For my summer research project I’m creating a serial fantasy webcomic on the subject of dreams. I’ve planned out a lot of the story and characters already — I’ve been thinking about this specific project for about a semester now — and I hope by the end of the summer to have 8 or so chapters and the beginnings of the story.
This month’s progress has been slower than I anticipated it would be; I’ve been still mostly in the planning / storyboarding stages (as well designing the characters and figuring out the art style) and I’m also just now figuring out, as the summer starts, a good work rhythm. It’s pretty intimidating because this is one of the longest projects I’ve worked on yet, and trying to stay motivated to work on it a few hours every day can be difficult. I’ve found that dividing the tasks up — between storyboarding, scriptwriting, and the actual drawing — helps with variety, as well as getting up early in the morning to draw.
Right now I would say my main struggle is perfectionism. I’m working on the opening pages of the first chapter, and I’ve put about 15 hours just into the first four panels, a lot because of indecision with color scheme / panel placement and order / angles. As I finish those up and work on the continuation I want to have a more efficient workflow, spending more time on storyboarding before I start executing as well as specific time dedicated to picking out a color scheme and moodboard.
I’m not completely happy with my work yet but I hope to be able to share some finished drawings in the next post.