01/10/24: WHY TO DRAW COMICS...
The Frisky Fox way!
Hey y’all,
So if you recall, a couple of posts back I wrote about the importance I place on making a new Holiday comic every year. And yet the holidays of 2023 came and went, and here I am with nothing to show for it but a cloud of coal dust.
Well… maybe a little more than that…
As you can see from the art above— At the eleventh hour I got all wild-eyed and frothy-mouthed about making a new holiday-themed FRISKY FOX comic. But despite making a lot of headway, I ultimately decided that there were enough rushed comics out there. Best to just consider all that work a great head start on 2024.
So rather than calling this comic unfinished— let’s call it “in progress”. And use that newfound re-brand as an opportunity to dive into a quick and dirty look at the broad philosophy behind my methodology for making these kinds of comics.
Okay, so before we dive in, you’re going to want to watch this short “making of” video, where you’ll see examples of the steps outlined below it:
1. STORY MAP— Honestly, if you take nothing else away from this post I want you to understand the importance of keeping a STORY MAP. No matter how many comics-making hats you wear, or how fluid or rigid your process is— NOTHING is more unilaterally useful than being able to track a story’s elements as a whole.
A story map is a good place to jot down and keep notes, or to try a quick edit. The smaller scale of the images makes it a nice place to chart how your story reads panel to panel, and en masse.
I update my map as each significant task (be it a page, or panel, or a tweak) is finished. Or before I go to bed. Whichever comes first.
2. FIRST DRAFT/STORY BOARD— Be it in full screenplay style, or just a rough outline, I tend to type out a script for longer stories. The revised draft of which is usually done at this “layout” (or “storyboard”) stage
But those specific delineations are habits carried over from collaboration— habits chiefly employed because they allow everyone involved to understand the overarching plan and focus on their role in it. Full scripts are generally used on live-action movies because of the time, scheduling, and coordination required to get a single shot. The realities of photography and the difficulty of getting everyone in one place and on the same page make it difficult to execute too many changes later on in the process.
Due to their reliance on “drawing”— many animated movies are more fluid by comparison and assembly. And are often made by the constant refinement of small parts or scenes of the story. Changing and adjusting these “sequences” to suit what forms the larger whole. It’s a precision and malleability that can turn storytelling into a bit of an ongoing search.
For shorter comics like this one, my methodology probably matches up a little better with that "sequencing” approach. It’s a fluid process where all of my writing/drawing/directing is synthesized as the "storyboards” I jot down (or “thumbnail”) onto my initial STORY MAP.
With the ever-evolving whole laid out loosely before me, I can zero in on sequencing out specific tasks. Move or edit whole pages. Design and place lettering. Step into drawing, coloring, or rewriting. Allowing the commitment to each small step to inform the whole.
3. ROUGH LAYOUT- This is where loose ideas get tied down into actual compositions and rough underdrawings. While chipping away at the big picture remains my primary focus, it is now allowed to be informed by the details. By the specific questions that each drawing requires in order to build the reality or mechanical aspects of the story.
The big thrust of this stage is an attempt to tune the nobs until the larger and smaller goals of my story and drawings are in balance. Though it requires less time than some of the other stages, this one gets the majority of my thought and energy.
4. ROUGH COLOR- Generally, the main emphasis at this stage is how the color informs the mood, and where how it delineates panels or scenes from one another. There’s also the consideration of how to make the wide range of visual elements that exist within the story seem cohesive. Relationships between the color of characters vs their environment, for example. Or assigning an element its defining or recognizable color.
Once you nail down these first 3 or 4 stages, you will know exactly what your comic will read or look like at its worst.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s probably best for the less experienced to work through the thinking and experimentation stages completely before graduating to refine the drawing, color, and lettering.
Personally, I treat these steps as a loose guideline. A fluid to-do list to keep front of mind. In fact, each individual page or panel could (and often does) race or meander through these steps at its own pace. But once an element is in a state that I deem worthy of further consideration (or completion)— it finds a home on the map.
At this point in my career— the ambition and thrill of working with less of a net improves my consideration of each individual step. It also keeps me engaged, excited, and committed. Which is key because once I am committed, and understand that I’m going to keep working on a story until it’s finished or abandoned— then any fear of the blank landscape ahead tends to dissipate.
5. SWEAT EQUITY- This is the time intensive stage, where all the finishing gets finished. The tinkering and twisting of bolts. The erasing and cursing and sanding of jagged wood to a smooth polish.
This is the dead in deadline.
Okay, okay— a less morbid way to think about this stage is to view it like getting dressed in the morning. You’ve already done all the shopping and dieting and exercising that you’re going to do to that point. What you put on now can greatly change how you interact with the world— but if your pants are too tight, it’s not because they shrunk overnight.
6. RE-WRITES/LETTERING- Now that I do most of this by hand, I’ve found that it doubles as a lettering pass where my thoughts are re-drafted or condensed.
It’s important to step back here, and try and read this with soft, fresh eyes— analyzing how both the intention of my words and physical letter forms/sizes juxtapose or synthesize with the execution and intentions of the art.
7. FINAL- All done. With the caveat that I really don't consider a story finished until it’s presented to be read or watched. If then.
Subjective as it might be, I believe it’s true that talent plays a huge part in any artist’s success. But I also suspect that talent is only narrowly more important than say the time you have available to refine it. Or luck. Or persistence. Or will.
Every writer or artist has these factors working for and against them. The comics-making method I’ve outlined above is more or less an attempt to try to narrow the gap between my own strengths and deficiencies. Between my best and my worst work.
To make that method work requires a constant reassessment of not just my assets and my liabilities— but those of the task at hand.
Not many athletes know the science behind HOW they run fast or jump high. But when an athlete knows WHY they need to perform better— they are pushed towards discovering how.
Your goals govern everything.
Push yourself to figure out why you want to make your comics.
The how will follow.
Thanks for humoring me.
More soon…
-j
Great read. Great advice. Will keep that in mind... as I hash out my own comics.