Making Comics – I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This

More detail from page 2 of Pity Party! Read Pity Party here.

I did a lot this week, and this comic is nearly finished. I centred the Ideas Room sign on the door. While doing that, I also changed the style of lettering I used for it. I finished inking almost everything, but the Ideas Room panel has some work yet. You can see a bit of it at the bottom. It’s the reason this comic wasn’t done this past weekend. It has a lot of detail, and it made me nervous. I wonder if I should have used a simpler perspective as well.

Lettering and word bubbles are all done. I applied the sponge effect to all the panels that needed it. I got a bit sloppy with it on a couple of panels, but it will be fine overall. I like the effect when it works – it’s unique, kind of like an organic tint. It’s a nice mid-tone. But it’s time consuming, it involves a bit of masking. I found myself wondering this week if I should keep doing it after this story is finished, or at least maybe use it more sparingly.

I figured out too late how I want to draw glasses on my cartoonist. I’ll need to go back to the first page and make them match this one. I’m much happier with the glasses on this page now, and it will make the next pages easier to draw as well. Better late than never!

I also made the mistake of trying to refill my Copic Multiliner cartridges, and made a real mess of those pens. And my hands. And everything near the pens and my hands. It was an experiment. They aren’t meant to be refilled, and I’m fairly certain I overfilled them, so it’s entirely my fault. But still, I won’t do it again. Curry’s in Toronto carries the refill cartridges for a fraction of what Amazon charges, so I ordered replacements from them (along with some new Bristol so I could get the free shipping). I’ve found the brick & mortar art supply stores are often cheaper than Amazon, by a large margin, so it’s worth shopping around for your supplies.

That’s my update! Pity Party Page 2 will be ready next Wednesday. See you then!