Layout Test 4.16.17

Ye gods, there's like a billion and one things going on behind the scenes with this picture and just trying to keep track of them all is like stepping into strange and foreign territory. First there's writing the script, because knowing what to draw is just as important if not more then knowing how to draw and there's no way in hell I'm going to try and draw an entire comic freehand as that way lies a whole different kind of madness. Then there's coming up with a storyboard, and choosing the layout, and picking the composition, and establishing the perspective, and on top of all that there's exporting the image file to see how it all looks when its not being framed by a computer program and instead is being seen on a computer monitor or web browser, because there's nothing quite like finding out that you've orientated a page on the wrong side when you go to format the files for printing. All of which you really need to think about before you put pen to paper because it would be a terrible thing to try and figure all of this out with a deadline hanging over your head. Added to all of that is the various design decisions that go into the drawing itself as that runs into questions of how much do you commit to drawing backgrounds or even complex objects, and most important of all, does it actually read? Visual flow is a thing that adds dozens of layers of complexity to a comic because when its done well you'll never know its there, but when its done badly everybody notices it. Even the size of the text and the actual font being used is its own set of decisions to be made as all of this is what comic book editors are trained to look for! Artists draw, editors edit, so by doing everything by myself, I've literally quadrupled the workload, well . . . more like quintupled or sextupled because when you add in promotion, distribution, publication and a whole lot of other things, its no wonder that webcomics tend to only update once a week. You go at it as an independent, you are literally doing everything by yourself, and if you aren't organized as all hell, you will literally find yourself in hell. That said I'm starting to understand why editors tend to wield so much power in the publishing world as when it comes down to technical and practical ability the dichotomy between the two tends to swing in favor of the editor because they actually have to be able to explain why things work the way they do, artists only have to be able to show you and that does not always lend itself to convincing arguments. Impressive feats of skill yes, but I've met dozens of artists who are great at being artists, but terrible at organizing their thoughts in a manner that communicates a clear intent.
Oh and before I forget, all of the framing devices and design decisions and formats and various whatnot have to be taken care of in order because once you commit to them you can't go back and change them later. Which is completely the opposite of writing a novel where you can write any chapter in any order you want and damn the consequences. So the whole, do whatever you feel, draw whatever you want mentality, will only take you so far before it royally screws you over. Like when you read a submissions page, and find out that the comic you lovingly crafted will be automatically rejected because it isn't formatted properly!