WALKTHROUGH: RIDDLE OF LIGHTNING PAGE

How to put together a comic page the way I do it.

1: Plan out the page

I write it out in a text editor, trying to imagine how many panels I can fit nicely on the page.

To be honest I think this is the most important step. A lot of people just grab a blank sheet and start drawing, and stop when they have filled all the available space. I can't imagine doing it that way. It's good to work it out in advance because each page can then be a self-contained story and you can stop at a point which will leave people wanting more! Plus, you know you won't run out of paper...

A rule I have is to use as little dialogue as possible. This is paradoxically the result of my years of fiction writing: I like to show rather than tell. I think that unless you're doing a background information comic you shouldn't ever need narrator bubbles. The pictures should tell their own story.

2: Open blank template file and create a new document

I have a blank MS Paint document with an outer border, which I use to start every new page. This ensures they are all the same size, without me having to think about it :)

3: Place the panels

I do this by eye with the rectangle tool. I like it to look neat, but interesting; I try to vary the panel sizes and keep them from all falling into the same line.

4: Drawing

I draw in blue to start with. I am not neat. It doesn't matter because none of these blue lines will be in the finished image.

Everything is drawn freehand with the pencil tool. In my opinion the shape and line tools are too geometric for this sort of artwork.

5: Outlining

Usually zoomed in about 4x, I go over neatly in black, using the pencil tool as always. Large areas of dark might be filled in with the brush, or even the fill tool with brush and pencil to neaten up the edges. When I am done I will use the Color Eraser to remove the blue from underneath.

This actually does not take a long time, though it might sound like it should. I find it quicker than traditional or digital inking.

6: Speech bubbles

I make speech bubbles on a separate document and paste them into place, adding the tails later.

7: Tones

Image>Attributes>Colors: Black and White converts the image to a duotone image. The color palette at the bottom changes to a set of tones. This is quite a well-kept secret of MS Paint.

As a last step, I use the Fill tool to flood fill areas of my document with appropriate tones.

The page is finished!

Click here to go back to Tutorials.

Email: quillandlauren@yahoo.com
AIM: eloze (email me first with your AIM name so I can add you)
MSN: metara_v2@hotmail.com (by prior appointment only)