John Bowman

I’ve been asked a few times how my comic making process works now that I’ve switched to penciling digitally, so I’m going to do a write up about that. As always you can find all my blogging about making comics on this handy tumblr post.

So, previously I made comics completely traditionally. Here’s a write up of how I used to make comics. All of the pre-drawing of the comic still applies: I still do my thumbnails by hand, scribbled in a notebook. 

Now I draw comics on a Cintiq, in Manga Studio. Here’s what my initial desktop looks like:

That’s Manga Studio, and my template comic page. It’s 10 by 14 inches, and the blue lines are my safety, trim and bleed. All important artwork and dialogue/speech bubbles should go within the safety.

I draw with a red pencil (Pencil-Layout Red) from the Frenden Manga Studio brush pack. I can’t remember which pack I bought, but there’s only 3 on the Frenden site and I’m sure they’re all great. Frenden does great brushes. Why red? It’s just easier to see than blue. For some reason I have a hard time sketching with a blue pencil on a screen, although I still draw with blue on paper. I don’t know why that is. 

And here’s a rough comic page! Ta da! It’s pretty messy. I used a lot of reference to draw Nameless City. This is page 97, so a right facing page in the published book. Therefor the bleed on the second panel is bleeding off of the page and not into the spine of the book.

One of the best things about Manga Studio is its perspective tools. I’m not an expert in using them, so I recommend looking up someone who really knows what they’re doing if you want to know more. I mostly just use the 1 and 2 point perspective grids to figure out where the floor is in certain panels, so I can more easily place characters within space. Very basic stuff, but it has made my life so much easier. I would marry Manga Studio’s perspective grids if I could. :D

Then I clean up the page a bit. Eventually I hope to eliminate this step, because it’s time consuming. All I do is adjust the colour of the pencils to blue and trace over the figures I feel need improving with red. I usually only do this with main characters, an attempt at keeping everyone consistently drawn (lol).

This is what it looks like with the rough pencils turned off. I never had to do this when I drew traditionally, and I think it’s because I’m not yet used to inking over digital pencils. People ask me about inking and how I “find the right line” to ink, and the answer is I just do. But for some reason I can’t with my printed out digital pencils. So until I become more accustomed to them, I need to do clean up. It sucks! Just an extra step I want to eleminate.

Then I bring the file into Photoshop and prepare it for printing. The pencils always print darker than the look in PS, so I put down a layer of white overtop the pencils and adjust the layer’s opacity to 55%. 

Here’s the paper I use for printing, same paper as I’ve always used: Strathmore Bristol, smooth surface. I cut down these 17 x 14 inch sheets to 17 x 12 so they’ll fit in my printer.

My lovely printer! I do adore it. It’s an Epson Artisan 1430, the size of a keyboard and it’s been great. I printed out 200+ pages of blueline comic pages on only two cartridges of ink. 

It’s printing!!!

And done! Now for inking.

Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of this page when it was half-done, but here’s the finished product. I don’t ink my borders because I can’t draw a straight line, even with a ruler. :D Borders I do in Photoshop. 

I use a brush for inking. These are the brushes I use: Raphael Kolinsky watercolour brush, sizes 0, 1 & 2. I use the 1 for most of the page, the 0 for finer details and the 2 for larger areas. Anything that’s a straight line is inked with a pen. I tend to use Faber Castel pens, usually a small or extra small. 

So that’s pretty much it! After I finish the page I scan it and prep it for printing in Photoshop, which is pretty boring. 

The main question I get when I talk about my process is “Why don’t you ink digitally? Then you won’t have to scan.” I would very much like to eliminate scanning from my process, but at this point, I really love inking traditionally. It’s the part of the comic-making process that I enjoy the most, and I also think that traditional inks give my comics their unique look. I’m just not ready to take that step and ink digitally for my graphic novels, although I have done it for shorter comics. Maybe someday, but not now. :) For now, this is how I work. 

10  Must have Typography, Lettering and Calligraphy Books.

Now that we’re almost in the holiday season, is the perfect opportunity to give to yourself a lovely gift and what more useful and funny that a book?. I’ve made a compilation of 10 (must have maybe?) typography, lettering and calligraphy books. You don’t have to know previous knowledge to read this books. For example if you want to know to very basics about typography I really recommend Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton, or if you want something more elaborate and specific rules to craft your paragraphs or style every text you prepare The Elements of Typographic Style is definitely for you. Enough to say lets go to the matter (you can click and see more details on every book’s name on the list):

Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton Ellen Lupton made the great task of shrinking the tons of information about typography and fit it into a digestible book. If want to know what kerning is, this book is for you. If want to know more advance knowledge like style your paragraph, this book is also for you.

The Elements of Typography Style by Robert Bringhurst This is more a Manual than a book, is loaded with a lot of information. From the structure of a types to style a whole book. You will find almost any typography rule here, and at the end you will learn to break the this rules. Some people say is the most complete book related to typography.

The Anatomy of Type by Stephen Coles Observing is another way to learn, Anatomy of Type is a collection of on hundred typefaces. Stephen Coles analyze every of this typefaces families including all their characters. This is not a book related to any typography topic, is more a gallery, classic and modern typefaces are included here. And yes… you will find helvetica here.

Type Matters by Jim Williams Type Matters! is a book of tips for everyday use, for all users of typography, from students and professionals to anyone who does any layout design on a computer. The book is arranged into three chapters: an introduction to the basics of typography; headline and display type; and setting text. 

Just My Type by Simon Garfield Just My Type investigates a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seemingly ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and what makes a font look presidential, male or female, American, British, German, or Jewish. 

The Big Book of Font Combinations by Douglas Bonneville This little e-book is something to go straight to the point, if you don’t want to spend hours remembering the rules and make explorations, just go to this book and follow the combinations founded in there.

Reinventing Lettering by Emily Gregory This gorgeously presented book showcases the multitude of creative possibilities offered by the medium, including examples of illustrated and hand drawn lettering, digitally drawn lettering, 3D lettering and found lettering. Each chapter begins with an overview of the different techniques used in creating lettering and type and lettering, followed by informative profiles of some of the most innovative and exciting lettering designers working today, accompanied by inspirational galleries of luscious lettering.

Little Book of Lettering by Emily Gregory  This collection—large in scope but petite in size—surveys the recent lettering renaissance, showcasing a diverse range of talent in gorgeous, eye-catching examples and profiling today’s innovators. In a stunning little package that expertly combines a handmade feel with a modern aesthetic, this is the ultimate inspirational collection of contemporary lettering for design buffs and type enthusiasts alike.

Drawing Type by Alex Fowkes Part inspiration and part workbook, these hand-drawn type of images will inspire and excite any designer to draw and explore type. Drawing Type features real-world projects and sketchbooks of well-known type designers, including interviews about their processes. Playful, hand-drawn type can easily be used in a range of disciplines within design and illustration such as packaging, editorial, posters, advertising, online graphics, and signage; the hand-made aesthetic is more prevalent now than ever.

Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy by Eleanor Winters You know what copperplate is right?. This old style of writing even can be a synonymous of calligraphy, now you don’t need to awake you ancestors to learn this calligraphic style. You can do it with this book.