So I received a note from asking about what I do when I create my comic strips. So I ended up typing out this long-winded note to explain a relatively simple process; and just to get a little more mileage out of the time spent typing I figured I'd post it here for your information/amusement... Enjoy...

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Sure, though I don't do anything special as I'm not professionally trained or anything. I just have developed my own little process (which seems to continually evolve) along the way.

As far as coming up with ideas, it's pretty much up in the air, and simply depends on what kind of stuff you like to draw/write/read. But as far as the actual creation process, this is what I do:

STEP 1: Very very very loose sketch

First I sketch out a bunch of ideas for 4-panel comics on some scrap paper. (I've done three-panel comics too, but I think 4-panels works best in terms of timing, build-up, etc.) I use the term "sketch" loosely because it's really not much more than stick figures and/or floating heads with word bubbles. And the dialogue is more of ideas for what the characters might say than a completed script. At some point down the road I figure out the final dialogue, characters, yadda yadda yadda...

STEP 2: Printed comics strip templates

I read on Universal Press Syndicate's website [link] that they ask for their strips to be "reducible to 13 by 38.4 picas; panels to 24 by 19 picas", so using those dimensions, I ginned up a blank comic strip template in Photoshop, doubled it's size (so it's actually 26 by 76.8 picas) and printed out a bunch of those on sheets of legal (8.5 by 14 inches) paper (since it won’t fit on average letter size (8.5 by 11) paper).

You obviously don't have to go by those dimensions if you don't want. The main point is to have a bunch of pre-made comic strip templates (even if you just draw them out and photo copy) so you don't have to draw them out every single time, as this saves a lot of tedious, un-fun work.

STEP 3: Draw guidelines

I'll take a sheet of the pre-printed template and -- using a pencil -- draw a horizontal line down the center of each panel, which divides each panel in half. Then I'll draw a vertical line from the top center to the bottom center of each panel, which -- with the horizontal line -- means each panel is now divide into 4 equal parts. I then divide it up again so each panel is now divided in to 16 equal parts. See here for an example: [link] I use these guidelines when drawing the comic strip for a few reasons:

1.) It helps to keep your art centered and balanced in the panel.

2.) It helps to tell how much room you have left, and how to proportion space in the panel.

3.) If you have the same image in multiple panels, it helps to let you to keep everything in line. (Although I suppose you could just copy-and-paste the image across panels in Photoshop if you wanted, but I don't like doing that for reasons I won't get into here).

I actually do this process twice using two blank comic strip templates -- one to use for a layout and one for the final strip… or if you are the tree/money-saving type, you can just use the front and back side of one sheet.

STEP 4: Sketch the layout and dialogue

Using one of those lined comic strip templates, I sketch out the rough layout for the strip and write out the dialogue. The point of this exercise is to figure out where you want to place the picture and dialogue in the panel so everything fits together harmoniously.

STEP 5: Pencil

Once I'm happy with the layout, I'll grab the other sheet of paper and pencil in the final strip. My process for penciling is not worth getting into here (your better off consulting a book on art basics, of which my knowledge is very… basic). I’ll re-iterate that you should use those guidelines and your layout sketch to help know where to place the characters and dialogue.

I'll also mention that -- taking a note from the great Bill Watterson --I try not to get too detailed in my pencil work, as it helps make the penning more spontaneous and fun.

STEP 6: Pen

Obviously, at this point you pen in your work. For my pens I use "Pigma Micron" pens of varying thickness. I started using them simply because one was lying around the house one day and it was better than using ball-point. I keep meaning to try buying some other type of pen just to see if another would suit me better, but I've never gotten around to it.

STEP 7: Touch ups

My scanner doesn't fit legal-size paper, so I end up scanning two parts of the image and then fitting them together in Photoshop Elements (yes, I'm too cheap to buy the real Photoshop). Then after I have it set as one complete image, I touch it up to remove any messy parts or any mistakes that white-out didn't fix. Usually this involves filling in the black areas which never seem to scan well. Once I have that all set, I resize the image for the web (which ends up being 1000-pixels wide x whatever high). Then post it out to our own glorious DeviantART.

Oh yeah. I forgot about Sunday-format strips. For those the process is pretty much the same, except that I don’t have any pre-made strip templates. I just kind of lay it out in whatever way seems to work best. Sunday strips are nice in that they give you more options for writing and laying out the strip, but on the downside you have more options for writing and laying out the strip… if you know what I mean.

So... uh.. that's IT!!!! Hopefully that made some iota of sense. It's not really as complicated as I may have made it sound when you boil it down, especially if you get into a routine of doing it. The hard part is coming up with ideas.

And again, this process is just something I developed, and it's not like I'm a pro so take this all with a grain of salt.

So anyhoo, hope this was helpful... And, if you don’t mind, I'll probably post this to my Journal.

So good luck! Let me know how it all goes.