Creating Comics - My Process

in #art7 years ago (edited)

Hey Steemians,

Today I thought I'd take the time to describe how I draw my comic to you guys.
Hopefully you learn a few things that way.

As you may know I'm posting my comic, Shades Of Men, two times a week here on Steemit. I have been drawing it since August 2012 but haven't been as active as I am now.

I'm currently drawing one page per week going from page layout to line work, color and text in 5 working days. And that's the ultimate challenge! At least for me. ;-)

Here's how I proceed:

  • The canvas

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Right now, I'm mostly working on a mini Ipad tablet as you can see above. But the first year I used to do the thumbnails and ink on paper. Drawing with an actual pen has such an organic feel but I switched to digital for convenience. I often draw in public transportation so carrying all my tools everywhere was pretty tough. Here's what sketches for the page looked like.

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Compared to final...

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Now with the tablet, I feel like one thing is crucial.

  • The stylus pen

That really changed it all. And believe me I tried a few. Most have failed...

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As I drew everyday, the classic rubber stylus wouldn't hold long. The metallic fabric (the one on the far left) worked a little longer but were hard to find in local stores. After doing some more research on professional, yet affordable stylus pen, I finally found a good fit for my rhythm and budget.

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The Jot pro from Adonit. A very precise tool with a transparent tip. The great thing is I don't change the tip that often. Only when I loose it every year or so. I know... clumsy me.

  • The software

I used a few as well, going from Photoshop to Illustrator on computers. I needed an Ipad app able to upload images in order to work from my thumbnails. I ended using Art studio which is very convenient for that. It also includes selection tools and vector text which allows me to do it all in one go.

As for now, it's been the only one to offer that. I paid a couple of euros but for me it's a must for digital drawing.
The brush could be a little laggy but I suspect my mini Ipad of getting old.

  • Thumbails

When starting a page, I would do a quick sketch to define how the scene will go. How the whole thing will look like.
I know what needs to happen as I split the chapters into 11 pages, adjusting the rhythm with layout.

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I would often go back on thumbnails with a red color to refine the drawing. That way I can do line work much faster.

  • Line work

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From that initial draft I would draw the black lines equivalent to inking on paper. This usually takes me two days to complete. The more I drew, the more details I would put in. I think I go faster now but it still takes me two days... Weird right?

  • Color

Once I completed the line work, I would get started on color. This would take one day for the flats. I would just fill in every part with a plain color according to the scene. I would use the same color palette for the characters using previous pages as reference. This task could really take longer on specific pages with lots of details.

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  • Shading

In order to give the page more depth, I would do a quick shading. I must admit I don't do a very complex work on this part. You'll certainly find artist online doing much more detailed shading. I used to manually select the color I needed. Now I use a 20% opacity layer that I paint in black in order to go faster. Pretty convenient.

  • Shadows

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That's almost an all shadow page! I would add a bit of dark cloudy brush on the edges of the panels and on specific places depending on the scene. It would usually set the mood and give it a more cinematic look.

  • Speech Bubbles and text

Thanks to the selection tools of Art studio doing those speech bubbles is pretty easy. It's just a circle and I manually add the pointy bit after. I'm mostly making sure the text doesn't clutter the panel and that the reading flows naturally, leading the eye from left to right and downwards.

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Even though I put the text at this stage I would usually have it figured out from the beginning. It would come to my mind when doing the thumbnail just like a movie sequence. I just have to make sure the text is right in the middle of that bubble and format the sentences a bit so it fits.


Now that's all my process for now.

If you're interested I could give more details on how I craft the story. I could explore that bit in a later blog. Thanks for taking the time to go through my explanations. I hope that provides a few tips along the way.

Don't hesitate to ask any question below. I'll gladly answer that the best that I can. Please go check my comic Shades Of Men if the few pages posted above sparked your interest. I'm always looking for feedback on the story so far.

If you're an artist yourself, please consider sharing your process. I'm very curious of how you do things yourself. It'd be nice to compare our experiences and maybe learn a few things too. Have a nice day! ;-)

See you on the other side,

Jrej

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Wow, this is really cool. Interesting to find out more about the actual creation process.

Thanks gliten. It's been a pleasure writing this post. I have more Work in progress pics but there are a few spoilers so I didn't want to share them now. I might revisit that later then!

Indeed, this is great. I have just started learning drawing. Always great to learn from experts. Wish I could be as good some day. This is awesome. Resteemed

Thanks for the resteem and the kind words. Sorry for the late reply. I have to say I don't consider myself an expert. I'm more a hobbyist really... A hardcore one... But still. Good luck with your drawing endeavours. I'm sure you'll build enough confidence. It's a matter of consistent work. It would be impossible not to progress!

Thanks for sharing your work. I don't even know the amount of time need to complete a comic.

That sure is a lot of time. But it's worth it. When I doubt I just need to go see all I have done so far. Gives me the boost to carry on. I planned 133 pages and I reached 100 so I'll soon be wrapping up this story! ;-)

This is real inspiration for me, I been wanting to be that much dedicated, I reccommend you to take a look at the app sketches on iOS , that's the winner for me and very cheap one time payment, it has multiple layers and a great fill tool, and great kind of brushes, I just gave you a follow so I can know your next posts! Congratulations!

Thanks for following @troof. I actually tried the Sketches app and it is pretty awesome. I liked their brushes and the intuitive tool selection. The layer selection is a must so that's cool it's included. It's a good one for sketches and illustrations. A little harder to use for comic template and text.

pretty! i love seeing artistic process and you don't see enough of the comic book process! Thank you <3

good comment @o0pepper0o
nice to support good work

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it. That's true I've seen a few blogs about art process and sketches but not much comic pages. I hope this encourages other artists to do the same. I'm sure there are tons of variations on this. It'd be fun to compare. ;-)

I've read few books on making comics that is...as close as you usually get LOL more about how to as opposed to how other people chose to create....

Yeah I know. Sometimes the process comes from practice more than theory. At least for me. Maybe ideally it should be both. But artist never did things the way they were suppose to!

Wow. This is beautiful and fascinating @jrej.
Loved your work.
And its very informative.
Thank you for sharing this..

Do have a look at my post.
https://steemit.com/painting/@steemmates/wall-painting-wingsofgold-201778t103016665z
So share your views.

Thank you!

Thanks a lot Steemmates for the comment. I had a look at you work, that's very cool! I like the color and the arrangement. Seems like it gives a positive energy to the space. Feels like I should do this in the office I'm in! ;-D

Yeah you really should give it a try.
It is really soothing and relaxing to sit and have a look at it. Gives positive vibes.

Play with the colours and try ur variations.
And tag me whenever you upload it..

Hehe my boss wouldn't be too happy if I did that b surprise! We shall see if I get the chance to do that else where. I meant to attend to a graffiti introduction training. I could experiment with that then.

This is so kickass dude! Job well done

Haha Thanks @official-bitbean That made my day! Thanks for the feedback.

very inspiring

this is the most unique way of making a comic. great post!

Oh really? I does make me happy. It means I discovered something. Cool.

Must be hard to draw in a little device, but I think at the same time, very portable. Keep with your good work.

Hehe I know... I got use to it. Hopefully I can zoom in as much as I need. Makes me wanna zoom in when I draw on paper too. ;-D I tried a larger tablet but I find it harder to use. I would need a glove for that right hand. I kept on messing up the page...

Are you by any means looking into selling your artistry in due time?

I considered this at some point but realized the resolution I'm drawing at is smaller than the printing standard of 300 dpi. For now I'm focusing on finishing this specific project and might try to upgrade my equipment later on. Steemit might help with that. ;-)

This is my first time knowing how a comic is being drawn. It turns out to be a very long process. You are such a talented artist. How many hours per day do you usually draw?

That's very nice of you to say. I usually draw 2 hours per day, 5 days a week. So I spend 10 hours for one page. I know... It's all very precise. I included it in my daily routing, going to work. That way I don't loose momentum and keep on drawing.

Wow @jrej ...10 hours for one page! You are surely very dedicated!

That's fantastic ! Checkout mine on my blog, i simply use H6 pencil & felt pens, my humble camera and Photoshop :D

Oh that's nice. I'd love to see some of your drawings. Looks like you have the perfect tools for success!