Tutorial: The Tools of the Trade
So you think you’re ready to jump into your comic/webcomic, right? You have a script, you have a schedule, you have drive, ambition and motivation. Now you need to put pen to paper, or in a digital sense, stylus to tablet. If you’re wondering what tools artists use to master their craft, look no further – idrawdigital is going to give you the run-down on the must have items a comic book artist should have in his / her arsenal.
Drawing Pads
I know I preach a lot about doing everything digitally – but there may come a time when you don’t have access to a computer or have the itch to kick it old school and draw using pencil, pen and paper. There’s nothing quite like the feel of sketching on a natural surface, and it will also keep your skills sharp, your planning in composition and proportion exact, and force you to analyze your subjects more carefully. There is no UNDO feature when you draw by hand – unless you count your eraser, and that can be quite time consuming and sometimes messy.
Go to your local art store or stationery supply store and stock up on a few sketchpads of various sizes. Amazon offers various brands as well if you’re interested in purchasing online for dirt cheap (click the image.) Keep all your random scribbles and concepts – they make great conversation pieces and journals for the projects you’ve worked on – and they also make great reference material as well, where you can go back and skim for hidden gold you may have forgotten about.
Pencils and Inks
If you’re planning on going the hand drawn route at different stages of your production (you could start with pencils and scan them in, or do your roughs digitally and ink by hand, etc) you’ll need these tools at your disposal. Make sure you buy a graphite pencil set with varying degrees of hardness, there are also non-repro versions as well (the blue line pencils that don’t appear when photocopied). For inking, you can use the traditional quill with ink for supreme control, or mimic that elegant line weight result with technical pens with varying point sizes (from millimeters to brush width!)
A Digital Drawing Tablet (WACOM)
The weapon of choice for digital comic artists – this is the keystone for all digitally created artwork. There are other cheaper brands, but for the purpose of this list, I will be referring to the WACOM brand of tablets. With a plethora of touch sensitive options, advanced cursor control and key mapping functions, the digital tablet is as close to drawing naturally as you’re going to get in the digital realm. There are a number of tablet products ranging from the small and simple, to the expensive and complex. The higher-end versions allow you to draw directly on screen (the Cintiq by WACOM doubles as a touch sensitive monitor) and simulate the feeling of drawing. If you master the use of a tablet, you are well on your way to a fully digital workflow. For more information on using your WACOM tablet, check out this post.
A Flatbed Scanner
If you insist on doing your artwork by hand using traditional means, you’ll definitely want to scan it into your computer in order to complete the job. Sending electronic proofs, cleaning up inks and pencil work, or just tightening up the artwork and converting it to digital format requires the use of a reliable scanner. Scanners come in a number of sizes that can accommodate oversized sheets (especially bristol pages) and have a range of resolution (dpi) depths dependent on your need (large format printing or just high quality). Having a scanner in your arsenal is essential if you’re planning to draw comics.
Software
The final tool you need when you’re learning how to draw comics is the purchase of licensed software. There are a number of drawing programs available – whether you’re following the fully digital workflow, or traditional means, drawing software is absolutely necessary for building your work, or preparing your scanned image for final output on press or online.
I’ve given brief reviews in another post on the different drawing software that is available – there are free options, and expensive high-quality versions. All of the software has a try before you buy option – so you don’t have to commit to an expensive purchase if you’re uncomfortable using the programs.
There you have it – get these tools in your possession, and you’ll be ready to tackle any of your comics projects. Go forth and create!
