My process for making a comic so far is pretty loose; I generally sketch out thumbnails to determine the layout and pacing, and most of the time the dialogue is in my head until I start lettering.
The following frame is only a part of the full comic; see the full comic at the end of this post.
I’ve been coloring digitally so far, which is sometimes as exhilarating as doing my taxes or as painful as slowly stabbing myself. Being more of a traditional artist, I often have to harass Jake for help doing things he probably does in his sleep, and more often than not I simply feel like a blindfolded toddler fumbling around in the dark.
But, the point is that I’m learning. Only a few years ago I knew exactly one keyboard command ( COMMAND + Z ) and I bitterly hated Photoshop. I started and finished this comic in one day, with 3/4 of my time definitely spent on coloring and noodling around in Photoshop. Soon I hope to spend much less time coloring.
But more importantly, working in Photoshop allows me to experiment more. There’s no take backs when working traditionally, and I may have ruined a number of panels since this is such a new medium for me. I was able to nail down the colors of Pink & Zephyr and fool around with different layouts simply by working in digital layers.
As for Pink & Zephyr, these simple scenario comics are a good way of exploring the different facets of their characters. Soon I’d like to put them in a time and a place, but not until I think I know them better. I’m pretty certain, however, that I love these little dudes.
Thanks for reading so far! Here is the full comic (I’ve posted to Tumblr, but I’m having sizing issues):
Cheers.
