Comic process post! I try to be honest about what works and what I think doesn't.....there's definitely stuff I need to work on! But even my failings might be helpful to somebody, right?
Figure 1: Yes, I really do start out the page with stick figures and scribbled dialogue notes. I typically do this in big batches, ten or so pages at a time, just to get the flow of things right.
Figure 2: slightly refined stick figures, I spared you the chicken scratch background! just laying out angles and deciding what works and what doesnt, since at this point it’s been several weeks since I did my stick figures
Figure 3:The actual pencils. Working digitally, and inking my own work, I don’t bother refining them most of the time…..I can ink over this just fine. Every time I reach this stage it hits me that if I kept things in black and white, I could likely get out 3-4 pages a week or more :(
Figure 4: Digital inks. I don’t tend to rely on my inkwork for shading and form definition, I lean on colors for that…..but I’m rethinking that approach, so don’t be surprised if you see it change.
Figure 5: Flat colors! I go ahead and do the flats for the background, and a single bright, saturated color for the figures on a separate layer. That makes it easy to select things for the next step
IFigure 6: Character flats! I lock the transparency on the layer, then use the lasso fill tool to quickly fill in the base colors for each character
Figure 7: Finished colors……the step where every little imperfection and regrettable choice jumps out at me. If I make any changes in future pages I’m going to try not to make them too glaring, but I’m just not satisfied with the results I’m getting, it’s like my brain’s halfway stuck between painting and comic coloring. We’ll see what happens with the next page!
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