Well I guess I should mention that I work by stages or phases. I do story/script, thumbnails, blue pencils, ink, bubbles, then tone all separately. I don’t finish page at a time and post it online since that doesn’t seem to work easily for me. I like to do everything at once so I can get a feel of the flow and fix things as I go instead of realizing I made a mistake and go back to fix it after I already finished a page.
One of my biggest problems is that I have the hardest time starting. However, once I get started it’s smooth sailing from there. XD I think I’ve lost that “Get it done” mentality that I had in high school. Well lately I’ve been getting better at controlling myself and have the “Stop thinking and just do it” mentality. I’ve been slowly working and getting the things I want done, not as fast as I would like but it’s getting done nonetheless. 😀
Do you have a ritual that you go through before you start? I do. I fill my cup up with a drink, go to the bathroom, check my feeds, then pull up some music. Once I’m settled I get that “get it done” mentality and I just get up and pull up the files/pages and get working. Then try to take a break every once in awhile. Get up and stretch, get a snack, or check up with the family. I just keep at it until it gets late and I’m ready to go to bed.
I realize that I work best when I give myself a task a day. No matter what page amounts I do. So for example, I would give myself “Thumbnails” for several days and then just focus on those until I finish them. If I don’t finish it by a certain date I give myself some lee way and keep working on those thumbnails until I finish. Then for a day or two I try to give myself a break and do something else then go back to the thumbnails to do any edits and fix that for awhile. Once that is done I move on to the next phase which would be penciling/inking and continue from there. You get the idea.
I tried to do the page a week or several pages a week but those hardly happened. It just didn’t work for me. For others it might but I like to try to get all the pages done first and then go back and fix things as needed plus it helps my work flow and the flow of the comic.
I understand everyone has a different work flow that works for them. So how do you guys make time for comics? How do you get started working on your pages/story? Do you have a ritual? If not go find yours now! Get up and work on your comic!
Developing a work ethic takes a lot of time. It's something I didn't really understand until I was deep in my college program. And now that I work 8+ hours a day doing art professional I can handle balancing my own projects on the side because I have the mental training for it. I suppose you need to treat it more like a job than a hobby- that mental shift will help a lot.
But it's not easy, the internet is a huge distraction.
Thanks for the response Christy! Yes, you're right, I think if I did switch to that mentality it would help immensely! I did not go to art school but I could still use my time management skills I had in college and apply it to my comics. I've slacked the last few years. lol Thanks for sharing!