Drawing Speed

James M. Smith · 10-10-2006, 11:08 PM

Hey,

I've just started clocking the time it takes for me to draw a sequential page, and right now, it's about 20 hours per page.

Does anyone know if that is normal for someone relatively new to sequential pencilling, and does anyone know what tends to cause slowdowns and how to speed up? Finally, what is a good target page rate?

Thanks!

James

The-Spirit · 10-10-2006, 11:16 PM

I heard once that Art Adams took 18 mths to do the first issue of longshot, he had to figure it all out, plus he has a detailed style. I'm sure once you get the first issue done subsequent issues will start to speed along.

The main thing "and something I'm learning" is get it done.

BKMDog · 10-11-2006, 05:54 AM

The average speed of penciling - average, meaning what most editors seem to feel is acceptable - is a page a day. "Acceptable" is defined as a speed that will allow you to finish a book a month, and that, on average, is what a lot of pencilers do. Now of course, there are guys / gals both faster and slower than that rate and many who do more than a book a month.

THE most important factor in speed is not how fast you move the pencil. It's how fast you make your decisions about moving that pencil. And again; for some that means a great deal of planning, while others get hopelessly bogged down with planning and have a much better result if they just start and go through the book. It's different things for different people.

The one thing that helps you personally find out how best to manage that for yourself is experience. Actually doing it. And there's no substitute for that, obviously.

jedipencil · 10-11-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BKMDog

The average speed of penciling - average, meaning what most editors seem to feel is acceptable - is a page a day. "Acceptable" is defined as a speed that will allow you to finish a book a month, and that, on average, is what a lot of pencilers do. Now of course, there are guys / gals both faster and slower than that rate and many who do more than a book a month.

THE most important factor in speed is not how fast you move the pencil. It's how fast you make your decisions about moving that pencil. And again; for some that means a great deal of planning, while others get hopelessly bogged down with planning and have a much better result if they just start and go through the book. It's different things for different people.

The one thing that helps you personally find out how best to manage that for yourself is experience. Actually doing it. And there's no substitute for that, obviously.

I think that is one of the best explanations I have ever read on the subject...I think I understand it now.... (even though I did not ask the question)

Biofungus · 10-11-2006, 08:19 PM

Slowdowns are easy to 'predict'. Unfamiliarity. Have you spent time practising lots of buildings? If not, then backgrounds and architexture are going to slow you down.

Do you draw lots of action/dynamic poses, but little "everyday" poses? Talking scenes and the like are going to slow you down.

Do you find you have to reference a lot of material to make it look alright? Again, slowing you down.

None of these things are bad per se, but the more you work at them, the more familiar they'll become, the faster you'll get.

dano · 10-11-2006, 08:37 PM

I would say 20 hours is WAY too much. You need to pick up your drawing speed.
BKMDog had great insight.
Try doing 1 minute gesture drawing exercises. Draw a figure, get the essence of the form and movement correct, in under a minute. After you do like 1000 of these you're going to feel much more comfortable and confident about laying down lines on the comic page, and i bet your speed picks up significantly.

j giar · 10-12-2006, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano

I would say 20 hours is WAY too much. You need to pick up your drawing speed.
BKMDog had great insight.
Try doing 1 minute gesture drawing exercises. Draw a figure, get the essence of the form and movement correct, in under a minute. After you do like 1000 of these you're going to feel much more comfortable and confident about laying down lines on the comic page, and i bet your speed picks up significantly.

This is excellent advice. We used to do this at he start of every anatomy class at school and it loosens you up and cuts down onn the amount of lines you put down that disgust you...less time erasing.

Also I think subject matter makes a huge difference. I was involved in a project that at first I was ecstatic to be a part of. As time went on and the story began to take a ridiculous turn..I found it more and more difficult to put anything down on paper!

Scribbly · 10-13-2006, 11:20 AM

Under deadline, a good average is a pencil page per day,8/10 hours work.
More time is not business for you,and scary for your publisher.
But if you are an starter,don't be worry about time,"be" worry about your QUALITY LEVEL.
If you need to redo a panel o even the whole page,to fix an expression, a small detail, do it.
Don't hesitate.
Later, on time, when you work running under deadlines, probably you will be unable of such luxuries.
But ready to do that if is needed.
Your quality level is mainly.Is your achievement.Velocity is a secondary step.
Like any discipline,start slow but... good.
Velocity is going to came to you with security and confidence.
And those are coming with practice, practice and self criticism and continuous adjustments.
In time you are going to find your own shorcuts.
Scribbly

Calloway · 10-13-2006, 02:26 PM

eh, 20 hours is fine at this point. The more you draw the quicker it comes. I started at 2 days a page and they sucked. I got better and could go from 4 to 12 hours...if I tried now it'd take a couple months since I apparently suck now and don't like to draw anymore.

JBB · 10-14-2006, 10:50 AM

I once used to make a panel per page and at the end I would put them all together in the same page using CorelDraw. I felt that by reducing the original drawings, they would appear tohave better quality and detail, and I would have a greater flexibility to compose the page. Unfortunately, that used to take me a lot of time, like a week to make an entire page. And the end result wasn't all that great. And that's simply not admissable.

Now, I make a page in paper, and depending on the difficulty and/or level of detail, I usually get a page done in about 5 to 15 hours. I also find that the end result is also better and it's a lot easier to build the page.

Sometimes, drawing things faster implies doing things better. When you start to be anal aout every detail, you loose perspective a waste a lot of time.

MadCow Menu · 10-16-2006, 05:34 PM

If it looks like shit, your drawing too fast.
If it looks too good, your drawing too slow.

Speed comes with time young grasshopper.

NILgravity · 10-19-2006, 09:33 AM

You should experiment with your process a little. if you're doing detailed thumbnails/ layout pages first stop, and try and be more spontanious. If you're not doing layout pages and/or thumbnails, start and maybe you won't spend so much time figuring out compositions.
So try a few different things and you might shave some time off your work. Just don't get like me where you are experimenting so much you never stay on one thing long enough to get into a groove.

James M. Smith · 10-19-2006, 12:15 PM

Man... this help is phenomenal. I'll keep this all in mind, and I'll be sure to work on 1 minute gesture drawings. Right now, I think that the main thing that is slowing me down is the subject matter (I'm drawing a sequential from a movie for fun and practice). I *hugely* appreciate all of the help.

James

10-10-2006, 11:08 PM	#1
James M. Smith Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pascagoula, MS Posts: 161	Drawing Speed Hey, I've just started clocking the time it takes for me to draw a sequential page, and right now, it's about 20 hours per page. Does anyone know if that is normal for someone relatively new to sequential pencilling, and does anyone know what tends to cause slowdowns and how to speed up? Finally, what is a good target page rate? Thanks! James

10-16-2006, 05:34 PM	#11
MadCow Menu Ken Haeser Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Nude Jersey Posts: 1,613	If it looks like shit, your drawing too fast. If it looks too good, your drawing too slow. Speed comes with time young grasshopper. __________________ Ken Haeser Tips From the Drawing Board Moderator The Living Corpse! The Living Corpse Myspace

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10-10-2006, 11:16 PM	#2
The-Spirit Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,151	I heard once that Art Adams took 18 mths to do the first issue of longshot, he had to figure it all out, plus he has a detailed style. I'm sure once you get the first issue done subsequent issues will start to speed along. The main thing "and something I'm learning" is get it done.

10-11-2006, 05:54 AM	#3
BKMDog Registered Trademark Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,242	The average speed of penciling - average, meaning what most editors seem to feel is acceptable - is a page a day. "Acceptable" is defined as a speed that will allow you to finish a book a month, and that, on average, is what a lot of pencilers do. Now of course, there are guys / gals both faster and slower than that rate and many who do more than a book a month. THE most important factor in speed is not how fast you move the pencil. It's how fast you make your decisions about moving that pencil. And again; for some that means a great deal of planning, while others get hopelessly bogged down with planning and have a much better result if they just start and go through the book. It's different things for different people. The one thing that helps you personally find out how best to manage that for yourself is experience. Actually doing it. And there's no substitute for that, obviously.

10-11-2006, 08:19 PM	#5
Biofungus Not for your amusement Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Nega-Earth Posts: 22,083	Slowdowns are easy to 'predict'. Unfamiliarity. Have you spent time practising lots of buildings? If not, then backgrounds and architexture are going to slow you down. Do you draw lots of action/dynamic poses, but little "everyday" poses? Talking scenes and the like are going to slow you down. Do you find you have to reference a lot of material to make it look alright? Again, slowing you down. None of these things are bad per se, but the more you work at them, the more familiar they'll become, the faster you'll get.

10-11-2006, 08:37 PM	#6
dano . Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Penna Posts: 923	I would say 20 hours is WAY too much. You need to pick up your drawing speed. BKMDog had great insight. Try doing 1 minute gesture drawing exercises. Draw a figure, get the essence of the form and movement correct, in under a minute. After you do like 1000 of these you're going to feel much more comfortable and confident about laying down lines on the comic page, and i bet your speed picks up significantly.

10-13-2006, 11:20 AM	#8
Scribbly Easy Reader Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Amerika Posts: 3,736	Under deadline, a good average is a pencil page per day,8/10 hours work. More time is not business for you,and scary for your publisher. But if you are an starter,don't be worry about time,"be" worry about your QUALITY LEVEL. If you need to redo a panel o even the whole page,to fix an expression, a small detail, do it. Don't hesitate. Later, on time, when you work running under deadlines, probably you will be unable of such luxuries. But ready to do that if is needed. Your quality level is mainly.Is your achievement.Velocity is a secondary step. Like any discipline,start slow but... good. Velocity is going to came to you with security and confidence. And those are coming with practice, practice and self criticism and continuous adjustments. In time you are going to find your own shorcuts. Scribbly

10-13-2006, 02:26 PM	#9
Calloway I haz cookiez an kool-aid Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Earth Posts: 9,385	eh, 20 hours is fine at this point. The more you draw the quicker it comes. I started at 2 days a page and they sucked. I got better and could go from 4 to 12 hours...if I tried now it'd take a couple months since I apparently suck now and don't like to draw anymore.

10-14-2006, 10:50 AM	#10
JBB Comic Penciller Wannabe Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Posts: 21	I once used to make a panel per page and at the end I would put them all together in the same page using CorelDraw. I felt that by reducing the original drawings, they would appear tohave better quality and detail, and I would have a greater flexibility to compose the page. Unfortunately, that used to take me a lot of time, like a week to make an entire page. And the end result wasn't all that great. And that's simply not admissable. Now, I make a page in paper, and depending on the difficulty and/or level of detail, I usually get a page done in about 5 to 15 hours. I also find that the end result is also better and it's a lot easier to build the page. Sometimes, drawing things faster implies doing things better. When you start to be anal aout every detail, you loose perspective a waste a lot of time.

10-19-2006, 09:33 AM	#12
NILgravity genius at large Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Left my heart in San Francisco, now in BFE, MO Posts: 555	You should experiment with your process a little. if you're doing detailed thumbnails/ layout pages first stop, and try and be more spontanious. If you're not doing layout pages and/or thumbnails, start and maybe you won't spend so much time figuring out compositions. So try a few different things and you might shave some time off your work. Just don't get like me where you are experimenting so much you never stay on one thing long enough to get into a groove.

10-19-2006, 12:15 PM	#13
James M. Smith Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pascagoula, MS Posts: 161	Man... this help is phenomenal. I'll keep this all in mind, and I'll be sure to work on 1 minute gesture drawings. Right now, I think that the main thing that is slowing me down is the subject matter (I'm drawing a sequential from a movie for fun and practice). I hugely appreciate all of the help. James