Your creative process

[David Reddick]

Okay, folks, I'm a certified process geek. So here goes. Inquiring minds (mine in particular) wanna know!
- What kind of sketchbook do you use?
- How do you write your ideas/strips?
- How do you get your ideas?
- How long does it take to draw your comic?
- Do you work traditionally or digitally?
- Anything else I left out!

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David Reddick
www.LegendofBill.com

[Iah Phratello]

* The ones they sell at barnes and noble. You know the black ones with the spiral binding.
* On paper? :)

* I usually just think really hard if I'm desperate or it comes to be while I'm surfing the net, reading a magazine or watching TV.

* About 2 or 3 hours. I used to work traditionally but I'm making the switch to digital as there is less steps involved.

What about you? I can't help but notice you didn't answer your own questions :D

[David Reddick]

Ha! You got me, Iah. And thanks for starting things off with your process! Okay, answers! ;-)

- Sketchbook: I've been using a hardbound Canson sketchbook, 8.5x11. I also sometimes use a Canson 8.5x11 spiral "Balloon" sketchbook. And, I've even at times used a 1" 3-ring binder, filled with copy paper. A nice way to add or take away pages all in a book. But the Canson hardbound is my fave at the moment.
- I write my ideas right in my sketchbook. Sometimes, I admit I type them right into the comic template I've made for all my strips. I made my own font out of my printing, so I just go for it sometimes, but usually brainstorm in my sketchbook.
- I get my ideas from everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I listen, observe, carry a pocket Moleskine (blank notebook variety, more pages than the sketchbook one) and jot ideas, etc. I read magazines here and there and surf the web a L OT. Mostly, I just start writing from scratch and try and let my characters do the "talking"... place them in situations, half the time not knowing what will happen eventually, and just see how they deal with it!
- My strips take about an hour, sometimes 2.
- I sketch, write and doodle faithfully on paper in my sketchbooks as I mentioned, but all of my final art, whether it be comic strips, illustrations, etc, is all digital. I draw everything on my 21.5" Wacom Cintiq, directly on the screen. I also have a Tablet PC, which allows me to work reotely when I travel, etc, which I've been drawing many of my strips on it lately, too! Again, I can draw directly on the screen on it.
- And I love reading other's comics, especially webcomics, to see what everyone else is doing, and to give me lots of inspiration to keep going. There's sort of a "we're all in this together" feeling with my fellow webcartoonists.

Anyone else? Spread the word! ;-)

[Mike Schlosky]

For sketchbooks I have no preference except that they are 9x12 and spiral bound. It takes me so long to fill one up that they usually stop making that brand by the time I need a new one. I just finished one that I had for three years. I find myself scribbling on napkins, gum wrappers, envelopes, forms at work, my desk calendar, my kids' home work, and anything else I have right in front of me at the moment. If I chewed more gum or had a bigger calendar I wouldn't even need a sketchbook.

I tend to write my strip ideas on the backs of receipts and business cards. I've gotten a little more organized lately and compiled them into a spiral notebook where I try to write most of the strips. Once I have a rough draft of the strip dialogue and am satisfied with the joke I type up the dialogue on a pre-made word document that has a box at the bottom that is the same proportion as the graphic area of my strip. Then I check the spelling and print it out. I scribble out a rough draft in the box at the bottom where I can figure out how many panels and where the word balloons will go.

I get my ideas from all over the place. Sometimes I think of a good punchline and build the joke around it. Other times I "kick" a joke along for a few strips and squeeze as much (sometimes too much) out of it as I can. When I have a storyline I just brainstorm and look for places where I can insert a joke and still keep the story on-track. I drive a lot for my day job so it gives me a chance to use my creative energy coming up with ideas while I engage in a very mundane task.

I takes me anywhere from 2-3 hours to draw a comic. That's a big improvement from the 4-5 hours it took when I first started five months ago. I hope I'll get faster, given more time.

I draw the strips on 7x17 Strathmore bristol smooth finish. I pencil them out. Ink with Microns, Pitt Pens, and I'll try a #6 round sable hair brush and india ink when I've had a drink to get rid of the shakes (that's a joke--about the drinking, I mean.) The lettering is the only thing that I do digitally (and coloring if its in color.) I do all that in Photoshop along with any clean up or prep for the web.

Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

[hpkomic]

- What kind of sketchbook do you use?

No sketchbooks. I just use scraps of paper I get fromt he college (usually from students incorrectly printing on them and throwing them away) or cardstock when I'm getting uber serious.

- How do you write your ideas/strips?

I draw a rough storyboard comic out first, then write a polished script through several drafts, then proceed to adapt my script to comic form.

- How do you get your ideas?

I generally try and plan out events in my comic universe. I just write out a ton of ideas and go from there.

- How long does it take to draw your comic?

Lately, less than a day when I'm not trying to avoid working on stuff.

- Do you work traditionally or digitally?

Both, paper pencils and sketches, digital inking and coloring.

[Dave LaPlante]

I have limited time to draw so my focus is only on my Joe Pop comic strip. I draw the panels out on regular sheets of printer paper and scan them into my PC to be assembled into the strip. I use the same template for my strip layout every week so there is consistency. I use pen and ink so I have to be choosy about the paper I use. I have to find high grade printer paper so the ink won't bleed from the pen. It is also thin enough to see the previous drawing if I lay one sheet over the other. I hate cutting and pasting backgrounds. It feels like cheating. I do like to have consistency from panel to panel. I can sketch the next panel over the previous so there is continuity through the whole strip. I would do the same thing if I was doing animation. As I say, I work in pencil, pen and ink and then I do layouts, lettering and colors in Paintshop Pro. When I get an idea for a strip I write it down, so I always have the dialogue scripted in advance. I like to have time to work on that and change things over time. Then when I sit down to actually draw the strip I have a good story with good lines for them to say. I like to know exactly what a character is thinking or saying when I draw them. As the strip goes on and the characters continue to develop, it gets easier to write the stories. I often have a running gag going for several strips. There are things I refer to sometimes that you wouldn't get unless you go back and read some of the earlier strips. I like that. I think most popular comic strips are like that. You need to be familiar with the characters to appreciate the strip.

[Neftali Rivera]

Here is my attempt at answering your questions:

- What kind of sketchbook do you use?
None whatsoever. I have a huge stack of office paper that has been printed on one side only and I reuse the other side. That is, of course with paper that does not require mandatory destruction. What I do is I take the paper cutter and cut the used paper into strips. I always carry a bunch of those with a binder clip in my back pocket, for when inspiration strikes.

- How do you write your ideas/strips?
I make them into sketches right away. I don't write a script first. This creates a problem sometimes when I don't like the presentation and have to change it, but that is the reason it is a sketch. I guess the real problem will be that when I become filthy rich and famous, I won't have scripts and sketchbooks to auction.

- How do you get your ideas?
Real life, mostly, but I think the characters themselves, once you have developed them, will provide you with natural conflict and storytelling. I think this is the reason my comic strip has continuity instead of being made up independent gags. Having a continuous story gives you the chance to get to know a cast of characters. I think it is harder for authors whose comics are static, or have too few characters to maintain their idea collections full.

- How long does it take to draw your comic?
That is a little hard for me to estimate, becasue I work in series of strips rather than individually. I take six sketches and pencil them, then ink them, scan them, color and letter them in Photoshop and get them ready for publication. I guess that If I were to divide the total time by 6 I could figure out the time it takes to do an individual strip. I have not done that yet, because I do many other things in the interim, such as learn how to design the web site, read books, develop future merchandise, write my blog, plan future story developments and write special reports that are only available to subscribers **BLATANT PLUG ALERT: You can subscribe to my comic strip for free by emailing me at [e-mail] ** END ALERT

The short answer is: I don't know.

- Do you work traditionally or digitally?
Already answered this. I draw on paper, then scan to color, letter and process.

- Anything else I left out!
I saw some people mentioning the paper they use. I use smooth bristol, but for some comics that were damaged beyond repair, I traced them to a regular sheet of printer paper. Since they are to be scanned anyway, the only requirement is that the paper takes the ink well (not absorbent) so the lines look crisp. The only advantage of bristol board over regular paper comes when you have to manipoulate it or erase on it. Bristol is way better at resisting abuse, so your originals are safer.

[Neftali Rivera]

UPDATE!!!

I just changed the way I draw my comic. My wife gave me a digital drawing pad for Christmas (no, it's not a cintiq, not yet) and I had been trying to learn how to use it. After many attemps I found a tutorial by Jeph Jacques, of Questionable Contents fame where he mentioned exactly what I was missing.

Midtoon is now drawn digitally and I am liking the results. I have not heard complaints from my thousands or readers (HINT** not really thousands) so I guess they like it as well.

No paper, no pens, no ink. As I said on the main message, the only problem is that there will be no merchandize to profit from once fame raises the value of my comic strip to the billions (HINT** not really billions)

Go check my comic out. You may be able to tell me if the digitally-developed ones are better, worse or the same as the originals.

[Meghan]

- I prefer using hardcover sketchbooks from AC Moore. Though I'll use whatever I can get my hands on.

- I thumbnail my comics and write a bare bones script for them. Nothing fancy at all. This is usually done in my sketchbook, though I have also written more detailed scripts in composition books.

- My ideas come from anything and everything that interests me at the moment.Listening to people talk, hearing music, watching TV, and just going out for a walk outside can all have a great effect on my ideas.

- It takes me about two hours or more to draw and another few hours to color my comics. I never do everything in one sitting however. So I'm not sure how long it would take to draw a comic.

- Both. I pencil and ink my comics traditionally and color digitally.

[Ed Appleby]

- I use black 8 1/2 x 11 sketchbooks, of various brands (I find I tend to crush anything that's coil bound)

- I usualy write the strip out in the sketchbook, though sometimes I'll just jot down the punchline and work backwards. I then re-write the text onto the strip itself in blue, then Re-write again when I put the final text in digitaly (I'm from a screenwriting background, so i pass the text through as many filters as possible)

- Ideas come to me two ways: One, I'm relaxed in "writing mode" (cup of coffee, jazz in the background, hanging out and people watching), the other is when I'm focused on my day job (I work in a very busy Restaurant) and something just comes to me. I'll come home some nights with a pocket full of receipts with sketches and gags all over them.

- I Do a whole week in a shot, and I spend from 4-6 hours a day over 7 days.

- I lay out my strips first on 19x24 sheets of bristol (2 dailies, or a single sunday) using an 08 micron
- I write out the dialogue so I know generaly where it will go
- I then do all of my pencils using a .07 Mars mechanical with soft blue Pilot color eno leads (because no one else seems to make mechanical non-repo anymore)
- I ink the strip using an 03 micron and a #1 sable with India Ink.
- I take the strips to Staples to get scanned, 400dpi color. I rationalize this since I'm planning to sell the originals eventialy, and a 19x24 Sunday looks GORGEOUS!
- Drop the files into photoshop, Eliminate the blue pencil, Prep the images into 4 layers, crop and save as photoshop files.
- Color (I usualy do the whole week at once, it's easier to keep the colors consistent that way)
- Type in the text
- Word ballons, add effects.
- Save, different save, and save again.
- repeat.

[David Reddick]

Loving thrse replies - thanks, gang! Keep 'em coming! :-)

[Tim]

Ahhh, process.
Sketchbook, I am a HUGE fan of the Moleskin books you get at most bookstores, I have three sizes so I always try and have one on me, and I use the Design Ebony pencils

For writing, I try and establish the ending of the current arc and start filling in details for the journey, then fill in each update with a punch line, or cliff hanger.

My ideas come from everywhere, I am just starting an arc that includes characters from where I work (modified slightly)

Time to draw, takes about 20 minutes to sketch out the flow, and design, about 40 minutes to do the final line work, about 90 minutes to color and add text and do the word balloons. All done on the computer with my Wacom.

Tim
Legendary Boys of Floyd

[C. Glen Williams]

Sketchbook - When I'm actually sketching, I usually prefer an unlined journal. I'm a sucker for an unlined Moleskine, although on my budget I'm happy with any inexpensive alternative.

My Ideas - Given the fact that my comic is designed to have random content and that (currently) all of my artwork comes from other sources, my ideas usually come from two places. 1) While searching for useful artwork, an image will suggest a scenario or joke. These are the easiest ideas to execute. 2) While brainstorming, I'll come up with a scenario or joke, then have to find artwork to match it. This is much more difficult, but usually possible.

How Long to Draw - I guess the funny answer to that is that I let other people draw it for me. Realistically, however, a lot of my art requires more work than just finding it. Depending on the quality of my source material and how much has to be modified, anywhere between 30 minutes and four hours.

Traditionally or Digitally - Digitally.

Other Stuff - Occasionally (with increasing rarity), I use prepared clip art from openclipart.org - actually, looking over every strip I have prepared so far, only the first two strips make use of clip art like that, although clip art tends to find its way onto the covers of the minicomic versions. The rest are sourced from public domain publications, most of which are in fairly poor shape and need to be cleaned up. I shift the images into Photoshop where I make alterations to the artwork - anything from cleaning up lines to removing backgrounds and other characters, and (very) occasionally removing an object from in front of a character I want to use. Then the artwork is converted to black and white (if necessary). I move it over into Illustrator where I convert the artwork into vector, then move the artwork into the template for the minicomic version. Once the minicomic is laid out, I rearrange the frames in its online version.