The Efficient Robot
How I search for comic book flow state
The grind continues on my new project. I’m incredibly happy with the work so far. My favorite part of the process has been nailing down an efficient way of making this story. There have been two aspects to the madness. I’ll talk about just the first one in this month’s newsletter.
Drawing process efficiency. This one has been interesting because I’m only using digital means for the project. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE drawing and painting traditionally. It is the most authentic version of my art and it’s incredibly satisfying. There’s nothing like a swab of paint on an inked drawing. But, when you compare the time that I dedicate to a fully inked and painted comic book page to the time that it takes me to make the same page on the Ipad Pro, the difference is drastic.
It’s certainly a different result, but I think that the voice of the drawings remain, which is very important to me. I don’t want to use any fancy digital tricks. Cartoonist Matt Kindt is also an adopter of digital comic making, and he once said that he makes it a point to only use digital tools and techniques that he could also do by hand. I feel the same way when using Procreate.
It really comes down to a decision of efficiency and your project type. Since I’m planning for this project to be a long, epic story, digital really made sense. I basically double (maybe even triple) my weekly page output when working on the Ipad. My process has been the following:
create a 9x6 inch template in Procreate. Make a primary layer for rough thumbnails. I sketch very loosely here to get the images out of my head.
On the same 9x6, I create a layer on top where I do tighter pencils using either black or red color. This helps breakdown my lines clearly before inking. I still try not to get too tight in the pencils. I find that if I do, my inking loses a lot of energy.
Create an 11x14 template. I import my pencils file and use it as my guide for inks.
After inking, I color using a digital watercolor brush. This process is very different from my traditional watercoloring, but I think that it retains the same energy. It took a long time to nail down how I wanted this step to look.
Just a snippet of a panel. Avoiding spoilers, but more info very soon! After everything is colored, I letter using a font that I created from my handwriting. This cut down my lettering time significantly.
As you can see, there are many steps. Having all these things at your fingertips on the Ipad where you can easily transition from each stage is a miracle for a cartoonist. Oh, and, no scanning! I can also do each one of these steps in the living room, or at a coffee shop, or in the backyard. The convenience factor is off the charts. I’ve done the above process over 30 times now so I’m getting it down to a science. It feels good. I still have some things to tinker with, but the machine is pretty well oiled at this point.
Lastly, on the drawing efficiency side of things, I made this handy Google sheet that tracks my page-by-page progress. At first sight, it’s nothing crazy. It’s just a list of pages that tracks each stage, pencils to final letters. But, in reality, this helps greatly with personal motivation. I get so happy when I get to mark a stage as completed. It gives you a holistic view of the entire scope, and it puts progress in a real, tangible layout. It's a very handy tool.
Parks & Rec
My wife and I got away for a few hours and took our elderly pup to the park for my birthday last week. I love sitting in nature and doodling. It’s great that modern tools have given us convenient travel setups. Again, convenience!
Jazz, Pirates, and a Wombat
I’m finally delving into manga at a higher clip, partially for reading pleasure, and partially for research. I picked up the first volume of Blue Giant, a manga about a saxophone player trying to become the best Jazz musician in the world.
It is lovely. It’s essentially a slice of life comic about a guy going through all the trials and tribulations of attempting to make it in the creative world. There are so many parallels to my life as a cartoonist - working around the clock, making time for practice, rude customers, determination, etc. It has been an unexpectedly personal read. Great stuff. Also, my friend and fellow artist Rasheed Oduro let me borrow the first few volumes of One Piece. I figured that it was about time to explore what many consider to be the greatest manga of all time. I’m having a blast with it so far. I really enjoy the sense of grand adventure. Also, the hyper-expressive cartooned faces are chef’s kiss. Excited for more.
I’ve been playing Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for PS5. I loved the Ratchet & Clank games growing up so I was excited to jump back into the joyous sci-fi world filled with anthropomorphic characters and big ol’ guns. My first reaction was WOW. The visuals in this game are incredible. In my early years, I didn’t look at R&C with too much of an artistic eye, but now? Holy crap, the character designs in Rift Apart are some of the best that I’ve ever seen in any sort of media. Period. I really hope that they make an artbook for the game. The weapons are extremely fun as well. I especially love the water sprinkler grenade that turns everything into heaps of flowery bushes. The world of R&C is so full of life.
Last thing before I roll out. A couple years ago I published a graphic novel called West, Not South. It’s a fun book, and has gotten some really high praise from cool people, like the afore mentioned Matt Kindt. It’s a cartoony comedy meets a surreal crime adventure. My most handy comparison is Bojack Horseman meets a Coen brothers flick (probably Raising Arizona). Ink and watercolor, 148 pages. If this sounds like a must buy to you, head over to my webstore (link below) and order a copy. I’ll sign and sketch in it for you!
Have a good one! Thanks for your time,
Nico
For the lettering stage, do you export the procreate file to illustrator or a similar app?