How to Make Comics 1

Recently I've been getting questions about how I make Mob Ties. And it's an excellent question. So I thought that to answer these questions so that we're all basically on the same page. I will be taking this week to show you, step-by-step how I do things.

Today we'll start easy. First of all, you materials are the most important thing. Without them, you couldn't make a ham sammich, let alone a webcomic.

Now I do things the old-fashioned way. I never really learned how to use a tablet very well, tho I really need to practice more with it. But in this paperless society, I'm still a bit of a dinosaur. But I've always drawn with good-old ink and paper, and edited on Photoshop. So I'm going to show you how to do it my way, with drawn pictures and later, photoshop tips and tricks.

Before I tell you about my current set of tools, I want to tell you that I started Mob Ties without all this Hoity Toity equipment. Nope, I did the first two years or so with regular Joe Blow computer paper, pencils, erasers, and sharpie markers. That's all it took. Hell, it wasn't until last month I even started using this comic paper. This is just Three years of practice that I have refined this to...for lack of a better word, fine art.

so, what I Personally use to make Mob Ties:

1. Professional Grade Comic Book paper

This stuff is great. It's smooth, thick, doesn't bleed, and even has blue non-repo (Reproduction) lines to help you with layouts and sizing. Also, this kind of paper is good for drawing pens because other kind of paper will just suck your pen dry.

The size, however, is massive and I actually have to scan them in two parts and then splice the two edges together. But because they're so big, I can make much finer details and allow for more stuff in one panel. I've seen people draw really small, but I just don't.

It's kinda pricey tho. $17 bucks for 24 sheets. But if you still want the benefits of this kind of smooth paper, Before this I was using acid-free bleed-proof paper. locally $13 for 50 sheets. But for those you need to take a comic book and trace it to get the sizing right if you want a standard comic book size.

2. Pencil sharpener

Anything will do. I have two and a box cutter I sometimes use. But you need sharp pencils.

3. Rubber eraser

Some people swear by kneading erasers. I press too hard, they never get any of my lines out. Rubber erasers are great. Less great on the non-repo blue pencils, but they don't pick up when you scan anyway.

4. Non-repo blue pencil

These are...well, what can I say, the best pencils ever. I will ONLY use Prismacolor Col-Erase 20068 light blue non-repo pencils. Anything else seems to lay too much..dust or whatever on the paper and it gets on my pens and stops making them work and you gotta rub 'em on another page to clear it and there's streaks in the middle and ARRRG! I hate 'em!!! I've tried like 5 different kinds but only the Prismacolor Col-Erase 20068 light blue non-repo pencils work at all for me. Maybe I'm having an OCD moment here, but I will have these special ordered and use plain #2 pencils while they ship before I use anything else.

The great thing, again, is that these do not pick up on a scanner if you scan them right. It means you never have to erase your lines ever again. I cut down on my eraser usage by 90% I kid you freaking not!I can buy three pencils for the price of one eraser and I was going through erasers almost as fast as pencils doing this 5 times a week.

5. Sharpie fine point

These are to copic markers what monkeys are to man. They are cheap, they will do the job, but they are probably the worst type of marker you can use to ink your work with. I use rather thick lines for close-ups, so I still use them, almost out of habit at times, but if you can get them with a nice point they can still draw very nice, smooth, slim lines perfect size for editing, scanning and manipulating.

The downside is the quality varies for each pen. There's pens I can use for months and months and the tip is just right and hard enough to get me nice smooth lines, and some can be used twice and wind up so flat the lines are twice as thick, if not more. I recommend them for people just starting out, but that's about it.

6. Staedtler pigment liner .5

Another professional pen. Very fine. I only use it for extremely fine details. Which isn't often, so I don't have much on an opinion.

7. Copic marker 1.0

Copics are by far the best out of all the markers I've ever used for my ink work. Smooth, firm and they don't bleed. I usually use a 1.0 for details, and a 0.8 for fine details. I recommend these for anyone who isn't just starting out for line art or comics or whatever.


8. Photoshop (Not shown here, but ironically used to make this picture)

Photoshop is the program I always use to edit my work. I've used it since High school and I'm very comfortable with it. I've learned many many tips and tricks over the years with it, and I seem to be learning new ones all the time.

Now, yes, it's extremely expensive. However, some completely unscrupulous types may obtain this program by some morally ambiguous fashion. And I don't want to recommend or endorse ANYONE to ever pirate software in ANY shape or form. Because, remember, even tho you're a starving artist with barely enough money to keep food on your table, the billion-dollar software corporations need your money so their fatcat CEOs can pay for their cocaine and whores, just like everyone else. Ya communist bastards.


So, there you go. Like I said, this is just what I personally use. Others I can name use truly digital ways of making comics, with Tablets and whatnot, but I can't recommend anything. This is all about how I make comics. This is just the fancy stuff, but computer paper and #2's and sharpies work just as well. All this fancy stuff doesn't make me a better artist. Only practice can improve your skill over time. I mean hell, just re-read the first issue again and see what I mean. My backgrounds tended to be a lot more detailed back then. The again, I also had a lot more time.