My pals Dani Jones and Eddie Pittman recently posted step-by-step process posts about their respective webcomics, so I thought I’d do one too. Not that I needed much prodding. Anyone who knows me knows that I love talking process!
Step 1:
It all starts with a rough drawing of the page . . .
I draw all of my roughs (even roughs for sketch cards and commissioned original artwork) on my Wacom Cintiq 21UX using Adobe Photshop CS4. I draw directly on a layer in the file that I use to color the final comic page.
Escape From Planet Nowhere is unique among the comic projects that I’ve worked on, in that I am creating it without a full script to guide me. I have a rough outline that I am working from and I know how the story will end, but otherwise I am writing it in the drawing stage. So in this respect the rough drawing is actually part of the writing process as well as the initial step in creating the visuals.
Since I am working on the actual Photoshop file that I will use for the final page, I do all of the lettering at this point in the process as well. This may sound odd to some comic book creators, as digital lettering for comic books is usually done in Adobe Illustrator after the page has been drawn, inked and colored. This is, in my humble opinion, a ridiculous way to letter comics, especially if it is a comic where a sole creator is responsible for the entire project. One of my biggest comic book pet peeves is badly placed lettering that covers up artwork, creates bad tangents or in any way negatively alters what would otherwise be a well-composed panel or page. Lettering can lead the eye, integrate into the artwork in creative ways and even alter the storytelling positively or negatively. It is a graphical element of a comic page and should not be an afterthought. I always letter my roughs as I’m drawing them. That way, I am always assuring that the artwork and text will work as a cohesive unit and not compete for graphical dominance. Too many comics suffer from bad lettering and it could have been avoided simply by having the letterer and the artist get together earlier in the process.
Step 2:
The analog deviation . . .
At this stage, most artists pencil and ink the final comic book page on an 11″x17″ inch piece of art board that they will then scan and paint digitally.
Yeah . . . I don’t do that.
I’m a digital guy. I’d do the entire page digitally if I could. And I did tests to see if I could get the line quality I wanted drawing the line art for the characters in Photoshop. But it just didn’t feel right. In fact, I even did abandoned inking the line art in favor of just using the tight pencils. And since the only part of the page that needs to be drawn is the line art for the main character on this page (even the Horzon Destoyer is painted digitally), I only draw on paper what needs to be drawn on paper:
And as you can see, I don’t waste space. There are drawings from other pages on this one 9″x12″ piece of Bristol:
Now, I’m constantly getting ribbed by other artists for eliminating a potential source of income, that being a full page of pencils or inks. But I’ve always been more concerned with the best way to create the final page. And since I work primarily digitally, from roughs to colors, it would be a complete waste of time for me to draw everything out on paper just to have something to sell. Look at the above image again . . . it took me about 10 minutes to print out the roughs for panel one, tighten up the drawing on a piece of Bristol and then scan it back into Photoshop. To do the same for everything else on the page when I’m simply going to paint over it in Photoshop is a waste of my time . . . time that could be spent working on what will ultimately matter: the final page.
As you will see, sometime after creating the roughs and starting the color work on the final page, I decided to add a panel to make it a bit more clear that the giant robot loses its footing and begins to slide down the hill. Additions like this would be much more difficult if I drew the full pages on paper.
Step 3:
Flatting . . .
Remember coloring books? Yeah, it’s a lot like that. This is the part of the process where I wish I had an assistant.
The color flats for the character and ground is painted using the Wacom stylus. The flats for the robot and highway were created using the Bézier tools in Photoshop.
Yawn. Moving on . . .
Step 4:
Mother color . . .
I use layers set to “Color Mode” (and set to specific opacity levels) in Photoshop to give my images a specific feel. I call it the “Mother Color” and aside from the mood it creates, it also has the effect of unifying all of the colors below it (very helpful to artists like me who are not traditionally trained in color theory). To some, this may sound like a cheat. To me, it’s no more a cheat than digital grading in the film world.
The Mother Color for Escape From Planet Nowhere is a stronger one than I normally use, but I wanted the world of the comic to look like a burnt wasteland. There are actually four separate color layers in the Escape From Planet Nowhere Mother Color group; two primary colors and tow that I use for specific areas for specific purposes.
When you compare the flats before and after the Mother Color is applied, you can see the striking affect that color overlays can have even on gray tones.
Step 5:
The fun begins . . .
When it comes to making comics the fun parts for me are the writing and the coloring. Everything in between, while still enjoyable, is the part that feels most like work. The coloring stage is the part that I enjoy most because it’s the part of the process where what I imagined when I was writing begins to emerge and solidify as an image that can be seen by others. I love coloring digitally . . . it’s where I get to act like a cinematographer and play with light. Even though it’s the longest and most involved step, I’m never happier as a creator than when I finish the coloring a comic page. It’s quite literally seeing a dream come true.
In recent years I’ve moved away from doing traditional comic book backgrounds with line art to fully painted backgrounds. Having characters with outlines and cel-shaded coloring against softer, painted backgrounds makes the comic page look more like screen shots from an animated film and less like ink-on-paper comics. And this is intentional. I’ve always made comics as if I were adapting an existing animated film into a comic book. When someone tells me that one of my panels “looks like a shot from a movie”, they have no idea how big of a compliment they are giving me.
And that’s my process!
I plan to do a more detailed demonstration of this process in a future installment of Show & Tell. But for now I hope that this breakdown provides you with a little insight into how I create the pages for Escape From Planet Nowhere.
Thanks for reading!
-Otis
It is great to be able to see the entired process fo you art Otis!
Thanks!
I, for one, am glad that you embrace the digital aspects of your process. It should be all about the final product.
Always has been for me, that’s for sure.
I really enjoyed seeing your work process. I have to agree on the final image and not having the “original art” to sell. I do the same with my work. Whatever it takes to get to the final image. I’m not interested in trying to make extra money, just because. It’s all about the art.
I love talking process. I just hope people don’t get sick of me doing so.
Please docontinue – for someone starting out like me, it is extremely enlightening. I don’t have a process ( or a chosen application for that matter)
Plus I really dig your art – if you ever do any live sketching online, I’d love to see you in action.
Thanks!
I have a Ustream channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/otis-frampton-live/v3
I’ve been doing shows 3-6 times a week for over a year now.
Thanks for sharing. I find the idea of a mother color very interesting. Something to try in the future.
It’s a very useful “cheat”.
Wow, thanks for sharing with us. Love seeing your process and your thoughts on how and why you do things
It would be awesome to see a planet nowhere animated film (or another project – just in your style).
Thanks! I’d like that too.
Nice job, Otis. Process intrigues me also.
Having art to sell is secondary…telling the story is job #1, and you know this. Many people get caught up in making a piece of art for re-sale and forget job #1!
I don’t discount anyone’s working methods as long as I enjoy the end product…in my own work, I too do what is comfortable and what “feels” right to “me!”
I’ve been “scolded” by some big names in the biz for my lack of full pages to sell. All I can do is brush it off and keep doing the work.
Just thot of this question:
Do you work “print” size for EFPN?
I see no need when working digital to work bigger/traditional size, when you can zoom in and out so easily working on a computer. And, if the work goes to print, it’s at the size you need to print it.
Yep, I work at comic print size, not 11×17.
Stunning, as usual.
Thanks.
This was very informative, Otis. Thank you. I like the concept of the Mother Color. I did that once by accident and loved it, but have never been able to replicate it satisfactorily. I do have a couple questions, if I may:
1.) When you transfer the digital roughs to paper for pencilling, are you using a lightbox?
2.) I can never figure out what size image I should be working at digitally. What dimensions, pixel-wise, is comic book print size?
Create a new layer on top of all the others. Set it to Color mode, fill it with color and play around with opacity. Even a slight mother color set to 10-20% will have a profound affect on all of the colors below it and unify them in a pleasing way. Try using combinations of mother colors at various opacities to create a unique look.
1) Yes. A LightTracer 2 I got off of eBay. One of these: http://www.amazon.com/ARTOGRAPH-LIGHT-TRACER-2-12×18/dp/B001DIFWQA
2) The comic page I use in Photoshop is set to actual comic size and the dimensions are: 2063×3131 at 300DPI. It’s a template I got from the Art Director at Viper Comic and I’ve used it ever since. It has a layer with trip guides in it so you know where it will be cut down after printing.
I love the way you get the lighting effects down beautifully. It is something I am trying to figure out how to do in PS but have not, in my mind, successfully accomplished. Nice to see the process you work with, as I love to see how different artists work to get their strips done. I am also trying to do more and more digitally, where I will pencil the characters in their poses, scan that in and ink it with my wacom tablet (which I too am not really happy with how PS handles the inking…it doesn’t “feel” right, but since my pencils were always stronger than my inking, it is a learning process. I do plan on experimenting more with PS inks and brush settings to get a better inked line for volume 5 of Willow’s Grove and hope I can find something I am a bit more comfortable and happy with, but I digress) then I do most of the backgrounds digitally with the bezier & shape tools. I like your concept of a mother color…something I never thought of before but it is a very interesting concept. Great work and insight to your process! thanks again!
nice post. thanks.
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
Holy guacamole! I’m here, beginning my search for a comics process… from afar, very slowly, and you share this sleek process that beats the primitive idea I had started to build in my head. Still working on my basic chops. This one is like a goal to study. Thanks man!
shoot nice story man.
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