Issue 245: what's your sign?

[Hawk]

http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245a.jpg

Step 1: Sketch

After Ananth and I discuss what the next comic should be about, he sends me a script. The script has all the info I need to draw the next comic. Unless it’s very important, Ananth tells me a vague description of each panel.  This allows me to play around with the whole comic. For example, in Issue 45, the squirrel was never written in the script. He was an idea I decided to put in for the hell of it. For some odd reason, he became a big hit.

I drew Issue 245 with the Wacom Cintiq tablet. The software I used was Alias Sketchbook Pro. The software does a pretty good job on mimicking pencil and paper.

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http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245b.jpg

Step 2: Inking

There are two ways you can ink a comic. You can either ink by hand or on the computer. If you choose to ink by hand, I recommend the
(http://www.dickblick.com/zz207/02/)
Pigma Micron pens and brush. If you really want to go old school, get some
(http://www.pearlpaint.com/shop~ocID~1000~parentID~956~categoryID~945.htm)
black india ink and
(http://drawsketch.about.com/od/penandink/a/inknibs.htm)
pen nibs. It will require a lot of practice to get the hang of inking with pen nibs.

I like to go back and forth when I ink. Sometime I ink by hand, but most of the time I ink directly in the computer. When it comes to inking in the computer, I like to use Flash. The lines are clean and sharp. Other words, the lineart will be all vector.

How do I ink in Flash...

I open Flash. Then I import my sketch into Flash, which is now on the first layer, first keyframe, of the timeline. I lock that layer and create a new timeline layer on top of the first one. I use the Brush tool to trace the sketch. I also make sure "Use Pressure" is turned on for the Brush.



After I'm done inking, I delete the sketch layer and I'm left with a clean line art. Finally, I go to File->Export Image.... I export the image as a 300dpi jpg.

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http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245c.jpg

Step 2: Flats

After I inked the comic and exported the lineart from Flash, I
imported the lineart into a photoshop template I created for all
the comics. The template contains two folders and couple of
empty layers. One folder contains the copyright line and issue
number of the comic. All I have to do is change the number
when I create a new comic. The other folder will contain any
dialog and speech bubbles.



I set the lineart layer to "Multiply" so anything under it will show
through.

Now before I start coloring the comic, I created a layer called
"Flats". What are "flats"? Flats are chunks of color that make up
the whole image. They separate key objects from another object
by using different solid colors. If you still don't understand, they
help you stay inside the line by selecting the areas you want to
color.



How to create "flats"...

It's pretty easy actually. However, depending how detailed the
art is, it will take a lot of patience and time to create a decent
flats layer.

So yeah, to create the flats, all you need is the polygon lasso
tool. Also make sure the anti-alias is turned off. Otherwise you
will get a white line between each color.

Basically you select an area and fill. Then work your way in with
different color. For example, in the last panel, I traced Hawk with
the polygon tool and filled in with a dark gray. Then I traced out
his face and filled it with a lighter color. Then his eyes, his coat,
his pants, etc.

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http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245d.jpg

Step 3: Color

The first thing I do is I make a copy of the "flats" layer and call it "color". It's very important that you make a copy of the flats, you don't want to color the original flats. Use the "flats" layer to fix any mistakes in the "color" layer.



Time to color the comic.



I select the area that I want to color with the magic wand . Since I turned off the anti-alias when I created the flats, turn off the anti-alias in the magic wand options as well.



I fill the selection with a dark base color. Then I use the polygon lasso tool to form the arm by creating shadows. The step for this is basically lasso tool and fill....lasso tool and fill.

You use the same method to create any highlights.



After I'm done creating the shadows and highlights, I want to soften the colors. So I go back to my "flats" layer and select the whole arm again, see how "flats" comes in handy =)



Using a large soft-edge brush, setting the Mode to "Screen" and using an orange type color....



...I soften the arm a bit. By the way, the selection is still there but hidden. You can hide your selections by command+H on a Mac and ctrl+H on a PC.



I want to shape the arm a bit more, so I use the regular lasso tool. I select the areas I would like to stand out and use the soft-edge brush again.



I do it once more. I like to call this the "hot spots".



There you have it, a rendered arm. I use same method to color the rest of the comic.



You will notice I didn't create any extra layers for shadows and highlights. All the colors are in one layer.

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http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245e.jpg

Step 5: Speech Bubbles

Ever since Adobe added Layer effects to Photoshop,  speech bubbles are easy to make.

I mentioned earlier that I created a comic page template. In the template I created a "dialog" folder. Inside the folder, I created layer called "bubbles" and applied a layer effect to it. The layer effect that I added was "stroke". (Layer->Layer Style-> Stroke...) Above the "bubbles" layer will be all the text.



Using the text tool and the font DigitalStrip from blambot.com, I add in the dialog.



This is what the layers look like, clean, simple and organized.



Now I select the "bubbles" layer and create the bubbles.

Using the Elliptical Marquee Tool, I create oval selections around the texts. Hold down the shift key to add multiple selections.



Use the polygon lasso tool to add the triangles (pointy thingys) to the bubbles.  Once again, press the shift key for multiple selections.

After I make the selection shapes, I make sure the foreground color is white. Then I press option+delete (Edit->Fill) to fill the selection. That's it, the layer effect does the rest, it creates a stroke around the fills.



If I want to add or attach more bubbles, all I have to do is add the text, create the selection shape and fill.



All done!

I would like to thank everyone for having patience while I did this "tutorial".

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THREAD AND MY PREVIOUS POSTS. I'M TIRED OF ANSWERING THE SAME
QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER.

[Sylver]

first off: THANK YOU! I love your coloring and dearly want to see how you get there.

the lineart is great, do you still follow the old method of blocking out the charecters and then adding in the details? I remember seeing one of the guys I draw with just flat out draw the head and body with no guides whatsoever.

women have always been a problem, mainly their bust, it always shows up with them being a DD or something, how do you judge the sizing?

can't wait to see how this progresses Hawk.

edit: I'm actually just starting a fledgling comic with a friend of mine and we're still working out the script to drawing phase, its awkward. any advice you can really give aside practice? do you plan it like:

"panel 1: Hawk stand in entrance to bar

panel 2: hawk is surrounded by people"

or is it more freeformed almost like a novel description?

[Rose]

I can't wait to see this progress. It'll be a neat thing to learn from :3

[CDalman]

Hey Hawk, I know I'm jumping the proverbial gun here, but from the layout of this issue, I doubt I'll get an answer without asking a question.

I was wondering how do you create the beautiful skies for your comics?  Especially those as in Issues 217, 223, and the Choose Wisely Poster.  My apologies for going somewhat off topic, but I've searched the net over and have yet to find anything even close to your level.

CDalman
"The importance of a man can only be determined by viewing the wrld inwhich he never existed."

[TUCK]

I drew Issue 245 with the Wacom Cintiq tablet. The software I used was Alias Sketchbook Pro. The software does a pretty good job on mimicking pencil and paper.

I have a Toshiba Tablet PC with a wacom Penabled screen. It came with a demo version of Alias Sketchbook Pro. I really like it, and I was weary of buying it. Are there any extra pro's to purchasing the software?

[pigpogm]

I have a Toshiba Tablet PC with a wacom Penabled screen. It came with a demo version of Alias Sketchbook Pro. I really like it, and I was weary of buying it. Are there any extra pro's to purchasing the software?

Have you tried ArtRage?  There's a free version that gives you a pretty good play, and the paid-for version is around a tenth the cost of Sketchbook Pro.  If you're actually a pro, you'll might need the extras that Sketchbook Pro provides, but for the rest of us, ArtRage is pretty good.  Available for Windows XP and MacOS X - I'm using it on a Toshiba M200 here.

Oh, and Hawk - thanks for doing this - it's great to get a chance to see inside the creative process.

[ananth]

I was wondering how do you create the beautiful skies for your comics?  Especially those as in Issues 217, 223, and the Choose Wisely Poster.  My apologies for going somewhat off topic, but I've searched the net over and have yet to find anything even close to your level.

I'll save Hawk a little time and point out one of the tutorials I know he's used in the past.

http://www.epilogue.net/art/tech/socar_clouds/

If you google "Photoshop Cloud Tutorial", you get a few hits of variations on the technique. There is no special filter trick ... it is all using a variation of brush sizes, types and opacities.

[Nawt]

This is absolutely a fantastic, fan appreciation process you're doing, Hawk and Ananth.  I myself I cannot think of another webcomic who would do something like this. 

Thank you so much, guys.  I'm -well...we're grateful.

[zostix]

Indeed. Thanks for the tut. Its great when artists help the meek like me.

[ananth]

Its great when artists help the meek like me.

Haha, slow down, man. Artists are regular people too. We're always glad to help!

[Hawk]

the lineart is great, do you still follow the old method of blocking out the charecters and then adding in the details? I remember seeing one of the guys I draw with just flat out draw the head and body with no guides whatsoever.

After I ink the sketch, I create flats. You will see later in the week.

women have always been a problem, mainly their bust, it always shows up with them being a DD or something, how do you judge the sizing?

Honestly, I really dont think about it, I just draw it.

edit: I'm actually just starting a fledgling comic with a friend of mine and we're still working out the script to drawing phase, its awkward. any advice you can really give aside practice? do you plan it like:

"panel 1: Hawk stand in entrance to bar

panel 2: hawk is surrounded by people"

or is it more freeformed almost like a novel description?

here's a clip from a script.

Issue 244:

Panel 1: Panel of Hawk from the waist up ... he is looking pretty snazzy. He is
tugging on his collar and in a "cool" pose.


Panel 2: Jayce is sitting on the couch and looking at Hawk. Hawk is walking behind
the couch, so you can't see the bottom half of him. Jayce is grinning, but he looks
pleasantly surprised.

Jayce: "Whoa whoa whoa ... where are <i>you</i> going all dressed up?" - "You're lookin' sharp!"


Panel 3: Hawk grins and folds his arms across his chest.

Hawk: "I'm going to a concert!"
Jayce: "Really?" - "I thought you didn't like doing that stuff, though ... "

.....


I hope that helps.

[Hawk]

I was wondering how do you create the beautiful skies for your comics?  Especially those as in Issues 217, 223, and the Choose Wisely Poster.  My apologies for going somewhat off topic, but I've searched the net over and have yet to find anything even close to your level.

I'll save Hawk a little time and point out one of the tutorials I know he's used in the past.

http://www.epilogue.net/art/tech/socar_clouds/

If you google "Photoshop Cloud Tutorial", you get a few hits of variations on the technique. There is no special filter trick ... it is all using a variation of brush sizes, types and opacities.

I basically use the airbrush tool and smudge tool.

[Hawk]

I drew Issue 245 with the Wacom Cintiq tablet. The software I used was Alias Sketchbook Pro. The software does a pretty good job on mimicking pencil and paper.

I have a Toshiba Tablet PC with a wacom Penabled screen. It came with a demo version of Alias Sketchbook Pro. I really like it, and I was weary of buying it. Are there any extra pro's to purchasing the software?

if you really like it and find youself using it all the time...buy it. Its a great software to use to draw on the fly. it's like having a sketchbook but on your computer. the software UI very simple compared to Photoshop and Painter. it basically gets the job done.

[sanloublues]

My only question, are you leaving the steps up in the strip archive?  I love when you put up the uncolored sketches and I'm always a little sad when they get colored.  I mean, both are great, but I like to see both later so I can try to copy you at home.

[Hawk]

My only question, are you leaving the steps up in the strip archive?  I love when you put up the uncolored sketches and I'm always a little sad when they get colored.  I mean, both are great, but I like to see both later so I can try to copy you at home.

the comic in the archive will be replaced. mainly because i want the archive to be clean. however, I'll be leaving the steps in this thread.