#drawtalk

[cloverinblue]

thumbnailing again

i’m at the end i think. 9 pages so far.

[martin-tma-liker]

I want to draw Martin... but I wasn't sure what to draw but I got this idea to draw him in this cute idol-like way that Naoki Urasawa did for Yawara! and Happy!

Like, you turn the page and the heroine's really in big trouble (putting that esp lightly if we're talking about Happy!) but the first page is of her standing in a nice fit, smiling and posing ... which is kinda funny but I also unironically enjoy those pages.

Here are some examples

[cloverdraws]

High-level Overview of Comics Process 1/2

Thank you for asking! I've always wanted to do a write up on how I've done it since going into detail about that sort of thing is fun to me.

It took me a while to arrive at this process and I'm still getting better at it.

For the longest time I'd start with just the thumbs of a comic drawn in red and make the entire draft from that alone. It's easier for me to visualize how it might go but it's also very painful, because if I have to make changes, I have to cut and paste and clean up when I move panels around. There's a heavy penalty for drastic changes. I will have to drop whole pages and keep them around somewhere in case I want to re-introduce an element.

I did this back when I did my Serizawa and Shimazaki go to Machu Pichu comic. Back then I even sketched out the border page… I think I also drafted this out in Paint Tool SAI too.

Anyways, nowadays I have a less painful process.

General steps

Write out a script: write out dialogue and what will happen.

Sketch Thumbs: Sketch out the pages side by side in red in small resolution.

Create the file(s): Clip Studio Paint makes it a lot easier to make comics. Otherwise I'd have to juggle multiple files for each page or mess with layers for each page in one super big file. However, the edition of CSP that lets you do this isn't cheap so I'd wait for a sale.

Sketch details

Inking

Add dialogue.

Shade and block.

Finishing touches: Such as SFX, adding background details, fixing up expressions, adding the title if applicable

More Below. I’m splitting this into two parts. Here’s part 1 which goes over 1-4.

>>> PART 1 <<<

>>> PART 2 <<<

Steps 6, 7 and 8 are not done in a particular order. Sometimes I will go through all those steps for one page and move onto the next and finish that page and so on. Sometimes I will add dialogue really early since it helps with expressions. Other times I will ink everything first, add the dialogue on everything, shade and block everything and so on in order. It changes with my mood. Some days I don't really feel like inking so I'll jump to shading and blocking.

1. Write out a Script

This step makes the whole process less expensive and painful but requires some thought and concentration. Sometimes my script is just dialogue. Other times it almost feels like writing a fic. I used to write this out in notepad but I got pretty used to writing it out in One Note. Whatever works.

The first time I write it out, I try not to think about what could go on what page and just make the thing exist.

When I've reached some kind of conclusion (sometimes I don't have one yet), I start separating out the words into potential pages. This will change a lot. Especially once I start turning it into something visual, so I just do my best.

2. Sketch Thumbs

I like to do my sketches in red so my thumbs are also red. My thumbs share the same dimension as the final pages so I can easily resize it later to fit. Here is where the groundwork for everything is laid. Where I figure out what to put where and how to pace everything.

Pacing and placing moments of the story visually took a long time to get a sense for and I have sort of gotten the hang of it. I still have so much to learn. I try to pay attention to flow and use the time between the end of one page to the next with thought. I often like to use this as a place to transition scenes.

Getting everything to fit in these boxes is time-consuming. I find that I can finish some comics in a day or two when I just draw it from moment to moment without thinking about panels. Just an observation I've noticed about myself. It's gotten easier over time though. I also don't think too much about the gutters here (ie the horizontal and vertical space between panels).

Here, the first page ends at the Ramen shop when Tanaka agrees to go. The next page is the start of the next scene at the mixer. You can see I squished a lot into page one, getting it to fit. I'm sure I could have spread it to two pages but I wanted to get to the main thing already and wasn't really interested in going into more detail for the ramen shop lol.

Figuring out how big the panels should be can be difficult, especially if I'm running out of room or have too much room but generally, panels are bigger the more important they are. Also changing the angles of panels can depend on the energy of a moment you're depicting. There's more to it than that of course.

TBH, I rarely think of the two-page spread because I'm thinking of how pages are usually displayed online - page by page and I also don't think I will print it, but I would keep that in mind if this is something you would like to. Make sure your pages pair together well enough.

Thumbs don't have to be this detailed either. You can figure that out later in the sketching stage, but, for me, sometimes I'm fixated on getting the emotions just right want that I want to solve this problem early on and refine it later. There are times though when it's pretty blobby.

For this step, I can't really listen to podcasts or watch anything I want to pay attention to even a little bit. It requires lots of attention.

3. Create the file

I think this is the step that makes you feel like comics are such a hassle, because if you don't have CSP, you need to figure out if you want to have your entire comic:

in one file or

multiple little files

This can be a pain if your computer is older and slower.

One file

In the past, I would try to put everything in one file if the # of pages wasn't too large, resulting in an enormous file. It makes it a lot easier to reference a past page or if I need to find a color I used earlier. It also makes it easier to copy and paste. A disadvantage is adjusting the flow of the pages can be a slower process since it's in layers stacked on top of each other. You need to save as jpg and examine them. Also, a huge file that can take a long time to load or be a pain to navigate, especially if you want to add detail.

I made this fe3h comic in one psd:

Multiple files

With the multiple pages route, you have smaller manageable files and you can do the essentially the same thing if you have multiple files opened at the same time, but it can be kind of unwieldy sometimes. Especially if you need to save each page as a jpg one by one or if you forgot a detail and need to add it to all the pages.

Clip studio

If you have the edition of Clip Studio that lets you make comics, it gives you the best of both worlds. You have one file you can open that will show you all your pages and you can pick and choose which pages you want to open. Also, if you have a tablet and a subscription to Clip Studio that lets you have it on two devices, you can update your comics on the go and save it to the Cloud which is so awesome.

4. Sketch Details

There are two ways I've gone about this

Stay in the thumbs file and add the details in over the thumbs like so:

Or add the thumb to each page file, resize and then add the details.

It all depends on which feels like it might be faster or if I feel like I need the space that comes with higher resolution to add more detail.

Not really too much to add, but this is fun a step. I find that I have to concentrate when wanting to convey certain emotions so I can watch or listen to things halfway while doing this step.

>>> PART 2 <<<

[pleaseshutupaboutsatou]

your art is sooo incredibly inspiring i absolutely love your lineart, composition, coloring, etc. you are so amazingly good at what you do!!! i only watched ajin s1 but your work motivates me to read the whole series. if i may ask, would you ever share insight on your artistic process? like how you prepare your idea for an illustration or comic and see it through to the end? anyway im convinced you deserve so much more attention, your art is so lovely to look at! thank you for sharing it.

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words. I highly recommend reading the manga if you've seen the anime. They both sort of start on the same footing but over time the manga goes in this totally different direction that's very rich and colors the characters more deeply. It's been a while since I've seen the anime but I want to say it's defined more by events while the manga is more character-centric and really dives into the motivations and feelings of the characters.

On my main art blog (@cloverdraws), which you might not be aware, I have provided some insight into my comics process here ☺: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/cloverdraws/684198040768217088?source=share

I post my non-Ajin stuff there and also reblog my Ajin stuff over there after some time has passed and I remember to.

However, I wouldn't breaking down how I tried to come up with stuff for Ajin week since it's a little more different and simpler:

So I start off by having this document with a bunch of panels I made to plan and feel around for ideas.

I have different panels like this with different dimensions. Usually the piece will fit. It's a pretty big document but not so big that my tablet or computer can handle it okay. These are the dimensions of the document I use atm.

Anyway, I sketch out ideas. For Day 5 I had blue, social media and ajin in diff countries. I decided to draw a blue Izumi drawing or a group pic of the Maryland Ajin.

As I draw, my sketch begins to loosen up and more ideas come

In the end, I decide to go with the top center because I like the attitude of it. Usually if I'm really going to make a nice illustration, I would blow up the thumbnail and then sketch but I was pressed for time so I decided to work at the same dimensions as my thumb which is pretty decent size anyway.

I do line art. For this one I chose 'The Robin Sketcher' a nice grainy pencil-like brush I got via Clip Studio Assets. Lately I've gotten pretty comfortable with it.

It's really fun to add pools of black with this brush so that's what I do.

I block in colors that seem to fit with each other. The blue bg is added later and is a bit bright but it's because I like the contrast and I plan to darken it with a gradient and some texture. Also, this picture is me toggling the visibility of layers so you don't see the whole process, but here I also added a little color to the face, knees and other places. You don't see it well but her hair behind the lines in her hair is kind of green, working with the black imho.

I add more details like some darkness behind the crates, some shapes to the poster and the texture/gradient for the bg I was mentioning. I also added her name tag because she had that in canon and I thought it would be a fun detail to add her surname at the time, 'Tanaika'

Finally I do some pretty simple shading with a round brush and later soften it in strategic places but also try to keep the harder edges too. It's your standard 50% multiply layer.

The color feels a little flat, so I find adding a gradient adds some dimension. I also made this gradient normal at ~50% starting from the bottom to homogenize the bottom with some blue and draw our eyes to her face

Then I play around with layers and filters to strengthen the blue and the feeling I want to convey with this picture

I don't like to go crazy with the filters but this is what I used:

I then Save As a copy and make this drawing it's own file so I don't overload my thumbnail file. In the end this drawing came out to a decent-size dimension and I really loved how it turned out.

[falk-nordmann-illustration]

„sesselhefte“ 30 blatt in packpapierheft / braune & weisse kreide / 5 hefte / 2014 - 2015 „armchair-booklets“ 30 sheets in a booklet / white & brown crayon on kraft paper / 5 booklets / 2014 - 2015 der name der arbeit: in die hefte gezeichnet, während ich & mein vater uns in sesseln sitzend über dies und jenes unterhalten haben. jahr 2014 - 2015 the name of the work: drawing in the booklets while sitting in armchairs with my father, chatting about this & that. year 2014 - 2015 #armchairbooklets #sesselhefte #drawingwhilsttalking #focuseddefocused #drawtalking #talkdrawing #syncronizedcommunication #squaredraughts #remaininglines #drawingbook #zeichenbuch #falknordmann #fullofcricketyscrawl #vollgekritzelt #highbrowshit #art #artyfarty #drawing #sensoflineandshape #subtlesubmerged #hashtapashtaggedyraggedy #sofinesonice #carefulwiththateugene #powerofpages #paperlies #niceandsweet #drawforyourlifeturtle #designo #zeichnung https://www.instagram.com/p/CYq9_MIMZ_s/?utm_medium=tumblr

[vatan-tatarstan]

Check out this awesome 'critical role' design on @TeePublic!

Vox Machina are still within the early stages of their adventures, and a split in the party requires two objectives to be tackled at the same time.

The previous issue showed Vex, Vax, Trinket and Grog heading into the Frostweald to find the heart of a Nymph, their journey was very productive. This issue shows Scalan, Pike and Keyleth on a quest to recover the skull of a nightmare, which is the last remaining item needed to cure Grog of his unnatural scarring.

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II #5 is not just beautiful to look at while being a delight to read; it is filled with the history, lore and excitement that fans of the Critical Role podcast have come to know and love from Matthew Mercer’s incredible world building.

The issue includes many of the trademark idiosyncrasies that the character’s display on the Critical Role show/podcast. The introduction of the final Vox Machina regular is an exciting reveal and an interesting addition;’ the character of Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski De Rollo III (you can call him Percy).

The character’s introduction into this series ties in very well with the overarching story, while also making him stand out like a sore thumb with the rest of the world setting. The introduction of his “pepper-box pistol” would be exciting enough to fans of the character, and coupling that with his eloquent mannerisms and formal looking attire sets Percy up as the mysterious figure he is well known for.

Issue #5 of 6 is a wonderful penultimate entry into the Series 2 of Vox Machina Origins, while setting up the ritual and possible fight in the final issue of this series. The excitement translates over to the comic very well from the Critical Role audio/visual storytelling medium, while allowing us the character origins we never got in the first series of Critical Role.

[feretta]

7th of april 2013 marked the first page of Tale of Tails, and that's 8 whole dang years ago. Dang. So here's this year's anniversary drawing.

Drawtalk with Feretta (Youtube) Prints available here

https://furaffinity.net/full/41407474/ https://e621.net/posts/2691177

[mramazingva]

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im sorry @thegrinningkitten i couldn’t resist XD

the artist that made this comic is @thegrinningkitten go check them out and show them some love^^

Link to the comic: https://thegrinningkitten.tumblr.com/post/187139745425/whats-your-favorite-thing-to-drawtalk-about

Voices all done by me @mramazingva

[thejarett]

Sketchy forest mage? #art #drawing #drawtalk #conceptart #character #speedpaint #clipstudiopaint #druid #magic #digitalart #digitalpainting #instartist #exilesandoutcasts #eao #eo

Sketchy forest mage? #art #drawing #drawtalk #conceptart #character #speedpaint #clipstudiopaint #druid #magic #digitalart #digitalpainting #instartist #exilesandoutcasts #eao #eo

[cloverinblue]

So I’m making progress on the ferdibert comic thing. The thumbnails are shaping up to be rather abstract as a story - more about the visuals than anything and there is like almost no dialogue right now.

I’m almost done with it though and once I’m there, I’m going to jump straight to inking. it would make so happy to finish it all in early oct

I’ve never shaded in monochrome before so I’m a bit worried about it but i’ll get there when i get there

[cloverdraws]

High-level Overview of Comics Process 2/2

>>> PART 1 <<<

>>> PART 2 <<<

Here’s part 2 which goes over 5-8

General steps

Write out a script: write out dialogue and what will happen.

Sketch Thumbs: Sketch out the pages side by side in red in small resolution.

Create the file(s): Clip Studio Paint makes it a lot easier to make comics. Otherwise I'd have to juggle multiple files for each page or mess with layers for each page in one super big file. However, the edition of CSP that lets you do this isn't cheap so I'd wait for a sale.

Sketch details

Inking

Add dialogue.

Shade and block.

Finishing touches: Such as SFX, adding background details, fixing up expressions, adding the title if applicable

5. Inking

This step is a lot of fun but can be painful if you're careless with your layers or have too many. I try to be minimalist about it so I can modify with ease.

Having some kind of neatness will save you headache but I can be pretty lazy.

Here is an example of how I organized this page:

I have separate folders for 

Lineart - this Is neatly divided by element

Sfx - just one layer I wanted underneath lineart but on top of the blocking

Blocking - the greys and blacks go here; kind of a mess

Draft - the resized thumbnail and the draft sketch

The element on top of the folders Is unique to CSP and is basically the panels. If working in something other than CSP, I would dedicate a folder to just panels.

If I'm feeling fancy I will sometimes have a folder for text. Otherwise CSP likes to cram it in the panels folder and I'm too lazy to move it.

6. Add Dialogue

By add dialogue I generally mean adding the final text to the comic in which you decide the font, the sizes you want to use and how the text will be. My go-to font is SF Cartoonist Hand SC but maybe you might to try wild words or maybe you want to write the text by hand. 

I try to use fonts when I can so that, if desired, anyone can put the image through a translator and it can interpret it better.

Adding the dialogue early will help soooo much with conveying feelings or emotions in the sketching phase.

I also like to draw the word balloons by hand nowadays, but CSP has a word balloon feature that's pretty cool and flexible.

7. Blocking and shading.

I'm still finding a process for this step so it's been changing a lot. Lately I've tried to be neater with my layers:

I've separated into elements again. Head for shading hair. Coat for the coats. Cloth for everything under the coats. Acc for accessories. I also do all my shading in one layer to keep it simple. I also have layers for just gradients too.

One great part about this step is that it's pretty mindless. I can pay attention to podcasts and videos with this one. Also, CSP has an incredible paint bucket tool that really speeds up the blocking process so much!

Otherwise, the trick is to outline the shape in a color, select the empty inside, grow the size of the selection by a few pixels, fill with that same color on a 2nd layer above and flatten it. Something like this:

Later, I would change the layer to the color I want.

8. Finish touches.

Your comic is basically done but you might not be able to help but fix a few things such as….

Expressions - this is so important. Sometimes it looks too silly or doesn't have quite what you were imagining. Fix it until it feels right

Flow - Sometimes I add more gradients or take away detail depending on how I want to a scene to relate to the other scenes around it. 

Dialogue - Sometime dialogue feels clunky and needs to be tweaked. Sometimes I totally change a scene's dialogue because it feels out of place or abrupt.

If you have a friend to look it over, that would be great! They can let you know if they have a hard time understanding something. Actually, maybe it'd be best to have them look over it in the thumbs or draft stage so any fixes will be less expensive….

Anyway, this is a high-level overview of the process. It might seem overwhelming I think but over time as you do it, things will come more natural. This is sort of like driving. You have to pay attention to so many things but over time you get a feel for it.

Yes, with comics you do have to do things like keep track of where things are, add missing pillows you left out in a few panels, design and draw the old lady who appears in like two panels, sketch out the outfits your characters are wearing if it's something you made up, put effort into establishing the setting at least once so people will have some idea of where the characters might be… it seems like a lot. 

But, tbh, readers are pretty forgiving and they're just not gonna notice certain details for better or worse, so forgetting a mole isn't the end of the world and having wonky perspective in one scene is a small loss. Some people who make comics, make it easier for themselves and trace over photos they've taken themselves for backgrounds or use 3d modeling to figure out poses quick. 

TBH, I think what really matters is conveying story and feeling.

Like the late Jesse Hamm once said:

[pleaseshutupaboutsatou]

lately i’ve been forgetting the bumchin line

[falk-nordmann-illustration]

„sesselhefte“ 30 blatt in packpapierheft / braune & weisse kreide / 5 hefte / 2014 - 2015 „armchair-booklets“ 30 sheets in a booklet / white & brown crayon on kraft paper / 5 booklets / 2014 - 2015 der name der arbeit: in die hefte gezeichnet, während ich & mein vater uns in sesseln sitzend über dies und jenes unterhalten haben. jahr 2014 - 2015 the name of the work: drawing in the booklets while sitting in armchairs with my father, chatting about this & that. year 2014 - 2015 #armchairbooklets #sesselhefte #drawingwhilsttalking #focuseddefocused #drawtalking #talkdrawing #syncronizedcommunication #squaredraughts #remaininglines #drawingbook #zeichenbuch #falknordmann #fullofcricketyscrawl #vollgekritzelt #highbrowshit #art #artyfarty #drawing #sensoflineandshape #subtlesubmerged #hashtapashtaggedyraggedy #sofinesonice #carefulwiththateugene #powerofpages #paperlies #niceandsweet #drawforyourlifeturtle #designo #zeichnung https://www.instagram.com/p/B9bvScyhFuC/?igshid=1hbhvpvckc7su

[cloverinblue]

I wanted to do artvartist since the last time i did it was 2018 but it didn't feel right because most of what I've done is comics so I picked some comics with cool panels I thought maybe I could do it with but idk i'm so just busy and lazy

Anyway this was cool to look at.

I miss how experimental i could get with fe3h but drawing those costumes on every panel was crazy...

I also almost had a thing going on with Naomi and Tanaka but I guess canon kind of broke my idea. Also I wasn't sure if I could pull off the angst between her and Tanaka so it kinda dropped off, but I love what I've done for it.

I also drew a bit of mp100 and detroit become human here. For DBH, I had grand ambitions of what I wanted to draw but I didn't think I could pull it off.

It wasn't until I started drawing Ajin again that I got a real workflow going and that helped a lot in making things faster. Right now I'm in my Okutana era and I'm like really focused on what's happening between them the most and haven't been too experimental with the format.

[cloverinblue]

Before I go to bed, I want to recommend this PDF about suits. I don't really think it's a guide so much as loving observations of a person who really loves suits a lot. I can say that after looking at it, I can draw suits a little better though.

Also, it's in English!

[cloverinblue]

spent new years on my comic. I’m nearly done inking but i want to post another quick thing first even though i haven’t drafted it yet 😔