assigned prowl stan by jro

I’m NOT an expert but I have some working experience I can share. You need experience to become great. Here is my set of instructions, tips, and notes towards making a 12-page comic.

My method is to work backwards. Personally I work “backwards” because the end is the only wholly necessary page or set of panels in the story. Everything in between is open to editing and hacking as the most important moments are emphasized and chosen.

I even plan/draw the end page first. The end is the last page a reader sees- so spend your freshest energies on making it as epic, memorable, poignant, and beautiful as #$%^&.

If you draw the pages from 1 to 12 sequentially you run the risk of fresh to burnt out- an uneven distribution of drawing skill. (treat the first page and the 2-page splash as you would the last).

Roughly… the steps to making your comic is

1. WRITE
2. PLAN THUMBNAILS
3. DRAW

…BEGIN THE WRITING (DO NOT SKIP NO MATTER WHAT) like this, in this order:

• How does it end?
• Does the protag succeed or fail?
• What is the turning point of their story?
• What the protag do that led them there?
• Where does it start?
• Who is this protag?

EXAMPLE:

• Guy gets mauled by a bear.
• This is a fail on the guy’s half.
• The bear must eat something or he’ll starve to death.
• It’s the guy’s fault the bear can’t find other food. He caused the avalanche that buried all the cabins.
• The guy is yodeling in an avalanche zone.
• The guy is some guy.

CREATING “THE BEAT SHEET” Take the above stuff and reorder it to make sense.

1. This guy yodels.
2. Echoes roll.
3. Snow slides down.
4. Avalanche buries the mountain.
5. Cabins are engulfed.
6. This bear has no access to cabin food and garbage.
7. Bear eats this guy.

Expand. Blow up important beats for emphasis. Keep less important beats brief.

1. This guy is hiking in the snowy mountains.
2. He comes across an avalanche warning sign.
3. There is nobody around but him.
4. A dumb expression forms over his face and he yodels.
5. Echoes roll but nothing nearby is moved.
6. At the top of the mountain the snow drifts twitch.
7. Guy, satisfied, hikes away from there still yodeling.
8. Frozen snow cracks.
9. Snow puffs billow and great slabs of ice crash down the mountain side.
10. Guy sees this and hightails it to safer ground.
11. Animals, people, are all panicking and getting pushed over by the rushing snow.
12. Cabins are destroyed.
13. The guy takes cover by an outcropping of rocks, fastens himself securely to the rock face, and waits for the avalanche to die down.
14. Avalanche dies down.
15. A lone bear shambles over from the other side of the mountain.
16. The bear goes to where a cabin used to be (only roof tiles are left). Bear sniffs a dish satellite.
17. Bear forlornly eats a food wrapper.
18. Bear tries to dig.
19. Guy comes down from the rocks he as climbing and sees bear.
20. Bear stops digging and sees him.
21. Guy runs.
22. Bear chases him down.
23. Bear eats the guy.

BEAT SHEET COMPLETED!!!

• After the beat sheet, write up all the sound effects and speech bubbles and conversation/dialogue you want to be in your comic.
• Since comics are a visual medium, highest priority is given to the beats. If a story can’t be told with the art without the dialogue– you messed up and it’s time to rethink your life choices.
• Try to keep all your text chunks as short as a tweet. Professionally you don’t want more than 25 words per speech bubble and no more than 250 words per page.
• Next is translating the beats to pages…

STRUCTURE OVERVIEW:

[1] point of entry, in media res, hero intro

[2][3] conflict. establish conflict, setting, and mood by the third page. [4][5] rising action/false resolution to conflict/investigation

[6][7] turning point/plot twist/epiphany (this one epic image, to page spread is pivotal, spend a lot of effort into creating this)

[8][9] aftermath/“darkness before dawn”/struggle [10][11] recovery/“rise and conquer”/“fall”

[12] resolution/final end/cliffhanger

[front cover][interior] [interior][back cover]

——————–

My maximum per page is nine panels but I’ve seen pages that have way more. I like to have about 3 to 4 panels per row or less but I’ve seen the “rules” broken before. Advanced comic book artists manipulate time with the number of panels and the size of each panel.

remember, DIAGONALS!!! open up an issue of batman, superman, spider man, deadpool or whatever youre reading theyre everywhere.

———-

…DRAW IN THIS ORDER:

• Page 12,
• Page 6 and 7 (this is typically one large image that takes up the space of two pages),
• Page 1,
• and then the rest.

ONLY “DEVIATION” ALLOWED:

• Page 12 and 1*
• Page 6 and 7,
• and then the rest.

*Draw the first and last page as a spread in situations where the beginning of the story mirrors the end of the story.

Cover is dead last.

———-

(If at the very end you find out you need more pages and it’s absolutely unavoidable and totally necessary you have to add them in fours. Try to stick to 12 pages for this crash course.)

——————–

FURTHER NOTES:

• Plan and draw the pages in spreads (the twos) since this is how it will appear in print and when you submit them to an editor for review guess what, the pages with an exception to the first and last will be reviewed as spreads.
• You at most only need one establishing panel of the setting and environment (scene) per page.
• Forget “true to life” perspective outside of the establishing panel). Practice diagonal composition of objects and subjects within panels. For dynamism.
• You don’t have to present the text all in one go (one paragraph or bubble). You can and should break up paragraphs, sentences, and if you need to single out words– to make smaller, more easily managed bubbles to scatter through the panel.
• Less important moments have smaller panels and or lesser detail. More details (or more word bubbles) slow down time. More drawn detail also creates a concentration of values (it’s darker and sometimes combines together as one shape or mass)
• Know your light sources. Control the blacks. Control the values.

TIPS | COFFEE? :3 | dA | IG |  ♡ |  ❤ |  ⋆

(more coming soon 11/22/2016)

• If people are mad at you, it's their responsibility to tell you, not your responsibility to guess
• If they're mad at you in secret anyways, they're the ones in the wrong, not you
• If people don't like what you're doing, it's their responsibility to tell you
• If they say it's fine when it's really not, they're the ones in the wrong, not you
• People are allowed to be wrong about you
• If they are wrong about you, wait for them to bring it up, because if you try to, you will inevitably overcorrect
• Some people are committed to misunderstanding you. You will not win arguments against them. Yes, even if you explain your point of view. They do not care. Drop it
• The worst thing that will happen from a first-time offense is being told not to do it again. Maybe with a replacement if you broke something
• You can improve relationships and gauge willingness to talk to you by giving compliments. It's like a daily log-in bonus and nobody thinks twice about it
• Most things are better after you sleep on them
• Most things are better after you have a meal
• Most things are better after you shower
• Your brain makes up consequences that are irrational. If the worst DOES come to pass and someone acts like they do in your head, they are overreacting, and you are entitled to say "what the fuck"
• If your chest hurts after you feel like you've made a social error, that's called rejection-sensitive dysphoria. It means your anxiety is so bad that it's causing you physical pain, which is a good indicator that you're overreacting. Tense yourself, hold it for 20 seconds, let it go, then find a distraction
• If you're suddenly angry at someone after you feel like you made a social error, that's also rejection-sensitive dysphoria. You are going to feel annoyed about it for awhile, but being genuinely pissed off is your anxiety trying to find something to blame to take the responsibility off your shoulders, and getting scared because it can't justify itself. Deep breaths, ask yourself how much you ACTUALLY want to be angry at that person, then find a distraction
• "Sour grapes" is more healthy for you than stewing. Deciding you don't like someone who's perpetually annoyed with you, won't talk to you, etc. makes letting go of anxiety over them easier
• If people don't like you, they will find reasons to be annoyed with you when they otherwise wouldn't. If people do like you, they will find reasons NOT to be annoyed with you when they otherwise would. People do not ping-pong between the two
• You DO have to make a conscious choice not to think about something. If you're having trouble circling back to it, say out loud that you're done thinking about it and why. Then find a distraction
• When you're upset, part of you is going to want to make false bids for attention (suddenly texting differently, heavy sighs, etc. but when someone asks you about it, you tell them it's nothing). Do not listen to it. You gain nothing from it except more misery
• People like to help people they care about. It makes them feel good about themselves
• If you think you're insufferable for needing help, see above. Yes, really. They get a serotonin kick from it
• If you think you're insufferable for mannerisms you have, you either have to consciously choose not to do them, or accept that they're part of the package that comes with you. Being apologetic about existing does nothing except make you more miserable
• If you do things you don't like when you feel meh about it, it makes it easier to do them when you hate it
• If you avoid things you don't like when you feel meh about it, it reinforces and magnifies how bad it feels when you hate it
• Seriously. Read those last two points again. If you can make yourself make a phone call when you've got nothing to lose, you will slowly lose that panic you get when you have to make a phone call you haven't prepared for. You do have to CONSCIOUSLY take that step
• Hobbies that make you care for something get rid of that nagging feeling that you're not doing enough. Go grow some rosemary
• If you don't engage with your hobbies regularly, you will feel miserable, and anxiety will spike
• Hobbies are things that give you a bit of happiness. They do not have to be organized or named to do that. Go be creative in something. Play with coins. Make up lists. Start a new WIP
• No one cares what you look like
• If people point out things they don't like about how you look unprompted, they are being rude. You are entitled to say "what the fuck"
• People who like you will find you pretty to some degree. Minor things about your appearance go completely unnoticed. Literally, scars and dots and blemishes do not register to someone who likes your company
• You looking at yourself in the mirror is 10x more closely than anyone is going to look at you
• If you're anxious about your body type, and you're creatively inclined, make/write an oc with that same shape. Give them nice things and make other characters love them. Put them on adventures. You'll start to see yourself in the mirror more kindly
• You care about wording and perfect lines/colors way more than anyone who views your work ever will
• Sometimes when you're upset, you're going to feel like not eating. Do not do that. Not eating makes you more miserable
• Same with things you normally enjoy. Denying yourself helps no one. You are punishing yourself for being sad. Stop it
• Both of these will take conscious decision to break the habit of. Make yourself do it anyways, and it will slowly get easier
• And again, to reiterate: If someone is mad at you, it is THEIR responsibility to tell you, not your responsibility to guess