I started it for fun. Now it's my biggest creation yet

Seriously, I never thought I would devote so many days to a silly little thing. I was pulled in by the black hole called "The zone", perhaps?

Jun 21, 2024

If you follow me on Substack Notes, you may have seen this note:

(I was wrong. It took more than 2 months)

That’s right. I’ve been working on something. And it’ll be officially released in this newsletter next week on Friday.

I’ve wanted to create something like this for years, and I’ve finally decided to take the leap and create.

At first, I intended it to be a surprise but I was too excited that day and decided to post that note as a teaser. As time went by, I posted a few more notes like that as a follow-up. But, then I realized,

“Oh… Seems like this is gonna take much, MUCH longer to finish.”

I felt like I was setting high expectations for my silly little work and stopped posting about it on Substack Notes.

I told quite a number of people what I’m working on. And I might have told them too early, even when this ‘project’ was nowhere near completed. But, do I regret leaking the news too early?

If anything, I would apologize for making my Substack buddies and readers wait. We all have our own lives to take care of, so I assumed my readers wouldn’t be too concerned. (But, still, apologies if I made you wait).

To be honest, telling people made me more motivated to finish it. I needed to be held accountable for what I was making. Some of you were looking forward to it (and it was a huge source of motivation for me). So, I don't regret leaking the news too early.

Thanks for being patient.

You might be wondering, “What’s the thing you’ve been working on?”

Building a website? An online course? Gathering world-class chefs to figure out how my mom makes such delicious fried egg noodles and upload the recipe online?

No. It’s just a short, fictional, comic or “Manga” (Japanese-style comic), to be specific.

I am a huge fan of manga and Japanese artists. They’ve been my role models and inspiration for me as an artist for a long time.

So, I made a supernatural-themed manga, lightly sprinkled with comedy. (At least, that’s what I intended).

This is my first time making a manga, my first time drawing this many poses, hands, and facial expressions. And it’s my first time storyboarding, paneling, and writing dialogs.

It was a whole new beast of a challenge for a beginner digital artist like me. Since it was a lot of work, I couldn’t keep track of every aspect of this comic. So, I’m not completely satisfied with it. And that’s okay.

I made a lot of mistakes, learned a lot from them, and spent way more time than I intended-

I’m the type of person who prefers making slow progress. But, this time, even I think I wasted a lot of time due to the poor artistic and workflow choices I made. Too much of anything or too little of anything can’t be good. So, we search for the sweet spot.

Perfectionism also took a huge toll on the pace of my progress. It was exhausting (but also enjoyable).

I recently discovered that I’m not the only one who experienced this kind of situation.

Larsmartinson, the creator of the visual novel, “Tonoharu” spent a whopping 13 years on creating it.

“I started working on it in 2003, and expected to have the entire thing finished and ready to go to press by 2006.”

I heard him say through my computer screen.

He also considered the possibility that he could finish it by 2005. He assumed the worst-case scenario would be finishing by the first half of 2007.

“Never ever did I imagine I'd end up devoting a total of 13 years to it.”

When I heard him say that, I felt his words deeply resonate with me and my current circumstances.

When I started, I thought I’d make this comic purely for fun and spend 2 weeks (14 days) at most to finish it. I never thought I would end up spending 100 days on it. “I just have to draw less than 20 pages. How long could it take?” or so I thought.

Larsmartinson also pointed out some important points that could save lives:

“I was 25 years old when I started Tonoharu and didn't wrap it up until the age of 38. If I were to continue at the same glacial pace for future projects, I could finish two or maybe three more things before I died or was too old to work.”

With more of his words hitting me like bricks, I realized I could not spend too much time on one little project.

The scenario he described could become my reality because I tend to spend time obsessing over tiny details and it’s not a good idea. (He shared more about this topic in this video: 4 Time-Saving Tips (from a guy who spent 13 YEARS drawing a comic). I highly recommend you watch it.)

On the bright side, I learned a ton of techniques and found ways to cut time and progress faster.

Just drawing the first 10 pages made me notice that my art has improved. (Which readers may not notice). I got faster at sketching and drawing smooth lines. I used references and drew a lot of things for the first time. I would’ve never learned how to design characters and draw backgrounds if I hadn’t started making this manga.

I feel like I got a few steps closer to drawing like the artists I admire.

Manga (Japanese comics) are different from European comics. So, I want to tell you a few things about Manga and Manga artists.

A few things you may want to know:

A Japanese manga artist is also called a “Mangaka''. Who illustrate their original stories or adopt a light novel. And mostly draw in black and white either using ink and paper or digitally.
Mine is a black-and-white digital manga. I’m using the ‘Wacom One (non-display) pen tablet for making it. (‘cause manga supplies are expensive-).
Western comics are formatted to be read from left to right. In contrast, manga are formatted to be read from right to left.
Unlike other manga, mine is to be read from left to right. (I once read a webcomic called “God Of Highschool”. It’s a manga but its format is the same as Western comics. Mine is just like that).
A “One-shot” is a short one-chapter manga which usually has around 15-45 pages. The story starts and ends with minimum context and there might be no continuation of the story.
The one I’m drawing is a one-shot manga with about 18 pages of main content.
A lot of professional mangakas hire assistants to help them with drawing. Hiring assistants are pretty expensive for many mangakas, so there are manga artists who do everything by themselves. Storyboarding, inking, screen-toning, drawing backgrounds, adding speech bubbles, etc.
As you’ve guessed, I have no assistants. I’m an aspiring solo mangaka as of writing this article.

Video documentaries of mangakas:

If you’re interested in the workflow of mangakas and curious to learn more, here are a few videos I recommend you watch:

My mom was slightly upset that I’m publishing this manga, free for all to read, haha. But, I’m considering the possibility that I may paywall it in the far future.

I don’t have plans to paywall this manga now. (It’ll be listed as the 5th episode of the Art Journal series). So, be sure to drop by and read it next Friday!

Before you go, check out a few articles I read this week: