Comics itself is a medium and practice. But it also can be host to lots of different working mediums: traditional comics materials, new digital tools, watercolor, printmaking—whatever your heart desires! How do you choose yours?
(Watercolor illustration by Jess Ruliffson)
What medium feels gratifying, what feels satisfying, what is too labor intensive right now? Maybe you are still learning a new medium, and figuring out how to make short experiments to get fluent and/or fast. Try practicing it every day—returning to the "terrible anvil of daily deadlines" to establish your style!
Hyena Hell once said to avoid using materials that present more of a block to you. Working in the ‘wrong’ medium, i.e. one we are unfamiliar with, can be a kind of defensive armor against finishing the work: "Once I get good at this I will start/finish my comic."
Don’t wait, call today! WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW? Use that first.
Some tips or things to try when choosing a medium for your comics:
Do what works for you, not what people say you should use
Find the tools that feel good in your hand and help you express yourself
Set parameters for yourself to not get overwhelmed by choice
Play with 'weirder' mediums like photo comics and collage
Use whatever materials are available to you (financially, spatially)
Get the fancy stuff if you want!
Change mediums between projects
There's lots more on the call, so give it a listen!
And join us for next week's episode as we get deep into COLOR!
You can watch the call live by joining the SAW FLOW + PUBLISH member group, where you'll also get access to a supportive community and expert guidance on getting your comics published! Sign up here: https://learn.sawcomics.org/courses/comics-flow-group
See you next time!
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