Writing up to the level of your laziness

Discuss the future, present and past of sequential art.

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William G
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Writing up to the level of your laziness

Post by William G »

After doing the Blind Date comic with Damonk and MattC, and then going back to my own work, I noticed that I tend to only write scenes that I know I'm good at -"Pro wrestler sits in a coffee shop and talks about his life with his ex."

But it's never, "Pro wrestler gets into a brawl of the likes of which has never been seen outside of a Jackie Chan movie."

It's sort of a problem with being the artist/writer, you tend to write to support your strengths instead of challenging yourself to improve your weaknesses.

Anyome else fall into this?
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Post by Eric F Myers »

I find myself doing this a lot. Sometimes I would rewrite a whole scene to fit in with what I new I could do. It's a habit I'm trying to break. Now I only change the script after I have drawn it and I don't like it.
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Post by losttoy »

I tend to illustrate everyday corporate life kind of stuff every well. Of course I have been working from other people's scripts and that is the style I get type casted in (not that I mind). I am not sure how comfortable I would be doing a sci-fi or fantasy comic. I guess I like to draw from my own experiences and from the world around me. Maybe I am just not creative in that way of inventing worlds ... or just not lazy enough to NOT draw from life.
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Merlin
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Post by Merlin »

> Anyone else fall into this?

Yeah, it's definitely a problem I have. The excuse I make to myself is "Hey, you can't actually draw, remember? You HAVE to write to the limits of what you can find a way of illustrating." But that's a cheap excuse and I just end up feeling dirty the morning after. Um...

Anyway.

While I'm generally happier when I'm writing my own stuff, every now and then I find it helpful to work to someone else's script as a way of stretching myself. Swapping scripts with another writer/artist works particularly well, as then you've both got two new pieces of work at the end of the day, rather than just one.
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Veleno
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Post by Veleno »

Usually I end up trying to focus on improving my weak points, which is partly why I haven't made the second page to that one comic project yet.

When I notice I'm bad at drawing a particular type of thing I often spend the next few days studying it and making notes (and at that point i've probably noticed the next thing).

I also tend to be the worst critic of my drawings... If someone finds something wrong with one of my drawings, chances are that I've already found it and have made a mental note, the idea being that if I can recognize my mistakes, I will be less likely to repeat them.

I'd imagine that various other do things in a similar fashion.
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Tim Mallos
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Post by Tim Mallos »

You know that big, great American Web comic thing I keep claiming I'm working on?

Well, I am. Slooooowwwlly.

I was worried I would write (down) to my artistic abilities, so I made myself sit down and script the thing long script form (like a movie) before I start drawing it.

I wanted to focus on the story and script.

Now that I am in the home stretch (Plot figured out, characters created, structure in place, most scenes written out with dialog and visual descriptions) I am doing some character visual design.

I purposely am trying to wrap the story and script and then shift to all the right-brain activities. I know writer me has written some challenging stuff. I'm writing as if an accomplished action/ adventure artist was going to be working on the project.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck with me as the artist. Artist me is working on his ability to render anatomy and developing a viable style for the story. Artist me feels sick to his stomach about how poorly he's going to realize the writer's vision.

But, I do this stuff primarliy for my own entertainment and growth. So, if it takes me a month a page, so be it. I'll just store up at least 52 pages before I start posting once a week ;)

I'm hoping I'll get better and faster as I go.

Tim
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losttoy
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Post by losttoy »

I think Artist Tim is too hard on himself. I have seen his work in person and it is really good. While he is worried about anatomy ( decent thing to worry about) and style (to heck with that) ... an artists job is about communicating the idea. All the other stuff is just surface.

Remember Understanding Comics ...
1 - Idea
2 - Form
3 - Idiom
4 - Structure
5 - Craft
6 - Surface

Frankly, the first three are the most important. 4 and 5 just come with practice, practice, practice, practice and more practice. I have seen your art Tim, and I think you are closer on a style than you think. Your craft is good since I have seen you draw some cool comics at a diner on a placemat. Just keep thinking about comics and practicing and try not to be hard on yourself.
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Tim Mallos
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Post by Tim Mallos »

I guess re-reading my post I sound down. I'm not, I'm having fun. And being hard on myself is standard operating proceedure. I think most of us on this board have that in common.

Thanks for the kind comments.

Tim
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William G
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Post by William G »

I've never let sucking stop me. There was a wise man who once said the following about art-

"Dont worry if you suck. Everyone sucks according to everyone else."

That wise man was me, the King Of Kensington

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kaos_de_moria
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suck

Post by kaos_de_moria »

besides there is quiet a bunch of successful comic artist, which say, they can't paint. lewis trondheim, famous french artist, says, it took him a while to find a style, which he could actually fulfil with his bad abilities of drawing.

you can find examples of his style on his website:
www.lewistrondheim.com

besides some english writer whose name slipped out of my mind said once:
"fail, try again, fail again - but fail better!"

kaos
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