#comic tip

Step one after coming up with a really epic idea (aka daydreaming for hours on end) write it down and doodle it really shitily in your notes

Step two forget about it for months on end before making it (I have so many random comic ideas unfinished) (this is why you write it down before hand)

Step three finally get your ass up and make the sketch 💞💞 Step four spend way too much time making the panels because they HAVE to be perfect for some reason (or else I’ll freak tf out and die /j)

Step five and six make the lineart and coloring, and then add the speech bubbles, this is where you can tweak the wording and or change where the speech bubbles go (mostly done so it flows better)

(Don’t be afraid to cover up your art with speech bubbles if needed, ik it kind of sucks but reading ability is very important in comics, and having your speech bubbles all wonky WILL turn off readers, no matter how good your art is)

step seven make a REALLY lazy background because you do NOT want to do shit this time!! (Pretend they don’t have lighting on them I merged the layers 💖)

Step eight spend too long on rendering aka lighting and shading!! Step nine add more epic effects aka final touches!! This is always nice to do because it makes it look a lot prettier (like adding overlays, gradient maps, blurs, and noise… idk)

Andddd you’re done, I usually work on multiple comics at once because I CANNOT sit on one thing only!! Nuh uh!! Comics take fucking ages and will ALWAYS take ages so if you don’t have the patience for it I’m sorry bro 💔 you will not handle it 💔

Although! When I started making mini comics they took me like? 10+ hours but the more I did them they now take around 3 hours at the shortest. This one took 5 hours.

This is just how I make comics btw, most comics I see don’t go fucking crazy on the rendering/lighting/shading (usually on comics I see there is none tbh! And it works for them!) I’m just insane and like to make my comics look really pretty or else I’ll explode for some reason.

Comic tip 1 Do you want me to make more?

I’ve gotten a lot of asks about how to start making a comic and what to do to get good at it and honestly? The best advice I can give is to sit down and start! It’s not gonna look very good in the beginning but it doesn’t have to! Don’t worry about it and have fun!

You’ll be excellent before you know it! ♡

I started noticing a pattern with people who have comics, where they frequently miss updates because they decided to draw one page a week rather than multiple pages scheduled for once a week.

Also here’s a shameless plug of my comic, Monsters Crowd Creatures Call which I’ve been working on since August 2016! It’s a comic set in 1984 and follows the adventures of teenage monsters under the threat of hunters and features LGBT+ and characters of color!

Transcription of the images below!

Forgot I saved some progress shots of my step by step process for one of my pages. Here you go!

1 sketch panels and make sure it reads with the word bubbles and the pages both before and after it. Make sure the word bubbles force the reader's eye through the main images on each panel, try to go for a kind of zigzag pattern with the dialog/text. Split up word bubbles into correct phrasing and make sure the dialog sounds natural by reading through it several times. In my opinion, this is the hardest stage by far, and often takes me as long as the other 3 combined per page.

2 line and flat color (mostly busy work, trace your own work and fill by numbers... I find this stage very boring)

3 Add shadows 1 or 2 layers of them on a multiply layer

4 bring the text back in, add sound effects, motion lines and gradients/overlay's to force the reader's eye in the correct place and further push the emotion of what's happening in each panel.

Some progress shots of this page. I really like how the wood texture came out and I learned a lot about how simple they are to actually do!

Just adding shadows and tones after the flats instantly changed the image and feel on this page. I write a script before I even get to the sketch, and that really helps. Sometimes the dialog changes or the panel's that I've outlined don't stay the same, but the script helps me figure out what I'm going to draw and where I'm going with the story when I'm staring at a blank page I need to fill with panels.

It also lets me hash out specific dialog or more importantly, jokes, that I for sure want to get worded or timed right. (Jokes are all about timing) Most the time though, the panels change a lot from the script because I'm just looking to get the general feel of the conversation and not too worried about specifics. Script for the Grillby page:

:Red hands over the money

:Grillby looking down at Red one last time in a small silly frame with him all sweaty (Is that guy really your cousin…?)

:“That guy… Y-Yeah…” “don’tcha see the family resemblance…” Red is sweating heavily, and his mouth may be twitching? He still holds the wallet

:(It’s a little too resembling if you ask me… I don’t remember you having any other family)Grillby pushing his glasses and looking sus at him

:”He’s uh… like my brother from another mother…” “Ya know… like that…”