SorcerusHorserus

Ah, that's quite interesting and makes a lot of sense! It seems like it could somewhat be compared to story-boarding for animation too, in the sense that you start out with the simplistic/basic framework and flesh it out from there. That's probably not too different from the way most people would tackle it... I might just overthink things a bit. Thank you so much for your answer! I'll make a point to remember it.

 

That chapter turned out pretty differently than what you just described, I notice~ It's sort of interesting too that you would put "ZZ" in places where one would expect Firefly's name. Was "ZZ" a placeholder until you decided who to use, a nickname for another character entirely, or something else?

You're welcome- I hope you find it useful!

Firefly was originally a character called 'Zephne Zephyr' who had a similar color scheme. The name stuck so I still use the nickname 'ZZ' pronounced 'zee zee' for Firefly. Her cutie mark has some resemblance to two Z's. I flip around between using 'FF' and 'ZZ' in my scripts and filenames.

I'll throw in my question now.  

 

Hi, there!  Do you have anything to say for aspiring artists who want to make comics like yours?

I recommend checking out Scott McCloud's book 'Making Comics', it's a great resource.

If you are making a character-oriented story start with the characters and go into the what-ifs. "What if Gilda and Dash are in a high-school setting together?" "What do they want?" "What is standing in their way?"

Keep throwing things at your characters and then give them space to react and change as the story progresses. 

Having a time frame for the story helps narrow it down. "This story takes place during Dash's sophomore year until she leaves

school." 

Think about story arcs you want to have. "Dash and Fluttershy start off distant and become closer friends." "There is a drama-filled school dance." "Dash wants to join the varsity stormball team."

The more interesting the story, the better. Don't fret too much about the art in the beginning. The art can (and will) get better along the way!

Hello, love your name.

 

I'm just wondering did you learn about the fandom and become really involved with the community?

Thank you!

I saw people posting images of ponies on a forum in late 2010-early 2011. One of the pictures was a recipe for Pinkie's baked bads. I thought the ponies looked cute and I was familiar with MLP from having the G1 toys as a kid. The first episode I watched was 'Bridle Gossip'. I thought it was okay and didn't think too much about it afterwards. Then, a little later in Jan-Feb. 2011 I needed something to watch so I went back and started watching season 1 from the beginning. I binged all the episodes and was hooked! I doodled ponies on paper but didn't post anything online until I made a DeviantArt account to post entries to Equestria Daily's 300 word challenges. After that I made a list of digital pony picture challenges for myself to draw. That led into me wanting to make pony comics as well. I posted my first Dash Academy comic in August 2011.

And with that, our time with SorcerusHorserus has come to an end!  On behalf of MLP Forums and the entire Poniverse community, I want to thank her again for taking the time to answer all our questions and hang out on our lovely community.  Best of luck with all of your present and future projects (especially with finishing up Dash Academy), and drop by any time!  We'll keep this thread open for a little while longer so that Sorcerus can answer any questions she hasn't gotten to yet.  Thank you all again, both Sorcerus and everypony who participated, and have a great rest of your day!!!

Thank you again for having me and for all your questions. It's been a pleasure!

Hi, SorcerusHorserus!   After seeing your work on DA, I apologize for not knowing about you before. Your work, like Rainbow Dash herself, is awesome! 

 

I have a couple of questions. First, do you outline everything that will happen in your comics before you start drawing, or are you the "flying by the seat of your pants" type?

 

Second, do you have any tips to share for aspiring artists and/or writers like me?   

Thank you!

I started with a very basic outline of all the chapters and arcs (see an above post for an example of what Ch. 6's first outline looked like). When I get to a chapter I break it down further into strips. Then when I get to the strips I write out more specific scripts. These read like a play, with dialogue and stage direction. Sometimes I go through multiple re-writes of scripts before I ever start the art. The art part takes a while so I want to be confident in the script early on. As for the overall thing, you just have to do the best of your ability at the time. Some things might not work out as planned but you can't fret too much or the comic will never be finished.

I think the main thing when you're starting out is don't get discouraged. Art and writing is hard to do. Like the saying goes, you have to make a ton of crappy stuff before you get to the better stuff. Put in the hours and you will see definite progress over time. And if you find that it isn't for you, it's okay to try out other pursuits. It can be hard to do, but don't link your self-esteem to likes/favs/page views. It's nice to have the support of others, but it's not what will sustain your interest. Being genuinely interested in your project is the way to go and will keep you coming back.

Best of luck to you with your projects!

Alrighty, looks like we're on a new page of the thread (though with plenty of unanswered questions still on the first page).  I still have one question waiting myself, but I just noticed on your Twitter that you're a zoology grad, very interesting!  Do you ever find ways to utilize your art talents in your professional career, or is your fondness for ponies and MLP tied at all to your zoology profession?

I do have a fondness for creatures from growing up on a farm. And I've always been interested in art. During the end of my schooling I started working towards becoming a scientific illustrator. For a few years I made traditional art for educational materials and zoology textbooks. Most was anatomy related- helpful stuff to know! The science illustration was the extent of my zoology career since I eventually found it quite dry and my art skills were stagnating. After watching MLP:FiM a light switched on and I threw myself completely into digital art and comics.

Awesome!  Speaking as a fan fiction writer myself, given the very long-running, detailed, in-depth in both plot and characterization story you've told, I guess I have to ask where that fondness for storytelling comes from since we don't see it from many artists in this fandom like yourself, and even when they do, certainly not as focused oftentimes as yours?  Do you read MLP fan fiction specifically, or is it simply a general fondness for a good story be it in literature or comic books?

My main hobby is tabletop RPGs, both as a player and a DM/GM. The play style I enjoy the most is character-oriented. One starts with a premise and ideas for plot arcs and then plays to fill in the blanks. A good game turns into essentially an improv session, with the details of the story and world being created through play. It helps if the original set-up is interesting with potential for drama and intrigue. It's good if the interesting aspect can contribute to character stories (ex: magic is illegal). It's also helpful if the character has something they want to achieve. From this, you can ask questions: How do they try to achieve their goal? Who is for them? Against them? Do they reach the goal? What are the consequences?

@@SorcerusHorserus,

 

Thanks for coming

 

Admittedly it's been a while since I've read Dash acedemy. I'm way behind. But I'm wondering, how often to events from cannon effect, (comics & show) effect the progression of DA? I mean for example, it was said early on in the show that Dash dropped out of flight school, so did a detail like that predetermine the path things would go for her? Or did you say "Screw it, I'm doing it my way?'

Thank you- I'm happy to be here!

I don't follow the MLP comics so I can't speak towards that. As for the show, not very much. I think I've only had to tweak a couple lines of dialog. Derpy Hooves was 'Ditzy Doo' in the comic and I changed it to 'Derpy Hooves' after the fandom leaned more towards that. I am mainly using the knowledge from S1 since that's when I wrote the outline. I see the things established in canon as storytelling prompts to build from.

Hello Sorcerushorserus.

 

Do you have some kind of favorite ponyspecies, from canon and fanon?

 

(Canon: Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn, Alicorn. Fanon: Seaponies, Snakeponies, deerponies, etc.)

I have a soft spot for pegasi since their wings are so expressive. I've seen a few deer drawn in MLP-style and they are pretty darn cute. I also like the design of Queen Chrysalis and the OC changelings done by Siansaar. Can't say no to fangy-bug ponies!

How long did it take you to learn how to properly draw, and what resources did you use to do it? For example, did you just decide one day to learn, and bought a bunch of stuff like tablets, softeware, and instructions? Or did you start small with pencils and paper?

I'm still learning, although I think the most progress happened during the first year of Dash Academy. Comics are art boot camp! Having a project with a finish line helps so much. 

I had drawn with pencil and paper before that, but not seriously enough to progress at a noticeable rate. After watching MLP:FiM I decided I wanted to learn how to make digital art and comics. I got a basic Wacom tablet and a free older version of Painter (and later SAI). After I found out I enjoyed it and was working for hours everyday on digital art I upgraded to a better tablet.

For starting off I recommend a fundamentals program like http://drawabox.com/

Hi SorcerusHorserus!

 

First off I love the Dash Academy Series! But did you ever expect it to go on as long as it currently does?

Thank you!

I had the story planned out until the end but I had no knowledge of the time it would take to make a fully colored multi-chapter comic. So in a way I knew but didn't.

Curious to know, @SorcerusHorserus;

Dat name tho. xD

How'd you come up with it?

I was staring at a blank username field on DeviantArt. The result was a name that's fun to say and brings to the mind an image of a magical pony.

I've got a question that's similar to Varrack's, but I wanted to ask it anyway. How exactly do you manage to come up with the details of your story - the various character iterations, cause and effect, etc.? I've been trying to write a story for years and I've only really managed to get spinets of detailed character iterations here and there, and I'm always worried that by the time I do get everything put together it won't feel natural. Is it something you think about, or do you just let it come to you?

I like having story arc threads and then filling in the details along the way (like the tabletop RPG method of playing to find out what happens). It is super basic in the beginning and I have no idea what parts I may throw out or change. With long story-oriented comics you have time for better ideas to come to you. I only get more detailed when it's time to write out the scripts.

Here's the first draft for Chapter 6 for example:

- RD apologizes to the Jr. Speedsters and helps them train.

Very cool, always fun to hear how long-running projects like this in the fandom were initially conceived.

 

OK, next question: what in particular do you like about pegasi?  You clearly seem to work with them considerably more than the other two races of ponies, so what made you fixate on them?  Is it their culture, aesthetic look, or just so happened to be that some of your favorite characters were pegasi?

Their wings are cute and they can use them in unexpected ways (like Dash hiding her face behind her wings and peeking through her feathers). Comic and story-wise wings add another layer of interest: puffing wings out for aggression, sagging wings for sadness, wing 'push-ups' for a training montage. Also, I thought that Dash's backstory would be funnest to do since I could add other winged characters like Fluttershy, Gilda, the 'bullies', Surprise, and Firefly.

I will ask my favorite question to ask in these kind of things, what is your favorite color?

Also do you have a favorite pony?

I don't have a particular favorite color but I do have situational favorite colors. I use a lot of purple when I'm shading. Teal/turquoise is pretty as well as electric lime/chartreuse. I like colors that work well together and have a huge folder of collected artwork with drool-worthy color schemes.

Hi SorcerusHorserus. I just finished reading Dash Academy front-to-back, and I must say I'm impressed with it

 

Do you make your comic pages knowing exactly how the rest of the story is going to go, or are you often uncertain about how the rest of each chapter will pan out?

Thank you!

The entirety of the story is planned to the end. In the beginning I roughly divided up the chapters and the story arcs. It's along the lines of "Dash takes a fake date to the school dance and things end badly". At that point I don't know all the details yet. When I get closer to making those strips I start filling in the blanks. Blanks like, "Who is Dash's date? What is the theme of the dance? What other character development can happen here?" Then when it is time to do that chapter I break it down into strips. Then each strip needs a more specific script. This is the part where I write dialogue, character expressions and body language, and notes for what is happening in each panel.

Imma give the obvious Brony questions: Best pony?

 

Granted I might be asking one with an obvious answer here. D:

It's fluctuated over the years. Pinkie Pie is a long-time fav, but I have a soft spot for Rainbow Dash.

Hi SorcerusHorserus! First of all, I'd like to say that I love your work, Dash Academy is one of my favorite webcomics, and your tutorials have been super helpful.

 

My question is, when you're working on the comics, what's your favorite and your least favorite part of the process? (like brainstorming it, sketching it, and so on)

Thank you!

My favorite parts are thinking up possible scenarios. It's fun to think about the what-ifs.

Then there are the 'busy-work' parts that aren't that interesting to do: coloring Gilda with all of her gradients, placing cutie marks, coloring line art.

Sketching and thumb-nailing is a hit-or-miss. Sometimes I have a solid vision of the comic and it's easy. If I'm having a hard time at this stage it usually means I need to re-think the script. It's better to realize the script isn't working out or isn't interesting early in the process. The worst part is realizing something needs to be changed late in the process since I get stressed about comic release times. It is worth making the changes though since having a part of the comic be confusing or unclear is the worst imo.

Hey, SH, how long -- on average -- does it take you to complete a single picture -- paint and all?

These times are for the 'painterly' pictures like the 'Gala Dash' image above: Average 4-5 hours. Simpler ones around 3 hrs, more complex ones 8 hrs.

Why these characters in this setting at this time, both canon, G1, fanon, and OC?

A couple of my favorite early episodes were "Griffon the Brush-Off" and "Sonic Rainboom" so I wanted to make silly Dash and Gilda comics. Their early years in flight school felt like a good place to start. I needed more pegasus characters so I included Surprise and Firefly from G1. Brolly is a background pony in "Sonic Rainboom" and Argie is based off of a G1 toy. I started including OCs when interest in the comic took off.

How did you come up with Dash Academy?

Originally it wasn't going to have a serious story. It was going to be a collection of goofy gags and Dash and Gilda antics (along the lines of the first strip). A couple comics in, I saw the potential for a plot-driven story. I wasn't sure what that plot was at first. An early story idea involved Dash and Gilda uncovering a criminal conspiracy involving mobsters at their school. Ultimately, I went with a plot that was more relatable.

Hey, everyone! Looking forward to doing the Q&A!