Webtoon Critique and Review: Neptune Bay

[@walterostlie]

Yo, check out the comic! www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/neptune-bay/list?title_no=447891

[@EmilyPaxman]

WALTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so so so much! It was a great review! You hit some things I kinda expected you to say (where the heck did the dead body go? lol) as well as some I didn't expect but that were SO HELPFUL!!!!! For context, I asked Walter to particularly offer insight on things like panel composition, because I knew that was one of my weaker areas, so getting some clear direction is fabulous. I'm honestly still training my eye to think of the panel view as a "camera" O_o My background is much more in writing than art lol It was so cool seeing some of your re-shoots of my panels. Really inspiring! For those curious, here are a few of my quick thoughts! 1) On lighting and watercolor: yeah, I left dynamic lighting out for a couple reasons. One, how time consuming it is, and two, even without that problem, it isn't my area of strength. But I am working on it! I've found some great videos for teaching watercolor and gouache technique and I'm trying to fit in that art practice whenever I can. And I totally agree! All that practice time just shows up gradually. I can see I have a long way to go as a watercolorist but I'm also really proud of how far I have come. 2) Ironically, though the dead body doesn't come up super often in 29 episodes, like Walter said, it returns...... in episode 30! One ep too late for the vid! Not that I think the critique would have changed, I'm guessing, because the observation is still very valid. I would say that my pacing is intentional, but I can absolutely sympathize with why it might drive some readers bonkers. And this is fair! I am a firm believer that sometimes we make "choices" in our work, and sometimes we just have to live with the consequences, even if there are drawbacks, and you articulated what those were so well, Walter! Yet another reason to love your reviews! 3) Lettering! I think I am digital drawing program impaired because I keep struggling to make Krita work the way you say it should. But I will keep trying! I really like all your recommendations, so I might just need another session fiddling with the tools until they behave. Really interesting that you think a textured look to the balloons would be cool! I never would have thought of that. 4) Can I just say how happy/impressed I am that most of your suggestions fit into the same "space" of art that I was already using? One of the things I really struggle with is that because this is hand painted, each episode is made on the exact same amount of paper, because I can't afford to use more every episode, and I have to make a lot of editing choices based on how much physical space I have to draw/paint left. That's part of all the too-tight panel cropping, so seeing alternatives that use the same amount of space, but are just composed better is really really helpful! So in conclusion, thank you so much, Walter! A stellar review, from a stellar guy. :)

[@walterostlie]

oh snap, episode 30 here I come! I am really interested in what you said about your "space" of art. Kinda like your canvas real estate. a lot of people have asked about traditional art and webtoon, how it would work. I'd love to see your process, how you plan and thumbnail, the technical tools you use, and how you stick it all together.

[@EmilyPaxman]

@@walterostlie for sure, Walter! I'll see what I can come up with to illustrate the process

[@247-r2n]

This is interesting, maybe one day it'll be my webtoon that gets reviewed. But i really love how Walter puts all the hardwork into explaining the review. He even goes out of his way to draw more. Just amazing. One day this YT channel will reach a million subs.

[@walterostlie]

Thank you very much! I appreciate your support!

[@shonjoaragaki]

This series is such a great way for beginning webtoon artists to get some attention, and I really dig that!! You deserve more subs ngl

[@walterostlie]

Appreciate that, thank you!

[@TambriArt]

I really like that tip on camera angles keeping the reader grounded in the story. And balloons flowing like a river. xD

[@walterostlie]

I tend to use that a lot, of course variety is good and sometimes you just have to use certain angles to tell a story, but I always attempt that eye-level or lower angle first.

[@arowyn.m]

YES I love this webtoon

[@walterostlie]

It's a great webtoon for sure.

[@helewis]

I've found your channel a week and a half ago and ever since I've been binge watching your videos, they are sooo good. Really shows how hard you work on them and how much you enjoy making them. You also do the best reviews I've watched here on KZbin, with thoughtful insights about a lot of different angles. What I'm trying to say is: thank you for creating such a great channel ❤

[@walterostlie]

Thank you very much for being here and watching! Your comment made me smile, thanks!

[@nehalol]

wheeeee his videos always the highlight of my day

[@Gleamiarts]

ikr

[@walterostlie]

Thank you!

[@passmetheadobo]

Great thumbnail!! XD

[@walterostlie]

Hah, thanks. I only make these videos so I can have fun with thumbnails.

[@dreamingblue3939]

Great critique, as always! This is one of the few comics I'd already read before watching the review. The art style makes me happy and the story is such a comfort read

[@walterostlie]

Agree, I am a new reader of Neptune Bay for sure. It's like a welcoming embrace.

[@EmilyPaxman]

@@walterostlie These are just the sweetest compliments ever!

[@QNiki]

Watercoloring a comic is like a +100 in my book so impressive

[@walterostlie]

Agreed.

[@EmilyPaxman]

Hahaha thanks! Honestly, I hate fiddling with computer programs so much, I'm also super impressed by digital art. I do NOT have the patience for it lol

[@Magillana]

Oh wow, i cant imagine how much work this comic is with scanning and everything. And probably starting over every time you make a mistake on a panel... Id never finish an episode xD Anyways very interesting looking comic (that i will check out) and good video! :)

[@walterostlie]

Agreed, it's a daunting amount of work, at least from where I'm seeing it. I am sure Emmy has a streamlined process though and it makes it a little easier.

[@EmilyPaxman]

Thanks, Magillana! It's definitely a lot of work, but as I always tell people, for me personally, it would be MORE work doing it digitally. Scanning isn't too bad. Usually only adds about 20 minutes into the process. And I honestly don't throw out art very often. Whether or not I SHOULD is another question, lol. But while the majority of the color process is watercolor, I actually have a number of tools for doing opaque corrections when they're needed. Helps make it so I don't have to redo whole sheets!

[@Magillana]

​@@EmilyPaxman Hey, thanks for your answer. Its amazing how different people work. :) > Whether or not I SHOULD is another question, lol. Comics are always a balance between quantity and quality. i think you are doing more than fine with your art.

[@EmilyPaxman]

@@Magillana Hahaha, thanks! One of the things I have learned throughout this is, for better or worse, I am NOT a perfectionist. I want to improve - I really do. But I can let go of things. And this is my first real attempt at a comic (did like seven pages of one 8 or 10 years ago) so I figure I deserve to give myself some grace. I think in the long run, I'll be better served focusing on moving forward rather than getting hung up on what I did wrong early on

[@Magillana]

@@EmilyPaxman This is a very healthy way of thinking! :)

[@augustawickmanart]

Thank you for making another useful video! I also struggle with having the camera too zoomed in when it should probably be panned further out and have only more recently starting trying to implement establishing shots more often. It can be difficult being used to making more traditional pages and needing to reformat for the Webtoon vertical scroll format.

[@EmilyPaxman]

I found this same thing, too. Whenever I zoom out the camera, I find myself struggling to get all the visual information into what is effectively a pretty tiny box. It's one of the reasons I default to that overhead view so often, even though it's a beast to draw - it just fits a Webtoon scroll fairly naturally.

[@antonioa3078]

Niceeee !! time to check and fix panels in my webtoon ^_^

[@lautaart6076]

Hey man, I love your videos.Very entertaining and informative for those of us who are entering the world of webtoons. also, Scooby rocks.

[@kbizzaresadventures5574]

Hey walter ! Where can i postulate my webtoon so i could possibly be reviewed ? (Except patreon)

[@dreamingblue3939]

There's a google form in the descriptions of his older review videos where people first applied, but it's closed atm. I think Walter said that after he works his way through the current requests in the box he'll open it up again, but it'll probably be a while because he got a TON of requests.

[@walterostlie]

Yeah, what dreaming blue said. I have so many of these to get through. Could be awhile before the reviews open back up.

[@holio5578]

This comic is 🔥

[@noelchristiangalinato753]

Really good critique! I learned a lot from this video specifically the text balloons part! Im currently working on my own comic and i hope i get my comic to be reviewed by you one day!

[@noelchristiangalinato753]

I posted a oneshot of it already, it has 3 chapters, its titled "My Death Is Pretty Cute NGL"

[@noelchristiangalinato753]

Oh yeah, i want to ask, i looked up the crossbar i, i now know how it works but i dont know how to make it crossbar i on my drawing program(medibang) do you have and suggestions as to what fonts might work? I use cc wild Thank you!

[@walterostlie]

Usually, you get the crossbar-i by doing a capital uppercase "i" instead of a lowercase "i".

[@noelchristiangalinato753]

@@walterostlie it works!! Thank you so much!

[@saranimator6746]

YES TIME TO STARE WITH JUDGMENTAL EYES MY FAVOURITE PAST TIME!!!

[@RaphaCPinheiro]

Cool cool cool! I'd love to see you reveiwing The Crossing, man =D

[@bambummy7102]

Love your insight as always!

[@LeoArmada]

when ur so early you don't know what to say... so you just recycle overused comments ; D

[@walterostlie]

I like recycled comments, it's good for the environment.

[@plainmilk3320]

I really want to start my comic soon, how much of the story should I have drafted? I’m aiming for having all my first act outline and scripts done, as well as character turnarounds/expressions and props. Then I’ll start actually drawing, just seems like it’ll take a long time to actually get started

[@walterostlie]

Yeah, it's a balancing act. I like to have my whole story outlined. Bullet points. And then I'll script out the first 15 episodes and draw the main characters or whatever I think is really important, then I'll jump in and figure out everything else as I go. I'm very impatient.

[@ramseyjohnson5682]

Great video👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@Nikke283]

hey @Walter Ostlie, I m kinda astonished, that you think its harder to color with watercolor than by the computer. Coloring with the computer is MAYBE a bit faster...but personally I don`t enjoy it in any case. Aside the fact you need to use actually paper- what is of course a matter of money and produces waste its at least more natural and enjoyable than filling with the bucket. Aside that: A wonderful review. Imready now to start the day^^

[@walterostlie]

Well less enjoyable and harder aren't the same ;-) I enjoy using painting with watercolors. I'll do watercolors on single illustrations all day, but the idea of doing that for an entire webtoon makes me hella anxious. Besides no "undo" there just all the stuff that comes along with traditional art. The supplies, the storage, the cleaning, the planning. That all takes more time. And just concerns about consistency. I would say logistically harder than digital colors and definitely more time consuming. Totally agree that a natural brush stroke is way more fun than a click of a mouse. And it comes back to experience, if you've always been painting with watercolors, it will be a lot more natural and easier to pull off amazing feats. For example, the comic Black Sad. All traditional paint. No idea how long it takes them, but amazingly gorgeous. I could prolly get a similar look with digital very quickly, maybe not as organic, but similar effects. However to do that with traditional watercolor would take me ages and require a lot of test panels.

[@EmilyPaxman]

@@walterostlie Yeah, you said it well. For me personally, I am WAY faster with watercolor. I did attempt to learn digital a few years ago and it didn't go great. But on whether or not watercolor is faster overall, I think Walter is right. If you look at something like Black Sad, or other comics done with really beautiful painting technique, I just don't see how that can be done all that quickly. My style is fairly fast, but I've adapted the process specifically to be fast, because speed is one of my most major considerations with the comic. There are a number of things I could/would do differently if I wasn't racing to finish all the time.

[@walterostlie]

@@EmilyPaxman Racing to the finish line. Much feels. I think that just comes hand-in-hand with comics.

[@joshhoopes5642]

For selling your books and merch did you set up your own business for taxes and such? If so could you explain the process to me....also I love ghost bats!

[@walterostlie]

No, I've just been doing everything as a freelancer. I record all my sales just using spreadsheets and enter it for taxes. Starting a company takes time and money, so I've been avoiding it. If you start freelancing, a big thing to know is that you have to prepay your taxes 4 times a year based on what you think you'll make that year. If you don't, you have to pay a fine at the end of the year. sucks. It's estimated taxes, form 1040-ES if you want to look it up.

[@joshhoopes5642]

@@walterostlie you should totally do like a comics business video! Maybe explaining patreon and merch and all that jive! I appreciate your help though man! Im working on my webtoon and can honestly say i wouldnt have made it this far without your help in these videos...im about to start actually drawing/pencinkling lol

[@walterostlie]

Right on! Happy the videos are helping. I'll think about the business video. I don't get too fancy with my finances, but maybe it will be a good place for people to start. thanks for the idea

[@graceo8648]

Can you create more comics that are for short random prompts

[@walterostlie]

Yeah, you can upload whatever you want to Webtoon. You can do 1 panel stories if you wanted. I'd just put all your short stories under a single comic on webtoon. Call it like Grace's Stories. and you'd have a bunch of stories there. Just label the episodes clearly so people know when stories start and stop, give them all the same thumbnail.

[@ender5892]

9:50 I don't think it takes that time? I've seen some comic book watercolor artists, and in their process to make a scene moody they just add a first light layer of paint ( like a blue color in case of a night scenario ) then paint over it....

[@walterostlie]

Yeah, maybe. But I think that's where study comes into play. I know I can't do it fast now, with study, experience, and technique then maybe. But the time to study takes away from the time to make comics. All a balancing act for sure.

[@EmilyPaxman]

Underpainting! Heck yes! Underpainting can do a lot. I've actually started doing it on some of the panels, though I'm putting my toes in gradually. Trying to find that balance of matching the previous panels/progressing the art style.

[@pottedplant1472]

Wait im curious, why shouldn't you use cross bar i's at the beginning of a sentence?

[@walterostlie]

It's not so much that you shouldn't use it at the start of a sentence, but more that you shouldn't use it at all UNLESS it's for the personal pronoun "I" as in "I like to eat cake". The main reason is a typographical design aspect, the crossbar-I just takes up more room and pushes the other letters around it so it just looks uneven. The reason it's okay to use for personal pronouns is because that crossbar-I stands alone, so it doesn't effect the other letters. Also, it NEEDS the crossbars because it could be mistaken for the number "one". The other reason specific to this particular comic is consistency since the font is totally uppercase. If you want to use the crossbar-I at the start of the sentence, you should use it for every instance of "i" that comes up, even if in the middle of a word. if you were making a comic that was using a mixed case font, this crossbar-i rule would not apply. Video about lettering kzbin.info/www/bejne/amPHqqp3e9h9f9k

[@pottedplant1472]

@@walterostlie oh that makes sense! Thanks so much for your response Walter!💕

[@nootnootman6353]

noot noot

[@dreamingblue3939]

noot noot

[@walterostlie]

noot noot train

[@aoh_na]

Hello! I do have a quick question, what are the main fonts you use for webtoons or comics? I wasn't sure if it was in any of the videos. The fonts I use are too big for basic dialogue. T^T

[@walterostlie]

I use fonts from blambot.com. My main ones are "out of line" or "smack attack"