Hampton Bays Webcomics Workshop
An afternoon workshop on making webcomics.
I spent an afternoon in 2013 teaching the teens how to make webcomics.
In 2013, I was asked by the Hampton Bays (NY) library to put on an event of my choosing. I was looking for ways to break out of the “talk with a slideshow” format, so I decided to add a hands-on element. After a short talk (with a slideshow, of course, there is no escape) about some basic concepts of webcomics, we spent the rest of the time writing and drawing our own comics. (To be webified later.)
Here is my thought process while I was planning the presentation.
What is useful to know if you want to make webcomics?
The variety of styles/formats webcomics can take
- Some look very digital, some look very analog
- Some look very polished, others embrace their rough edges
How do you get pictures into the computer, much less on the web?
- The pros and cons of drawing with a mouse (it’s very difficult!)
- Doing a finished comic on paper, then scanning it
- Sometimes artists post a mix of rough and finished work
- Drawing on paper, scanning it, and coloring it on the computer
An example of one of my comics pre- and post-digital coloring
- What sort of choices for software are out there (cheap to very expensive)
I’ve drawn and uploaded a ton of stuff, now what?
- The hows and whys of promoting your work
- Some places to begin once you’re ready
Examples of my own webcomics in various states of completion
- Pen and ink, which I was comfortable with
- Using a tablet and stylus, which I was not very good at yet
Digital illustration from my blog/podcast “Too Many Chickens”.
- Examples of how I worked from a script someone else wrote for Cats in the Alley