I found that I get so tied up in the process of making my comic that it doesn't come out the way it looked in my head. I like how it turned out, but it's limited by my current abilites as an artist and storyteller. I don't want to get so caught up in making it look nice, that i don't tell the story i want, or portray the characters as they would truly act... Does this happen to you?

Yeah, I think I know what you mean. The comic I'm working on has gone through three other iterations in the past, beginning over five years ago. All the other times I just figured that it was pretty bad, and that I should wait until I got better to try it again, but by now I've realized that I was taking it too seriously. Making a comic isn't so much about making a really nice comic all the way through (At least not at the level of skill of people like you and me), it's about having something to draw on a regular basis so that we can improve as artists. I really think of my work as nothing more than practice. Sure, having a story to tell or getting comments from others is definitely a bonus, but in the end it all boils down to self-improvement.

And sometimes my initial plans for a comic end up being scrapped and replaced by something else, but that's just part of the process. I think that if we didn't come up with new ideas or changes along the way, making a comic would be pretty boring, because we'd know exactly what was going to happen through the whole thing. I'm always pretty excited whenever I come up with a new twist myself. I even have a notebook I write them down in. ^_^

So I wouldn't be too worried about it. As long as you like the way it turned out, it's all okay in the end, right? As long as you keep plugging away at the comic, your abilities as storyteller and artist will inevitably improve. And that, my friend, IS the goal.

^-^ Thank you I really appreciate the support. Been trying to draw for the next one since I'm behind... but its not coming right now. I think trying to force it makes it worse. Taking a break to chat, and watch some anime. I just have to keep at it and like you said improvement will come. My art has improved a bit since college, but not my storytelling. It's because i don't stick to it long enough to flesh out a story. I give it up as a lost cause. But not this time.

Yeah I've been there. Sometimes I tend to focus on one thing so much that the other aspects of the comic kinda suffer.

on one hand: if I get so focused on my characters, how they move and act. I then draw backgrounds and effects like blood, magic or shading as a second thought. The result? The story and the emotion is portrayed well like I wanted. BUT... I took 'shortcuts' and the art ends up looking odd or not the best I could do.

on the other hand: If I instead focus so much on improving the quality of a page. Everything from the shading on the hair, skin, clothing down to realistic blood, magic effects. I end up making pages that are VERY pretty to look at, but the story then kinda slows down so much that it's like a snail crawling along.

I realized a while back that I wasn't very good at balancing that sort of thing, so that my comic would not only have at least decent art, but have a good story too. So I took a break from all of my comics right now to practice on that, and I'm actually redoing some pages of my youngest comic series (endless dream, since it only has 19 pages)... and I'm not going to post them on DD until I feel like I've achieved what I wanted to do.

I guess the only thing we can do as artists and writers is just to pratice balancing Storytelling and art when we create comics.

CoyoteLongshot
Yeah, I think I know what you mean. The comic I'm working on has gone through three other iterations in the past, beginning over five years ago. All the other times I just figured that it was pretty bad, and that I should wait until I got better to try it again, but by now I've realized that I was taking it too seriously. Making a comic isn't so much about making a really nice comic all the way through (At least not at the level of skill of people like you and me), it's about having something to draw on a regular basis so that we can improve as artists. I really think of my work as nothing more than practice. Sure, having a story to tell or getting comments from others is definitely a bonus, but in the end it all boils down to self-improvement.

And sometimes my initial plans for a comic end up being scrapped and replaced by something else, but that's just part of the process. I think that if we didn't come up with new ideas or changes along the way, making a comic would be pretty boring, because we'd know exactly what was going to happen through the whole thing. I'm always pretty excited whenever I come up with a new twist myself. I even have a notebook I write them down in. ^_^

So I wouldn't be too worried about it. As long as you like the way it turned out, it's all okay in the end, right? As long as you keep plugging away at the comic, your abilities as storyteller and artist will inevitably improve. And that, my friend, IS the goal.

I agree with all of this 100% and couldn't have said it better myself. I'll add that it's awesome that we have this opportunity to present our "practice" and interact with other creators. When I was a kid (pre-internet) I made comics but, outside of showing a couple of friends photocopies, I was working in a vacuum. As an adult (pre-owning-a-scanner), I filled notebooks that would then sit on a shelf. I'm probably just old but I'm constantly filled with a sense of wonder that such a site exists and I can access it. No joke. I'd make comics regardless but having a place to post them provides purpose.

Before i came to drunk duck i just drew for fun, and for my friends who seemed to like whatever i'd show them. Since i came here i found i really want to try and accomplish something. It means so much to me to talk with peers about these things, and get the support or know its not just me having these issues.(hehe like artistic therapy) It means so much more to get the support of peers who really dont know me. Friends and family "have" to say they like it...

^-^ i love seeing other people's work, and i feel so grateful to be apart of this community. I think that more than anything else will help me, if only by providing the motivation to keep at it. Just to please a few kind strangers, i will learn this balance you speak of.

Whenever I lose sight of the goal, all I have to do is sit down in a quiet space and pull out the pictures of my reptilian ex girlfriend.

Reptilian? Ewww...

I have the opposite problem, I had goals in mind and reached them. Now my comic seems...meh. My goals were to support yuri and get pretty popular in a sort time-
Now I need to find some new goals I guess lol.


CoyoteLongshot is right, if it turns out alright then you shouldn't worry about it. :) Remember that people who read your comic don't catch NEAR as many 'mistakes' as you do.

I am still a beginner, so I just draw for fun^^

There's a GOAL??

The gulf between conception and execution will always loom, no matter how good you get.

--Al

I think my problem is the same, but a little different.

I'm a writer, not an artist. I couldn't draw good to save my life.
I have anwsome story ideas, but when it comes to drawing it out, it flies right out of the window.

At least you try, don't give up. Eventually you can do it!!!

I tend to lose sight of goals for slightly different reasons, partly because goals I set tend to be sort of nebulous. In a general sense my goal is to make a comic that's different. In the begining I had an idea of what sort of statement I want to make, but it won't become all that clear until the story nears the climax. And now that I'm over 50 pages into said comic the original statement is just recently been hinted at. I've also set other goals for myself along the way, like creating analogues for historical events and trying to retell them from a more personal perspective. My most recent goal is to devolop the supporting characters more.

I have no goals. I make a comic however I want... and in the style I want.

Wouldn't that be your goal then? Make the comic the way you want to do it? :)

whenever I'm working on pages, I am constantly reminding myself to stick to the main point or idea of the comic/scene just because it's so tempting to deviate and do something like, insert a random fight scene. It's really an exercise of restraint of me.

I reached that point a few times when I did superhero comics . One time I wrote a whole storyline that essentially backed me into a corner, storywise, and had to start over in an issue that ignored about 6 issues worth of art and story.

Later, I did the same thing with a different subject matter and wrote myself so deep into a corner, it took nearly six years to salvage the story (as I did in the link at the start). In a way, I was glad for a break from that genre after 20 years of drawing superhero stuff. :)