Souls Comic: A Process (Patreon)

Hi all, Molly here!

I'm still taking a break this week, but I didn't want to leave you totally empty handed. So I thought it would be interesting to give you all a breakdown of how I make comics!

This process is far from refined. I have a pretty sloppy approach when it comes to making comics, and have a tendency to jump around and experiment when I get an idea for how something should work. That being said, there are a few basic steps I follow whenever I start a new page. Hopefully you find this helpful, or at least interesting.

1. BoardingI'm a very visual person, so I don't usually have a script to work off of. Instead, I throw everything on the page, with a vague notion of how I want the structure and flow to work. I also type up all of my dialogue to fit into the composition.

2. Panels and FlowWith a rough outline established, I add flat panels and add more functional sketches. This is usually where I figure out problems in composition or pacing. You can see in this example I added another panel altogether in the upper left. This is also where I try and figure out what backgrounds I'll be using.

3. PencilsI finalize the sketches.

4. Inks and FlatsI ink over the pencils and add my flats.

5. BackgroundSome panels need backgrounds painted in. In others, a flat or a rough texture will do.

6. LightingWith the backgrounds done, I have a better idea what the lighting situation looks like for each panel. I usually apply a Multiply layer to my flats to match the colors to the scene, and then add the light source. This is the step I'm the most experimental with, for better or worse. Regardless, it's usually the most fun!

7. Finishing TouchesI turn the text layers back on and add word balloons. I also add dramatic sound effects or additional fanciness to close things out!

Thank you again for sticking with me so far. I'll see you all next week for the end of the current story chunk!