What's Your Process?

[Thefruitsong]

What do you do when you're making a comic?

(After I have the story and characters figured out)

Personally, I write out how I want the page laid out, with a little map on the corner of the page. I then draw out the scene based on the map. After adding dialogue and ink, I scan the image into my computer, and color it digitally, adding the dialogue text afterwards.


What's your process?

[megrar]

i've been trying to teach myself to thumbnail and write out the page at the same time. currently though, i still get caught up in the script, and find myself overwriting the pages, then having to edit it multiple times to try and make the visuals work. that's when i write for myself, of course.

when working with writers, my process begins with tearing my hair out.

[wine mom]

when I was younger i would script everything out meticulously and then thumbnail to figure out panel layouts. But I started to realize how pointless it was to script. Its was just an unnecessary extra step that would always end up overwritten with no concern for how it would fit in a panel.

So now I just thumbnail with some rough dialogue surrounding the thumbnails. I think I'm the only person who can make any sense of them.

Basically I try to do all the planning as quickly and efficiently as I can because I'm almost always rushing at the end to get books done.

[Alerane]

Since I'm currently co-creating with a friend, I'm getting used to a more structured process. I used to be very lose about it, thumbing straight away without a clear script outside of what was in my head.

Now, me and more writerly-partner brainstorm a chapter premise, conflict and resolution that pushes the plot. She outlines it, then breaks it into page by page then panel by panel script. I go in and help give some more life to the dialogue (I'm arguably better at character portrayal and interaction but she's much more amazing with plot ans description). We re-organize the pacing so it fits a good number of pages to print run the chapter later. I thumb it out, show her for approval. Then I pencil, ink, tone in stages. Depending on who's more busy at the time the one of us more free will bubble, letter and frame it up. I post it to the webcomic sites.

[Elskeleton]

I just think about it. Draw the roughs. Clean up. Colour if I feel like it.
I'm not too hard on myself, but then my comics have never been serious series types, just oneshot pseudo-philosophical like