so much easier once we figure out a way to project ideas directly onto the page from our brains.

[Primate]

Unfortunately, the free time in your age bracket sometimes means running into people with the interest but not the work ethic. If you and Sage are serious, then it may be time to have a discussion with Helen and be willing to find another partner if she doesn't start pulling her weight. Friendship is great, but isn't enough by itself for a project to work.

[Sideways]

Luckily we haven't really run into any work ethic problems.  While I was in-between contracts (I'm a consultant) and busy sending out resumes and going business-to-business to try and sell myself (legalized prostitution, at it's finest) I was late in doing the comics on our site a couple of times.  However, we have always updated our site with the promised amount of comics per week... it's just that sometimes the day the comic is posted can get pushed back.

There were a couple of instances where the comic was done on time, but wasn't posted to the site, becuase our tech guy (Ryan) was away on business (like, literally in the air as I sent him the comic), so it was late a few times because of that.

There have also been a few hectic moments when I've realized that Dean hasn't given me any comic ideas, and I'm fresh out... so I've thrown filler comics (actually, it was only the one time) on the site.

Incidentally, we update twice a week.  Mondays and Thursdays, in the early morn, which means I'm usually drawing a comic on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.