Hello everyone,
I am back with a new blog. I'll be talking about the process drawing my own original comic, Shades of Men. As you may know I've been posting it here on Steemit and had very nice comments so far. I've tried a traditional and a digital process. Here's how it went.
When planning a graphic novel or comic, an artist would usually set a number of rules which would allow consistency along the process. I didn't...
Based on my quick thumbnails, I first started drawing the comic on paper, using pencil then ink. You can see above some of the tools I used for that. I went for reusable Rotring architect pens for longevity.
I would then color the page through Photoshop using a bamboo tablet.
This worked for me at the beginning, however due to the fact that I had less time working on the computer, that I spent a lot of time in transportation and that I was offered a mini-Ipad, I slowly changed my habits and end up coloring my built-up buffer of inked pages using the new apple device.
From page 14
Finding the right app was kind of a challenge as well, as I wanted, specifically, a layer based app that would allow me to work on uploaded pictures. After a few Google searches, I bought "Art Studio" which is perfect for me.
You would think it is over, right? Well, no.
After finishing my stack of inked pages, I tried doing the line work digitally, directly over my thumbnails and coloring these.
From page 20
It does fit my way of life at the moment and allows me to work my pages "on the go", wherever I am (most of the time in the bus...)
To sum up, I like the organic feel of pencil and ink but it does take more time and space. Working digitally offers more flexibility and efficiency which you can't deny.
I know I'll always go back to traditional drawing for sketches, experiments and story ideas. And maybe even a long term project. Time will tell. What about you...
What is your preference? What is your way?
Let me know in the comment section below.
If you're interested in a step by step process of creating a comic page, you can check out my previous blog here. Also more sketches and story telling on my profile. ;-)
See you on the other side,
Jrej