Comic Prep – Announcing Development for “Kindred Not”
Comic prep has begun for my next comic, Kindred Not. Yay! Having wrapped up production on two comics and countless drawing challenges, I am ready for a new project to take on. And since making comics is so much fun, I am excited to make another. But even more so, I am excited to share its development with you!
*Update: Kindred Not Comic has now launched. Read Episode 1 of Kindred Not now.
How This Project Benefits You!
As development continues for my new comic, Kindred Not, I will document the process here on the blog. This means lots of development, behind-the-scenes, concept art, and comic-making advice is coming your way. Anyone with interests in making comics, drawing advice, writing, project management, and/or just pretty art will love following along. So be sure to check out my articles on drawing and comics. I have already written many regarding the creation of Kindred Not.
What Is Comic Prep & Concept Art?
Comic Prep
Comic prep is the organization, research, and planning that creators do before jumping into a comic. Making comics is more than just having a grand ole time drawing pretty pictures. Some creators like to just jump into making a comic, but orderly types like me love to plan everything all out. Doing comic prep helps the whole comic making process run a lot more smoothly. You can read more details about making comics in my comprehensive guide to making a webcomic. As well, you can check out the character turnaround sheets for Kindred Not.
Concept Art
Concept art is a subset of comic prep. However, many other fields besides comics use it too. Concept art is a tool for developing video games, tv shows, movies, apps, and even children’s books. It helps people explore and develop the look and feel for their upcoming projects. In my case, I will be making concept art to help develop branding, settings/backgrounds, character designs, and props for my new comic. Be sure to check out the concept art for Kindred Not.
Other Examples
There is a whole bunch of comic prep and concept art for my previous comic, Derailed. A lot of this art is from before even starting to draw the comic pages or announcing it to anyone online. You can see some concept art, prep work, and bonus art I made for Derailed below. To see these drawings up close, check out the extras page for Derailed.
Comparing This Comic to My Previous Comics
I purposely kept my first two comics, Derailed and The Plant Witch, manageable lengths. I made these comics despite not having much experience. After all, a great way to get better at making comics is to actually make them. Now I have learned a ton from making them. These comics are a bit on the shorter side, but still plenty long to have enveloping stories. If life gets in the way, I will cut back on the length, but my plan is to make Kindred Not much longer than my previous comics.
Additionally, for each comic I make, I try to increase the quality and skill level exhibited. For instance, the first comic I made was simple and in black and white. Then, the second comic I made had many more panels and a more complex style. Now, for Kindred Not, I have been upping my art game even more. I have spent quite a lot of time doing studies and working on improving my skills. So now, the art for this new comic includes much more detailed characters and backgrounds.
Comic Prep for Kindred Not
Project Timeframe
Development for Kindred Not is made with the intention of it being a much longer webcomic. Comics can take years to gain traction, so ideally it would be nice to spend many years publishing content for Kindred Not. Making a longer comic also allows for more dialogue to be included. Additionally, it allows readers to have enough time to get to know the characters and really build sympathy and attachment to them.
However, making comics is a lot of work. I just spent several years and countless hours finishing, Derailed. While working on Derailed, I kind of fell into a never ending loop of rushing to get pages put out weekly. I did learn a lot and had a blast. However, while working on it, I failed to do as many studies or just random art for fun. So, for now, I am in no rush to finish the development of Kindred Not.
Recently, I have spent three quarters of a year just improving my craft, doing comic prep work, and adding more helpful content to this blog. Currently, I am drawing the pages for Kindred Not and making a buffer. Which simply means I am drawing pages, but not publishing them yet. This will allow me to steadily release episodes in the future, likely at a rate of an episode every other week.
*Update: Kindred Not Comic has now launched. Read Episode 1 of Kindred Not now. I have been drawing comic pages, making a page buffer, and creating hype on social media to grow awareness about the comic. I now have lots of episodes drawn and ready to go so I can publish them online every other week. Comic episodes have now started releasing.
Project Commitment
I have a very stubborn attitude of only taking up projects I know I can finish. Likewise, I have a stubborn attitude of not abandoning projects. This is a good thing though, because it means I end up finishing every project I start and do not leave a disappointed audience.
I will do my best to finish bring Kindred Not to completion. I will not reboot or abandon the comic just because I am tired of it or unsatisfied with it. I will only give up on the comic if there are major life circumstances preventing me from working on it. When the comic is complete, I hope to make it available for print as a graphic novel.
Progress So Far
I have made a “Preparation Checklist” of everything I plan to do for the development of Kindred Not. You can see the list below. In green, are the things I already have put a bunch of work into or have completely finished. For example, I have worked on the research, rough ideas, and story draft categories on the list. Additionally, I have even gotten started on some of the other things on the checklist. Soon, I will draft up some articles to share more specifics on my progress and some helpful things I have learned along the way.
If you are interested in making your own webcomic, you can check out a similar list I have compiled. It outlines all the steps on how to make a webcomic.
*Update: Comic development is complete. Check out the about page for links to the concept art, turnarounds, bonus art, bonus comic, world map, etc.
What Is the Comic’s Story About?
For now, I want to keep the storyline under-wraps to avoid spoilers. You can read about the comic for a little more info though. Also, I will say it falls under these categories: adventure, drama, dystopian, historical, coming-of-age, family, friendship, life, war, tyranny, love, and romance. Additionally, it will cover some heavy topics, but stay PG.
How to Follow the Comic Prep & Development
Anybody who loves making comics, drawing advice, writing, project management, or just pretty art will enjoy following this project!
*Update: Development and concept art is complete. Find out more on the comic’s about page.
The best place to follow the creation of the comic is to join the mailing list for this site. Likewise, you can follow this site’s RSS feed. You can also follow on social media. I am currently most active on Twitter. Here are my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, & YouTube.
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