I want to start a webcomic and I can't draw good enough to do so

It's a story I've been working on for years

I thought me knowing the basic proportions would be good enough but I tried the first page and I hate my art

I don't want someone else to do it, I want to do it myself

I then read this article and got discouraged

https://www.blenderguru.com/articles/2021/2yr-drawing-progress

I'm still going try though. My plan is to draw gestures every day, and other art exercises, and to go back and re-draw that first page every month.

Edited by Johnnykanegrass on Aug 12th 2021 at 11:48:10 AM

I maybe should have made this post in the art forum.

The advice that I remember seeing given is to start and to post anyway. Over the course of the comic, the simple act of drawing each page should make for practice, and you may well see your skill improving through it.

For reference, compare the very first page of El Goonish Shive with a page from a few years later, and several years after that, and then the most recent one:
Page 1
A few years later
Further years later
Today (13 Aug, 2021)

That said, exercises such as you described are not a bad idea in addition!

I'm not sure that I recommend re-drawing your first page over and over again. Now, I don't know you, or what motivates you. However, I'm concerned that in doing so you may lack the sense of progress that can come from advancing the comic.

However, if, in knowing yourself, you deem it better, then that's fair enough.

No Need for Bushido is another encouraging example. The first strip is basic (but still a couple of orders of magnitude better than anything I can draw), while the last is much more detailed, better-proportioned, and better-coloured. Kolesar just put in the effort, tried to draw as well as he could, and you can see the art gradually improving over the course of the comic.

I bought Morpho Anatomy for artists and Constructive Anatomy by George R Bridgman.

I'm already starting to notice some improvement.

Edited by Johnnykanegrass on Aug 16th 2021 at 1:00:19 AM

Good job! You probably want to take this to the dedicated art topics, though. People there are likely more helpful.

Excellent! I'm glad that you're seeing progress! ^_^

Don't worry about what other people think and don't worry about your own doubts.

Anyone can draw; it is a skill that can be learned. There's good books at the library with pointers on basic drawing as well as drawing cartoons. You've also got tons of videos on You Tube that can instruct you.

Please don't get discouraged. As Wayne Gretzky said, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.