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verticalfish — TOW-6 How to Draw Fast
Published: 2012-07-07 12:21:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 48711; Favourites: 1828; Downloads: 929
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######### UPDATE 12/6/2013 #########Hey guys. It's been a year and a half since I uploaded this tutorial and I've gotten a ton of interesting feedback. In the time that has elapsed, I have discovered advanced ways of drawing that increased my ability to draw faster. A lot of people have been asking for an explanation as to how I update so quickly, so I am going to add these new methods to this tutorial as they fall under the category of speeding up your drawing skill.
Enjoy!
Oh and I think I'll make it a tradition of listing the amount of work I've done whenever I update this tutorial with another time-saving tip/trick for you to use.
Currently my comics are at...
TSB - page 799
Hinata - page 200 (completed to page 213)
Lindbergh - page 199
TTX - page 108 (completed to page 143)
Glyphmaster - page 32
Kryth - page 2 (T-T)
So all in all, 1388 pages in 3.5 years, 397 pages per year, 1.08 pages per day.
#########
So I just reached page 699 of my longest comic, TSB, and I realized that my 2 year anniversary was last month - June 13th. That means that in 2 years, I've drawn 900+ pages.
Last week I did a tutorial on how to draw things going fast, but this week's tutorial is about all the tips and tricks that I picked up over these 2 years that allowed me to draw at such a rate while balancing my work in medical school.
Sorry it's so late! This one took me a while!
Be sure to check out my other tutorials:
fav.me/d2t74ng Background Perspective
fav.me/d2wbclx Digital Editing of traditional media
fav.me/d3egjao Webcomic Process for Tablet
fav.me/d3f9mdv SFX in PSCS 1: Quick Motion BGs
fav.me/d51ivqb TOW-1: Photoshop Motion Lines Tutorial
fav.me/d52astl TOW-2: Lightning Tutorial
fav.me/d54cjz1 TOW-3: Chains & Metallics
fav.me/d54f0xa TOW-4: Shading faces
fav.me/d5513i7 TOW-5: Depicting Velocity
...and while you're at it, check out my comics!
The Sixth Bar - verticalfish.deviantart.com/ga…
Lindbergh -verticalfish.deviantart.com/ga…
Glyphmaster - verticalfish.deviantart.com/ga…
Related content
Comments: 143
i am too lazy, i gonna do crappy draws, idk what to do someone pls do a resume.
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Many thanks for this tutorial. A friend directed me to this in one of our correspondences -- I can't believe I had no idea how to use most of these before (I've used SAI since I was in high school, and now I'm in medical school!)
I've long contemplated turning my notes into a format closer to comics (I take notes, but I find I do not learn as effectively from that approach compared to drawing the concepts out,) but the time it takes me to finish a single page intimidates me from using it as my primary study strategy. (I also have some side projects, but that's another story altogether.)
I have a lot of respect for you, Doctor.
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One of the most useful digital technique tutorials on da. Period.
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This is really awesome and I feel that by doing this, I may finally be able to put more time in my drawings. Figuratively of course. I tend to not like spending hours on a drawings, so I often quit too early before I do my best work.
A quick question though. I'm left handed, so I'm wondering what I should set for my hot-keys. Sorry if I sound a little dumb for asking. I'm really pretty new to hot-keys.
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I would use the ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard as the pivot point, instead of the one on the left. Put the tablet on the left side of the computer instead of the right and set up your hotkeys as a mirror image of the setup that I have described above using the ctrl key on the right side. Let me know if you have more questions!
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it would be awesome if you made a photoshop tutorial on 3D modeling cities, such knowledge would be invaluable to me for an original comic I have planned.
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This is something I'm planning to do, although I'm not quite sure when I'll get around to it...
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Thank you so much for the suggestion about 3d rendered bgs! I had no idea you could do that, and the possibilities are insane. I tried Sketchup today, but I'm practically in tears! This will help me so much! Thank you so so much!
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I remember having that revelation years ago. It was such an eye-opener and a major time saver and I'm glad I could share it with others. ^^
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Oh gawd thanks. I was searching a good guide to get good keybinds for SAI for months ;_;
A question on your 'very fast' tips though. 3D modeling is good for things like buildings/scifi in term of time efficiency, but what would you do if you needed to draw, for example, a forest or something really really detailed that need more "smooth" lines ?
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Haha, I had the same problem. Typically what I do when I have to use a detailed background shot that can't be modeled, I'll draw it once in a really big, Hi-res file and I'll use pieces of that file for multiple BGs (sometimes even all of them) of that type.
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Not a bad idea, I must figure out how to be efficient with that now. ^^
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This is a really good tutorial! Thank you, saves a lot of time. ;-; I don't know if you ever DID do a 3D tutorial, I'll have to check your page.
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Not yet, but I'm planning one!
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In a good week, a 4 pages of lines per day, using 1 weekend day to do bgs and text and the rest. So 6x4 = 24 per week, I guess. That's if I have free time, though. I have a pretty intense job that can sometimes be 14+ hours a day, so I usually don't get to do that much. I've had to develop these techniques so I can draw at least enough for daily releases.
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Wow, that's a lot of pages for one week! Never thought that lineart can consume more time than BGs and stuff XD
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Oh yeah, lineart is probably the most time consuming step. I've learned how to do all the other steps more quickly, but lineart... there's really no way to speed that up
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God damn this is awesome and the tip about including 3d rendering into a webcomic is a pretty sweet idea actually thought about it myself but didn't know how to implement it lol. You sir are truly amazing and I don't know how you do it all lol cerfice to say I'm really impressed and tbh I admire your talent and I hope that one day I will be as good as you if not better lol. Well keep up the awesome work dude . P.s would you be able to do a tutorial on how you implement 3d models/renders into your comics/manga's cause that would be really useful for quite a few people I think including me lol. P.s2 we have already kinda talked before lol but I'm know under a different name son inkblazers, I'm know by Rogue-spectre101 on there .
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Yeah, it saves a lot of time and energy doing stupid things like drawing the same cylindrical object over and over again and getting the perspective wrong and stuff lol. Thank you for your praise. Many people have asked for 3D tutorials and I think I'm going to do one soon - maybe next month, so keep an eye out for that one!
And in the meantime, check out this 3D reactor I made for the revamp of TTX I'm doing for Saturday-AM: fav.me/d7rhf91
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Wow, all your tips sound extremely useful! I especially like your batch lineart idea!
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Thanks. It works wonders! Just check out my journal and you'll see~~
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Hey, your tutorial is very helpful, but do you know a 3d modeling programm which is not too expensive and easy to learn?
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Google sketch-up is free, and rather simple.
I myself use Cinema 4D, which is a bit expensive but has more features.
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this will certainly help when I start my webcomic
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the 3d rendering stuff...I SO WANNA HAVE A TUTORIAL ON THAT!!PLZ
Idk why people dont want that...
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Into the tutorial section it goes. Thanks mate. I think there's some good stuff here.
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I bet the 3d rendering would be really handy for classrooms or schools, with rooms that all look the same. You could render a single room, with the desks and black board, then add details later, like posters or such, to distinguish between individual rooms. But, I do wonder, how often would you have to use that setting for the amount of time it takes to render it to be better than just drawing it? Like, if you had your characters passing through a town that they wouldn't be in for more than a few chapters, do you think it would be worth while making a model of it? I hadn't actually ever heard of 3d rendering before and I know zip about it, so that's why I ask.
But it's all very interesting. Sometimes, just randomly in the middle of the day, I'll think "20 pages a week" and just shake my head in disbelief and awe. You're amazing, man.
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You bring up an important point - choosing what to model is important.
If it's only for 1-2 pages, then it may not be time-efficient to model an entire town. But, if it is for 16-20 pages (a chapter), then you have to consider that it will take 10-20 minutes drawing each panel's background vs. modeling the town in 3 hours and spending 10-20 seconds rendering different views and fitting them to each panel.
It also depends on the complexity of the object you are choosing to model. Something like Rinnosuke's sword is so easy to draw that there's no point in rendering it - it would actually take more time using 3D rendering software. But for something like all the MGVs in TTX - they are too complex to draw over and over, and 3D rendering also makes strange perspective shots easy as well.
Hope this helps!
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It does help! I'd actually love to see you do a tutorial on 3D rendering. It looks like something that has a large learning curve, but could also be really helpful ^^ but I don't want you to feel pressured or anything since I know you have a lot going on ><''
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I agree that would be very useful! I tried to use Cinema 4D but had no idea where to begin >.<
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I may do one sooner or later.
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While I'd like to attempt this new four-page batch style, my only concern is my computer's speed. What dimensions are these project files? I have CS6 on my laptop, but working on an 11x17" workspace for a comic page last night was freezing Photoshop. :/
Any suggestions, maybe? 
Towards the end of the project I spent a lot of time just waiting for layers to become visible or for the program to save the progress completely.
I'd be interested to see your process of modeling your stuff. I'm limited to Blender but use it a lot for my game art stuff. How do you get the models to be white/shaded with black outlines?
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Don't work in inches - they are huge. Working in pixels is better.
My final single comic pages are 900 x 1200 px in dimension.
I typically draw the pages 2x as big, so each page is 1800 x 2400.
So a document containing 4 pages is 3600 x 4800 px.
I may due a tutorial on how to use C4D (my 3D modeling program) in the future.
One of the features of C4D is materials, which you can use to paint your models. (I especially like the reflective component ^^)
The outlines come from a render setting called sketch/toon, which I will explain in that 3-D tutorial.
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I see, thanks, that's about the size I usually work with (1200x1600)
good to know xD
oh my o-o I've been needing a shader like that for the 3D renders my boss is having me make for sprites.
C4D is far too pricey though ;-;
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I actually didn't pay for most of the software on my comp *.*
The programs are all way too expensive.
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oh you lucky ***! D:
lol.
do you model more organic stuff too or do you draw that manually and use 3D for buildings/more geometrically configured scenery?
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