deviantART: kaidafaye.deviantart.com tumblr Sketchblog: jennidoesart.tumblr.com
Official Website: jennidoesart.com

The Original Doujinshi-Making Process

After repeated failed attempts at making original manga(or original doujinshi), I've found the process that works the best for me. It's painstakingly long, and I feel like I could skip some steps but really I shouldn't if I want the comic to turn out well. This is my comic-making guide:

The Process:

Step 1: PLOT and SETTING What kind of story do I want to write? If you're like me, you have certain scenes in your head already, but you really have no strong connection as to how they should happen. Also, if you're like me, you have certain elements you want in your manga, but have no strong reason for having it there. Some anime and manga can pull off having nonsense randomness in their comics, but honestly it's difficult.
To connect all the elements I want, I question each event. Let's start with "Aliens are abducting cows." First I ask "Why are cows being abducted?" I answer myself with "Because the aliens want ice cream." Then "Why do they want ice cream?" Well, "Because it's a delicacy on their planet." Then the aliens: "Who are the aliens?" "They're interdimensional transporters." "Does anybody see them?" "Yes, but they don't do much about it; KaidaFaye is the only one who cares." "What does she do about it?" "She gets scouted to help them maintain peace between..." You get the idea: Question until you can fit everything you want in there together and you have a purpose for the main character(KaidaFaye is mine) and a setting. Pick a setting that suits your tastes and satisfies the characters in the plot.
It's helpful to write down your plot and setting once you're got it all figured out.

Step 2: CHARACTERS Honestly, you probably already had your characters picked out from the beginning. If you have, you can now refine your characters and their roles according to the plot you made. I found this on deviantART, and it's really helpful for making sure your characters are balanced:

Balanced characters means balanced comic. This way, not all the characters run together because their traits are too similar. Your main character should stay the main character, being the most complex in order for the audience to related to him/her more.

Step 3: SCRIPT At this point you want to start drawing ASAP...don't. This is where you plan out each chapter of your comic--what they say, what they do: it's essentially a screenplay. By writing before drawing, you keep your story more organized and less room for mistakes that you can't take back after you print copies of the thing.

Step 4: STORYBOARDING Almost at the comicking point!! I use this to help me plan out how I want the comic to be laid out. I draw a very rough stick-figured draft of how I want the page to look, and I write the part of the script the page covers next to it on the lines. I see the storyboarding step of the comic as the final draft of the script, since this is where I make final changes. For example, I changed my beginning scene a bit in the storyboarding phase because it plumb didn't look appealing in the sketch: it was hard to fit and it didn't look nice. I try to make my first page eye-catching.

Step 5: PENCILING AND INKING Now you can finally draw the comic!! Following the storyboard, you draw in your characters, backgrounds, word bubbles, etc. Using the waterproof inks and pens of your choice, carefully ink over the pencil. When the ink is dry, erase with a really good eraser, like Magic Rub, and use white out/white ink/white paint to fix any inking mistakes you made. If you're into screentone and all that, you apply that after the inking, but I never learned how to use screentone since it's $8 a sheet over here. I use GIMP to add my shading and lettering. You could also use pencil, or you can colour it.
If you have a tablet, you can skip a shitload of those steps by making one layer for drawing in "pencil" and another layer for "inking" and add word bubbles and lettering on yet another layer. Your panels will come out better too. Investing in a Wacom tablet will save time and material cost.

Step 6: THE COVER You probably had this done a long time ago since the cover is probably your most favourite part of the comic, amiright? I like to save this for when I'm done planning everything out. The best comic covers all have something to do with the chapters inside and visually striking. If you have an idea, sketch it out whenever, doesn't have to be Step 6. But I wouldn't advise going all out on a cover you're not even sure should be the final yet.

Step 7: THE PRINTING Convert your files to PDF and put them on a flash drive. There are printing shops everywhere, like Kinkos, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples...or if printing is too expensive(cuz it is for me) you can bind them yourself. There's guides and YouTube videos on how to bind your own books.

AND YOU'RE DONE!!

You can sell them online, at conventions, give them to your friends, etc. I hope this was helpful!

-KF

Selling My Art

Yeah, I'm selling most of the pieces I made for AP Art; kind of in need of the money. My boyfriend(<3) is paying for the application to SCAD(my dream school!) because my parents are determined to stick me in the same lousy school as my older brother. He doesn't want me there, and I don't want to be there. I would've applied earlier, but my parents refused to pay for the application so I couldn't. Hopefully I'll get some scholarships from SCAD if I get in because since my dad didn't give me the tax information for my FAFSA, which I've been asking for since January, I snooped around in their room and dug them up on my own and was at least able to fill out the form VERY last minute, leaving me with no free money.

Anyway, any cash would help. My goal now is to finish the first installment of G33K!! by the end of June so I can put it up for sale and maybe be able to earn a little bit of cash from that. I've got a written plot summary down and now I'm working on the drafts for the first chapter.

You can look at the pieces I have up for sale here: http://jennidoesart.ecrater.com/
Once I get my 5 quality pieces done I'll put them up there too. They're these:
-Running on Coca-Cola Time
-DJ's Coke
-Out of this World
-Fizz

Sorry for sounding like a money-grubbing puss =( I don't mean to...I love you <3

Back Online

Been away for a while, been busy with school and etc...I GRADUATED!! Next stop, college!

So, my goal for this summer is to finish a 48-50page installment of my comic G33K!! Hopefully will get a new laptop within in the next 3 weeks, so maybe I'll get shite done, you know? I've been using my mom's for the past year.

I need to go get comicking supplies too:
Multiliners
new sketchbooks, at least 8"x10"
Copic markers
boxes of mechanical pencils
packages of Magic Rub erasers
new triangle rulers

Honestly, the Copic markers are a dream. I've never used them and they're super expensive considering my wallet, which right now is currently nonexistent, excluding the $10 for gas money. And if my parents go through with the laptop graduation present, I'll have really no need for any of the stuff I mentioned. I want to get thisreally bad, but it's about $1000 and the keyboard that comes with it is a bluetooth one, and I want it to be detachable/attachable so it'd act like a regular laptop in class. Thisis the idea I have, except this tablet isn't really a PC, to me it's just a giant Android phone slash IPad competitor, which again, isn't a PC. The Asus Slate I want actually is Wacom, so it works well with Photoshop and everything. And since it's Windows, I could use it for school...it's just be easier for me if it had a detachable keyboard. Still on the laptop search for a fallback tablet convertible laptop.

Well, I'll go do stuff now. Bye bye!! I wonder if anyone really pays attention to my shite anymore, oh my...hah.

Commissions on MangaBullet

I'm open for commissions now--at least stop by and see!!

I just finished another piece for my studio art class--another cardboard piece, but this time I added more than just white watercolour: There's some grey, some red, a dash of blue, and a little bit of pink mixed with the red...I such at painting, so maybe I'm cheating by using it on cardboard XD (you can also commission me on a cardboard piece too, HINT HINT)(lol).

I'm off to sketch now, bye bye!

PS-It feels grand to be back in the drawing groove <3

"You...don't wanna go for a RIDE, do you?"

Geezes, I love Aladdin.

Anyways, the more I draw, the more I find myself drifting from manga to a mix of manga and Disney. I kinda like it. And it's great, because that's kind of my theme for my portfolio this year. I'd upload some stuff but a)the pieces are too big and b)I can't set up the new scanner for the pieces that DO fit.

I sometimes feel like I'm getting worse at drawing, which is probably why I always want to show it off to people, to reassure myself that I'm actually getting better, based off their facial expressions when they see it.

I think my style is something I'm very close to defining now: something simple but detailed. A couple of people have said that when they look at my art, it looks like it's really simple but then when they look at it longer/closer they realize the small details I put into it(for example, drawing absolutely EVERY strand of curly hair 'til the whole head's filled).

I think what I like drawing most is the face...well, yeah, EVERYONE likes drawing the face, it's the first thing you learn. But it's the facial expression I like putting effort into, and the rest of the body has to flow along with that face. It reminds me of water.

I don't really have a point to writing this, I just felt like expressing myself some

-KF

Mood: Compassion
Listening to: "A Whole New World"-Aladdin Soundtrack
Eating: Veggie chips
Drinking: Apple juice <3