Mater Development

Automatic Drawing

Hey everyone!

So this is a bit different from my usual posts, but I wanted to share something I've been working on that combines my love for drawing with my other life as a software engineer.

If you've been following my daily drawings, you've probably noticed I do a lot of comics and sequential art. I'm constantly scribbling in my sketchbook, doing those automatic drawings where I just let the pen flow and find images in the chaos.

I've always been inspired by the panel layout tools in Clip Studio Paint, but I wanted something more focused just on the panel creation process. Something that would let me quickly set up manga-style pages and experiment with different storytelling approaches.

So I built it myself.

What It Does

The Comic Panel Creator is basically a practice tool for comic artists (like me, like you maybe?) who want to improve their storytelling skills without getting bogged down in the technical stuff. It lets you:

Create professional comic panel layouts with proper manga dimensions (5.25 x 7.75 inch)

Generate AI-powered scripts based on your layouts (this part is wild - it actually looks at your panel arrangement and suggests story elements)

Organize your pages into complete books with covers and back covers

Export clean layouts to PDF or PNG for drawing over in whatever app you prefer

It's Open Source & Still in Development!

This project is still actively in development, so expect some rough edges and new features being added regularly. If you're into coding (or just curious), you can check out the project on GitHub: JSReact_comic-panelist (dev branch)

Why I'm Sharing This

I don't usually talk about my software engineering side on this blog, but comics are where my art and tech interests overlap perfectly. This tool has actually helped me with my own daily drawing practice, making it easier to experiment with different panel arrangements and storytelling techniques.

More tinkering with this idea. Basically, I’ve been trying to process some of my inner bitterness with what life feels like as an African American Black man. It’s indescribable. Sometimes I don’t feel like a human— like my life makes me feel like a golem that was made to be used and discarded.

I find the lore behind the concept of a Golem truly captivating. In one legend, a Golem wreaks havoc, causing destruction in a city, only to be magically restored to its state of servitude. This resonates deeply with the experiences of countless black men who fought valiantly and sacrificed their lives in slave revolts, only to be subjected to re-enslavement or forced labor in brutal conditions like buck-breaking camps.

I feel like I’m on to something with this story.

I also want to use this story as a way to talk about Black love as well. The question I’m exploring in my writing is whether love is powerful enough to save. Can love heal wounds that deep? Is it enough to restore humanity?

There was a really long stretch of time when I didn’t do any comic work at all, basically since the pandemic. I feel like I’m having to start from scratch in learning how to tell stories through sequential images.

I felt really grouchy while drawing this. It’s abstract, but I tried to focus on the composition and flow of the panels rather than specific content.

My only thought with these was to place some boxes and noodle around.

Even on days when I don’t have the energy to do something narrative based I get a lot of value out of these abstract pages of panels because it keeps me thinking about composition and layouts.

🐍 Serpent Energy 🐍

(Automatic drawings)

It got late and I needed to finish my daily drawing, so this was the best I could do considering the circumstances.

These are also automatic drawings. I just scribble around and then try to find the image in the marks. Sometimes I’ll look at some comics I like to pick up a vibe.

I’m trying to not judge too much because doing comics with an automatic drawing approach is rough. It’s very hit-or-miss, but I feel like I’m slowly improving.

Aaw. You gonna make me cry. Thanks.

Hope y’all don’t mind these raw photos of the art. By making it easy on myself I am more likely to be consistent 😆

I try to do one of these every day. I’ve been pretty consistent.