I Think I've Figured Out What I Was Doing Wrong...

I love Manga Studio 5. It is without a doubt the best artistic program I've ever had the pleasure of working with. It easily leaves Paint Tool Sai in the dust with it's tools and sheer versatility.

However, I had noticed that, despite my efforts, my production time had not improved in the slightest.

Part of it I chalked up to stress, which I have a lot of in my life. Part of it I chalked up with trying to rebuild a life from scratch, which I wouldn't call easy.

But recently, I hit upon another reason for my delays, and if I'm right, getting past it will go a long ways in speeding my production time back up.

I've been using the wrong tool in my lineart efforts.

Back when I started out with Photoshop Elements, I had to do lineart in a painstakingly slow manner if I wanted decent results. And that habit carried over when I started with Sai.

But I recently realized that, with Manga Studio 5, I have an alternative to that cumbersome method.

Basically, I was lining out the lineart in a slow manner, one section at a time. It was very precise, but not perfect, and rather slow. I think a good comparison would be to using a pair of scissors to mow the lawn. It works, but takes far too long to get the job done.

But recently, I did an experiment with the basis of one of my older pieces, and basically scribbled out the outline in a rough manner and then went back and applied the needed corrections. And thus was able to bam out the basic outline in a record time of less than ten minutes! Of course, that still left detailing, but still, oh so much faster! It's glorious!

I'm presently working on hammering this new method out. But if it pays off, I will be a very happy camper!