"I'll have a Non-reproducible Blue Christmas..."

Here's one panel of my latest comic. This is a color scan, so it shows the non-reproducible blue pencil marks. This is my first time trying this kind of pencil, and I think I'm a convert. They never have them at our local art supply store, so when I was in Philadelphia, I bought a great big handful of them.

The idea is, that you can pencil the drawing and ink it. You don't have to erase the pencils, because if you scan it in black & white, the pencils don't show. That the idea, anyway, only next time I won't be so heavy handed with it.

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