Prepping for print when drawing traditionally
by Letty Wilson
This article was originally posted to Letty's Tumblr.
Anonymous asked:
Hello! I love your comics and I hope you won't mind me asking about your process: do you draw on a larger format than what will be used for printing? For example, if the print is to be in A5 format, do you draw your comics on A4? When painting, do you take bleed sections into account right away? When you make thumbnails, do you make them in a specific format? Are there any templates? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm thinking about painting a comic and I'm really afraid that I'll mess sth
Hi, thanks for your question and I'm so glad you like my work!
So first off, sorry to say it, but if you are making a comic you will definitely mess some things up. BUT. that's good! that's part of making any art and how you know it's real! Especially when working with traditional mediums in comics, you kinda have to embrace that there will be rough edges, there are so many different aspects to comics that everything can't be perfect. I hope that doesn't deter you though, comics are great!
so, to address your questions:
Yes, I usually try and work at a slightly bigger size than the comic will print, because a) it means I can have it more detailed and cleaner-looking than if I tried to draw at actual size, and b) it's easier on my wrists and eyes - trying to draw very tiny will wear on you!
I'm lucky enough to have an A3 scanner, so I can work up to A3 size and then scan it in to the computer to adjust down. that said I sometimes work much smaller than that, if i want a simpler art style or just don't want to get lost in adding lots of detail.
^I drew this page on A3 paper, though it'll be printed at standard comic size (US I think? offhand I can't remember). These are my pencils so you can still see my pencilled guidelines.
i try to always incorporate a bleed into my pages, but it can be tricky to measure out exactly, especially when you're working on already-increased measurements or over spreads, etc. as a rule I'll add an extra 5mm at every edge of the page OUTSIDE the breathing room I'd usually leave between the panel edge and the page edge. (Standard bleed measurements are 3mm but it pays to have the extra!)
Also if you didn't know you can find several handy page templates here!
i still usually have to adjust this when I scan it into a digital template. I measure out page dimensions and draw them onto the page before i start with a ruler - as a lot of comic page sizes don't fit strictly into A sizes, I do a bit of maths and find the easiest simple measurements at the right proportions and draw those on if that's the case. then when I scan in (I usually colour, tone and letter my work in photoshop) I use a more exact template which, if I've done my maths right, I can just drop the scanned art into, and if not I can see where it needs adjusting and do that.
Thumbnailing seems to be something every artist I know does a little differently - I draw mine in a little notebook with squared paper, and they are very small and scrappy. for a recent project I measured and cut out a little template that was the right dimensions for the pages I'd use, and then drew round it for every page, but often I'll just eyeball it. Importantly, try to thumbnail in spreads if you're planning to print your comic, so you can see how page turns look and how pages sit together as you lay them out.
I think that's everything, I hope it's helpful and you have fun making comics!
This article was written by Letty Wilson, who gave permission for it to be posted here. Visit their website to learn more about their work.
