Easy Methods to Creating Comic Book Pages
Learn How to Start Making Your Comic Book
Comic books have gained a good amount of foothold throughout the years, ever since they gained popularity during the ‘40s. It’s only natural, therefore, that in this era when things that were once considered nerdy have made their way into the mainstream market.
Creating comic books is really no easy task. Illustration, writing, and coming up with excellent comic book pages can be too complex for some people. Fortunately, you can learn to create the perfect comic book page in three easy steps.
Come up with a concept.
As with everything that needs to be produced, conceptualizing is the first step in creating a comic book, or any other work at all. Construct interesting characters, write a compelling plotline, and craft a setting that’s ever endearing.While most people would rather go for the usual hero, villain, and love interest archetypes, plenty of stories nowadays focus on morally ambiguous characters the audience can relate to better. However, it’s better to apply characterizations which fit your story well. Conflict between characters and plot twists are crucial elements to keep your readers interested.
It’s also vital to come up with a setting that fits your tale well, be it in a jungle, desert, or metropolis, among others. In the process, at certain times, take weather conditions and general atmosphere into account.
Design a suitable layout.
Creating a layout for comic books is tricky. In western comic books, panels are read from left to right. However, in Japanese manga, they’re read the opposite way. Since it makes the most sense to go for the western approach, you might as well integrate the left to right format.
Consider the sizes of the panels. The larger the sizes, the more you want to emphasize a certain scene or situation. The speech bubbles should also be strategically placed, in line with the character’s position, where the reading can simply move their eyes along from left to right.
Don’t forget that the standard size of a comic book page paper is 11 x 17 inches and the standard dimension of your draw space is 10 x 15 inches.
Use fitting illustration—the inking, coloring, and lettering process
Perhaps the most difficult part is coming up with illustrations. But the basics are simple enough. Begin, of course, by sketching, before moving on to the inking process. The amount of ink you should use will depend on the general tone of your story. For example, the graphic novel V for Vendetta relies on heavy inking for its dark and brooding atmosphere.Color also matters in this case. Make sure they’re not too bright or too dull. To top it all off, lettering in speech bubbles and dialogue boxes also bring coherence to the narrative as a whole.