Retrospective 2018

A new year has started and since I’ve had an involuntary break from the comic I used the time to reflect on what I accomplished so far, where I did good and where I still need more practice, also an overall view of if this whole thing is worth the hassle haha! In a follow post I’ll tell you my plans for 2019.

Things that went well.

• I’m surprised at how well I’m handling the backgrounds. I was most scared of those!
• I’m getting incredibly a lot of practice and so I already feel I’m improving my art skills and lines and drawing swings, proportions of different characters and such
• Panelling works kind of nice too. It’s not perfect but I’m satisfied how it went so far
• The community! I LOVE including the community through polls and castings. It’s just so  much fun! I’m also getting a lot of feedback which is super nice and helpful
• I’m still hyped fort he project. Usually I loose interest at some point of a project or I get distracted quickly. In this case, even after being frustrated once in a while or seeing I need a lot more practice and such, I still really want to do this comic and I’m still fired up.

Things that need improvement.

• I have to try and send updates more frequently – at least when I’m working on a page with casting members. Even if it’s just small updates those are necessary and only fair to give.
• I should try and focus more on the tiny steps and celebrate them. Making a whole comic page takes longer than creating just one piece of art. It’s like a whole set of artworks bunched together only that the final piece is NEVER finished until every little panel and every word and effect is set. So I need to learn to be happy with finished panels and maybe practice myself in patience
• Another thing I need more practice is lettering. Where to position the speech bubbles or sound effects and what fonts to use. I’ve started reading different comics and also checking out material of work in progress of amazing comic artists that help me a lot.
• I should try and only make castings or polls for things that are coming right up. For example the tattoo page which is more of a special to add to the finished comic/magazine. It’s great and fun for me but if I cannot show results relatively soon after, I should keep it to myself until that very moment when I have time to actually work on the thing. Otherwise it’s frustrating for you guys since you’re wondering if anything happens at all
• Also I need a lot more practice when it comes to colouring. It’s the thing I lack the most practice so still quite a long way to go here. Still I’m doing my best and I’m starting to use several references, reading more comics of different artists to see how they’re using colour and panels

Summary.
Looking back at how this thing started out and where I am at now I’m satisfied. Yes there have been delays I didn’t take into account and yes, there’s still a lot more for me to learn but considering that I went through all those troubles and still have the drive and will to go further and to keep going… that’s a really good sign. I usually get distracted after a while or loose itnerest but not this time. This time I actually managed to find something I want to keep doing.