Why can't local comicbook/manga-making groups last these days?

[scifantanime]

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@scifa~ My last post was indeed an eyeful to read but hey I am a guy who is into this stuff passionately and still persisting in using art to tell a story, add to that I am a writer who writes everyday for a living and for fun.

Anyway, since it appears that you've got most of the matter really thought out, I would like to wish you all the best of luck on your project.

One last piece of advice, you might want to re-evaluate your project's time-line, though a year might be plenty of time to prepare and produce a very good comic, it is also enough time for a group to lose momentum, for its members to lose interest and for life priorities to pop up from out of the blue and press your members attention elsewhere, thus causing for more delays.

Hahaha. Well, I tend to read out interesting and passionate remarks out loud hence I used the word mouthful. This way I really grasp the full meaning and make a subsequent profile of the person behind the remarks and where he stands on the issues at hand. Call it an affective analysis on my part.

Thanks. We'll really need that since we're still at it for almost a year and a half na. We've been in hiatus for almost a month now since our artists were pursuing their academic deadlines for the last semester. I decided to do this thread just to help my partner re-evaluate our long term goals since he was really pushing to do this into a more serious venture. Yeah, we still have momentum as we will be resuming our meetings and work in the next few days. We'll contact you when we're ready with the setup or most especially when we need some fresh blood and ideas into the group.

[scifantanime]

Thanks for the fresh info on another local comic book group as well as the anecdotes, @rodsky.
I appreciate the alternative insight.

[scifantanime]

If you guys will do a comic, can I help as well?

Thanks for the suggestions, @rwind64. Yeah, I'll have to confer with my boss first. I'll just PM you and @diem for the synopsis of the current project that we're working on for almost a year and a half.

[Inahime]

People get sidetracked all the time. And once one member of that group gets sidetracked, it isn't difficult for the other members to follow suit, often using the departure of the said member as a reason or as an excuse to themselves.

I admit, this is a rather expensive pursuit. But money (or the lack thereof) is never an excuse to give up.

For example, Copic markers, the ones japanese artists use for coloring, are quite beyond the budget for most beginners. Well you can always color your work digitally. with the countless tutorials found in YouTube, this one is a good option.

As for me, I suck with coloring so i opted for a monochromatic work instead. One set of tech pens went well beyond the 1,000 peso range, but you can always purchase a bottle of indian Ink and a brush. i won't go into brands, try whatever fits your budget. Brushes do take some practice to use effectively, but it can be employed to create dynamic and distinct lines, not to mention cool effects like splatters. the only pens I use nowadays are: 0.1 pen for hairlines; 0.3 pen for sketching. for everything else, there's a brush. or if you are inclined to do so, get a speedball, it's great for comics.

another thing I'd like to discuss is writing. I'm not as good as diem, but I try. I read dramatica theory a lot, you can get a lot of helpful tips from the website. there's a free ebook; it really allowed me to organize my story. It's as if I had an expert author mentoring me.

I write primarily for myself. I do make attempts to make the story approachable to others, but first and foremost, the story is for me.

And read books, including the bad ones. Especially the bad ones, they will inspire you to write. Every time I read a horrible story, I get these ideas like "hey, it'd have been better if the author did -this-" and boom, I have an inspiration for a story.

~nyoro~

[scifantanime]

Thanks for the insights, @Inahime.

So, you're acquainted with @diem? Have you worked together before?

[diem]

I have not had the opportunity to work with Inahime, though my door is always open for collaboration.

[scifantanime]

Oh, I see. I just thought that she might have collaborated with you once since she remarked:

another thing I'd like to discuss is writing. I'm not as good as diem, but I try. I read dramatica theory a lot, you can get a lot of helpful tips from the website. there's a free ebook; it really allowed me to organize my story. It's as if I had an expert author mentoring me.

You understand, of course, if I easily jumped to conclusions there. Thanks for the heads up.

[diem]

^^Possibly, Inahime encountered some of the stories I posted in the thread "iStoryan Writers" in the "Arts and Literature" board of this forum site. Or she could just be taking note lang on my mini-resume on a previous post.

@Inahime, thanks for the reminder on Dramatica. I have downloaded the e-book months ago but didn't have time to read into in depth, only scanned. I really find it practical but I believe best used to "refine" certain story elements rather than use as a spring board to generate storylines

[Inahime]

er, if you read the different threads frequented by writers, you can plainly see that diem is all over the place. Good talent always gets my attention.

Another piece of good advice I got was to look at things from a different perspective. Once a friend of mine saw this guy pushing his ice cream cart up a steep climb. after a few minutes of watching the guy struggle with his cart, she walked up to him and bought some ice cream. and she wasn't hungry, either. she just felt sorry for the guy.

"he probably has two kids at home, who he has trouble supporting since his wife left him. apparently, peddling ice cream took up a whole lot of his time, so his wife eloped with another man."

"where did you get all that?!" i demanded.

"sistah, i'm a writer, i can't help it."

stories are everywhere. you can get a story from just about anywhere, like the newspaper for instance. there are literally hundreds of stories there. or if you want, you can take characters that belong to the public domain (like snow white, for instance) and give it a different twist. a friend of mine pitched a story about Set and Osiris being alive today as teenagers. He took that ancient story and placed it in a contemporary setting, one we can all relate to: teen violence. it's about set murdering his brother, osiris.

me, most of the stories i conjure begin with what if.

once you have the writing covered, all you have to worry now is the drawing. one thing i can say is never, ever practice drawing solely by copying comics, or drawing from comics. learn to draw still life. learn to draw human figures that are anatomically correct. you can't bend the rules if you know the rules. you can't draw distorted human characters (cartoons) if you can't draw human characters.

a good place to start is to practice drawing fashion figures. most follow the greek canon which is one of the most basic figures. try to draw them at rest from different angles. (your characters aren't fighting all the time, are they?)

do a sketch of faces. top view, 3/4ths, side view, worm's eye view, bird's eye view. then keep on practicing. repeat as necessary. soon you'll be surprised at how easy it can be to draw your characters.

the hardest part would probably be rendering your comic. decide at what size you want your comic book to be published in. you can draw on bristol board which is quite cheap but sturdy. then visit your local printing press for prices. maybe you can publish a few copies. a whole spread (4 pages) goes around 45-90 pesos.

@diem
yes, you're right. dramatica isn't necessarily a springboard, using it as such might lead to formulaic, uninspired works. it could be used to fine tune details and remind you to add any that were left out.

my head goes Berserk! after a few minutes of reading it. the book itself suggests that you chill after a few chapters or so, otherwise suffer a terrible case of information overload.

for example, dramatica states that more important than the protagonist-antagonist relationship is the main character-impact character relationship. the impact character is he who changes or affects the character in the story more so than anyone else. it is he who challenges all the main character is. in star wars, it's obi wan kenobi. he challenges luke's belief that he is just some redneck farm boy, and changes him to become the savior of the galaxy, the final hope of the light.

dramatica states that a story is a method of solving a problem. the problem in star wars could be the domination of the empire, making the antagonist the empire and luke the protagonist. the guardian is obi-wan while the contagonist is darth vader-sama.

the protagonist wants to solve the problem, while the antagonist is the obstacle to the solution. the contagonist does not prevent the protagonist from the solution, he only delays. the guardian, guards the protagonist.

argggghhh there are sooo many details, my head is hurting me. duh.

anyway, why can't comic book groups last these days? a lot of these groups are just kids who read berserk or watch code geass then gather together expecting to be able to come up with something awesome. a lot fail, of course, and get discouraged.

starting a comic takes a loooot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. speaking of whic, being broken hearted can inspire you to write a story...

[scifantanime]

Thanks for the alternative insight there, @Inahime.

I gave up using Dramatica Pro four years ago but the terms I learned from that software have helped me in my teaching literature these past two years.

Well, I know that @diem seems to be all over the place. And I'm grateful for that.

I basically want to transform all these collated insights into something really concrete - concrete enough to form a good foundation for a haven for Cebuano artists who have the passion and skill to publish works in comic book media format (sort of like what Glasshouse Graphics, Inc. is today).

Thanks and keep those ideas coming mga bro (and mga sis)!