A few weeks ago I was an instructor at the 1FW Workshop where I was asked to lead a small group discussion about comic storytelling. In the year prior when I was an instructor, I didn't do much prep for my small group talks, expecting that they'd be a bit more like round-table discussions...but this year I wanted to come prepared.So I loaded on my iPad the script, layouts/pencils, inks, and final colors/letters to be able to show my process and help demystify the process before opening up to attendees' specific comic storytelling questions and concerns. In this post, I'll share those materials, from the FCBD story: 'The Tale of the Wild Wolf'
SCRIPT:
This 8 page story started with an outline/script. I tend not to over-write, or even break down beats into panels. I'm bad with denoting what is a word balloon of dialogue, what is narration text, and what is description for me to know what's happening. But that's also because as the writer AND artist, I can be a little more loose with this process. It's like an idea purge. I'm just trying to get it all out before I worry about how it fits into panels or what scenes are on which pages.
This 8 page story started with an outline/script. I tend not to over-write, or even break down beats into panels. I'm bad with denoting what is a word balloon of dialogue, what is narration text, and what is description for me to know what's happening. But that's also because as the writer AND artist, I can be a little more loose with this process. It's like an idea purge. I'm just trying to get it all out before I worry about how it fits into panels or what scenes are on which pages.
I'll then print out my script and mark it up with pencil to make notes of where page breaks seem like they fit. Sometimes that's based on experience of knowing what could/should fit on a page, while other times, it's just a gut feeling that the break should be...there. I may doodle up some thumbnails or make notes about some bit being its own panel...but I leave a lot of that for the next step.
LAYOUTS/PENCILS:
I'll then start pasting all the dialogue and narration into a photoshop template I have for my pages, giving each page the text that my marked up scrip calls for. I almost always break my panels on the 1/3 lines of the page, and then make decisions about scenes and how they'll fit. Sometimes the most important bit in a scene needs to be a certain shape (tall, wide, big) and then I have to just puzzle in the other panels around it--other times it's about needing a certain number of beats (this happens and then I need two reaction panels, or I need to show the before, during and after of an action)
I draw characters and panel backgrounds on copy paper often drawing those elements separately, then scanning them and combining them in my page template. That way I can resize, rotate, and manipulate each element individually (the various parts of the drawing tinted different colors gives you a clue as to what are different drawings). The wolf photo on page 6 was a cheat after I'd already drawn a wolf there I hated, inked it, and woke up the next morning with the deadline looming feeling the need to change it...and hopefully in my next step, I didn't make it look like a photo trace, but a seamless part of my artwork...
I draw characters and panel backgrounds on copy paper often drawing those elements separately, then scanning them and combining them in my page template. That way I can resize, rotate, and manipulate each element individually (the various parts of the drawing tinted different colors gives you a clue as to what are different drawings). The wolf photo on page 6 was a cheat after I'd already drawn a wolf there I hated, inked it, and woke up the next morning with the deadline looming feeling the need to change it...and hopefully in my next step, I didn't make it look like a photo trace, but a seamless part of my artwork...
INKS:
I print out each of my page layouts and then tape them to the back of bristol board. On my lightpad I'm able to see through the surface of the bristol to use the printout underneath to guide me as I ink..
Here I add all the texture and line weight, pattern, and density that helps turn a pencil sketch into a real inked panel. And making sure that I applied all my stylistic mark making to the wolf on page 6, it doesn't look out of place or an overly photo referenced panel compared to the others.
Here I add all the texture and line weight, pattern, and density that helps turn a pencil sketch into a real inked panel. And making sure that I applied all my stylistic mark making to the wolf on page 6, it doesn't look out of place or an overly photo referenced panel compared to the others.
FINAL PAGES:
With the inks finished, I scan them and then color them digitally. This story has a large flashback, so I gave it an orangey-sepia style color story. With the colors set, I also add the balloons and dialogue boxes and make final polishes to the lettering.
If you'd like to hear me perform this story, I have it below or on my YouTube channel with other readings of Mouse Guard stories as well as creator commentary, model videos, and more
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