Spending More Time on My Graphic Novel or Digital Comics Project
December 13, 2022
I may have been inactive in writing online for the past weeks. I have several reasons for that. Perhaps, I even have lost my motivation to write (Read: @jloberiza/i-kinda-lost-my-motivation)
What I have forgotten to mention in that article though is, I have been working on something else. I have been working on my fiction story that I plan to publish as a graphic novel or a comic book or a webcomic rather.
Greetings my dear readers and friends. Yeah, I have been inactive in any writing platforms for the past few weeks... more than a month,
If I had just managed my time more effectively, I could have written at least 5 articles per week. If I post them on two or three platforms, maybe I could have at least twice what I have earned in the previous months.
Despite my reduced activity online, though, I have been quite busy with something else. Something that I have always dreamed of doing since I was a child.
Creating and publishing my Digital comic books
No Formal Training
I have no formal training in drawing. Well... except for the Drafting subjects I had in secondary school and in my first year in Engineering where I learned some basic penciling skills like shading and some concepts on perspective and the like.
Aside from those, nothing. However, I have been drawing since I was a kid.
Picture Stories.
I have mentioned before that I owe my love for drawing to comic books. I used to create my own "comic book" stories using popular characters like Spiderman. However, since I don't know how to write stories, I would draw my stories on bond paper. I would create several small panels on bond paper. I just draw each scene without the dialog. I did not use pencils then. I use a ballpoint pen to make my drawings. Then I would look at them and just imagine the dialog in my mind.
The truth is, after a few days or weeks after I drew them, I can no longer understand what I drew them. LOL!
After a while, I started creating my characters. Based on the characters I love in comic books.
Where To Publish My Work?
I am planning to publish my work on a self-hosted WordPress site. I found a free server that seems to be stable enough to start with. But perhaps, I may be able to find the right community in Hive to publish or republish my work in one way or another.
Using Medibang Paint
For several years now, I have been using Medibang Paint. Medibang Paint is a cross-platform application designed for Mangga creators. I thought it was a perfect app for me.
However, it was only this year that I started to create my digital comics using Medibang Paint.
At first, I create one file per page for my story. The first one that I created is a fan art with two characters from different "Universe", so to speak. One from Marvel, and another from Universal Studios.
My Fan Art Story...
These were just digital sketches, but I suppose, you can recognize these characters.
However, I thought I'm missing something. I'm creating one file for each page. I realized then that there is a "comic" feature in Medibang Paint. With this feature, I can create a file with several pages. Thus, managing a comic book project is much easier.
My First Comic Book Project
I may have several stories that I have been keeping in my mind for several years. However, those stories are set in foreign countries. I even have one in a fantasy world. I thought I'd create one set closer to home. A Filipino character and set here in my country. This will not be my first Filipino character though.
Anyway, he will not be a super-powered hero. But he is a crime fighter.
Here is a work-in-progress cover page I made a few days ago.
WIP of the cover page.
Then in the last two days, I started "inking" and coloring a page. Here is what I have finished so far.
As you can see, There is no dialog yet. But there will be.
At the rate I am going though, I think it will be about a month before I can finish the whole first issue. But maybe I will divide it into three or four so I can release the first part before the end of this year.
In Closing.
Will I earn from this project? I hope so. On the other hand, I have been drawing for myself for decades. It's something I love to do even if I don't get paid for it.
I hope I can share with you my talent soon. And hopefully, I won't bore you with my stories. If I earn something from this project, that would be great. Who knows, if this project grows, maybe I can help other budding artists in my area.
Thanks for reading.
This article was originally posted in read.cash ( Spending More Time on My Graphic Novel or Digital Comics Project)
Republished with modifications.