Due process (yes it partly shameless promotion)

droidmonkey1 2019-11-05 08:40:21 UTC #1

What is your work process? do you have different process for different works?
For my WDE comic I write the gag pray it's funny then figure out the lay out sometimes I write a few a head of time, or adding a new one if I have a stroke of brilliance. pencils, inks, scan, background, touch ups and done.

In my Deadhunter comic, I use to write a page at a time with full page description. I noticed that when I look at the page sometimes new layout ideas come to mind, so I stopped writing full description and instead I write just what happens in the panel ant text. Then I do a sketch of the page on a printer paper, just very rough line like a kindergarten drawing, then I start doing the final version on the page. pencils,ink,scan,grey scale,screentones,text and finishing touches.

My Droidmonkey Chronicles is a bit different. after I though what the page needs to show I start writing the rhymes, yes ladies and gentleman the comic is in rhymes. (good or bad you decide).
after that I sketch the layout and then do the final page. I do ink by hand and sometimes the background "screentones" then scan, text, touch ups and done.

Last one is a novel, I have only the first chapter up but soon the second one will be up too.
for the novel, I just write on paper the chapter I let it out on paper no structure no nothing, like a string of consciousness kind of a thing. then I write it in a word processor and edit it there while writing it. sometimes I write new things while editing it.

no matter what I'm doing it all starts from an image that pops to my head and refuse to leave until I do something with that no matter if it's good or bad, as long as I do something with it.

Rodimus13 2019-11-05 11:08:23 UTC #2

Ok so for our main comic it goes like this... I review my notes for the script to see where we are any what I'm building too since the story is planned out. I figure out what would fit in 25 panels and type up the details for hubby. I try to be a few weeks ahead.

Hubby then, when it is time, first draws roughs of the whole thing and shows me, especially if he changed the script. Sometimes I have to poke him for being to hard on himself.

Then he does about 5 panels a day. going from sketch to fully shaded. Takes about 3-4 hours depending

For Greer's Advenures Roma mates... @racheldenucci can confirm it goes a bit like this.

"Hey... hey Rach? Rach... wha... what if... what if Greer did this thing. What would the boys do?"
Rach: ".....i dunno lets see."
20 pages later
"....we need to sleep night night"

And Escaped Bride.... I dunno man. Greer like pops into my head and is like "Ok got back from an alternate universe this is what happened.... HEY DON"T SIT THERE WRITE IT ALL NOW!"

GabiWolf 2019-11-05 12:21:32 UTC #3

I just recently changed the way I do my comics.

I have always drawn backgrounds as separate files, but I recently switched to Procreate to do all my future backgrounds. The brushes I use there speed up the process while giving me the desired effect.
Then I go to Clip Studio and draw the elements of each panel in full res png to over lay on the background. Then open another strip file that matches the dimensions for tapas and lay out the panels. I move all images into their panels add word bubbles and done!

You can compare new and old process in my comics. Passage started with the new process and GA’s first chapter is the old way I did things.

darthmongoose 2019-11-05 13:42:54 UTC #4

Ooooh boy, my process...

So I start out with a script. I treat my script more like a guideline because what works well in written and drawn storytelling aren't always the same, but generally the events all happen and key lines are more or less the same, and the script helps me check the tone and pace.
Then I thumbnail. My thumbs are hilariously messy because fortunately only I need to actually use them.

I make my pages mostly in Clip Studio. The panelling tool is awesome and I've been inking and panelling in Clip Studio for probably ten years now since it was Manga Studio 3. The fact that the new version is also good for colouring is great and really streamlines my process! I use a single panel "1-koma" layout and the panel cutter tool to set up my layouts. I always set my BG colour to light grey because it's easier on the eyes for pencilling than white.
I start out roughing in the figures, going for a general feel of the poses and expressions and things like arc and weight of movement. I'll often do multiple passes of pencils, each getting a little more tight...

Around the second or third pass I flip my drawing and use transform tools or redraw bits because my drawings naturally tend to skew or lean to the right. Helps me fix things like misaligned eyes, people leaning weirdly etc.

When I'm inking, I don't treat my pencils as set in stone. I often add detail here, or fix issues that become more obvious with the tighter, more high contrast look for the inks.
I block in all my foreground elements, usually characters and major props in a dark grey fill (or a bright colour for magic effects) and transparency lock it. Particularly helpful on a page like this where one panel has content that overlaps other panels!

Then I flat all the colours........this bit is boring hahaha. I have a set palette of colours that I add to when needed or use overlays if I need a very distinctly darker tone.

Finally I paint in the background with textured or pattern brushes, add edge highlights to the characters in a "glow" mode layer transparency masked to the flats (The colour of edge highlight allows for a surprising level of control over the tone and feel of a panel) and add glows to any magical stuff going on.
I export to Photoshop to letter and do my speech bubbles (basic shapes made with the shape tool in a folder with a stroke effect on it, boom, simple!) and get something like...

And that's how I make a page of...

Omeger 2019-11-05 13:57:00 UTC #5

in my process
i just do cocaine and start drawing it

silacinnamon 2019-11-05 14:55:56 UTC #6

I definitely use different process for different comics!

For example, for my gag comic whenever I have an idea of something funny that could work for a short comic I write it down on a notepad. It can be a conversation with my friends, something silly that my dogs did, whatever. When I have free time I open my notes, take a bunch of these ideas, sketch them to see which ones work or not, then drawh the ones I choose. They're super short, so I don't need a script or anything. (I won't link this comic since I don't translate it to English, but feel free to look it up on my profile lol)

For my one-shot comics (10~30 pages), I start brainstorming the general idea/plot, then I make moodboards to decide character/background/colour design, write the script and draw page thumbnails (I kinda make all of those at the same time, it can take a week less or more, depending on how busy I am). After that I start sketching, inking and colouring the pages. I like to have the sketches of all the pages done and at least 4 pages 100% complete before I start posting, but for 2 am when I started uploading I had all the pages done except the shading of the last 2 pages.

The process for my main comic is similar to that, except I started writing the basic structure for the whole comic then divided the process into chunks, so I repeat the same process as my one-shot comics for each chapter with a hiatus in between for resting and planing. This is also my only comic with dialogue that I also upload in English, so I have an extra step of translating the text and sending it to a friend to check the grammar and adaptation.

IndigoShirtProd 2019-11-05 16:13:25 UTC #7

I usually start with an outline of the entire story or enough ahead in the story that when I start making the comic I won't run out of content. Next I get into writing chapter descriptions. Chapter descriptions are for the most part more detailed than my outlines, but for The Black Belt Society, the outline doubles as my chapter descriptions. Next I move on to writing the script. I script per chapter, though unlike most creators, I don't script panel by panel. I don't really focus on panels but on pages. After I complete the script, I do my thumbnails. After thumbnails I finally get to page creation. I'm changing the way I do pages now because before I wasn't very organized. So from now on, I'm going to do a block of pages; about half a chapter. First I do the sketching, then the lineart, flat color, final shading and highlighting then coloring the lineart.

I'd put out the pages weekly and go on hiatus in between chapters and chapter blocks (when I finish a chapter and at the halfway point of a chapter). Hopefully this new way of working on chapters will pan out for me. I'm working on my second chapter right now and it's taking so long because of school, injury, and the amount of pages I'm trying to get done. Though I'm close to finishing and I'm hoping to get it out by year's end,.

hannahlaine 2019-11-05 20:57:47 UTC #8

So for Lady Death, I wrote the opening scene, a few in between scenes and the last chapter first. Then I planned it all out and broke it up into different parts.
Now I am writing each chapter. After each chapter is written I will go back and rewrite them so they flow better and sound better. This is novel is my main focus currently.

Princess of the Northern Winds is broken into 3 parts. I actually wrote the last chapter of part 1 first. I later decided to make that scene happen later on in the book. For this one I had many many different versions before I combined pieces and parts of each of them to create my final version. I then planned it all out. When ever I get writers block working on Lady Death, I work on this one.

Shadow Song started out completely different. I am still playing with a few versions of it, but I have yet to do any of the planning for it. I am not sure which version I will end up with quite yet.

hannahlaine 2019-11-05 21:00:55 UTC #9

For the most part, when I start writing, I start out with a scene that I really like. I write that scene first and then build the story around those characters.
Sometimes it is a character idea that it all starts with. I come up with a cool character and start writing their back story.

But once I start writing the process, for the most part, is the same. I will write the scenes I want to include. Then I will organize them and crate the outline for the book. I will break the story up into parts and write the basic chapters for the first part, then re write them all to make them better, and then move onto the second part.

Once the story is complete, I will go over all of it, and make any adjustments I think are necessary. It is a longer process than most, but I find it gives me the best results.