The Job of Writing Comics

I discovered a great quote from Ted Slampyak, the artist who currently draws “The Orphan Annie” comic strip.

“Drawing comics is as much a job as it is a calling — and on days when you don’t really hear that calling, it’s still a job. And for most cartoonists, it’s not a very good paying job. So it’s essential that you have a system in place, a streamlined and standardized way of going about the task.”

On his blog Slampyak describes his process of creating a comic from start to finish. I imagine every artist is different. He has some very good ideas. I especially like his planning worksheet. His description shows how much preplanning and problem solving go into making a strip.

You can see his whole tutorial on his blog, http://www.tedslampyak.com/2007/07/how-i-make-comic-strip.html