Last week I started working on a project my friend Dom and I have been talking about for the last three years. It’s a 10-page comic that we’re doing mostly because we think it’ll be cool, but something kept getting in the way. Now, during this quarantine, it seems like the best time to start actually doing it.
I’ve been wanting to do some process posts for a while, too, and I think this is a good project to do it, since I will be trying some different things along the way.
This first page is pretty typical of what I usually do, though.
As most do, I usually start with thumbnails, following the script Dom sent me. This is the part where I come up with ideas that I suggest back to him, too, as they don’t tend to come to be just by reading. Some people do beautiful thumbnails that you could publish as a finished comic, but not this guy. They’re just for me, and maybe the writer I’m working with. Their function is testing out ideas, seeing what can and cannot work.
The next step is drawing that on the page. I use Bristol paper, preferably Strathmore 300, but really whatever I can find. It’s hard to find Bristol paper I in Brazil for a reasonable price (or at all). This is Windsor & Newton, which I got discounted last time I was abroad. It’s pretty good. I draw using a mechanical pencil with light blue lead. The lighter you can get, the better, for this.
As you can see, I start by blocking out where everything will go. I do it very lightly at this point, so I can change my mind and erase things.
I’ve started using more reference for my pages. For this one, I used a 3D model of a dentist’s office as well as a couple of pictures of myself in the harder poses. I didn't trace over anything on this page (though I might do that depending on the case), I just used the 3D model to make it easier to set up the shots, and get an idea of what some of the equipment looks like.
After a few hours, the pencils are done. You can see I changed a couple things here and there.
Then comes the inking. That’s my favourite part of the whole process. That’s when the page really comes together, and the process itself it very contemplative. Or I can put on some podcast or TV show to keep me company, too. While inking this page I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Friends, and listened to NPR’s Invisibilia.
My inking process is like this: I start with the border panels, then move on to everything I can do with technical pens. That's all the hard surfaces, things that use a ruler, and small details like hands and facial features in small figures. Then I move on to brushes, where I ink all the more organic stuff, like clothes, hair, fur, nature, flesh. I’ve tried inking only with a brush but couldn’t be precise enough. I’ve tried only pens as well, but it looked a bit weak and stiff. This is the balance that works for me at the moment.Â
A few more hours, and this is the final result. From here I do some minor corrections with white ink, then I scan and edit it on the computer. I think there's one line I really want to change on this one, but I'm waiting to do all the corrections together once all pages are finished.
You can see I write the dialogue where I think it will go, which is important because it prevents you from drawing in a way that screws over the letterer. It happens more than you’d think. Also sometimes I’m the letterer, too, so I definitely wouldn’t want that.
Next time I will do page two, where I tried something I don't usually do.
