Want to turn ongoing series idea into a web comic. My drawing skills have atrophied from years of non-use. Not sure how to proceed. Open to suggestions. Re-learn how to draw? Seek out artist (and colorer)? Wracking brain for answers. Making thread mostly in hopes that typing out problem in poor grammar fragments helps. Brain not finding best answer. Fish battery makes sounds in the AM.
Practice drawing the major characters a lot before you start. Also, a surprising number of webcomic artists couldn't draw very well either when they started.
Might be not good for comic quality, but using stick characters/bland geometrical figures/copypasted sprites has been done before. Some comics do improve art over time too.
Onlinecomics.net has a talent-pool forum, when I used it there were like 10 "artist wanted" posts for every "writer wanted" post though. I dredged up a lot of flakes, and not much else. Having money to throw at the problem is a big help.
You could also 'fake' drawings with a 3D modeling package coupled with line rendering and toon shading (and then use photoshop or whatever for post-production touch up). This would need some knowledge of how to 3D model, of course.
Use vector art. It's very easy to create, or at least is compared to pixel art, and is very reusable. Plus you can get your feet wet by using the excellent tutorials at: http://2dgameartforprogrammers.blogspot.com/
If object-based hand drawing (2D and 3D) is any interest, there's Sketching: Drawing Techniques for Product Designers, Eissen and Steur. May not be what you need but it's an option, good for building confidence and I can provide sample pages.
Again, 8 bazillion thank yous to everyone! @ Logo: I did not know about that site's existence and will add it to my arsenal of online resources. Muchos gracias. @ Oni: Can you PM me a sample page? 7 quadrillion thank yous.
Pages are here: http://goo.gl/Zrqaj http://goo.gl/l80fn http://goo.gl/tQnbA http://goo.gl/dOhsd There are books that give tutorials on basics however from these pages I think you can get a gist of things, this is the only drawing book I have and it's often best to simply try. Note straight lines often best drawn with a free hand (not fixing it in place as you draw) and if you 'mime' the line before drawing it.
Simply start drawing again. If you draw something every day you'll quickly improve to a point where you'll like your drawings (again?). As people above already pointed out, many of the now incredibly popular webcomics started out with fairly bad drawings, check out Penny Arcade for instance. There is one thing to keep in mind though. Don't wait too long to start publishing. You can always get better at drawing, and if you insist on waiting until you can draw you might end up waiting a very long time as your definition of being able to draw well will change as you get better at drawing. Besides, there's no better motivation to actually doing stuff then having a publishing schedule to follow.
Another example of webcomic that started with bad art and over the years gotten progressively good http://noneedforbushido.com/ But really, you just gotta get stuff out there or it'll stay in development hell. A comic project a buddy and I are working on has now become a strain cause of spending many years in development hell (it's gone over stages where now new inspirations and influences that we encounter over the years are threatening to rewrite the whole thing from scratch... again. We really need to sit down and finalize something.)
smbc-comics.com is also an all time fav. The guy couldn't draw for shit. Hell, if XKCD can stay afloat, you may as well try stick figures.
In terms of drawing and forgetting how, I've found it more like riding a bike. It's a bit shaky when you go back to it after a long while, but once you re-adapt you can get back up to scratch. It might vary with different standards though; if your standards were a lot higher than mine it might be harder to get back up to pace.
Did I mention I'm super thankful for all the answers here and, if this webcomic flies and makes me mega rich and I take over this ball of iron orbiting the bigger ball of volatile superhot gas, I'll give you each a lake or something? Because if not: I'm super thankful for all the answers here and, if this webcomic flies and makes me mega rich and I take over this ball of iron orbiting the bigger ball of volatile superhot gas, I'll give you each a lake or something.
Fuck yes, incoming lake. Although you remembering me is like, a 0% chance. Unless you hire me as a mod to work your forums, which I would do for only the nominal fee of 25 dollars per ban