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# How an FKFD Comic is Made
2020-07-21
I don't consider myself a cartoonist, let alone good cartoonist. I am unqualified at comics in all aspects, you know? I can hardly draw anything that's not a rectangle, circle, or straight line; for every final stroke you see on the canvas, I have undone and redone three times; my update frequency is like `abs(tan(x/k))` where k is around 10 days\^-1 [1]. One day in May I pushed 4 comics. And then I completely skipped June.
Let me keep it short and talk about how an fkfd comic is made. Not technical details (i.e. export as webp, then png, then run `./submit.py`...) but how I come up with ideas and express them in comics.
## Life -> Idea
However boring your life may be, you always find ideas bumping from inside your brain; they may just be a little dull. I catch my inspirations right away when I come up with one. Here is a list of common ideas.
- I look at things that vaguely resemble others, and make fun of that[2].
- I ask myself questions "what if we...?" and imagine the possibilities in the wildest way[3].
- I contemplate about today's society and world, and when I cannot squueze jokes out of them, I make them look thought-provoking[4].
- I voice concerns about today's technology and its relationship with human life[5].
- Also comics that are straightforward xkcd parodies[6], or even ones that reuse xkcd graphics[7].
- Giant buildup for giant fun, like flowcharts and tables[8].
- Irony pointed at one certain type of person[9].
- Inevitable graph jokes[10].
- Personal rant[11].
- Puns and wordplay[12].
The ideas can be funny or serious, revolving around an outdated or emerging topic, whatever. Apply the craziest spices until the idea is hot enough to attract a handful of people. Avoid *really* niche hobbies, and definitely don't go to depths (i.e. inside jokes), for the sake of audience coverage. As a side note, I never deliberately check if my idea has been taken. Too much trouble. I do avoid copying ideas I know to exist, though.
## Others' Idea -> My Idea
My comics are large influenced by xkcd. A few other influencers:
- SMBC for sociological ideas and single-panels
- C&H for the puns
- Poorly Drawn Lines for the anthropomorphic figures
- Random Reddit posts for random ideas
## Idea -> Comic
There are certain periods when I was super innovative and others super productive and/or artistic. The best scenario is when these overlapped, and I was able to commit my ideas on the canvas on the fly. That was definitely efficient, but later when I reflected on comics produced over this period, I would often sense creeping embarrassment for lack of due thoughts before submission, or regret over some imperfections like a forgotten punchline. The second best is those moments when I had a genuinely great idea (at least to me at that time), and had a notebook handy. Once I would jot down a few hint words, like "dead kids sent from heaven to haunt their anti-vaxx parents", but turns out I was terrible at remembering details. Soon I learned to draw a rough sketch, and continuously iterate, fixing grammatical problems and pruning unnecessary words (canvas space is precious). Occasionally, I do it on a whiteboard. Finally, I boot up my lappy, draw what's on the paper/whiteboard through my wacom tablet into krita, sometimes verbatim and sometimes with a few minor adjustments, then re-orchestrate the elements so they fit on a digital canvas. Behold! Digital "art".
## Footnotes
[1] Which means my update speed peaks about once per month, while somewhere in the middle it's zero.
[2] Notable examples: [Heroic Ball Pen](https://fkfd.me/13), [Chihuahuatamayo](https://fkfd.me/74), and [Keychane](https://fkfd.me/93).
[3] Notable examples: [Night Plane Spotters](https://fkfd.me/70), [Soul Counter](https://fkfd.me/79), and [Amazon Ring](https://fkfd.me/87).
[4] Notable examples: [Intolerance](https://fkfd.me/65), [Zeta-373](https://fkfd.me/77), and [Stray Cats](https://fkfd.me/90).
[5] Notable examples: [Innovations](https://fkfd.me/73), [Intended Internet](https://fkfd.me/86), and [JavaScript](https://fkfd.me/101).
[6] Notable examples: [Code Quality](https://fkfd.me/10), [Technology, Inc.](https://fkfd.me/11), and [Irrelevant xkcd](https://fkfd.me/67).
[7] Notable examples: [Python](https://fkfd.me/6), [Entropy Harvesting Daemon](https://fkfd.me/81), and [Childhood Misconceptions](https://fkfd.me/92).
[8] Notable examples: [Partitions](https://fkfd.me/16), [X-over-Y](https://fkfd.me/53), and [Python Code With No Documentation](https://fkfd.me/55).
[9] Notable examples: [Flat Earthers](https://fkfd.me/21), [Blogging](https://fkfd.me/26), and [Wish](https://fkfd.me/71).
[10] Notable examples: [Time Consumption](https://fkfd.me/9), [Turning Point](https://fkfd.me/59), and [Graph Nerd Sniped](https://fkfd.me/89).
[11] Notable examples: [Smart Home](https://fkfd.me/46), [Middle Button](https://fkfd.me/52), and [Grades](https://fkfd.me/96).
[12] Notable examples: [Wheeled Armchair and Armed Wheelchair](https://fkfd.me/54), [One-Letter Modifications](https://fkfd.me/69), and [Company Rules](https://fkfd.me/88).
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