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Sep 2017

I'm talking about.. the MOMENT the idea comes into your head so you grab the nearest paper/pen/tablet/phone to sketch it out. I'm talking about the sketch of the sketch - the blobbiest drafts?

.

My final pages:

My original blobs:

Last panel was changed to:

  • created

    Sep '17
  • last reply

    Oct '17
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They're really bad.

Layout

Finished

Though my editor enjoys having to go through the 'stick figure' version of the comic to check my spelling. This page was still one he's faves in the 'stick figure' form

first sketches are flatter and stiff, so I changed the angle a wee bit to make it more relaxed
1

final is more polished later on

My very first sketch is always a thumbnail, so I can see how the page flows and works with the other pages. It also helps me make sure the paneling doesn't get too repetitive.

After that I sketch a full page version of the page, though the quality of the sketches differs from time to time. This page looks somewhat proper but occasionally it's just basic forms and shapes.

And here's the finished page!

Wow, these are all so tremendously amazing! Everyone has so much talent whaaa * - *

It's so inspirational seeing how much creativity artists envision even at the "blob" stage. :smiley:

Sketch:

(tbh this one’s a little more detailed than i usually do but it’s all i could find atm.!)

Finished:


these are all p old lol but generally my first sketches vary in detail and tend to be covered in notes like 'more exciting angle' 'bad expression' 'move left' and that

They look like abominations but I can deduce them so it's fine :stuck_out_tongue:

I'm weird.
I draw and write at the same time, then I go back over and detail the sketches... THEN I ink and color.
So everything happens in waves on the same page.
Best example.

I tried to find the worst of my recent first sketches :laughing: I don't know how I manage to interpret them if there's any time between when I make the first sketch and when I start refining it

1

My scetch ->

(Its sh*t, lol)

Finished one ->

(Its still sh*t, but well, lol)

I first draw the sketch like, 3 years ago? I made a date on the paper, but I'm just too lazy to look it up, though.

Not to mention the finished product is actually made less than a week ago... XD

The way I'm drawing my sketch can be just a stickmans or a complicated (?) one like the example above, and most are made with a very width time gap (I have another sketch that not a 4-koma like the example above, and even after 3 [actually, I don't remember, so...] years, I'm still adding the sketch despite it being just a oneshot. Guess I'm just lazy, lol) so I dont reslly know, honestly, lol.

For my comic Peppermint Junction, I start with a really rough sketch, mostly to work out the composition and framing. It's also really important to plan where your speech bubbles are going to go as a lot of the time people don't account for this and end up cutting off part of their image.
I then line the comic, send it off to my colourist, and then finish up with small details and speech bubbles :smiley:

First sketch always looks completely lifeless.
I do a second sketch and then a "shadows" sketch before lining :smiley:
(From June1)

On comic pages I tend to draw the line art after the first sketch, for speed purposes, the art quality doesn't come out as well as my bigger projects.

I tend to make more minor adjustments in bigger projects, but not much. I really make most my touch ups in the line work. I find it easier.

Here's a comparison. Our first sketch looks like a mess 'cause we also discuss dialogue as we draw (and everyone knows it's easier to think while you sketch random little butts)

Ahhh this is such a cool topic!! I love seeing people's roughs and process. And I agree it can make everyone feel better that art doesn't just magically happen complete x-x! Sometimes a blank page can be so intimidating...

Here's the roughs for a page from the comic I draw for, with the final art. I just do my linework right on top of these roughs, so I try to make them a bit tighter than if they were just layouts. I'm all about speed in my process. Because of this the roughs really have to reflect the ideas of final art, and it's the most difficult step for me ><

This is how I start most of my stuff. Just really quick investigatory lines to find form and pose and go from there.

Then more scratches to get a tighter sketch down. Then I go in and make a definite sketch and then move into coloring!

And this is how things turn out on a good day lol

Here's an episode from my comic ForNever After:

  • Thumbnail Sketches:
    I usually do a ton of these all at once in a flurry of ink and caffeine.

  • Digital Sketch:
    I like working big and then shrinking the final product to fit constraints, so the actual version of this I use is much larger.

  • Final Piece:

    And there you have strip number six of ForNever After!

It was better when i drew with a pencil. I miss those days. Now i'm just using that touch thing on my chromebook.

i only thumbnail when i get bored at work, so typically it's something like this

BUT since i have some recent thumbnails here's what i'm using right now

(you can find my comic here !)

I usually have all dialogue written beforehand, and my pages usually get laid out in individual sketches all over my sketchbook, but sometimes a page hits the sketchbook fully formed like this

Before

After

Ha ha ha ha.... I'm currently on my phone so luckily I can't show my sketches but uh they are interesting...

I'm on my computer now! i can't show you the terribleness that is my sketches.

So yeah I have the title, author and page number on each page (that isn't actually page three its page 5 i just haven't changed it yet). Also i sketch in blue so its easy to tell my sketch and my linework apart. basically i think about how the page is going to go first and do the boxes then I sketch whats in them

also that's one of the better ones...

Ahah, my first sketches are garbage. Usually also literally drawn on garbage. This one I was at a starbucks so I doodled the idea on a bag B');; marking down panel length, general dialogue, and vague emotion is most important to me right away to me

and here's the finished comic!

OH GOD... Well... Here goes nothing...

From Callous

Original Layout Sketches:

Clean Sketches

Finished Pages

Some of these I'm just like HUH? those are just stick figures and crude outlines

But I can't judged so here is one of mine
Before

After

My sketches are so messy, that I have to sketch bases and then do a cleaner sketch on a new layer if it's really bad.

And then this is a finished drawing

welp here we go

thumb 3 out of 6

rough sketch 1

final sketch with composition references and proportion fixes

cover 2 of 5 different colour scheme

I go crazy when I wanna draw something =/

Someone mentioned how half of these are just stick figures and weird blobs. Initial idea sketches and 'cleaned' sketches for me at least are two very different parts of the process, with two very different purposes! (the bad stick-figures and blobs I find most important because they're initial idea and getting the 'mood' of the comic down! The cleaned sketches are figuring out anatomy/composition) I already posted but just to really show what I mean, haha,

i sometimes think my sketches look better than my finished pages...