Hi, Folks!
Witness the birth of Tech Thursday! On this day every week I plan to deal with some of the technical issues around cartooning. (Well, to be more exact, some of the technical issues around the way I cartoon, since I can’t speak for all cartoonists.) This won’t be the old “tool talk” variety of columns, where I discuss what type of brush, pencils, and paper I use—indeed, it will have more to do with pixels than pens! The computer has become more and more central to how I create comics, and that is what I aim to address.
First up, let me explain one thing: I rarely draw inside the computer. Instead, I still pencil and ink on Bristol board, and then scan that into the computer. Many people do draw inside the computer, keeping the whole process digital, and that’s fine. It’s not me, though. I enjoy drawing in the analog world, and I love to ink, so, while I could easily do those things digitally, I choose not to. I’ve done it several times, and I didn’t like it much. If you do everything digitally, great! You’ve simplified the production process and probably even sped things up quite a bit.
Anyway, while I don’t draw and ink much in the computer, I do all my colors, sound effects, special effects, and lettering there. Here’s an overview of my tools:
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS 3, Corel Painter IX, Illustrator 9, Sketchup 6, Inkscape, and Manga Studio 3.0. Photoshop is my production line workhorse, and I use it ten times as much as the other programs.
My hardware setup is pretty straightforward: A Dell custom computer, an Epson GT 15000 12 x 18 scanner, a Canon i9900 large output printer, and 8” x 10” Intuos 2 Wacom tablet, a Belkan n52te game controller, and an HP Super Multi DVD writer.
Much of what I cover will be Photoshop based, because I’ve developed my own approach to coloring, and I’ve custom made most my palettes, brushes, tool presets, shapes, and actions. No presets for me! Luckily, if are one of those rare folks who relies on something else than Photoshop, most of the information will still apply to you, because there is a similarity in most of these applications.
More next Thursday! Scott.
