May 26th, 2006: Anatomy of A Comic - Part Two

Y'allrighty... so we've got an idea that we consider relatively amusing, we've written out the dialogue, and broken it up into panels. Now what? The art, of course! Using an average ordinary 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of cardstock, I use a straightedge to create the four panels (sometimes more, depending on the script) and then ink the panels freehand (I like the not-quite-perfectly-straight look.) Then I don my trusty Clickster Grip pencil and start laying it all out.

When I'm done, I usually have a mix of messy lines, overlapping body parts, occasional detail, and a pain my neck from hunching over my desk for 40 minutes. It looks (the comic, not my hunch) something like this:



And just when you thought that's all that went into it... let's talk inks, shall we?

Have a good weekend and I'll talk to y'all on Tuesday with installment three of "Anatomy of A Strip!"

- J!