I've recently discovered it's too difficult for me to use hand-drawn techniques to create comics and was wondering what software/equipment could make it easier. I have Asperger's Syndrome (a form of Autism), ADHD, and a writing disorder that affects my ability to convey my ideas verbally. I'm wondering what kind of software is out there that could help me create manga. I know about Manga studio 5, but what else is there? I really like the word of 2d drawings as opposed to CGI drawings. Also, what equipment could help me draw on the computer(i.e. Wacom tablets, stuff like that). Any help is greatly appreciated.
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I really like Inkscape. It is a free vector art program comparable to Adobe Illustrator. It has a smoothing function which helps you get nice lines and since it is vector you can adjust your lines to get them just the way you want them. I use the mouse with it and it works great. The drawing below was done entirely in Inkscape. You can download it for free at www.inkscape.org If you need any help figuring it out, let me know.
Oh ya, and I forgot to add- for everything, I've been using a Wacom Intuos 3 drawing tablet- I absolutely love it! I also own a smaller wacom tablet that has the pen & touch feature, but personally I dislike the touch feature. I'd rather use the stylus than my fingers, so it's wasted on me, but I'd recommended testing out both versions of the wacom tablets to see whether or not you'd want the added touch feature.
For 2D work I use Photoshop for most of it. You can get manga style brushes and work in layers. I usually put my backgrounds on one layer, characters on another, text on another, etc. Then you can select & copy/paste whatever you want into the different panels. For example, with this page I worked on below I think I did the background for the bottom panel first, then copy/pasted it into the others, adjusting the size accordingly. Over the top I then drew the grass detail to make it look slightly different in each, but the base colors & shapes are all the same. Panels 3 & 4 are also the same except for the text, so I only colored one of them then copy/pasted it into the other.
Here's an example of inking in photoshop with manga/comic brushes that I did. I did have to spend $7 to purchase a brush pack to get this look, but it was well worth it. https://creativemarket.com/kyletwebster/41864-Kyles-SCREENTONE-Brus...
Ms Adams, you are at the right moment in history! You don't have to be a great artist to make great art any more!! For free you can download Daz-3D and make awesome beautiful renders that you can turn into comics or graphic novels and sell or share. They have free characters and clothes and you just pose them, clothe them, and render - then save as jpegs and put in your comics or graphic novels. For about $450 you can get Poser which I like, and then if you have a lot of money you can get Maya which is what Disney uses which is the industry standard. Let me know if you have any questions! God Bless. Rich Collins
It's not so much the drawing itself, but making the characters look consistent from panel to panel and creating the backgrounds. I'm more interested in the 2d look than the 3d look, seeing as how mart is inspired by Japanese animation and cimi books. Thank you so much! :)
Brien Sparling said:
1) Richard Collins (CCAS comic writer, http://www.raeganandrjinspace.com/page/page/8505622.htm) has been very enthusiastic about an art program called Poser; It yields a 3-D look with a minimum of hand drawing. You can see how Poser pictures look by going to his CCAS site.
2) If you're having trouble with hand - drawing, I'm not sure you want a tablet. However I'm very happy with using my Wacom Intuois tablet ( $250 @ BestBuy) in combination with Photoshop 7 on my computer.
In Christ,
Brien