Google Maps: Comics in Kenosha

So, I have mapped out a couple of locations for the aspiring comic enthusiasts in the audience on a Google Map.  It features descriptions, pictures, and even videos about each of the 4 locations here in Kenosha that I frequent when I need my comic fix.  Enjoy!

Because the embedded version below may act a little funky, here is a direct link to the map as well.


View Comics in Kenosha in a larger map

Screencast

Unfortunately my laptop didn't seem to be strong enough to handle Camtasia, particularly during the editing process. During editing the playback was choppy and delayed, making it next to impossible to create accurate splits and zooms. But I did the best I could with what I had. Hopefully the low production quality created by my low-end laptop won't hurt my grade too much. 

How I Do It: Coloring

Now that our image is in digital form, we can use another Adobe Illustrator tool to allow us to color it in.  The Live Paint Bucket tool will convert our digital image into a series of vector paths that Adobe Illustrator can interpret and "paint" inside of.

Once your image is in Live Trace form, it is very easy to convert it to a colorable state.  Simply select the Live Paint Bucket Tool from the Toolbar, and click on your Live Trace image.  Once the process is complete, you can then select various colors and color in your comic.

Things are really starting to take shape now!  You probably can really see your comic coming to life and are getting pretty excited.  There are a few more minor details (adding text, cleaning up), which we will cover next week.

Below is the colored image of Comic 1.

How I Do It: Live Trace

We now move into the Adobe Illustrator portion of our program.  We had to ink our drawings in order to allow Adobe Illustrator's Live Trace tool to create a (relatively) crisp digital version of our hand-made drawings.  That is our next step.

Basically Live Trace can convert anything into a manipulable digital form, but I find it really shines in black and white situations.  Therefore, our black and white inking of Comic 1 is a perfect candidate to be Live Traced.

If ever you want to follow along, this is a very straightforward progress.  Take your scanned-in inking and do a File > Place... of it onto your Adobe Illustrator canvas.  Work with its size until you have it just as you want it, and then go to Object > Live Trace > Make.  Voila!  That will generate an image similar to the one below.  We'll clean it up a bit more before we get to the final product, but we have a pretty sharp digital image to work with now.

How I Do It: Video Form!

I have created a video podcast showing my "How I Do It" series in action!  If you prefer to learn via video, then this is the podcast for you!

Editor's Note: As of the time of posting, YouTube is still completing its Processing of this video.  So be patient if you see it as unavailable.  It should be live before long.

How I Do It: Inking

Once we have the pencils finished, it is time to ink those drawings.  This for me is the most nerve-wracking part of the process.  Whereas I can handle general imperfections in the final look, I cannot handle mistakes.  And if you make a mistake during the inking phase, it means starting over with the pencils.

Other concerns during this phase include smudging (I use an Ultra Fine Sharpie to ink, so I have to watch where I rest my hands on the paper) and the fact that my hand has never been the steadiest.  All of these factors added together can result in a lot of nerves.  But you have to persevere!

This process is required mainly for the next step, which uses Adobe Illustrator to detect the inked lines and convert the image into a digital and much more easy-to-edit format.  It will also smooth out some of the rougher lines.  So, here's the inking of Strip #1!

How I Do It: Pencils

Once we have a script for a strip (I'll be using the script from the previous blog post for this entry), we can move into the drawing phase of comic creation.  The first step in my process is to draw out the strip using pencils, providing the general shape of the action in each panel.  Since this particular strip is driven more by dialog, the pencils don't provide us anything overly entertaining to look at, but they're still very beneficial in the creation process.

Regarding the style of this comic in particular, I am not using tools like a ruler or t-square to get straight lines for my panels, etc.  Because this is more of a hobby than a professional endeavor, the imperfections generated through creating the comic by sight alone actually helps contribute a level of "charm" to the comic.  These drawings are done on a large index card (5'' x 8'') to give me guidelines regarding how large each panel should be.  It will get rearranged into a horizontal strip in its final iteration (especially if this or any other future strip are accepted by The Current for publishing).

How I Do It: Character Planning

An important part of the comic creation process is developing a set of characters from which your action, story, and dialogue can flow.  Rather than just put pencil to paper right away, it is often best to go through a character design phase, trying out a variety of poses and constructs to see which looks best and is easiest to duplicate multiple times.  It's also worthwhile to make sure your characters are expressive enough, because the more expressive they are, the easier it is to deliver punchlines and actions.

So, I am going to share a couple of my character planning images with you in order to give you a sense of the repetitive, but important phase of character planning.

Firstly, I wanted to update Mush's look for this new series, and so I spent a good deal of time planning out his new character shape, as well as some of his expressions.

Mushroom Man Character Planning

The other main character needed for Strip #1 was Birdbrain, who was also going to get a makeover for this new series.  So, featured on this second page is predominantly the character creation phase for Birdbrain.

Birdbrain Character Planning

So, there you have it.  Though there will be many more characters down the road, these were the two I will eventually need to complete Strip #1, which we can dive into a little bit further next week, now that this step is out of the way.

How Others Do It

The next series of posts I will be adding to the blog are going to regard how I myself go through the comic creation process, from start to finish.  I will be doing a lot of work by hand (basic drawing/outlining) and then transferring my images to digital form for editing (creating a digital version of my images, coloring, laying out, adding text).

But before I launch into that phase of the blog I wanted to give you a sense of how others might go through a similar process.  There are plenty of tutorials out there both on Youtube (for the visual learners in the audience) and throughout the web with a simple Google search.  But to get you started, here is a tutorial that discusses the process with a lot of steps that are similar to how I create a comic strip.

Other Sources of Inspiration: Comic Books

I was never a huge fan of comic books growing up.  I wasn't even a fan of the superhero Saturday morning cartoons growing up.  So where I got my fascination with comics is a little unclear.  But I can remember making my own comics as long ago as 4th grade (which is 12 years ago now!).  But after I started making comics, I then started to become interested in other comics that were out there.

I still do not keep up with comic books by and large, with one exception.  A few months ago my girlfriend talked me into going to the local comic shop.  I wasn't sure I'd find anything, but sure enough there was one series I was interested in.

Sonic the Hedgehog comics weds two of my great pasttimes: comics (in some form or another) and video games.  Growing up, a Sega Genesis was my first gaming system, so I grew up on the Blue Blur and his pals.  Being able to revisit their world now that I am much older has been an enjoyable experience.

Stay tuned in the future as I may do my videocast about Heroes and Dreams, the local comic book shop that I frequent to get my Sonic fix.

Scripting a Comic

One of the hardest parts of making a comic, for me, is writing a script.  Particularly for comedic comics, it can be very difficult to think of something funny in a matter of 4 panels.  Another challenge relating to this series in particular, is that it has never been a comedic comic before.  While it had humorous elements, previous iterations of Mush the Mushroom Man have been focused mainly on plots by various enemies to capture or eliminate Mush.

Another considerable hurdle in scripting out my first comic is the fact that the characters are not established.  It can become easier to write for a particular comic over time as characters gain a stronger sense of identity and the fans come to learn various endearing qualities about each.

That said, the first comic has to be gotten out of the way at some point, so I have a first draft of a script for Strip #1.

Featured Characters: Mush, Birdbrain

Panel 1
[Mush and Birdbrain standing outside, a typical pose]
Birdbrain: So Mush, do the different color of mushroom caps mean anything?

Panel 2
[A shot of 2 unidentified mushrooms, with different colored caps]
Birdbrain: I've seen all kinds of colors, but can't find any correlation as to what they might mean.

Panel 3
[Back to Mush and Birdbrain]
Mush: I'm glad you asked.  As a wearer of a red cap, it gives me an opportunity to tell you....

Panel 4
[Mush standing tall and waving his arms, Birdbrain with a deadpan expression]
Mush: ...that McDonald's is the proud sponsor of red-capped mushrooms everywhere!