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Much like writing, art is a process. In my experience, they're actually really similar processes (does anyone else feel like the plural of that word should be "proces" with a long "e" sound is it that just me?). Now, I'm sure you could draw a few parallels between the two yourselves, but let me explain my own reasoning.

Both things start with an idea. Either you're asked to make something based on a specific prompt or you suddenly think of something that sounds really cool and want to make it a reality.

After the initial spark, I sit down and think about what I'm about to create. I try out a few things, decide what works, then go into some more in-depth planning: an outline. A book outline is of course a rough sketch of the plot, maybe a few important lines you want to include.

I know that some people don't make an outline when they draw; I also know it's a lot more difficult to do when it's not digital art, too. God, I love being able to erase things completely. But anyway yeah, I start with outlines. I'm making my own cover art for my contest entry, here's the outline:

I usually do my outlines in hot pink so it's easy to tell when I'm leaving white space; hot pink stands out pretty well in most cases. I map out the shapes of every element in the photo and also where I think the shadows and highlights should go.

Then after the outline, both art and stories have to be fleshed out. You have to put the color in them, the meat. This is my favorite part because it's so relaxing and it's fun to see everything come together.

Then, the next step is the details. Proofreading, evening out line weights, adding some missing shading, rewording sentences to be as perfect as you're capable of making.

After that, there remains one final step: putting your work out there and immediately seeing seven things that need improved, despite having looked at it with a meticulous, scrutinizing eye for multiple hours or sometimes days. Never fails.

How does your writing/drawing process differentiate from mine? Do you have interests beside writing that you find similar even though on the surface they're incredibly different?

I appreciate the comm, so at least my effort wasn't entirely wasted on the making of this thread that maybe 2 people will read and at most 1 will reply to

edit: nevermind :D

This is really good! I love the art, and I have a feeling that these 2 are the ones in the "love/hate" relationship. How long did this take you to draw?

And to answer your question about my writing/drawing process, I did this for my favorite game I wrote, Down By the River. The other 2 games, Falsely Accused and G and D in P, I didn't have any special process. Because the first game, Falsely Accused, was me frantically writing in the last minute from a random idea I had, so I didn't really know where to go with it, and I submitted at like 11:59, so I barely put the end game links in.

But with down by the river, I really wanted to make it special. I had an idea of where the story would start and end, and it was more filling in the gaps. I wrote several scenes, but as one sentence synopses. For example, "Samantha breaks up with Dave", "Samantha goes after Charlene and I'll write about what New Orleans is like at night". Obviously there's a lot of white space there.

Then I slowly fill it in. I think of things like "smells of frying beginets", then try to cram the details in so it eventually all comes together.

And the last part was true for me too. I published my story, and then saw grammar mistakes/continuity errors I wish I fixed before submitting. That's why I took it down, so I could refurbish it, expand on the main path which, as of now, is unfortunately pretty truncated, then publish.

It is kind of similar to the way you draw, I never thought about it before like that. Thanks for this thread.

I knew you would be my one reliable reply. You're all solid and dependable like that. Kudos.

As for how long that outline took me, a couple hours. It's definitely far from its final form (and I completely gave up on Sir Channing's arm there), as I'll be making little adjustments as I go.

Most things I write that are longer than 2k began as an outline. G and D was a fever dream of frenzied writing that got turned in at nearly the deadline with 0 proofreading. Guess that's just how those stories roll.

Thank you for the long and thoughtful reply

Thanks!

my G and D game was the same haha, guess it runs in the franchise. Maybe the original one by queenlatifah or whatever her name was, was also a last minute random-ass storygame. Maybe she's actually a super talented author and this was just her shitposting.

Oh yeah, I saw that. Despite the arm-less knight tho, this is such a cool concept artwork, and it's not even in its final form. Once it's done, it'll be a really eye catching cover. I love the symbolism of the 2 lovers standing on opposite sides with this line between them, so it's like they hate each other but they're also holding hands.

I'm curious to know why the buildings in the Princess's background are run-down compared to the knight's more refined castle background. Guess I'll have to wait for April 1st.

Great comparison. I think the parallels are spot on. 

For all my short stories, I run on pure inspiration - I get an idea that I want to convey and since I try to work with 1200 words - I think of the main scene I want to "paint" and let my brain throw up on the page. Review a couple times and submit and forget (mainly because no one ever reads anything anyways - I think only 1 of my short stories actually had feedback).

For my story games (I think I got like 2 unpublished, but 1 is published) - I'm right there with you. I usually map out the entire story game on Miro or something like that and get the "outline" completely done, so I can control myself and not decide to make 15 paths for no reason. I'll then move on and "color" the main canon path for it. Once that is done, I move onto the other paths -  I always go through systematically, no jumping around. Next would be my shading and highlights - the proofreading and hammering in those final details. I usually do this a few days after finishing what I'm writing, so I don't get that kind of "blindness" from being so involved in the story - you'll be surprised how much you ignore after writing/reading the same passages over and over with no break. Shit maybe I'll even put out ol' reliable and read it backwards. 

As far as other artistic interests, I do paint miniatures and voice act. They generally follow the same process of planning, doing, editing, etc.

 

Great art btw

Thank you! I could've guessed you did some kind of voiceover/voice acting from your dramatic interpretation of flutter's spiel.
I find that putting myself through the horror of reading my work out loud to other human beings reveals a lot of problems I don't otherwise notice

Completely serious here, I think creating and passing along and being shaped by stories is the most distinctly human act, and that how we percieve things and everything we do reflects that in some way.

One day I'll organize my thoughts on this and produce a properly mind melting doozy of a thread.

Don't procrastinate on that forever, it'd be interesting to read

You're certainly way more disciplined than me. Whenever I draw something, I kind of lose steam by the second step i.e. after I've added colors and shading. Whenever people post their art online, a lot of the responses tend to praise the talent of the artist, but I know that passion and effort are just as important. Maybe even more so.

I hope you can keep that passion. It makes this little corner of the internet better :]

Me? Disciplined?
Can you repeat that for my parents? Lol.

But seriously, thank you. This is incredibly sweet and made me smile.