Haha thats pretty good ^
thx mate :)
Takes some time to every page and I frankly work my ass off to draw one page everyday. So far Ive made it ^^
Be sure to check back later :D
Haha thats pretty good ^
thx mate :)
Takes some time to every page and I frankly work my ass off to draw one page everyday. So far Ive made it ^^
Be sure to check back later :D
I have like great story ideas but I can't draw for shit. When I was 10 I made like 12 400 page mead pad books. I read them every once an a while and laugh at how good the story is but how dumb I drew it and the dialogue was horrible but the story idea itself was great. Like dragonball meets jojo because theres a lot of generations trying to fight a common enemy who just wont die. lol
I'm definately thinking of it…but I cant get a good story.. I have some characters but..
Here's one I thought of: A boy( Koushiro Tachibana) was taken away from his family to become an assasin, because he had the "eyes". Later on in his life,he became number "23" he quits the embassy cause he's tired of feeling guilt of killing people, so he returns home, finds his father is dead(killed by his mother,who is then found out to be the leader of the assasination group. yeah, I gonna try and twist around the whole women belong in the kitchen idea.)meets number "11",(Tatsuki Ayasegawa) who's also an x-assasin, after her 3 friends were killed inside the business by the boss.They together try and take down the embassy and kill Koushiro's mother, with a talking kitty nekomata ( I'm SERIOUSLY thinking of dropping him.) The two later figure out that Koushiro's number ranking was a typo for over 6 years, and he's actually number "17". It's going to be a super comedy- action thing.
BUT, that's never gonna even start until I finish my One Piece x Naruto Crossover thing, I mean it takes forever to do one page, and I did like 29 chapters, and guess what, my first 29 chapters were drawn bad, flowed terribly, had characters I now want to drop, and had some heavy influence from past battles AND they are on terrible mead compilation school books ( Yes,I know that's bad and I know only a few things on making it proffesional like) at first I just wanted it to be a home thing, but then I actually wanted to take it farther...BUT I have gotten much better.
Now I have to do those first 29 chapters over...Sometimes I just think I suck at these things, and I dont have much
!
I am starting my own manga you can see it in my sig =). If anyone is intersted in helping me out LMK. I can't draw worth of shit so i figure if i could find someone who can draw well I can come up with a decent story. I havent started the story yet however I have 8 characters right now. I will start developing the story. If anyone is interested then let me know. If someone wants to just make character design that I can base the characters off of that would be helpful also.
I'll check the thread in a couple of days or you can PM with responses.
Man i say make the characters yourself, the last thing you need is when you get popular is for that person to be like "I WANT CREDIT" or some shit. What i do to come up come up with some ideas when im in a writers block is maybe find some movie star i like or something and base a character off of them
Sorta like how Oda did Aokiji and Kizaru (but i dont make it so obvious)
Man i say make the characters yourself, the last thing you need is when you get popular is for that person to be like "I WANT CREDIT" or some shit. What i do to come up come up with some ideas when im in a writers block is maybe find some movie star i like or something and base a character off of them
Sorta like how Oda did Aokiji and Kizaru (but i dont make it so obvious)
Its not even funny how bad I suck at drawing man shit is really bad. Thanks for the advise I made some more characters now I'm up to 13. I should be able to start writting the plot now.
I've been toying around with the idea of starting one myself. Since I'm a bit of a sci-fi affictionado, it would be set in space, in a futuristic setting not unlike that of Star Wars, where a good chunk of the galaxy has been colonized and mostly united under one central government.
The two central characters are clones. The primary protagonist I've named Malik for the time being, and the other is Elliot. Because they were cloned, they don't know much about the galaxy, and much of the story is about them meeting people and exploring with friends they meet. In that sense, it's similar to One Piece, though I'd like to keep it a jot more serious.
I've thought up several big story 'sagas', if you will. The first would involve Malik and Elliot traveling with the space pilot Ratchet, and meet adversaries such as a corrupt planetary governer who dabbles in the slave trade, space pirates, and so forth.
The second would involve them trying to stop an organization called Tsunami from taking over a planet so that its leader can get at a mythic treasure.
The third would involve them searching for the mythic 'Mu' civilization.
The fourth would have Malik becoming a bounty hunter and joining a guild while a renegade navy Admiral attempts a coup.
The fifth would involve them getting tangled in a conspiracy orchestrated by an old, defeated empire of humans whose ancestors had undergone genetic mutations.
And the sixth and final would deal with the galaxy's mythos, and a race of ancient, godlike beings said to have created it.
I've drawn a bit of it, but I'm not really satisfied. Realistically, I'm probably never going to complete it, but it is still fun to brainstorm and conjure up ideas. Who knows, maybe one day I'll post some of the stuff here?
hmmm that a lot like mine except the earth is colonized/taken over by 6 central groups all fighiting for each others territory to take over it all.
I too would love to be a manga artist, but I'm not well informed (yet) as to how it all goes down. Like, where do I start off when I really want to get this manga published?
Also, for anyone with Manga Studio, fill me in on the pros and cons of it. I'm considering if I should get it…
@Baron_Dux:
He eventually gains a group (featuring a forest man, an alchemist,someone with no emotion, a water manipulater, a drill freak, twins, ect.). He finds out the army's seperated into many different sections.
I really like that idea, 'cause it's a lot like a "freak show". Don't take it offensively in any way, I enjoy things with "freak show groups", like One Piece. I mean, we have a man that stretches like rubber, a reindeer who transforms, a woman who can make body parts come out of any object, and half-cyborg half-human, etc. At a distance, these all look like lame powers and lame people, but with enough imagination, they can truly be something else and something incredible.
Just like One Piece. I never knew the power to stretch like rubber could be used so… imaginatively.
i have a question when it comes to drawing the manga. Do you draw the characters and backgrounds on two seperate sheets then put them together?
@Mr.:
I too would love to be a manga artist, but I'm not well informed (yet) as to how it all goes down. Like, where do I start off when I really want to get this manga published?
Also, for anyone with Manga Studio, fill me in on the pros and cons of it. I'm considering if I should get it…
I really like that idea, 'cause it's a lot like a "freak show". Don't take it offensively in any way, I enjoy things with "freak show groups", like One Piece. I mean, we have a man that stretches like rubber, a reindeer who transforms, a woman who can make body parts come out of any object, and half-cyborg half-human, etc. At a distance, these all look like lame powers and lame people, but with enough imagination, they can truly be something else and something incredible.
Just like One Piece. I never knew the power to stretch like rubber could be used so... imaginatively.
hey if you could design some characters for me I would love that.
@MonkeyDMalcolm:
hey if you could design some characters for me I would love that.
I've never thought of drawing for someone, but it actually sounds kinda fun. Or it could be a total disaster. I dunno, but I'm up for it, as long as you don't take credit for the drawings.
@Mr.:
I've never thought of drawing for someone, but it actually sounds kinda fun. Or it could be a total disaster. I dunno, but I'm up for it, as long as you don't take credit for the drawings.
I'd be sure to give you credit for it. I have 13 characters so far. If you want we can talk over AIM or through PM's or something and try to work something out.
how long should a pilot chapter be? I know there usually long but mine is 8 pages on word
how long should a pilot chapter be? I know there usually long but mine is 8 pages on word
I believe i read somewhere that it's supposed 2 be 30 pages. Or thats the norm and then if they like the 30 pages or w.e. they will pick up your story. It should have a beginning middle and end and such.
Damn i think its gonna be around 40-50 pages…cause of so much fighting
Most pilots introduce the character/s and whatever the story will be about leading into the next chapter. Mine was gonna be like One Piece's pilot on how you just sorta meet the character no real backstories or anything until whenever (planning on about chapter 4-5 or something)
Damn i think its gonna be around 40-50 pages…cause of so much fighting
Most pilots introduce the character/s and whatever the story will be about leading into the next chapter. Mine was gonna be like One Piece's pilot on how you just sorta meet the character no real backstories or anything until whenever (planning on about chapter 4-5 or something)
thats sounds kool I would like to read it some time.
Actually, I won't be able to draw characters for you, MonkeyDMalcom. Scanner is unusable.
@Mr.:
Actually, I won't be able to draw characters for you, MonkeyDMalcom. Scanner is unusable.
Ah aight damn…..
i think i wont be able to do this.
i have so much trouble with the writing that I amy not able to complete this manga idea
just keep going with it. Sometimes it takes me days to think of the next part. Im stuck on what to write for chapter 4. Though i know the basics of what i want to write about, ive been stuck on it for about a week now
I'd say you should just go and rent some movies for inspiration. Works for me ^_^
Currently working on Chapter 4. I finally figured out how to start it after i get 5 chapters done im gonna work on character designs for the few i havent done yet and start on the website
I just got a wild inspiration to continue a series I thought of like 4 years ago. I just finished the first page, and even though i gotta ink it and stuff. I'm liking it a lot.
Made this for my comic book today, its the title of it.
think i should just cut the rest of the shadow..
Got a better one from a friend
Well, I'm developing a few comic series that I'm going to be pitching to multiple comic publishing companies (though if Tokyopop asks, they're manga). Figured I'd share a few concepts here, and you folks can give me whatever comments or criticism you might have.
Untitled Project (taking suggestions)
Playing the the stereotypical "people with powers of nature fighting against pollution" concept, a group of people assembled from around the world set out on a quest to stop the development of a machine that harnesses a new form of energy from the planet; its very life force. The angle? They're not the protagonists. The guy sent to stop them is. A smarmy, eccentric man named Seth Fenix (it's implied that he named himself that), working for a mysterious organization that knows the truth behind this energy harvesting, and the female sage that gathered the ones trying to stop it. The story is planned as a mini-series, spanning about 8-10 issues. The first several ones are episodical, as Seth intercepts the group several times as they make their way toward the laboratory where the engine is being developed. A running gag throughout the book would be the contrast between the group's stereotypical nature-loving ways, and Seth's smart-assed behavior and heavily materialistic attitude.
Bub
A 5-8 issue, cartoonish comedy series taking a more irreverent look at the afterlife. The main character is the devil himself, often referred to as "Lucy" to those working for him, and the comic depicts the struggle between good and evil as competing companies, as Lucifer tries to keep the souls coming by means of soul deals, temptation, you name it. The primary two characters are the Morning Star himself, and his she-devil assistant, Liz, as the devil tries to keep the soul quota in the green. The first issue would deal with Lucifer trying to stop a famous rock star from giving up the fame he sold his soul for, and finding religion (which would make him a laughing stock, cause him to lose one of his better-known "clients", and all-in-all cause a boatload of trouble for him). The humor would be very tounge-in-cheek, with dashes of dark comedy, and Kevin Smith-esque absurdity.
Last Dance
Another short series, starring former assassin Tango, finding himself the target of the psychotic, Willy Wonka-esque serial killer named Waltz, who targets prominent criminal organizations sheerly for the fun of it. After refusing his challenge, Tango found himself the recipient of several puzzle boxes containing the remains of his family members (and enclosed photos, for "reference") along with a pun-laden letter from Waltz. Now "convinced" to fight Waltz to the death, Tango goes to search for the madman. The story focuses on Tango's time in a small, rustic town, out in the desert, as he waits for Waltz, who's recent pattern of killings would bring him through that town. As Tango waits to intercept Waltz, he befriends a few of the residents, despite his best attempts otherwise. Meanwhile, Waltz continues his pattern, slaying crime bosses, drug cartels, etc. in a wide variety of unusual ways; from a sword hidden in his cane, to a rose lapel that spews acid, even interrupting a drug deal to blow some bubbles. Of course, the bubbles just happen to release a deadly chemical into the air that Waltz is immune to. Everyone else, not so much. The comic would end with the clash between Tango and Waltz.
The remaining one, aside from the project I'm pitching right now, is a bit long to describe, so to avoid "tl;dr", I'll post that one seperately if anyone even cares about these. Still, I'd appreciate feedback, suggestions, what-have-you.
I like the Tango and Waltz idea.
I posted here a loooong time ago with my idea and a few pictures, and I'm still going with it. XD
I've also put up a website for my comic. Click
There's nothing really on the website right now, because I'm still in the process of drawing ( lots of starting over and making things better XD ), but it'll be all up and running very soon. =D
Oh, and I've posted a few pictures of my manga over at Deviant Art. Here is mine: Clicky
Oh, and another thing. I have done 2 small practice manga. One is called Lone Shepherd, which is based on a good friend's fan fic. The second one is called Epica, which is based on an RP. Here is the first chapter download for both:
I completely inked Lone Shepherd in Photoshop, but I inked Epica by hand. Honestly, I like the hand inking a thousand times better, and I will not be inking with Photoshop regularly.
Anyway, that's what I got so far! I'll post back when I got new info. =D
I am gonna keep working on my drawings and different styles of drawings because anime style gets you absolutely NOWHERE in life, and do some one shots before i start my real comic.
Captain Shmeckie all your ideas are good. I like the Bub one the best. Title for the first should be Untitled or something
You draw more realistic drawings too Ty? That's amazing. I love drawing realistic stuff, since it's so fun.
I erased my ideas due to the fact I fell that they could be stolen.
I am still working on the book though
thats why i didnt post mine here a long time ago, good thinkin KF
thats why i didnt post mine here a long time ago, good thinkin KF
yeah but still afraid that someone between 07 and now might have taken my ideas
I posted here a loooong time ago with my idea and a few pictures, and I'm still going with it. XD
I've also put up a website for my comic. Click
There's nothing really on the website right now, because I'm still in the process of drawing ( lots of starting over and making things better XD ), but it'll be all up and running very soon. =D
Oh, and I've posted a few pictures of my manga over at Deviant Art. Here is mine: Clicky
Oh, and another thing. I have done 2 small practice manga. One is called Lone Shepherd, which is based on a good friend's fan fic. The second one is called Epica, which is based on an RP. Here is the first chapter download for both:
I completely inked Lone Shepherd in Photoshop, but I inked Epica by hand. Honestly, I like the hand inking a thousand times better, and I will not be inking with Photoshop regularly.
Anyway, that's what I got so far! I'll post back when I got new info. =D
man that character looks completely bad ass.
Hito your chapters are good but kinda hard to read…everything is all white and no shading. The arts good though, its probably just me
Lumberjack Manga
The trees, the plantlife, nature itself had always been oppressed by man. However, a race of burly men had always made it worse for nature. These burly, chainsaw wielding men have one goal, wide open fields, and tons of lumber.
Our story follows Ed, a giant of a man. He is an expert with saws, chainsaws, axes, and tools. He's just bored of chopping down ordinary trees, and embarks on the journey to find the biggest, thickest trees he can find. Along the way he meets a gaggle of strange characters, and is forced to fight nature itself. All he wanted to do was cut down trees.
and ZOMBIE MANGA
The human race is close to extinction. When God deemed the human race "complete" he cut off our ability to reproduce. However, the human race wasn't ready to give it up. They continued their medical research, and discovered the key to immortality. The human race began to live longer, aging well into their hundreds. However, humans did in fact still die, and with our population slowly dwindling, the medical world had to advance once more. The ability to resurrect the dead was close at hand.
Our hero, the first real zombie was born. However, in his time in Purgatory, God told him, he would give him power, the power to carry out his will, and his will was to extinguish the human race.
Gaggles of wacky zombies and old men exist in this manga.
Hey guys, I think I posted in this topic once a long while back but since then I hadn't taken any more steps towards creating my comics. Just recently though I had been reading some old manga and was suddenly inspired to get back on that track. Strangely, at this same time a person I admire on Deviant Art wrote a journal on how they were quiting pre med to follow their dream of writing manga, and I also came across the new manga "Bakuman" by the Deathnote creators that happened to be about two kids trying to become mangaka. I can't help but feel as if I'm being sent some strange signal to begin again in earnest and I really want to so I'll probably be posting here more often, trying to get people's input and trying to improve as much as possible so if you could help me out I'd really appreciate it!
To start with I think some of my greatest weaknesses are a lack of imagination and a lack of touch with what readers would find appealing - that's pretty crippling, I know…. But I have considerable technical skill in drawing (well, people at least) and I have about 150 pages worth of experience in writing comics, so I think I at least have a place to start from. I'm currently studying architecture at college so hopefully my design and background drawing skills will improve as well.
Okay, so the other night I did some relative height drawings of characters from my two distinct series as I've seen done for a lot of animes and whatnot. Sorry about the quality, they're photos rather than scans.
!
These are for a comedy/slice-of-life type series with some action here and there. The story is about a guy from the country moving to a somewhat futuristic city and landing a job as a security officer for rescuing the company's president by chance. Basically he encounters a lot of strange people and situations (rogue robots, giant genetically enhanced animals, bungling criminal organizations), and I would say that the main theme is people from different walks of life coming to understand each other and learning to get along.
!
These are for a more shonen type series based mostly on gag and adventure. It's about an impulsive boy named Niko who gets lost on a search for his pet dog and must trek and hitchhike his way back home with the help of the laid back Dando. Of course since they have no idea where they're going, their journey is full of unusual diversions and they end up doing odd jobs like delivering a princess' distress message, raiding ancient temples, and running fast food restaurants. Gradually a deeper plot develops as more characters are introduced.. but yeah, it's basically reflective of what I wish life was like.
I'm confident that my characters don't look like the same template with slight variations at least, but I worry that I'm not adventurous or open-minded enough with them. I also worry a lot about the heavy influences in my style from Toriyama, Oda, and Miyazaki and whether my style has enough unique flair to attract any positive attention.
I apologize for all the writing and I'm sure you probably didn't care to read half of it, but I would really like some opinions. Do these ideas sound okay to you? Do they look okay? I'll be sure to check back on this thread regularly so that I can check out all of your comic ideas and support your efforts as well.
Edit: Rusashi, I really like those ideas of yours. They seem just bursting with personality already and sound plenty strange enough to be interesting. I especially like your description of the Lumberjack manga.
First thing: Dando reminds me alot of Sanson from Nadia.
I'll just say this; your style is very, very, very Toriyama-esque, and will be viewed as such by a publisher. Manga-savvy people will take note, but the less savvy folk will think you're copying your style from Dragonball. Publishers want a style that grabs them; they get tons of well-drawn comic submissions every month. You need to be unique, or come off as something that'll sell lots of books.
I know people who're published, I've studied the business in my effort to start doing comics myself, and I made several contacts. Not saying I'm an expert, but I've learned a thing or two about this. Comics are a terribly difficult business to get into.
I did alot of studies on storytelling, including how to market your stories or characters to people, so if you don't mind a little tl;dr, and me looking like a know-it-all ass, I can always blab to you what I learned.
To start with I think some of my greatest weaknesses are a lack of imagination and a lack of touch with what readers would find appealing - that's pretty crippling, I know….
Well, if you're ever looking for a collaborator to help with that, I'm always looking for artists for my projects. ;)
Damn Shin you got talent, like Cap said it looks a little toriyama-ish but still its really good and the characters look unique. btw Cap did you draw your avatar as well?
Nah, it's official art from Last Blade 2.
Dang, well wateva. Do you (or anybody) know how i can take my art to the next level? I think my best skill is looking at a picture of something then drawing it exactly (or really really close). But i wanna learn how to draw poses and stuff on my own. Got any tips?
Also when i draw i seem to go over lines a lot of times, ex: Drawing heads, while i draw the oval ill go over it many times over and it gets messy, while it seems people like you, e1n, hiroy, etc have very clean art. Once again, got tips?
It's always hard for me to give drawing tips, since I'm self-taught. My best advice is to look hard at the kind of art you want to draw, and learn every little nuance. Learning anatomy is a huge must, too.
First thing: Dando reminds me alot of Sanson from Nadia.
I'll just say this; your style is very, very, very Toriyama-esque, and will be viewed as such by a publisher. Manga-savvy people will take note, but the less savvy folk will think you're copying your style from Dragonball. Publishers want a style that grabs them; they get tons of well-drawn comic submissions every month. You need to be unique, or come off as something that'll sell lots of books.
I know people who're published, I've studied the business in my effort to start doing comics myself, and I made several contacts. Not saying I'm an expert, but I've learned a thing or two about this. Comics are a terribly difficult business to get into.
I did alot of studies on storytelling, including how to market your stories or characters to people, so if you don't mind a little tl;dr, and me looking like a know-it-all ass, I can always blab to you what I learned.
Well, if you're ever looking for a collaborator to help with that, I'm always looking for artists for my projects. ;)
It's really that similar? =sigh= I try really hard to distinguish myself but I suppose it's going to come down to arbitrarily changing things about my style just to be different, or a change in my perception of things but yeah…this is a big struggle for me. I feel that a lot of artists have it easier in that respect because their influences come from more generic anime styles that don't vary much to begin with. Well, in any case, this is gonna take a lot of work.
About Dando too, do you mean you just get the same impression or that I should be worried about copying a design? Because I've never actually seen Nadia so I can't tell.
Haha, no I don't care about you sounding like a know it all. Please share your knowledge because I want to know as much as I can too. I've read so much manga but I know so little about how to get it published, especially here in the US. Thanks for the help.
King Ty, I'm not sure what to say in terms of cleaning up your drawings since I seem to have the same problem, but I think to draw your own poses you have to observe people a lot in real life. If you can, you should try doing gesture drawings with a model who changes position fairly often so you can grasp positions quickly and see how the body is put together and proportioned. Studying anatomy and muscles will also probably be a big help.
Regarding Dando, nah, he ain't a rip-off. Just similar. You should do yourself afavor and check out Nadia, if you get a chance. Fantastic series (island filler not withstanding)!
He's this guy, by the way…
In regards to your art style, I think I can help a bit there. My best advice would be not just to emulate the art style, but two key things; what, in general, you enjoy aesthetically about comics and anime, and how, exactly, you want to depict things. There's all these subtle nuances to art that you don't really realise until you try to develop your own style. For instance, you would show more texture detail on a man than a woman, to convey the woman's smoother skin (thus showing less bumps, marks, and such). How do you want to draw your eyes? To that effect, what do you want to convey? Personally, I draw mine realistic, with a small anime flair to them. This makes them expressive, while the detailing allows me to display varying degrees of emotion, and even good and evil, just by adding the right lines, bags, wrinkles, what-have-you.
I hate using my own work as an example, because it makes me look pretentious. However, the best way to demonstrate this is to show how I put my own advice to use...
This is a character sketch for a female character in one of my projects. I use smoother lines, and more rounded edges, to show both her femininity, and portray her as being beautiful and "smooth". Her eyes are larger, to show beauty and a degree of innocence (not a character trait, mind you, just a subconscious imagery in the audience's mind), to display this character as warm and friendly. This tells the audience she's on their side. Less lines are used to preserve that "smooth and beautiful" look, while also adding an air of elegance.
Now to contrast, here's an image of an evil female character I did. Notice the change in the eyes. While still slanted a bit for femininity, they're now more narrow, to convey a much less friendly atmosphere. In her transformed state, her eyes become wider, but in a crazed way, and the black trim and bags under her eyes convey even further that she's become dangerous and evil. Her smile is also smaller and more of a smirk, to be less warm and inviting. Also, notice her outfit is more revealing. This demonstrates her as being much more forward than the previous character. This, of course, depends on the context of the general fashion sense of one's series (this sticks out less in a series where most women aren't clad in much, but this is where being conservative with your designs can really help you).
Fashion can say alot. Say you have two female warriors: one is clad in full body armor (woman A), the other has an "armor bikini" (woman B). Stand them side by side, and you get ideas of them immediately. On the one hand, woman B will come off as being the more agile fighter, while woman A will appear more serious and professional.
Now, for the story-telling bits, I'm spoiler tagging this due to size. Prepare for rambling!
! The key thing to realise is that storytelling is all about manipulating your audience. First, you need to identify that audience. And not be vague about it, either. Futhermore, your audience can't consist of "people who also like [insert series or genre here]". Anyone can make a series for sci-fi fans, or people who like One Piece. You need to know the general age group, sex, tastes, etc. of your core audience. Does your audience have a consistant taste in music, for example? WHy ask this? Simple; someone who listens to alot of rock music is gonna wanna see action, and things they can describe as "badass." Someone who listens to rap may prefer a more hip-hop aesthetic, and reminds them of things in real life that they relate to. What sex are they? Men prefer stories that are direct, and engaging, while women prefer to guess and wonder. WHile both sexes enjoy both kinds of stories, it's the subtle emphasis on one or the other that'll win you your audience. Guys love a good mystery, but you need to deal with their attention span. They're much less willing to stick with a story that doesn't immediately grab them.
! Porbably THE biggest thing to remember is that no one but you cares about your story. They don't know all the plotlines you created, or the drama, or the character interaction. They don't give a damn about you, or your characters. So, the first challenge is to MAKE them care. Grab that target audience's attention. An intriguing title, an eye-catching cover, and making the first handful of pages instantly attractive is your biggest concern when you're starting out. Making a comedy? Lead with a great joke. Making an action series? Rip someone's head off by page 3, and you got 'em. This is key to getting picked up by a publisher. In fact, if you can wow the publisher, you can wow the audience. Why? Because these people aso do not care about you, and casually skim through submission after submission. Your job is to make them curious, causing them to slow down from a skim to a read. Then, once you've got them reading, and really looking, at your work, you keep them there with an interesting hook or angle that makes them say "this will sell," and "this is a great idea we'd love to have under our banner."
! The biggest element to storytelling is, as I said, manipulating your audience. Your story is all well and good, but good ideas won't do you any good if you dont' know how to present them… For instance, let's say you want to use a cliche like a long lost twin. It's all in remembering that it's not the cliche, but how you present it. First, you might throw in subtle hints to the twin's existance; perhaps new people think they've met the main character before. Then, throw in background characters that say they saw said character already passing through. Now, the audience is wondering what's up, but you haven't told them much. They're guessing, they're theorizing, but they don't know. They WANT to know, but they don't. Now let's add to this: the twin is evil, and causing devastation. Now people are blaming the hero for his brother's vile acts. Now the audience has more questions: is he perhaps being framed? What enemies has the hero made to warrant that? Think of the audience as a cat you're dangling a fish in front of. Tease them with the knowledge of the story you have, that they lack. Let them a little closer to the truth, then pull back. Drive 'em nuts. Then, when the time is right, slowly give them the fish. Slowly being the important part, because no one likes an info dump. Most people think they already know this, but you'd be suprised how many nuances there are to this, and how little you might actually know.
! Art is also very important. Many new readers won't even look at the speech bubbles. They'll fan the pages, judging each page in a split second. An eye-catching moment, or a full-paged, beautifully rendered scene does wonders for getting people to actually stop fanning and read the book in their hands.
! Finally, to get published, first ask yourself this: IS it a manga, or is it just MANGA STYLED? 90% of publishers are in the business of doing comics. Call it a manga, and you'll be laughed off and disregarded as some naive kid that's way too into Japanese animation. Only Tokyopop refers to the American-made comics they publish as "manga." In fact, they're the only ones who want to hear you call it that. Also, know that each publisher wants adifferent kind of book. Some prefer certain genres, styles, attitudes, etc. So, if one rejects you, don't get discouraged and keep submitting! Submit to every publisher you can, and if they all reject your comic, make a new one and submit that! Each company has their own regulations regarding submissions, so after you pick which publishers you think you have the best shot at, learn what their submission guidelines are, and prepare your pages and presentation to fit each one.
! There are also a few things to know when submitting a series, so here's a rundown…
! - Comic companies like black and white series better, since they'r emuch cheaper to print.
! - If you're a complete unknown, some companies won't give you a second glance if you sumbit an ongoing series. For these folks, a finite series alsting a handful of issues is best. There are those who will consider long series from newcomers, but they're often the bigger, or more open-minded, companies.
! - You'll need a team for quality work. Get yourself an inker, a colorist, etc. The more you can do, the greater profit share you get. Don't do too much, though, or you won't be able to focus enough quality onto one aspect or another, and you'll take longer, making deadlines tough. If you need a team, asking good artists you know, or asking around at places like Penciljack can work wonders.
! - Deadlines are God in the world of comics. If you can't meet deadlines, you're gutter scum to a publisher. Now, if you're well-known, you can get a break now and then. However, newcomers get no slack. Deadlines or GTFO. That's the mantra of the comic business.
! - Be willing to bend. If your editor or publisher thinks your main character looks retarded, be willing to tweak them. Publisher's won't ask you to bastardize your art, but they know what sells. If you're going for something, they'll try to help you sell that something, but you'd better be prepared to compromise.
! When you're ready to submit, you need to find your publisher. Places like Image Comics and Ape Entertainment are always looking for new talent. Image is pretty big, so they can afford to take more risks, but since they get so many submissions, they're the hardest to "wow". Ape is pretty open-minded, though, but not a guarantee. Tokyopop and Antarctic Press specialise in manga-styles work, but Antarctic is picky and paranoid, and both have extravagant submission guidelines (AP wants an entire completed first issue, for god's sake). Slave Labor Graphics is a good fall-back, but not a guarantee.
! Once you've got everything squared away, you're all set! Just one more thing; one of the biggest reasons the business is so hard to get into is because it's cyclical; nothing helps you get published like doing comics. Publishers don't care if you've done illustration work, or character designs, or what-have-you. They want people who draw sequential art, draw it well, understand structure and ease of reading, and can meet deadlines. Getting your first work published is, by far, the hardest part.
Those story telling tips are some real food for thought. A big problem I can see with my type of storytelling is that I never aim it at any particular audience and instead try to use elements that appeal to everyone. That doesn't sound like a bad thing but if the focus is way too broad, the story will end up lacking any distinct flavor or atmosphere and wont stand out enough to draw anyone in. Yeah… I should definitely figure that one out.
About art style, I realize you're just providing general advice but I'm a fairly serious artist despite what my fanart might imply. I give all these points great consideration when drawing my characters and I certainly never draw any original art with an intent to emulate another artist. My style isn't a result of not knowing how to draw differently, if I wanted to I could draw quite realistically or with more detail, it's as you said, a result of what I enjoy aesthetically about comics/manga (no I don't distinguish, they cover far too many genres and styles) and how I want to depict my characters. I admire artists who can create recognizable human expressions with just a few lines, perhaps even just using dots for pupils. I prefer my drawings to be a reflection of how I perceive certain kinds of people rather than a direct representation of how they would look in life.
My main dilemma is, what to do when my aesthetic overlaps too much with another artist's. Sure it bothers me that people would always compare me to the artists that I'm influenced by, but I still want as true an expression possible of my intention. Should I try taking measures to distinguish myself against my natural tendencies, or should I just hope that if I become more recognized people will start seeing the "me" in my style rather than hints of what they're already familiar with? It's something I've been trying to work out for some time now and it's difficult because a style isn't something as simple as actively deciding to draw an eye or a nose in a certain way, but rather your internal idea of what those features look like.
I'm glad that you gave me all that advice though. Your examples and explanations were very helpful, especially regarding publishing. I feel pretty enlightened in that respect.
Those story telling tips are some real food for thought. A big problem I can see with my type of storytelling is that I never aim it at any particular audience and instead try to use elements that appeal to everyone. That doesn't sound like a bad thing but if the focus is way too broad, the story will end up lacking any distinct flavor or atmosphere and wont stand out enough to draw anyone in. Yeah… I should definitely figure that one out.
Yep, that's a mistake everyone makes at first. Hell, so did I. That's why I got alot of good advice, and did alot of reading.
About art style, I realize you're just providing general advice but I'm a fairly serious artist despite what my fanart might imply. I give all these points great consideration when drawing my characters and I certainly never draw any original art with an intent to emulate another artist. My style isn't a result of not knowing how to draw differently, if I wanted to I could draw quite realistically or with more detail, it's as you said, a result of what I enjoy aesthetically about comics/manga (no I don't distinguish, they cover far too many genres and styles) and how I want to depict my characters. I admire artists who can create recognizable human expressions with just a few lines, perhaps even just using dots for pupils. I prefer my drawings to be a reflection of how I perceive certain kinds of people rather than a direct representation of how they would look in life.
Yep, that's the zen alright. Wasn't giving general drawing tips or anything, just showing you the very basics of why I do what I do, because getting in touch with those basics helped me make an art style. I may be influenced by alot of sources, but thanks to the basics, my work looks nothing like theirs'. Not saying yours' is a carbon copy, or anything, just bein' kinda general here. Just consider it snack food for thought.
My main dilemma is, what to do when my aesthetic overlaps too much with another artist's. Sure it bothers me that people would always compare me to the artists that I'm influenced by, but I still want as true an expression possible of my intention. Should I try taking measures to distinguish myself against my natural tendencies, or should I just hope that if I become more recognized people will start seeing the "me" in my style rather than hints of what they're already familiar with? It's something I've been trying to work out for some time now and it's difficult because a style isn't something as simple as actively deciding to draw an eye or a nose in a certain way, but rather your internal idea of what those features look like.
A little bit of both, really. As I said before, you gotta know all the tiny nuances, so that your perception of them can help you form a style. When I was a teenager, my style looked way too much like the anime shows I watched. As I grew older, I knew this was a problem, so I looked at every comic, anime, cartoon, etc. and figured out what they were doing right, and what I should learn from that.
Best advice I can think to give if you want to seperate yourself is this (because it did worlds of good for me): Do alot of stuff you're normally not very good at, or don't do all that much. Then, when you go back to doing your regular stuff, subtle changes will start popping up because of what you learned in the other pictures. Like when I learned to draw eyes, I used to do them very anime-styled. Then, as I expanded, my eyes became photorealistic. But, as I learned to make my characters more and more expressive, my eyes turned less realistic. It's stupid little things like that that can go a long way.
Also, you'd be suprised at how, sometimes, your mind just spontaneously says "y'know what? That's probably a better way of drawing a nose/hair/eyes/etc."
Sorry if I'm not making much sense, but I'm absolutely terrible at giving advice sometimes… But, my deep love of helping people makes me press on and continue to make myself look like a know-it-all ass.
I'm glad that you gave me all that advice though. Your examples and explanations were very helpful, especially regarding publishing. I feel pretty enlightened in that respect.
Glad I could help! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to drop me a PM! One last thing: Sonny Strait (yes, the voice actor) does a manga, for those who don't know. When talking about it at a panel once, he gave one of the best pieces of advice for newcomers:
Prepare to be rejected. Alot. Just keep at it regardless.