Current mood:	working
Entry tags:	composition, sequential art

Anatomy of a Comic 101
Today, let's look at something a little more practical. What's the production workflow for a comic? This really depends on how you work and how many people you're involving, but there's always a:


Plan - this can be a script, thumbnails or name, which can be a combination of the two
Pencils - which are actually done on the manuscript paper
Ink
Finishing - which can include speech bubbles, lettering, toning, effects and lots of other advanced techniques.
Sometimes also is pre-press, but when you're being published, the publisher takes care of this for you.


Let's go through each part. Keep in mind each one of these parts will have much entries posted on them each, and this is a very brief intro to them. Many of these steps I also use in my one shot illustrations as well, such as thumb and sometimes name. Since I don't have my how-to books with me or my own work for examples, I will use yoshitoshi Abe's lain works to illustrate. (Abe's name is spelt with a capital A and B, lowercase e, but I can't seem to make this program let me do it.) I scanned these myself off the English publication version of it, in low quality.
Now, let's get started!


The plan is written by whoever's writing the piece. Even when you're working solo, it's a good idea (by that, I mean a must) to get your idea down enough to think it over. The plan consists of a script, thumbnails and/or name.

A writer will use a script. Scripts can come in many forms. Some script writers include every detail and angle for each panel and leave nothing to the artist's discretion. Only the very best artists can really work efficiently under these kinds of circumstances, and the writer has to have enough knowledge about the art form not to make this a total nightmare. However, the writer's vision stays intact, and is efficiently conveyed to the reader. Others are looser, allowing the artist to get his hands on composition, as I talked about in the last post. As a comics writer, you have to be aware of composition, not to make it too frustrating for an artist, that or trust your artist with your vision and let him take care of it. If this is what you're going to do, you can even go as far as to write prose, and have your artist interpret freely. When you do this, it's crucial to pick the right artist, since two people reading the same thing will have very different takes on it. Then, the responsibility is in your quality of writing to get the timing and mood right so your artist can pick up on it.


Once the artist has the script, thumbnails are next. Thumbs, like in design, are small, probably not much larger than your thumb itself, and are used to determine page and panel layout. This is so the balance of each page is right as a whole and with its facing page. Keep speech bubbles in fully visible places - don't keep much important information towards the binding of the book. Does the balance of white and black feel lopsided? What about the angles of the panels? These are what you're considering at this stage, you're designing pages. Thumbs should be viewed as discardable items, so never spend too long on them. If you have the time, make many for each page and pick the best ones.

Thumbnail excerpt- yoshitoshi Abe lain illustrations - yoshitoshi Abe


For a group effort, the Japanese name is better. When I do solo pieces I also create name, since writing out a script in only words tends to limit me and slow me down. Solo artists should start with design thumbnails, but sometimes it's hard in terms of time. A well-done name suffices. Names (pronounced nameh) are larger, more detailed layouts. Here, you'll find facial expressions and written notes. The detail level is often higher as well, such as backgrounds and rough perspective lines. They can range from very rough to very detailed. When working for yourself, anything that's sufficient will do.

Name-type plan for an illustration - yoshitoshi Abe
This example is a high end thumbnail or a low end name. If you had to draw from this, what would you ask him to add? Always be sure you know what you're drawing.

Finished Illustration - Layer:pre PRVW - yoshitoshi Abe
I'm really liking the new scanner. Can you believe it just scanned just like that? :0

Note the differences. Why did he make the changes he made, other than the added figure in the middle?
Making rough drafts enables you to make these sorts of decisions to change things, and improves your final look. Your own personal design docs are mutable. Have fun with planning.

When you're looking over my name, I'm open to suggestions on how to make scenes better or clearer. Sometimes I have to rush, and scenes aren't as fleshed out to someone not in my head as they could be. Name and thumbs are discussable. Sometimes though, this sort of discussion goes quickly back to the writer if he's a panel-describer.


Next, comes pencils. Pencils are done strait on the manuscript paper and are intended for inking. The people or people pencilling are responsible for the over all technical quality of the drawing itself. Pencillers have to be strong in many of the technical items I'm going to cover here, such as perspective and anatomy. Pencillers should be the most technical of the artists, since more creative people can do thumbs and inking, effect and tone. The ones who follow after will simply follow the guidelines set in place by a skilled penciller. Unlike the more creative jobs, however, one doesn't necessarily need to be a fantastic 'artist'. Just getting the name onto the manuscript page in a skilled way is enough, and these things can be taught.

Pencils - yoshitoshi Abe
These are almost acceptable pencilling levels. Pretend you were given these to ink. What would you ask the penciller for with regards to the figures? Are there backgrounds? Not every panel will even have a background (necessarily), so this should be explicit. If you're going to photocopy in a background or phototrace, be sure to mark this somewhere.

Lain illust pencil - yoshitoshi Abe
Here is a nice image that shows the inker just what to do and combines some of the last lesson. The composition here is really professional, study it closely, what do you notice about the direction of lines? This is something I'll be getting into with more detail later. Also, the perspective is great along the curved wall.

Previous image close-up - yoshitoshi Abe
Here's the image of the figure, Lain, a bit bigger. If you were picking it up as an inker, wouldn't you be pleased? At the same time, you might not be pleased by the heavy shading which you'll probably have to end up erasing. Abe does not appear to ink, so he colours right on top of his shadings. Imagine what a good balance might look like, from an inker's perspective. You want to be told what parts should be dark and what to be light for the composition, but all that erasing... It's handy if the inker can be trusted with a more simple drawing, and makes 'beta' decisions by himself:
Tip: Depending on the style, things with heavy shading, such as the inside of her sleeve, might well be inked in 'beta', which means solid black. Instead of the penciller shading in a heavy black, why not outline the area and write 'beta'? If, as a penciller, you want to shade in so you can see the colour balance yourself, that's okay too, but be cleanly when you hand it over to the inker.

Pencil in colour - yoshitoshi Abe
For a complicated image, using coloured pencils is an option. This illustration continues on the second page with the background in green showing a building and a tear in the blue fence, to make the building clear. Generally this isn't used for comics though. Perhaps for a colour cover illustration?
To ink this, a light table would be used.
Some artists like to use photo-blue pencil. This is a kind of pencil that doesn't need to be erased when photocopied. I would like to look into this, as having a dedicated team member to erase manuscript paper is fairly injurious as well as time and resource wasting. Can someone do this for me?

High detail pencil - yoshitoshi Abe
I could say that pencils don't have to be this detailed, but I might be lying. What would lain's room be without all this detail? Why should this detail be left up to the poor inker? The inker has enough trouble creating smooth lines and deciding on lighting and other things. If you can produce this sort of work in reasonable time, then you'll be a very valuable penciller. Luckily, we're not trying to reproduce lain's complicated world. If the style is complicated, then the pencils are complicated.

The person in charge of pencilling is in a position of some responsibility. If there's an inconsistency, it's usually the penciller's fault. This is why it's important to have reference sheets. If the writer or name artists have not made one, request one, or present one yourself. This can be done on a separate sheet you can have handy as you draw, so no details change or get left out from panel to panel. This is even more important when there is more than one penciller on a job.

Object design - yoshitoshi Abe
Here's some design for the lain-famous Navi. It gets a lot of screen time, and lain eventually turns it into the detailed set shown above. If you had to draw lain using it, isn't this helpful? The writer or originator of the concept should always design the technology of a time and place. It's possible he can't draw it, so it's crucial to have good communication for objects in the world. Almost nothing is quite as important to give grounding and flavour to a story than the objects the characters use. A strong setting makes the reader believe.

lain costume design - yoshitoshi Abe
Generally costume design shows more of the character wearing each article than this example, but this is a collage made for the book. Fabrics are made clearer when wrinkles are made; have the character lift an arm. Show him from the back, and the side too, if it's complicated. Show him doing things in his outfit. Look closely; how does each costume affect the personality of the different lains? If you saw only one of these, and knew nothing of the story, who would you think lain is? (On an interesting note, one of the themes of the show is "Who is lain?") Remember, people judge at first sight, at least to a point, and this is especially true in comics. Be clear in your designs what you want to portray!

Production designs like this can also be inked. It depends on the artist. I prefer the versatility of pencils for folds and texture, but there's no reason someone can't do the same with pen. I've also seen toned and roughly coloured production sketches.


Inks!

There is a lot to say about inks, and Abe doesn't appear to have any. Inks almost always have their own book alone. For illustration, inks aren't always necessary, but for comics, it's a vital part. The responsibility of the inker is to clean the pencils and make sure things are clear. He brings the foreground forward and the background fall back. He has to know how to use a pen and ruler and fix any minor mistakes the penciller has made. It's always best when the inker is well versed with some pencilling and vice versa. It makes the job for both easier. Suffice to say that the inker has a strong word on lighting. The bright sun falls on a youth, you're seeing him from slightly below, and the sun strongly hits his shoulder. Chances are, that part of his shoulder is not going to be inked, perhaps parts of his hair as well. Shojo manga has excellent examples of omission, flip through some. Omission, like in music, often has as much to say. In the words of Kevin Smith, inkers don't just trace! Inkers have to be their own artists too.
Line widths is also a major judgement on the part of inkers, and establishes their style. This is especially true of western artists. Finally, how they approach shading also defines style. And how much is left to the tonepaperists or colourists? Again, this is its own section, so I'll move along. Examples are all around you! Note how different they all are! In western comics, the style is less varied, but once you learn how to read the lines, the differences will jump out. More on that stuff some other time.
Tip: I find it hard to flip through books without reading them, so going back to front helps a little.


Finishing, like pencils, and ink can be a whole book just in itself, even an encyclopedia, and compromises everything from the inks to when the reader sees it. In manga, tonepaper is a big deal, but this too will be covered in depth later. Tonepaper adds mood, the same way colour would. Many, when tonepapering, take colour into account. Boosting the clarity of the inks is also part of the tonepaperist's (or colourist's) job. The closer to the 'camera' the more detailed your tonepapering will have to be. --But not necessarily. There's less and less I can say as standard truth as we get along in the production line. This is where the style really comes alive, though it's no less complex than the job of the pencillist.
Whole courses are built around pre-press, which is closely linked to the reasons for tonepaper and inking in the first place. All this will be covered in detail at a later date.


And that brings me to my conclusion. Aw, this was another lecture, wasn't it? But you'd rather if I kept this one that way, don't you? :p Haha, this would be some pretty intense homework. The key is to start looking at your world a particular way. Carry around a sketchbook or a camera. When something appealing shows up, save it. Notice light and shadow, the convergence of lines in real life, and notice when something is being particularly effective in the comics you read. Feel free to share stuff you feel is being effective, that's the only homework this time other than looking over Abe's work here.

There's lots of ways to make comics. Comics are just sequential illustrations. But, that's how they have to be approached, and it's a complicated thing.

Bikeh-chan