How To Draw Comics

If there’s one thing that holds us back creatively, its artistic anxiety. In this episode of the HTDC Podcast you’ll learn what it is, why it happens and what to do about it.

For the most part, thinking too much is to blame. In the beginning we start out with the best of intentions, pondering the next grand idea we intend to realize. In our mind we figure out every detail it’ll entail, bringing it into focus with sharper clarification before pencil ever goes to paper.

Then it begins to ferment. Now that we’ve built that idea up so much in our head, the train of thought transitions into worry. A state of nervousness at the sheer scale of the task we’ve set for ourselves. Because as we dwell on an idea, it grows, and sometimes it grows so much that it becomes a monster.

It’s at this point the perfect storm occurs and anxiety is bred. From that a reluctance comes about as we put that project we were once so excited about off for as long as we can hold out. We stall, and if we ever do eventually bite the bullet and get started on it, we’re dragging our heels the whole way.

Of course overthinking things might not be the only cause of your artistic anxiety. There are plenty of insecurities and fears that are just waiting to catch you off guard and pull you into procrastination. Because doing nothing is much safer than facing the fear.

For example, you might compare your level of skill to that of a pro that you consider to be far better. Trying to make your work meet an imaginary standard of elitism that you’ve set for yourself is one of the most sure fire ways to become paralysed.

A good term for what we’re going to be talking about in this podcast episode is ‘analysis paralysis’ because that’s precisely what’s happening regardless of the cause of your artistic anxiety. At the end of the day it begins in the mind, and like a virus it spreads until you’re completely and utterly fatigued by it. Everything that’s holding you back, all that fear, nervousness and worry resides within you.

So how do we overcome it? What’s the cure?

There’s a profoundly simple solution to crushing artistic anxiety and getting back on track. If our worry and fear resides within the confines of the mind, then we must switch it off and force ourselves out onto the stage. I’m talking about less thinking and more doing.

But here’s the key, you want to nip your negative, toxic trains of thought in the bud before they ever get a chance to prosper.

Not all thoughts are bad. Some are certainly productive and getting clarity on your idea by fleshing it out in your mind first can aid you when it comes to putting it down on paper. However if they transgress into a more negative train of thought, that’s when your will to begin the project weakens.

The worst part is that if you try to work in this less than optimal state of mind, you’ll probably end up producing subpar work. You won’t enjoy the experience of actually realizing your idea, and so those negative feelings, that anxiety will become anchored to the act. That means the very thing you love to do becomes the thing you fear most.

In this episode I’ll share my insights and give you some suggestions as to how you can pull yourself out of this awful rut if you’ve found yourself in such a place. I hope that you get a ton of value out of it and that it truly does help you out.

Thanks for listening, and until next time keep on creating and keep on practicing!

-Clayton

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You’ve been waiting, wondering where we’ve been. Well, we’re back bearing a host of brilliant announcements you won’t want to miss – because they’re all to do with you, and for the most part consist of the copious amount of comic art know how we’re putting out faster than ever.

That includes brand new episodes of the HTDC Podcast, coming back to you pretty much every day.

The question is though, where on Earth have we been all this time?

The truth is life has been happening for all the hosts of the show, and with it, upheavals, responsibilities and the dwindling pot of ideas that had had its last scoop. So we needed a little time to make a new batch.

This time we’ll be hitting you with hot new episodes almost every day, mostly covering the questions you’ve sent in along with regular guest artists whose brilliant brains we’ll pick to garner the very best insights from their extensive knowledge and experience.

But why is the HTDC Podcast back? What compels us to keep on rolling onward? The Podcast has helped so many aspiring artists and makes up a large portion of the impact How to Draw Comics has had as a whole on the comic artist community.

We think it’d be a shame to let that go.

Truth be told, it feels like we almost did, and getting that close to it was a big wake up call to quickly get ourselves back in the game.

This particular episode is a short ice-breaker to simply touch base with you again after our long hiatus. To let you know what’s been happening, why it’s been happening and what you can expect in the episodes to come.

Thanks for tuning in! If you’d like more comic art tips tricks and tutorials, be sure to visit us at www.howtodrawcomics.net. We’ve got an absolutely massive library of helpful resources just waiting for you there to check out. But don’t just keep them all to yourself – share the loot with your fellow art buddies. They’ll love you for it, and we will too!

Until next time, keep on creating and keep on practicing!

-Clayton

In this episode Clayton and Ed talk about HTDC's first ever competition - how you can enter and what's in it for you!

This is the contest you’ve been waiting for. This is the one that’ll finally give you the nudge to get off your pin-up seat, and start working on sequential pages.

We all know that Anatomy, Form, Structure, Perspective… they’re all important for making comics. But the most important, the holy grail of sorts, is storytelling. And in our medium, there’s no better way than through sequential panels.

This friendly contest is designed to help you grow with that. To grow as an artist AND a storyteller. So take this time before the summer sets in to really get yourself on the right track, and join on in. This is for the HTDCs community to come together and learn, both from the experience, and from each other.

For more information on the competition visit this link: https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/post/sequential-summer-slam

Ed Foychuk and I finally built up the courage to talk about Politics in Comics in our latest episode of the HTDC Podcast.

Have comics changed, and if so have they really changed that much? How have they changed, and most importantly have they changed for the better? There are creators and readers sitting on either side of the old and new, who either read comics for nostalgia sake, or to get a hit of something fresh and meaningful.

But at the core, we explore what drove the industry back then, and what drives it today - and whether or not that's a good thing. We present a balanced argument, coming at the topic from two different angles that don't necessarily align, but somehow make up two sides of the same coin.

There has never been a better time for creators to get into comics than now, yet at the same time, it could be argued that there's never been a worse time. In this episode we attempt to shed some light on the pros and cons of the industry, and how you can make a change within it by bringing your own visions and passion to the table.

We hope you enjoy this episode of the HTDC Podcast. Thanks so much for listening, and if you'd like more comic art tips, tricks and tutorials be sure to visit www.howtodrawcomics.net.

-Clayton

The Art of Ed Foychuk: https://www.facebook.com/JuggerthaArt/

The Art of Clayton Barton: https://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

In this episode of the How to Draw Comics Podcast, Ed Foychuk, Ric Bulow and Clayton Barton team up once more to talk about originality, vs relatabilty when it comes to creating compelling comic books.

Cliché's, Stereotypes, Tropes and Archetypes often get a bad wrap for being overdone and boring. But are they really all that bad? The answer is yes, and no. They can be bad, but often times are fantastic for creating an instant connection with your audience.

In fact, the only way a cliché can become a cliché in the first place is when an idea is struck upon that's so great, it's repeated over and over again throughout the established genre's people either love, or love to hate.

This episode we attempt to determine where the line in the sand needs to be drawn when it comes to a unique idea, vs a captivating idea that allows the audience to become entranced in your stories.

And try to nail down a strategy one might use to get a satisfactory balance of the two to make their idea that much more powerful.

We hope you enjoy this episode of the HTDC Podcast. Thanks so much for listening, and if you'd like more comic art tips, tricks and tutorials be sure to visit www.howtodrawcomics.net.

-Clayton

The Art of Ed Foychuk: https://www.facebook.com/JuggerthaArt/

The Art of Clayton Barton: https://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

The topic for this weeks episode of the HTDC Podcast is on how to get commissions as a freelance artist.

When it comes to making money from art, clients are our bread and butter. Without them there's simply no way to financially sustain our creative trade full time. But where do we find them and how do we get them to give us work?

Ed and Clayton share there experience as freelance artists, sharing their insights on how they found, bonded and ultimately worked with clients who were a pleasure to partner up with.

The life of the freelance artist isn't an easy one, but when you can come up with a strategy that helps to promote your services and connect with people in the right way it makes the notion of doing your art for a living something that could realistically happen.

If you'd like to learn more about getting regular commissions as a freelance artist, here's a comprehensive article we've dedicated specially to the topic: https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/post/the-artists-guide-to-freelancing

We hope you enjoy this episode of the HTDC Podcast. Thanks for listening and as always keep on creating!

If you'd like more comic art tutorials, tips, tricks and videos be sure to visit our site at www.howtodrawcomics.net.

Check out Ed Foychuk's art at: https://www.facebook.com/JuggerthaArt/

Check out Clayton's art at: https://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

This episode Ed Foychuk and Clayton Barton get together to talk about the importance of setting milestones as an aspiring comic book artist.

Having goals in place that you can strive toward not only keeps you on track but holds you accountable to yourself and those around you. They give you a clear vision of what you should be focused on next to make real progress.

Without them you've got no compass to guide you along the way when the going gets tough. And at that point it's too easy to just give up.

By the end of this episode, our goal is for you to come up with some milestones of your own to aspire towards. We hope that you get a ton of value out of this episode! If you do, please tell your comic art friends to give it a listen. They'll appreciate it, and so will we.

Thanks for listening.

-Clayton

For more comic art tips, tricks, tutorials and courses, visit our website at https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/. We've got a ton of free resources for you to check out that'll make a huge difference in your learning curve and give your knowledge an extra boost of comic art insights.

Ed Foychuk's art Page: https://www.facebook.com/JuggerthaArt/

Clayton Barton's Art Page: https://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

In this special edition, bonus episode of the HTDC Podcast, Clayton Barton brings you his Friday lecture straight from the Virtual Comic Art Classroom (VCAC).

This talk focuses on the topics of:

1. Making 'Real' Progress In Your Art

2. Cultivating Patience and Long Term Determination

3. Having Love and Respect for the Art You Create

4. Drawing Groups of Characters on Double Page Spreads

We hope you enjoy this bonus episode of the HTDC Podcast. As always, thanks for listening - and keep on practicing!

-Clayton

For more comic art tutorials, videos, courses and resources visit our website at https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/

Check out our brand new guide to making comics here (it's free):

If you would like access to the Virtual Comic Art Classroom, you'll need to enroll in one of Clayton's course below.

Comic Book Character Creator: Superheroines - https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/superheroines

Figure Drawing Foundations: Proportions - https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/proportions-lesson

The HTDC Podcast is back after a month long break. Join Clayton Barton and Ed Foychuk as they break the ice with a freeflow dump of comic art knowledge and insights focused on topics such as -

How to conquer perfectionism

Self preservation on the job

How to promote yourself as an artist

Honing in on your mistake to give your abilities a boost

Getting past your setbacks as fast as possible!

Is it better to learn from realtime or timelapsed demonstations?

And much more.

We hope you enjoy the return of the HTDC Podcast. From now on we'll be bringing you a new episode every Monday. Look forward to joining you then.

For more comic art tips, tricks and tutorials visit https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/

Get Clayton's new course 'Comic Book Character Creator: Superheroines' at: https://www.howtodrawcomics.net/superheroines

Check out Ed Foychuk's art at: https://www.facebook.com/JuggerthaArt/

Check out Clayton Barton's art at:

http://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

In this episode of the How To Draw Comics Podcast, Clayton's joined by special guest creator Rob Arnold to talk about what it takes to get your first comic book off the ground.

Rob Arnold is the creator and writer of Replicator - a post apocalyptic sci-fi comic set in a dark future where disease, famine, violence and robot killing machines are an everyday occurrence.

This is a project Rob has been rallying behind for years now to fully realize it - and the journey hasn't been easy.

Like many creators, Rob turned to crowd funding platforms such as Kickstarter to financially back Replicator which he has successfully done now for two issues in a row (and soon hopefully three).

So he's got some experience behind him when it comes to getting a comic book successfully funded, and in this interview that's one of the main topics we cover among the many others that'll give you insight into getting your first creator-owned comic book out there.

We hope you enjoy this episode of the HTDC Podcast, it was an absolute pleasure to have Rob on the show.

Thanks for listening and if you find the info in this episode valuable, remember to share it with your other artist friends. They'll thank you for it!

-Clayton

Replicator Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/replicatorcomic/

Replicator Kickstarter: http://kck.st/2WoktRs

For more comic art tutorials, videos, courses and podcast episodes be sure to visit our site at: www.howtodrawcomics.net.