How I set a new standard for myself (+ Shiryo: behind the scenes)
The story of how I made something I thought I couldn't make. (+Behind the scenes and more!)
[Note: This Publication’s name will be changed soon. I wrote an article as to why I am changing it for the 2nd time. You can read it here: Changing my name... again (I made a mistake)]
Hey there!
My draft articles are piling up and I feel that they're losing their “Freshness”. So you’re receiving an extra article this week. (I usually notify about sending out an article out of my schedule through notes and threads).
Having achieved something no matter how small it is, I can’t help but, direct my energy and the feeling of accomplishment toward my writing.
But, I won’t repeat the same things I talked about in my previous articles, so rest assured. This is the backstory of how I was led to make my first-ever manga (Japanese-style comic). I included some new additions like the pictures of when the manga was in progress and my complete “Progress Journal” (for my free subscribers) at the end too.
Optional: consider reading my previous articles about making a manga if you missed them:
A few months ago, I felt stuck. Like, nothing interesting was happening and I had no motivation to do anything that I usually do.
At that time, I was reading “Noragami”, a hit manga that even got a beautiful anime adaptation. Every time I read it, I think of how awesome it would be if I could draw like its creators, “Adachitoka”. They are a two-person duo.
But, then I began to think about all the amazing mangakas who work solo. “Would I be able to make a manga by myself?“ I've thought about making one for a long time. But, I've always brushed it off by thinking:
“Probably in the future“
“One day I will make one“
“Will make one once I get the essential tools“
But, I was probably afraid of being judged and ruining my “Reputation”- That was so dumb! I looked over the Wacom tablet that was gifted to me a few weeks ago.
“I have this drawing tablet now. This much is enough. How cool would it be If I made a silly little manga and surprised my Substack buddies and family with it?”
Of course, self-doubt never forgets to show itself and coerce me into thinking that this is a bad idea.
“But, I don’t know how to draw facial expressions and poses…“
Even so, I wanted to make something, anything that could churn me into action and do the things I wanted to do for years.
“When and how will I learn to facial expressions and poses then?“
Then the thought crossed my mind, “Maybe not just me. We all have an idea to make something. But, don’t execute it because we think we’re not good enough.” Was I afraid of messing up this “Wonderful idea“, perhaps? (It was not even that good and I’m sure I could come up with way better ideas in the future).
Why would I save an idea for when I’m good at something? How would I get good if I don’t start practicing now??
I got motivated on my own to work on this wonderful-silly-or-not idea. I was still new to digital art when I started. So, I thought, “I’ll use this chance to practice and learn various things!“
I started by writing down a super-short story.
I like any story that piques my interest. But, I was mostly into shounen anime and manga like “Jujutsu Kaisen” or “Noragami”. If I were to write about them and list the things I liked about them, I would end up with a big bunch of articles. (Maybe I’ll create a second publication and gush about my favorite stuff, one day).
My story seems to be really influenced by Noragami. I wasn’t too focused on creating a unique and original story because I was just doing it for fun (at the start).
I took some A4 sheets and spent 9 days drawing the storyboard (Slowly, taking my time). After a lot of trial and error, I finally finished it and…
Well, that sucked.
But, I still continued. I thought I’d change a few things as I drew it digitally. After finishing the storyboard, I rewrote some dialogue and sketched a very simplified anatomy to add some dimension to the characters.
On some pages, I redrew the panels from different angles, rewrote the dialogs again, and added some extra stuff like one of the character’s bag falling off from shock.
Sometimes the storyboard was way off from the finished product that I’m not going to show how it was. On this page you see below, the speech bubbles are different in the sketch than on the final page because I changed and rearranged the dialogs a bit on the final artwork too.
I should have finished sketching everything roughly, made a solid storyboard that I’m satisfied with, and then moved on to lineart, coloring, and yada yada.
But, I didn’t do it in order. One day, I colored the characters on page 8 and the next day I drew backgrounds for page 17. The workflow was chaotic.
When I started, even I didn’t know my comic would look the way it does right now. I intended it to look way more simple.
When I finished coloring, It looked too plain to me so I added shading to the characters and also drew the background in more detail. I kept adding more things, making more work for myself as I went on.
I kept ‘improving’ it to the point that it took 105 days to finish. Maybe it was a foolish thing to do. Maybe I should've kept it simple as I initially intended. But, I’ll let myself off the hook because I learned a lot.
One important thing I learned is that the free software I used, “Krita” is more suited for digital paintings and illustrations than for comics and manga. After researching a bit, I learned that Clip Studio Paint (CSP) would be a great software for making manga. But, It is not free and we can’t afford it so I kept using Krita no matter how difficult and time-consuming it was. (Lesson learned, I would have to invest in the software, CSP if I want to do this seriously).
With this manga, I made, “Shiryo”, I set a new standard for myself and my digital art.
I now know I shouldn’t draw a single line 10 times, undoing and redoing it till it looked flawless in my eyes. Because a line, slightly crooked, is not even going to be noticeable when we look at the picture as a whole.
I now know where to cut corners. I now know in which parts to focus. I now know that I should learn to manage the time which I will never get back. I will surpass my manga with the next big thing I create. (And I already know what that is going to be. I'll be sure to share about it one day.)
Subscriber exclusive!
I wrote a progress journal in which I recorded the 1 - 105 days I spent making my manga “Shiryo”. It has everything I learned and every change I made throughout making this manga (in text and links. It doesn’t contain any images). But, I wrote it in an overly familiar way like how I would send a text message to a best friend. I honestly don’t want just anyone to read it. So, I made it subscriber-exclusive by only sending it through my newsletter chat. If you’re a free subscriber, click the link below to give it a read!
Link: Access to my complete manga-making journal.
Before you go, check out a few articles I read this week (This week I mostly read about art. Check out these artists!):
That’s it for today. If you liked this post, you can let me know by leaving a quick like, comment, restack, or share this letter with others.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and I hope it was helpful. Come again next week on Friday for a ✨new post✨
- Harshini
It was nice to learn about how you plan and your process of making the manga. Thankyou for writing this 🥰
Hey this was a great read to learn about your process flow and also in setting your new standards. I enjoyed reading about this journey.You gave me some ideas . In a perfect world I would try a pottery Manga maybe. But I have zero time to do it up! Maybe another time!