Photoshop layers for a comic book page

I had to create a consistent workflow so that I don't have to reinvent it every time I start a new page.  This is the simplest way I came up with that makes sense for me.

There's 10 layers.  The file is 10" x 15", 600 dpi, adobe rgb profile.  The safe zone is 9" x 14".  Any drawing that extends beyond that point is for full page bleeds.

From the bottom up; the background layer is white.  The 2nd layer is my layout sketch in normal mode which is in black and white.  The 3rd layer is filled with afcce9 a light blue and on lighten layer mode.  This makes my layout drawing look like blue pencil.  The idea is that I will do final work on top of it like traditional inking.  When I'm done with my page I will hide the layout and blue line layers.

The 4th layer is for backgrounds.  This page obviously takes place in a dojo so I will draw all of that good stuff (curtains, wood floor, drum, and ceiling panels) on this layer and set it on multiply mode. This will make all white areas transparent so that you will see the white background in layer 1.   I will draw everything in, including stuff that be hidden behind the characters. 

The 5th layer is for characters.  After I double check to make sure that character placement makes sense in the background in eyeball perspective, I will turn off the visibility for the background layer and draw my characters in also in multiply mode.  Once I'm done with drawing characters, I will simply create a layer mask that subtracts the character shapes from the background layer so that the backgrounds directly behind the characters will not be visible.  I am highly likely to change my drawing from the layout stage on this layer and on the background layer even if it's just small adjustments or clean ups.

The 6th layer is for textures to add the sense of touch to the space and materials on my page.  This layer can be used for wall textures, wood grain, and any other surface that I want the audience to feel like they can touch and feel.  It helps add another of realism and makes it easier for the audience to suspend disbelief in the world I invented.

The 7th layer is for lettering and word balloons.  The 8th is for panel borders.  There are so many things you can do with panel borders so I decided that it should get it's own separate layer for neatness and easy editing.  These layers will be on multiply mode also.

The 9th layer is for special effects in normal mode.  I like to experiment with action lines so I put them on this separate layer so that I can mess it up without messing up the drawing underneath.  I also save this layer for things like painting white on top, such as for falling snow, rain, smoke, light ray effects, etc.  It will be used to create an atmosphere to help push and pull things to create more depth of field.  Otherwise, everything looks very flat in stark black and white.

And lastly on top is the 10th layer for crop marks also in the same blue I used for the blue line layer.  I hid the visibility in this image, but basically it's a blue line border that is 1/2" in from each border of the page.  It shows where the safe printing zone is in the 9" x 14" page.  I toggle the visibility on and off when I draw a page that is in full bleed to make sure everything important doesn't get cropped off.

Other notes:

I am thinking about adding another layer once I finish all of my pages specifically for tones.  The main reason is that tones make such a huge difference when the page is handed to the colorist in today's comics.  Hopefully most colorists are painters who understand how to compose using tonal contrast and applying a light source.  However, it is not always the case and I've seen horror stories where the coloring of a book breaks the finish product.  Having a layer for tones will be a back-up structure that will help the colorist not mess up or wrongly interpret my vision of where the light source is and lets me control the overall composition.  This is not common practice but this is my comic book so why not?  :)

Drawing a comic book page from rough layouts to final page

I work 100% in Photoshop with a 8" x 6" intuos wacom tablet.  Four hours of drawing brought my rough layout page:

To a half finished version:

In the old days, you'd have to pencil it and then ink over it.  Sucks, majorly.  Now I can skip inking and avoid all the traditional medium mess.  It's getting there.  I probably need another four hours to draw more details like roof tiles, a shoe cabinet, sky, snow, action lines, and add some texture to the walls.  I might noodle the drawing a little bit more.  I'm using rough word balloons for now to make sure that there is enough room on the page for them later on.  I will do final word balloons when I finish drawing all the pages.  I am so tempted to paint some mid-tones in there but I'm going to do my best to avoid it until the all the pages are done.

I spent 6 more hours on all the rest of the details.  Done version below:

How to approach a script by analyzing story beats

I need a consistent approach that is easy for me to understand in order to tackle my comic book pages once I get the script.  It's easy to get too excited and just dive into drawing pages but soon I find myself overwhelmed with a bunch of problems and having to re-draw a lot of material and toss a lot of wasted drawings out.

I am still figuring it out as I go so this is by no means carved in stone but here's some notes that I kept for myself to make the whole process of penciling my comic book pages relatively manageable.

Once I get the script, I write a list of story beats which are the most essential moments that are absolutely necessary to move the plot from beginning to end.  Then I will sketch all of these story beats out.  There are tons of things that I take into consideration as I draw but before I gather any visual reference, I try ask myself for each story beat:

What's happening?  Who's driving the scene forward?  Who's the lead character in this scene?  What is the mood in this moment?  What time is it?  How can I evoke the senses and make an emotional impact?  How should I pace this moment?  Is it a fast action part of the story or a slow thoughtful or building up moment?  What details are necessary?  Is the character going to run into difficulties next?  Or are they going to get their way in the next scene?  My drawing has to answer all of these questions in order to make the storytelling as clear as possible.

I'm not going to write a book here, but for I will use Batman as an example:  If I figure out that Batman is in trouble and the Joker is driving the plot in this moment, I would draw the Joker really big proportionally to Batman in the drawing.  I would try to convey Batman's fear, surprise, or worry through his body gesture and acting out his emotions on his face.  If the scene is very dramatic, I would use a very harsh high contrast single source direct lighting to create large bold black shadows.  I might want to make the scene look cold using color notes to make the viewer feel more uncomfortable.  If it's a fast paced moment, I might not want to draw too many unnecessary details because the viewer's eyes will get stuck on the image and have a hard time moving onto the next moment.  If Batman is going to face difficulty, I might place him in the bottom right corner of the composition with his back pressed against the image border to suggest that he is trapped, and has to move from lower right to upper left.   This is using direction to tell the story.  If Batman is going to rip a pipe out of the wall and hit the Joker with it in the next moment, I will draw it in there where you can see it.  Lighting is something that needs to be carefully considered because it plays a huge role in conveying the mood in the scene.  It can tell the audience what temperature it is because a dark scene feels colder and a bright scene warmer.  Lighting can tell what season the story takes place in or what time of the day it is  Light can tell the character's comfort level as well as the audience's.  A soft ambient light conveys a dreamy non-fatal scene like when Bruce Wayne has a love interest.  So this is how I generally approach drawing story beats that are taken out of a script from the writer.

Hiraku comic book Reboot

I threw out about 95% of the drawings and research and development I did from the past 3 years. A lot of those drawings are on older blog posts so they aren't completely gone. However most of those drawings will not be used in the final version of the comic book in any way or form. This is mostly due to a major re-write of the script that was decidedly necessary to make a better product. While I was waiting for the script, I practiced a lot of Kendo and learned a lot about horticulture. I'm not going to think about the old drawings too much. This is just a part of the process into reorganizing new material. Just going to move on.

The new story is more realistic, less fantasy than the previous version.  It's a story about rite of passage.  Here's a little taste of what is coming.

Spirits exploration

There is the ordinary world, and then there is the dream world.  I guess one can call it the spirit world.  It is filled with fantasy.  We have some spirits roaming around in it.  These are just some of the beginning exploratory sketches, not final designs by any means.

The fox is just a fox.

Character Line-Up

Back to the drawing board.  There's been a major change in the script, which calls for brand new drawings.  This will be the final edit to the story!  No more major plot changes from here on.  All I can tell you is that there is a lot more kendo and a lot less kitsune (foxes).


Here's the Character Line Up!

More to come...

Adrian Tomine

I'm doing a bunch of research and development for our comic book project. It's probably an overkill job for the actual content within the book itself, but one good link leads to another and I ended up on this wonderful comic book artist's site:

Adrian Tomine

 I have seen some other comic books that try this style of coloring but I think what makes Adrian's art compelling to me is that although there is a massive amount of simplification, all the necessary details are there. His R&D shines through, showing that he is a well studied artist. I mean you can't draw these specifics without doing some research. Research is a kind of honesty that artists should have as opposed to drawing purely from the limit of one's imagination.

Three approaches to drawing

These are three approaches to drawing that I find useful to understand.  Some people draw for fun and don't really care about learning or having progress but for those of us who do care, we need a measuring stick to track our progress.  The best way to improve is to work on improving in areas or methods that you are weaker in.  The three approaches as summarized are:

1 - Drawing by measuring relationships between features and using shapes to create a simple building structure.  I simply call this the 2D method for clarification since you will measure flat shapes like squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.

2 - Drawing using three dimensional forms to create the illusion of space and masses.  This can be called the 3D method because you will think of everything as solid forms such as cubes, cylinders, spheres, etc.

3 - Drawing based on gesture focuses on movement and the life of the character.  I'll call this the gestural method.  This is where you feel the pose.

Here are my examples of how each approach differs on a simple subject of a little girl's head.

Most of the time you will infuse two or even all three of the methods into one drawing.  But sometimes, one method will clearly serve the purpose of your piece.  You just have to decide which one will best deliver what you want to say through your drawing.

If your drawings tend to look flat, maybe you should work on the 3D method and use masses and forms to make your character(s) appear more solid.  If you draw using gestures and end up with sloppy scribbles, work on cleaning up your drawing to a finished level.  If your drawing looks stiff and lifeless, you should probably practice some gesture drawings.

I am not saying anything new here, just regurgitating past lessons to help myself remember some basics and hopefully give whoever is interested some ideas.  If you have questions and or comments, I'd love to hear them.  Otherwise, have fun drawing!