Covering cover art

Last week, over on the ole Twittersphere, we were asking the #quackchatters about creating cover art for their comics. It was an interesting discussion to go back and read as there were responses there that surprised me.

The first question of the QuackChat hour asked if creators draw some pages first or do they start with the cover of their comic? A lot of people responded that they preferred to draw the pages first. @pacificacomic wrote:



This was an interesting point to consider for me as I usually start with the cover. This is in part to get used to drawing the characters, but also because it gives me that push to begin starting the issue/chapter that I’m on. It helps narrow the focus of the story as well as set the scene in my mind.

However, it is not a bad idea to do it the other way if it works for you. Creating pages allows you to draw from scenes that you’ve already established. If you know exactly what’s going to be in the issue, it can give you a font of inspiration to draw from.

For question two, creators were asked if webcomics even needed cover art. This question sparked interesting, albeit mixed, reactions. Whilst some people said that it wasn’t necessary, particularly when it came to a comic strip, cover art was a good way of catching the readers’ attention. I found this response from @kesling_matt to be an interesting point to consider:



Cover art doesn’t just convey the tone of the comic, but also the style of art you can expect. As this is a visual medium, this manner of introducing your project and setting the expectations is a point worth considering.

In spite of the mixed reaction to whether or not webcomics need cover art, there were quite a few responses that said that they do create artworks for the beginning or end of chapters, if that format applies to their comic. This could be in the form of a panel that they really like from the webcomic or a standalone piece.

@fight_oc wrote:


This is a good point! Having comic pages as chapters/denoting the end or beginning of a new story could work really well for a webcomic that’s an anthology, or has chapters that could work in isolation.

The quackchat has interesting discussions each week. If you want to join, head on over to Twitter on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST)!

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