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The Comicing Process

cross posted from my Blog

Just a guide I use when working on the webcomic and thought I'd share it.

 

 

The comic process

already at 5 pages of the Atlantech web comic, so I figured I'd explain the whole process.

 I try to update as much as possible, but sometimes there's a down side and I'm unable to work on it, due to personal life anyways.

But this is the step by step guide I use when it comes to working on it.
first and foremost, before doing any artwork I've got to know which setting I'm working with and the dialogue that will be used.

Step 1: Brainstorming
It's very important to give yourself some time to think up ideas for your creation. What I like to do is come up with good ideas for scenes, which also includes dialogue. Then when I've got some idea of what I want, I'll open up word pad and begin typing it all out.  I kind of do it in a screen play fashion, it just makes it easier to follow.

Step 2. The dialogue
When you've got a whole cast of characters, it's important to give each one a unique personality, which also needs to show through their dialogue.  What they say reflects on the type of character they are, and it also helps the reader with getting to know and understand them better.   Since you're the creator of these characters, only you know what they will say and how they will react :]
that's just one of the great things about creating your own universe. You know everything, and the reader doesn't =p
anyways I type out the dialogue in key scenes, in that same screen play format, and then I go over it a few times.  I have to visualize each scene as I am going back over it so that I make sure it's exactly what I want. However, a lot of the times I'll write something down and then later on completely change it, even at the last minute.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just shows that over time, you're able to come up with something better.  Improvement is always a good thing, never a downfall.

Step 3. Sketching the Panels
This is probably the most time consuming part of the whole process, because as an artist you're so eager to translate what you see in your mind to the canvas, sometimes you find yourself either erasing or completely starting over.  The way I do it is I sketch each one individually save it, then go back to add color later on. When drawing scenes, it's important to refer to the dialogue you'll be using, so you know just how to present the characters.  Expression is a major factor, because it's important for your reader to understand what's going on, not to mention it also helps with character development and helps to establish the mood of the scene.  Posing is also important, as is the perspective. I won't explain the whole drawing process, because that's not the purpose of this guide, but when coming up with the visuals, it's easy to see just how you're going to want everything.  So, just draw it as you see it :] and if you don't like it, go back and come up with a new idea and go from there.

One thing I do is, I tend to go out of order when drawing the panels. I could start at the last one, and work my way up to the first, or start in the middle or anywhere else between. I usually do this when I've got the perfect visual in mind for a specific panel. It just makes it easier to draw that one then, and go back to the others that way you don't forget it.

Step 4. Adding the Color
This process can take just as long as the drawing, and that's because you don't want to rush it or you may have a lot in a single panel to color. Such as background detail, or if there is more than one character that can also add to the lengthy process.  I normally don't color them in the same order, just like I do with the drawing, and depending on the size and amount of detail, some panels can take up to three hours to do.
Also depending on the setting, sometimes adjustments need to made, such as hues. For example, it's always night time in Atlantis city, therefore any scenes that take place outside I use the color adjuster filter and change it to a blueish hue.  I normally, add quick color to the layer underneath the lineart, and then when all the color is added, I make the color change.  I do it this way so I can color everything in those tones without having it look like I used a filter. 

Step 5.  Arranging the Panels
I have a template I use for the comic, one I made from scratch that I've become very attached to. So when it comes time to add the panels to that template, I open another file I made using my comic life software. It's a comic sheet with different sizes of panels. I saved it in the format of a BMP file that way I can use the background eraser tool and get rid of the white surrounding the panels. After doing that, I select the size I need and copy it, then go back to the comic template, and paste it. Some size adjustments are needed in order to make sure everything will fit, so I mess with that until I get the right size. Then I select whichever colored panel I need and paste it into the blank panel.  I also have to adjust the size of the image in order to make it a perfect fit, and this also requires cutting out some of the background scenery, but that's not a problem for me. Some would think it's a waste to draw all that detail and have some of it cut out when making the final paste, but to me it doesnt matter.  Though, I do try to keep a lot of it in there, I just do it so that it's a perfect fit.

Also, each panel is set to  its own individual layer, that way I can re-arrange them and resize if needed. For the most part I'm able to make everything fit, and I even take the time to arrange them in an orderly fashion. After I finish with that, I go ahead and merge down all the panel layers until they're all grouped together in one single layer. I don't merge it down to the final background because I'm going to be working with it on my laptop, so I leave it as is and just save it as a PSD file type on my flash drive.

Step 6. The Editing
After plugging my flashdrive into my laptop I open up photoshop and then the PSD file and then from there I make adjustments, such as brightness and contrast. These adjustments are necessarry since I had been working on a LCD monitor (my desktop) and anything viewed on my laptop comes out ten times brighter.
So after the adjustment I quickly save it and give it one last over view before starting the final step.

Step 7. Making the comic.
I use a program called Comic life, and let me tell you it's a very neat program with a lot of cool features, but the only downside is, when using that program it tends to mess with the quality, thus making it blurry so I came up with a solution of copy and paste from comic life to photoshop.
First I look at my word pad document with the dialogue and then begin setting up the speech bubbles in the correct form that I need them.  After that, I type in the dialogue, copy it then paste it on photoshop where it needs to go.  The only downside is whenever you paste your speech bubble from comic life it always comes with a small white background and so it's important to use the background eraser tool for this, to clean up that unwanted white area so it looks more professional.
It does this with everything you paste from comic life, so the same steps are required.

Adding the speech bubbles and action text is probably the shortest process, but it's important to make sure there aren't any spelling errors. I should copy and paste from word pad to comic life, but I don't.
Instead I just have it open right beside the program and type what I see. Remember what I said about last minute changes? Well sometimes, this does happen especially when working with the speech bubbles. You'll be working and suddenly, you're hit with an idea and you find yourself changing it completely.
I've had this happen quite a few times actually, like I said it's not bad at all, just means you're coming up with better ideas.

Anyways, after finishing that, I double check everything and if all looks good, I save it on my laptop as a PNG file type.  Now the reason for choosing PNG over JPEG is due to the fact that PNG is better quality, where JPEG tends to pixelate your work, which is a big pet peeve of mine. PNG also looks cleaner and neater, but you can save it as any file type you want.  I also make another size, one for the preview since I post it on the Robotech X website. I like the people to actually see a preview before they have a look at the actual page. I'm just odd that way I guess :D
Well that pretty much covers the whole process.. anythingI left out, I did for good reason ;]
mainly because an artist should never give out all their secrets, takes away from their originality, even their mysteriousness haha, I'm kidding...
but I do have secrets and I'll never tell!

anyways, I hope this guide is usefull, other than just showing how I spend my life =p