BLOG - Making a Comic Page!

In a January post, I asked everyone to share ideas of what they’d like to see in our Tiers, and one of them asked for the progress of the pages.

To provide a demonstration, I opened the Discord server, I set up a space to post all the WIPs (work in progress), and the supporters (all of them!) can also watch me draw live on Discord, participate, and give suggestions (and I love it when everyone joins in!). So, I’ll also share the steps here for those who aren’t on Discord.

Script Review and Initial Sketch

My script has “goals”, but it doesn’t have a permanent path. It’s very free, and I change a lot of things while I’m drawing. I review the script and decide how each panel will look, using “stick figures”. At this stage, I also add the speech bubbles, check if they’re not overdone, and adjust the panels to ensure smooth reading, whether for traditional pages or for Webtoon version.

Background Creation

Using SketchUp, I create the settings, with all the items to set the “narrative”, that I want to show. I use the same software to export the drawing as lines (almost finished), make corrections on the final page, and position everything in the panels.

Many have asked me if I’m “doing it wrong” by using 3D models, but for a comic artist’s life, a single panel’s background can take longer to draw than an entire page. So, it helps A LOT, or we’d only have one page per week.

When I can’t find 3D models (like all the USP buildings), I use reference photos or swap everything with similar buildings (so USP doesn’t sue me too, hahaha). I’m careful to not infringe any copyrights, whether with photos or 3D models.

3D Character Placement

I’ve already mentioned how 3D helps, right? So why use 3D for characters too? Yes, but it doesn’t draw the “characters”, this is just to maintain proportions! Is an important feature for any comic artist, as it helps to readers differentiate characters. And if they’re the wrong size, everyone notices, and the “magic” is gone.

Using the background as a reference, the “3D dolls” are placed, and their poses are defined (which helps me draw from various perspectives, or the comic would have too many scenes from the same angle).

Initial Sketch

I draw over the 3D dolls, and may I have to make many pose corrections because drawing isn’t about making things realistic—it’s about telling a story. Some hand or foot poses are impossible in 3D.

This same sketch is then viewed without the 3D underneath, so I can check if the gesture is correct (gesture is the sense of movement in a drawing, often more important than “technique”). I’ll fix this a lot in the next phase.

Line Art

Manga is known for the line art style, the “original” manga drawing, and I put a lot of effort into it, sometimes taking longer than the sketch and background combined. I’m not just outlining the drawing, at this stage, I’m adding volume, alternating between thick and thin lines. I always exaggerate and add hatching (small strokes for more volume), but I hold back to avoid making it too uglyyyy hahahahha.

I’m a perfectionist and I color everything (I love colors <3), or this would be where my process ends… But I send everything to my assistant, who does the basic colors (flats), and then I start the second-to-last part.

Panel Coloring

With the flats ready, I adjust the colors for the narrative (making them duller for serious scenes or brighter/saturated for happy ones, for example), and add shadows/lights. There are at least 10 extra layers, so I keep everything organized and add a final touch with a paper texture color.

Lastly, I briefly color the speech bubbles and sound effects and check if all the color layers are “on” (sometimes I forget, and I hide it in the process).

Page Review

The final part is the quickest and the most nerve-wracking, as it’s when I try to find “mistakes on the page.” I even have a checklist: all eyes and tails, make sure the colors are right, ensure there are no grammar errors in the speech bubbles, and see if nothing important is missing to complete the scene, etc.

By this stage, I’m so tired that some errors still slip through, which I fix the next day, but they’re usually minor and hardly noticeable.

In a comic studio, it’s normal for EACH PHASE to have a different artist, including writers, pencilers, inkers, colorists, flatters, letterers, proofreaders, and editors… I’m crazy and do EVERYTHING, hahahahahahaHELP!

This is all my work, and even though I know it’s exhausting, it’s what I love doing. And you? What do you do with so much love too?

Pink 💗