#drawtalk

Steps 6, 7 and 8 are not done in a particular order. Sometimes I will go through all those steps for one page and move onto the next and finish that page and so on. Sometimes I will add dialogue really early since it helps with expressions. Other times I will ink everything first, add the dialogue on everything, shade and block everything and so on in order. It changes with my mood. Some days I don't really feel like inking so I'll jump to shading and blocking.

1. Write out a Script

This step makes the whole process less expensive and painful but requires some thought and concentration. Sometimes my script is just dialogue. Other times it almost feels like writing a fic. I used to write this out in notepad but I got pretty used to writing it out in One Note. Whatever works.

The first time I write it out, I try not to think about what could go on what page and just make the thing exist.

When I've reached some kind of conclusion (sometimes I don't have one yet), I start separating out the words into potential pages. This will change a lot. Especially once I start turning it into something visual, so I just do my best.

2. Sketch Thumbs

I like to do my sketches in red so my thumbs are also red. My thumbs share the same dimension as the final pages so I can easily resize it later to fit. Here is where the groundwork for everything is laid. Where I figure out what to put where and how to pace everything.

Pacing and placing moments of the story visually took a long time to get a sense for and I have sort of gotten the hang of it. I still have so much to learn. I try to pay attention to flow and use the time between the end of one page to the next with thought. I often like to use this as a place to transition scenes.

Getting everything to fit in these boxes is time-consuming. I find that I can finish some comics in a day or two when I just draw it from moment to moment without thinking about panels. Just an observation I've noticed about myself. It's gotten easier over time though. I also don't think too much about the gutters here (ie the horizontal and vertical space between panels).

Here, the first page ends at the Ramen shop when Tanaka agrees to go. The next page is the start of the next scene at the mixer. You can see I squished a lot into page one, getting it to fit. I'm sure I could have spread it to two pages but I wanted to get to the main thing already and wasn't really interested in going into more detail for the ramen shop lol.

Figuring out how big the panels should be can be difficult, especially if I'm running out of room or have too much room but generally, panels are bigger the more important they are. Also changing the angles of panels can depend on the energy of a moment you're depicting. There's more to it than that of course.

TBH, I rarely think of the two-page spread because I'm thinking of how pages are usually displayed online - page by page and I also don't think I will print it, but I would keep that in mind if this is something you would like to. Make sure your pages pair together well enough.

Thumbs don't have to be this detailed either. You can figure that out later in the sketching stage, but, for me, sometimes I'm fixated on getting the emotions just right want that I want to solve this problem early on and refine it later. There are times though when it's pretty blobby.

For this step, I can't really listen to podcasts or watch anything I want to pay attention to even a little bit. It requires lots of attention.

3. Create the file

I think this is the step that makes you feel like comics are such a hassle, because if you don't have CSP, you need to figure out if you want to have your entire comic:

in one file or

multiple little files

This can be a pain if your computer is older and slower.

One file

In the past, I would try to put everything in one file if the # of pages wasn't too large, resulting in an enormous file. It makes it a lot easier to reference a past page or if I need to find a color I used earlier. It also makes it easier to copy and paste. A disadvantage is adjusting the flow of the pages can be a slower process since it's in layers stacked on top of each other. You need to save as jpg and examine them. Also, a huge file that can take a long time to load or be a pain to navigate, especially if you want to add detail.

I made this fe3h comic in one psd:

Multiple files

With the multiple pages route, you have smaller manageable files and you can do the essentially the same thing if you have multiple files opened at the same time, but it can be kind of unwieldy sometimes. Especially if you need to save each page as a jpg one by one or if you forgot a detail and need to add it to all the pages.

Clip studio

If you have the edition of Clip Studio that lets you make comics, it gives you the best of both worlds. You have one file you can open that will show you all your pages and you can pick and choose which pages you want to open. Also, if you have a tablet and a subscription to Clip Studio that lets you have it on two devices, you can update your comics on the go and save it to the Cloud which is so awesome.

4. Sketch Details

There are two ways I've gone about this

Stay in the thumbs file and add the details in over the thumbs like so:

Or add the thumb to each page file, resize and then add the details.

It all depends on which feels like it might be faster or if I feel like I need the space that comes with higher resolution to add more detail.

Not really too much to add, but this is fun a step. I find that I have to concentrate when wanting to convey certain emotions so I can watch or listen to things halfway while doing this step.