Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Thoughts on the Webtoon vertical format?

« on: Today at 06:39:21 AM »

from what I've seen, manhua get printed in books with a similar format to manga - i.e. no gaps between panels, and content fitting inside the panels rather than loosely floating around them. So it seems that the long scrolling manhua is really only for mobile/thin device viewing only - it's specifically for that medium. Which makes sense, I've tried to read manga on my tiny phone screen and it's not easy, you have to keep zooming in all the time to read the text, and a lot of the details are too small to appreciate. So in addition to aesthetic preferences, it does depend on how you're viewing it as to what is best I think.

I'd be curious to see how easily the two formats can be converted from one to the other. As a manga artist, how easy is it to spread your panels out and make them into a manhua, and visa versa. That way you can cater to a larger target audience by formatting your work to suit them. I get the feeling a fair amount of redrawing would occur both ways, but probably no more than 20-30% of the original creation time.

2

Develop Your Story / Re: Need help w/ manga oneshot

« on: Today at 05:57:33 AM »

I personally think that the more limits powers have, the more interesting it makes them. There's always a "will they wont they" that the readers worry about the powers not working properly etc, keeps the story tense.

I think the story genre and power system you've chosen sounds fine. A little generic, perhaps, but people like stories they are familiar with so no point creating something 100% crazy unique.

I imagine the flow as something like Scientist daily routine---->loli ambush & fight---->Scientists take homeless loli home---->philosophical conversations about useless *censored*---->???---->???---->???---->ending.

I get you on the ????? bits lol quite a few of my stories have gaps that I've been unable to fill as of yet.
I find the stories I like the most always keep me on my toes, there's always something around the next corner to throw the protagonists off their feet.
We've stolen the bomb from the bad guys! But it's still ticking! we've diffused it! but there's another one hidden in the city! we have to find it!
i.e. just when you think things can settle down there's always another plot point to drive the tension and story to the next stage.

And I think this is the first I've seen your art? It's really good! The panel layouts are nice and freely balanced, and epicly cute loli sketches, making even me jealous lol.

With a once-shot, the stakes are typically lower, as you have less time (pages) to build up the tension and to resolve it, especially if you want to throw in character interactions,friendships etc into the mix as well.

Here's just a random thought if you're stuck for a story, use it or don't none of my business

The loli is parched and tired, having no food, but stumbles on the settlement of the scientist. She breaks in and tries to threaten the scientist for food and water, but passes out. Wakes up in a bad, being cared for for the scientist. Loli has never been shown any kind of kindness before so she's incredibly grateful. and then there's an attack on the facility for real. A man is attacking to steal some power generator thing for something idk. Turns out he's got a problem with his cybernetic parts, that need specialist repair. Just when you think he's going to kill the scientist and loli, the scientist is able to bargain that she can help him without him having to kill (he doesn't really want to kill them but he's desperate - maybe he has his own family back home to feed). So in talking they find out that the man has lost his daughter a long time ago in a sandstorm (plot twist - it's the loli from the beginning!!!) they eventually realize and reunite. The man having his body fixed by the scientist, leaves with his loli daughter, and the scientist goes back to whatever she was doing, "just another day in the apocalypse".

maybe that will give you some sort of idea, or not, who knows.

but otherwise, great work so far, keep it up!
most people don't even make it as far as writing down their plot, let alone sketching some of the pages, so you've got a lot going for you.

3

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Suuper's manga (+digital and 3D)

« on: Today at 05:42:56 AM »

just plenty of practice mate XD
I haven't really practised much lineart, so this skill has come from doing lots of sketching at rougher levels. not sure how that worked out but it did :P
I find after about half an hour of inking, my style changes, I get warmed up, and I have even more control over my lines. So doing a long run of art can help with building up momentum and skill.

4

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Killer B Gallery

« on: Today at 05:40:50 AM »

oh I didn't notice you'd added Lego's drafts as well, very cool to see the differences between both of your layouts and designs!!

5

General Discussion / Re: Creative Block

« on: October 01, 2022, 12:59:38 PM »

ah yes! Inktober! that sounds like a perfect time to start working with prompts. Give it a shot and let us know how it goes!
I personally use prompts for almost all of my work. It can give you an interesting starting point, even if you change the direction later.

6

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Suuper's manga (+digital and 3D)

« on: October 01, 2022, 08:24:13 AM »

I thought I would post some of my artworks that I've been working on for commissions as I have permission from TheEndisNotThere

Here are some illustrations of the characters that appear in one of the series, The Knight of Stone.
There's a lot of magic, and, you guessed, it, stones, so that's kept me on my toes drawing all the renders for the ground breaking and stuff. I really like them.













It's nice to work at my maximum for a change as I'm always doing rough sketches for myself, it's hard to know how good I am sometimes, but these really show that I actually am at a professional level now. Feels strange to finally reach that level.
I've also started to use more hatching in my lineart now which gives a nice amount of texture and shade without having to add solid tones or colours. This is very similar to most professional manga such as Fairy Tail etc, which use a lot of hatching to show texture and shade. I'm still getting the hang of that but they're not looking too shabby.

I'll just post my favourite manga page that I've done so far (I'm not allowed to post the whole thing... as much as I would like!!!)
Layout and script by TheEndisNotThere



Being able to work at a high quality for manga pages is an absolute blessing, I would never do this for my own work as it takes too long and I don't like my own stories enough yet ahahaha.
But I'm using similar techniques to my WIP processing pages to build up the details and accuracy, and it's going really well.
I hope to use the same techniques on my own manga once I get round to writing it :P
But I'm always aiming higher so I'll be looking for ways to improve composition, backgrounds, tone/texture/shading etc, and all the while figuring out how to do it faster and more efficiently.

I'll probably have some of my own sketches at some point soon to post, see you later

7

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Killer B Gallery

« on: September 30, 2022, 10:21:08 PM »

I'm sure Lego will be thrilled to see it in art form! I haven't seen him for a while though, hopefully he's lurking and will pop in at some point!!!! >_> Looking at you lego!  <_<

Ah medibang is pretty popular, I use GIMP myself.

8

General Discussion / Re: Creative Block

« on: September 30, 2022, 10:16:52 PM »

sounds like stress from work is probably causing some if not all of the block, especially as it's bad enough that you mention it.....Work can unfortunately be like that.

I tend to write lists of things that I want to draw when I'm having a good moment, and so when I have art block, I can look at the list and go through some of them. It helps sometimes when you can't think of an idea to have some already written out for you.

it might not be helpful to you, but maybe just practice drawing figures or hand poses? I find that's always useful because you will always be drawing those in your artworks, so practising them when you can can build up skill.

I dont believe in waiting for inspiration to strike before I draw something. There's always something you can draw even if it's super boring. Maybe take an older piece and try and draw it again but impove it somehow, make the pose more realistic, improve the hair, clothes , add a background etc.

sometimes a nice early sleep can help you to feel refreshed and more able to tackle the day as well as get some personal stuff done as well, like art.

and as much as everyone says it, a good exercise and diet can do wonders for helping your body to function well, which can help your mind to focus better. You don't have to jog 10k! , just a walk around the block or to the shops and back even can help.

hope some of that helps, I know art block can be a real pain to get though. all the best.

9

Starter Gallery / Re: ill just make this gallery as my sketch gallery

« on: September 30, 2022, 09:38:53 PM »

nice.
copying it and then drawing from memory is a pretty cool idea, then you know immediately what you can't remember and can go back to studying it again.
I don't know any muscles at all ahahaha

10

Members Manga / Re: Dragon Tofu

« on: September 30, 2022, 05:26:04 AM »

at least compared to my manga, you're already using some pretty higher level techniques that even pro mangaka use, such as panel-less scenes, abundant use of tone and shade, overlapping character shots (where they are above other panels), as well as emphasis lines, and varied shape speech bubbles and fonts.
I can't fault you on much, except perhaps the more complex backgrounds seem a little sketchy overall, such as where Toshiki is holding his mug in his introduction panel, the office background is a tad sketchy. But you can still see it's an office, so it's not bad per se.
Perhaps you could use more sound effects? maybe you are later on in the chapters but just in this portion I dont see any. They can really make a scene pop.

am always trying to get better in terms of art and paneling and everything

totally understandable, myself included!! my advice would be to break down the things you want to get good at rather than just "everything", into more specific goals, like pose composition, hand accuracy, tone/shade etc. Then you are able to study these things individually and improve them.

11

Members Manga / Re: Omega World [Prototype]

« on: September 30, 2022, 05:17:07 AM »

thanks! if anything, fundamentals are the things I've been focusing on the most, so I'm glad they stand out
I always figure I can finish off a sketch if the base parts are in the right place, so it's getting the initial sketches good that's the hardest part for me - deciding on the actual pose and expression etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
If you spot anything I could improve on then please point it out

12

Members Manga / Re: Dragon Tofu

« on: September 29, 2022, 01:54:30 PM »

yep definitely if you look back and can see improvement then that's worth its weight in gold. But always remember that no matter how much progress you make, there's always stuff you can improve on, so dont stop improving!!

I think having a job slows most of us artists down, I have my own job which does the same. I don't work a full week but I lose a whole 2 days a week which I always think I could be drawing in. But making the most of your time that you have is for the best, no point complaining about time you dont have

I think it's pretty cool that you can release in Japanese and English, I'd definitely love to do the same at some point with my mega serious works. Do you find you get any interest from Japanese audiences?

I'd take a mega stab in the dark and guess the science explosion intro has something to do with the random shaped characters
oh talking of random shaped characters, I've been reading Hard-boiled cop and Dolphin and it sort of has similar vibes top your work, maybe check that out for some ideas if you haven't already

all the best and keep it up!
it'll always be a slow start when you're starting from zero but you'll build up an audience soon enough I think if you keep working at it and releasing new chapters. (all the while building up your art and storytelling skills XD)

13

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Killer B Gallery

« on: September 29, 2022, 08:33:47 AM »

oh! be careful if your hand is hurting - get lost of rest and make sure you're doing exercises and stretches regularly!!!

nice texturing on those pages, and I get a good sense of scale for the larger shots.
great dynamic shots for the action and the effects.
Is this a one-shot or a longer running story?
what software you drawing this in? it's not paint is it?

14

Manga Art Gallery / Re: Suuper's manga (+digital and 3D)

« on: September 29, 2022, 08:30:47 AM »

thanks
my digital works are normally a bit better as I can make changes and the lines come up much stronger.

ahaha having a rival would be awesome!!!
I'm not sure when I'll be making manga pages next but hopefully in the next couple of months

15

Members Manga / Re: Dragon Tofu

« on: September 29, 2022, 06:13:56 AM »

maaaan I haven't seriously read Japanese for ages lol I was not expecting the rest to be in Japanese XD
I made it though a couple of chapters.
While I don't personally like the random object characters, the overall flow of the story is very stable and you've definitely got yourself a good plan for getting so many chapters out, and a pretty good quality to boot.
I laughed when they found the secret wall in the rows of bricks.
Ah I see there is English underneath lol well it was good reading practice for my Japanese XD
Overall it's not my personal cup of tea, but I'm sure there's many who would like it.
And more than that, you've shown a massive amount of dedication and focus to draw so many pages and a consistent high quality.
How long does it take to draw a page/chapter of manga?