karmindy said: your brushstrokes are so stunningly clear, is this all just scanned traditional art? or do you edit with a program after scanning it in?
It’s mostly just a scan, I mean I do clean up stray dots and scratches and stuff with the eraser in Photoshop, but for the most part it looks like it does on paper! (heres a photo of an inked page in-progress if you’re curious!)
somethingkumandkum asked: Do you have any advice for someone wanting to start a webcomic?
uh-oh you guys somebody made the mistake of asking me about comics, prepare for a gigantic essay… Please don’t feel pressured to read this whole thing, I totally lose my head when it comes to talking about making comics!
TL;DR:
Just so you guys know, your questions will get answered a lot faster if they aren’t anonymous - I try and use the private messages a lot so I don’t clog up people’s dashboards, and thus anonymous questions kind of get “scheduled” for later.
I was wondering; what course are you doing at MICA? Graphic design maybe?
Right now I’m a freshman in foundation year (ugh) but I want to major in Illustration, with a minor in Creative Writing! I was actually thinking of doing a graphic design concentration, because I do like it a whole lot, but wasn’t really confident of my skills in it.
how did you and Nicole meet? And how did you guys become so close? I’m doing a project on relationships concieved through internet, soo….
I used to read the first incarnation of her great comic TINF! I was totally her fan, and obsessively commented to her until one day she replied, and we got talking and joking and became super best friends. We mostly used AIM. We just got closer and closer until one day we weren’t just friends anymore! If you want the long story, please email me - mickequ(at)gmail(dot)com.
Do you have any tips for going from drawing with pencil/paper to using a tablet. I can’t seem to get the hang of it at all and you’re art looks great both traditional and with a tablet.
Thank you so much for the compliment! Unfortunately, I have to be really boring and say the best thing is just practice as much as you can. I remember when I first used a tablet, it took me months to get used to it. Just doodle with it and get your muscles/brain used to the feeling. What you can also do is take sketches (your own or someone else’s) and just do line practice on them - don’t pressure yourself by trying to make major illustrations or whatever right off the bat, just do some exercises. Good luck!
HEY ANON I’m sorry this reply is so late, but I’ve been scatterbrained! Anyways first of all, cute/sweet anonymous messages like this really make my day, so thank you for sending it!
A little while ago I wrote a post about developing style, and the links to the artists that influence me can definitely also be thought of as my inspirations!
For the situations in the comic, my girlfriend gorockets inspires me a bunch, she’s so good at coming up with the funniest ideas and turning everyday situations into comic material.
I also find inspiration in things I see people doing during the day (especially at school/during class, since my characters are mostly students) + stuff that fans say & suggest! Believe it or not, you guys influence the way the story goes a lot! I have the basics written out, but the filling between the major plot points is really open for change, and sometimes I’ll go based on a random suggestion (or even a joke!)
and now I need to share this with all of you
Kamri x Louis is totally my crack pairing
You could shove it in my askbox like you did this question! I also have a DA, a formspring, and you can email me at mickequ@gmail.com! Thank you so much for drawing fan art ahhh I can wait to see it!
ALSO DONT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME/URL so I can link to you when I put it in the gallery!
I hope you don’t mind me posting this, in case it can help somebody else? If you do just say so and I’ll delete it!
Anyways, I do write scripts! Well, sort of. A lot of times I have trouble with the writing (I am not a very good writer at all) so I do something that more resembles storyboards - for some reason this helps me work through tough writing spots, and it also helps with visual plans/gags/etc. Also, once I have those storyboards it makes the process thumbnailing a lot better - it’s a lot easier for me to decide what shape/size the panels need to be when I have a visual reference for what needs to go inside them.
For making panels flow, I would just suggest to not do anything crazy at first. I honestly prefer uniform, over-and-over-again square panels to the crazy-shape artsy manga stuff everybody tries to pull. While you might get a little extra meaning or emotion out of crazy shapes, it’s basically useless if it’s not legible.
Other things to keep in mind to keep it coherent/flowing are things like the 180 degree rule (I break this all time but it’s still a good thing to keep in mind) and also don’t overfill your speechbubbles! The #1 thing that will stop me from reading a comic is huge gigantic speech bubbles. Like 3 short sentences in one bubble is too many, usually.
Okay, I’m rambling, but just lemme leave you with something somebody said in a talk at this thing I went to at the Center for Cartoon Studies: LET IT BE BORN! Especially with digital work, sometimes you just want to over-prepare, or work on it until it’s perfect. But if you do that, you’ll never get anything done. So sometimes you just gotta suck it up and go for it, even if you don’t quite know where you’re headed.
I hope that was somewhat relevant? Sorry dude!! ALSO THANK YOU for even considering asking me for advice! I obviously love talking about this stuff a lot, and it really makes me happy you think highly enough of my comics to ask!
The English way! (going by this site, anyways)
I draw the lineart on paper with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen! I color/edit/everything else in Photoshop.
We’re together! ♥
Thank you so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to read it! I’m especially glad if you like the art!
Teddy likes to keep his private life private, yo
but if you did happen to want to read about Teddy kissing dudes or whatever you could totally do so right here (shout-out to my writer friend thrynnie who has written like a billion BFF fanfics and is NOW POSTING SOME OF THEM you should all go love her forever)
hfhdfg this is a fanfiction just waiting to be written, you guys
dude if you draw them I will just die, I spent forever today just going through your art tag, you are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to read BFF, I’m really happy if you like my style! ♥
