PandP, isn't just drawn straight onto the web, on no!
The Stats
I use drawing quality A3 paper. I would use bristolboard, but I can't afford it, nor does it come in A3.
Pencil wise, I use any HB or light pencil I own. I use WH Fineliner to draw nearly everything. A Pentel Ultra fine
for any detailed bits and a edding 1200 for shading (Like tom's top). I also have a brush pen for major contrasts and
doing the rounding on a corner. I stole the technique from Dylan.
As you may have noticed, when I got my brush pen, I started adding more contrast to the strip
look here for the first use of my brush pen.
A place to draw
.
I have my own corner in my room dedicated to drawing comics.
Most cartoonists (John Byrne for example) say the key to being successful is being tidy.
as you can see, i'm not. Tidy or successful! But its ok, I usually make enough
space to draw. I have a good light, and some background music on.
Writing
.
On my two walls by the desk, I have lots of comics pinned up. From cuttings
out of newspapers and magazines to print outs. I keep these for inspiration, and fun. I also
write (and doodle) all my ideas on my white board. I love my white board. Its nice.
Drawing
.
I cut a hole measuring 14x4 inches. I draw around the inside of this to get my basic shape,
then I sketch the characters in pencil. Adding the spaces for the border.
Boarder
.
I then use a ruler to ink in the boarders, with the
spacing inbetween boxes measured to 1 CM. I also ink any special effects.
Charater inking
.
After the boarder is done, I ink the outlines of the characters. I leave out
adding detail and texture yet. I prefer to get the basics done, then add the script, then finish off
but thats just me. Others complete the art work before the text.
Text
.
Unlike most cartoonists, I prefer to add the 'text' or writing myself. Most people think that a font looks
better than hand writing. But then again, it's all prefrence. I think the added time spent on writing pays off.
Otherwise I wouldn't do it!. Once I have penciled in my script, I ink it straight away. I only pencil to make
sure that the writing will fit,and the timing is good. I spend quite alot of time making sure my writing is clear.
it has to be, if I wrote normally, people would have to squint to try and read, and i'd be stuck paying for the glasses!! I also sign it now.
Erasing the pencil
.
When I ink in the text, I add the eyes and other details. I make sure that the eyes look in the right direction, so I save it till
everything is in its set place. I know you can get blue pencils that don't show in scanning, and it would save rubbing out pencil marks
and making smudges. But I love rubbing out the marks, it allows me to see the final drawing.
Adding final details and background
.
Once the pencil is gone, I can see what I need to add to the strip. Filling in lines I missed and colouring in clothes is something that I love doing
I also add a simple background. Backgrounds are important, just because they give the strip an extra depth. Most people either add great backgrounds
or ignore them altogeather. Look at PVPfor some funny background storys. Once I've finished with drawing, its time to scan!
Scanning
.
Now heres a problem. I draw in A3, but I have an A4 scanner. I use to shink the strip on a libary copyer, But that was 10p a go, and I can't afford that.
So what I do, is scan the strip twice, half one way, half the other. And join it up. It looks silly in the scanner, but it works. And its cheap! Then we head into the
Fiddley computer bit
.
I scan the thing in B/W with the brightness set to -19. Why? Because everything is grey or black, I then white out eyes etc. This gives me a cool colour scheme! Clever no?
When i'm done whiting, I add diffrent shades of grey to the strip. Then I shrink it, save it as a jpg and upload for all you wonderful peeps to see.
So now you know how I do it, you can steal my work and sue me, alternitively you could email me and say how nice I am to take time showing you behind the scenes. Its your choice.
