30 Days Comics 11 Asthma

45 minutes before November 11th, I was able to squeeze another page for #30DaysComics. I’m having fun using this time to experiment with storytelling, layout, and color palette. Generally I aim to print my minicomics, so more often than not they are grayscale.

Figured I would try a more contemplative entry, almost journal comic like.  I find thoughts on the day or even researched pages like my Jack-o-lantern page easier than jokes. Jokes just don’t fall into my lap, I have to squeeze them out of my brain all day like the final drops of toothpaste in a tube.

I like this one quite a bit. I wonder what other asthmatics would think of it.
Regarding the art. My brush pen died after the 2nd panel. I have to order more from Jet Pens. Can you tell the shift?

Side Note: I have Captain America vs The Asthma Monster comic framed in the living room with several other cherished comics.

Halloween Art and Comics!

I haven't had much time to write a decent blog entry in a while, but I've been actively at work. If you follow me on tumblr or instagram, I am a little more frequent about posts simply because I can share just images and photos of my projects.

Right now I am trying to do four things. 1) Prepare to teach a silkscreen workshop 2) write a silkscreen zine guide 3) Writing a El Gran Búho lucha-halloween comic 4) A Boris Karloff Mummy limited edition silkscreen print

Right now I'm building the silkscreen frames from scratch, and just recently worked with my father to build a four color silkscreen press based on plans from http://www.printingplans.com/. My silkscreen project will be three colors: black, dark brown, and light brown on an offwhite "taupe" heavyweight paper. Here are some pictures of the project:

 These are my three silkscreen layers of ink.

This is a mockup of what it will look light when I am done.

I'm pretty excited about this project, can't wait to photograph the silkscreen process for you, and get the final product up in my etsy shop.

I'm also finishing up a couple things for my Etsy shop as well. I need new business cards, plus I want to put a giveaway postcard of my art in each Etsy order. Here's my illustration so far for that postcard:

Now regarding the comic, here's what I have so far:

As you can see, I'm fairly busy running around like a headless chicken. Halloween is so much fun, I love the movies, candy, monster cereal, and everything else that just makes this time of year so special. I'll be posting next week when I complete the silkscreen project, then hopefully I can jump on that mini comic and get it done before the 31st!

A Cthulhu Christmas Carol

Just finished this new mini comic:

A Cthulhu Christmas Carol minicomic is complete! You can read it here for free, and if you’d like to own your own copy, it’s only $2.00(shipping included). Email me at jesse.acosta(At)Gmail.com and ill send you a Paypal invoice for this minicomic!
Hope you all enjoy my Christmas tale, have a wonderful holiday! All the best in the year 2013!

My Comics Process Part 3 - Lettering

Welcome back. If you haven't been following, part one is here, and two is here. I hope you find these useful, and always, if you have questions feel free to ask.

Well, first and foremost, I finished my newest mini comic, an all ages story about a Shaolin monk who must save the village from a wild ogre. The comic is totally free to read online at Graphic.ly: http://graphicly.com/jesse-acosta/shaolin-monk-the-tale-of-zhao-and-meng/1

The book will also be in print and can either be purchased in my Etsy store (soon), and at any future comic conventions until copies run out.

Shaolin Monk cover!

So now on to the comics process. Every mini comic I take on, I try to work on a couple key points to expand my chops. The two big things for this book were environments and lettering by hand. Last comic was a little background-light, so I really pushed it for this book. As for that, I don't think I need to go into much detail. As in part one, I found a lot of reference photos to use for locations in the comic.

But lettering, that's what I'd like to talk about. As I've heard countless times in Jessica Abel interviews and lectures, hand lettering can make a world of difference. Also, in my portfolio review a few months back, this statement was also reiterated. Word balloons, dialogue boxes, sound effects, they are all a significant part of the art as a whole. They shouldn't deter from the art, they shouldn't be an eye sore, they should be integrated. Hand inked sequential art can clash against streamlined perfectly smooth vector balloons and fonts.

If you know much about lettering though, it's all about laying out an ames guide, ruling out lines, and creating word balloons with french curves. My art style doesn't express complete perfection, and I was looking for a quicker turn around for lettering. So I came up with an alternative approach: creating the balloons and text digitally, then printing them as non photo blue, and inking it by hand. This way you get a lot of precision, while still getting the uneven individuality of every letter by hand. Interestingly too, even though I'm going over a certain font, my own hand gestures make it in. The outcome is a blend of my own handwriting, a touch of varying line-weight, and slightly reminiscent of the original font.

The most important thing is the tool for inking the balloons and letters. I choose the Pentel Sign Pen SES15. The tip is pretty rad, it has a lot of give to it, but it's not uncontrollable like a brush pen can be. They are pretty awesome tools. The one trouble I have with them is that they don't seem to be waterproof. That leaves marker coloring and watercolors on top of inks to be slightly a messy situation.

Here is a comparison between my hand lettering, vs the digital fonts and vector balloons I made. Click on it to zoom in, and compare. I think it's not bad for my first attempt at this method. I also really dig the brush style letters, it feels very calligraphic. It's fitting for a story about a Shaolin monk.

This page is my digital lettering, colored in non-photo blue (Cyan 7%). I scaled the letters at 200% larger than the size it will be in the printed book. I printed it on bristol, then started to ink.

Here's what I came up with. I scanned it in, and placed it over my finished pages, and that's it!

I really like this outcome. If anything, I think the brushwork was a little thicker than I planned. Next time, I'll try printing the balloons out at 225% - 250%, thus making my signpen lines a touch smaller.

Have any of you tried out this method before? It saved me time, while giving me some nice unique letters and balloons. It really matched the book.

My Comics Process Part 2

If you haven't yet seen part one, please check it out here!

So since part one, I have drawn thumbnails for my pages. The thumbnails are atrocious, mostly just scratches and near stick figures. The thumbnail process is essentially doing long hand division by hand on scratch paper before writing the final answer on an exam. On the thumbnail stage, I need to make sure the page make sense and carries the story. Once I'm confident it will work, I start penciling, ruling out panels, then inking.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Page 2 of 8

Page 3 of 8

Page 4 of 8

The first thing I like to do is rule out the panels. I use a ruler and pencil them, then I set the ruler aside and rule it by hand. I actually was thinking of just digitally ruling my panels for precision, but since my portfolio review with Jen Vaughn, she made me see how well it complements the art in a hand done style.

After I ink the panel borders, I start penciling the pages. I think part of the reason I've been so pokey slow with this project is because I've been working  in sequence. Since I have a script, I have thumbnails, I don't really need to work in sequence. My last project, Clashing Swords, I think I worked faster for two reasons. 1) I worked on 8.5"x11" pages and 2) I jumped around to the pages that intrigued me at the time. Opening this comic has been a little tedious, which is why I haven't inked page 1 yet. If I start page jumping, I think I'll get moving a little quicker.
Regarding paper size, I actually switched from 8.5x11 to 11x14 after inking two pages. I felt things were getting too tight on such small paper, and needed to move up. Also, with  every new project, I'm trying to add one or two new tricks to my bag. For this project, I want fuller backgrounds, which means bigger paper. Redoing two pages kind of killed some of my drive. But now that I have three complete pages, and page one is coming along, I have mojo again.

Seeing your finished work pile up builds mojo. It's like magic. I remember having the pile of pages for Clashing Swords, plus interior spot illustrations, and the cover and feeling like I just did a triathlon. I think that's what drives those artists who make Odyssey or Ulysses size comics.

Now it's 1:05am, and time to crash. Hoping to get page one completed, then I'm going to return to the script and see which of the final pages excites me the most and get cracking. My deadline for this project is August 1st, which means wrapping up by the 15th so I can set time aside for toning, lettering, and file prep, then finally printing and putting together the books.

Build Your Own Mini Comic!

Hello! I thought today I would cover the basics of making a comic, since so many people were curious about how I created such a fancy looking comic. The first thing I say is that it's cheaper than you think!

Here's my book that I put together earlier this month:

My book is an 8 paged fantasy adventure tale, with a color cover. The book is a typical manga size of 5" wide and 7.25" tall. I really enjoy this format because it's large enough for legibility, while still being a cost effective comic. If you're interested in buying this book, it's available on my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/99298010/clashing-swords-fantasy-mini-comic


Let's begin with the steps on how this book was made:


Step 1: Tools
Besides your art supplies, you'll need two tools in particular. First is a long armed stapler. This guy is like your regular stapler, but it has an extended arm. This way you can staple your comic spine without having to fold a cover to get the stapler's mouth near the spine. It can be found at any office supply store. I think mine was $20 when I bought it about five years ago. I'd also suggest getting premium staples. You might want to make a fat zine or mini comic with tons of pages, so a better staple would be ideal.

The infamous long armed stapler

The second important tool to have is a guillotine paper cutter. You don't have to "own" one, but you must have access to one to make any odd sized comics. I used to sit at Staples and use theirs after printing comics, but it sucked. I also used to bum the community college's paper cutter. I much prefer the home atmosphere. I just put on an audiobook or a movie, and cut away all night long. I have a Premiere guillotine paper cutter. I bought it from Amazon, and it has been a great asset to me.

Guillotine Paper Cutter. Be safe folks!

You'll also need a computer, scanner, and a completed comic book. I won't go to detail on these parts, as many people have covered the actual art of drawing comics, and using computers to produce them.


Step Two: Size Matters
Contrary to popular belief, size does matter. Well, at least in comics. You need to know two sizes, the size you'd like your comic to be, and the size of various papers that you can get your comic printed on. Knowing these two things will save you a headache.

For Clashing Swords, I like that manga sized format. A typical manga format is 5"x7.25", and two of those pages side by side (remember, you'll be folding pages to make the comic) will fit on 8.5"x11" letter sized typical printer paper in the US:

Now that we know we will be working on 8.5"x11" paper, and making 5"x7.25" comics, we need to draw comic pages that are proportionate to 5"x7.25"

Step 3: Proportions

This comic has to fit on a 5"x7.25" page when we are done. We could do this easily by drawing at that scale, but then it can be a cramped drawing space. Drawing larger always makes your art look sharper when it is shrunk down, it a comic artist's secret to the trade! So what I did was make a template at the manga page size, and enlarged it to fit on 8.5"x11" letter size paper, and then printed the template in non photo blue (cyan 6%) on bristol board.

This is my template, feel free to use it, just turn the opacity down to 6%

There are some key things to understand on my template: Safe Zone, Full Page, and Bleed. The "Full page" is really simple to understand. That area will fill the entire final page when we are done. The "Safe Zone" is where you want to keep your text and important part of the illustrations. Safe zone is essentially the wiggle room around the edge of the page. This prevents any lost information when you finally cut the comics. A page may be printed slightly off, or you may cut it slightly off, but all the important info is still in tact. The last part is the "bleed." If you want art to extend to the very edge of the page, draw all the way to the bleed. Again, this gives us some wiggle room from the edge of the page outward, just in case anything happens in printing or cutting. To make match simple, I made a .25" safe zone, and a .25" bleed on my template. When your art is finally drawn and scaled down to fit the final pages, it will be .25" bigger than the final comic. This will be trimmed off in the final steps.

Page one of Clashing Swords with template overlay

So you can see how my comic page lined up. I actually decided not to do any bleeds for this comic for a more "traditional" aesthetic appeal. I didn't find any real reason to get too extreme with the art. This is a really good choice for your first mini comic, that way you don't have to worry about dealing with bleeds, and your art will be protected within the safe zone.

Step Four: Art and Prep
At this point, it's time to make some comics. When you're done, scan in your work, and resize them to fit within the original size of the comic you will be working in. In photoshop, I make a blank page PSD, that has guides laid out for the full page, bleed, and safe zone. If you make the file 5.5" x 7.75" at 600 dpi, that would be perfect. Then bring in .25" in on all sides for your "full page." Next bring in another set of guides all around at .5" from the edges of the page. This will be your safe zone. Copy your scanned art, paste it in this document, then scale it, having your art line up. Do this for your comic pages, and cover. Now you're ready to lay out pages.


Step 5: Layout and Pagination
This is the hardest step I believe, but it's not like calculus. Chill out, and just breathe. Now, if you look at a comic book, you'll realize that it's folded, and each actual sheets of paper don't number 1, 2, 3, and 4. They jump around, and this is called pagination. Take three pieces of scratch paper, and fold them together like a book. On each page, write: Cover Outside, Cover Inside, Page One, Page Two, Page Three, Page Four, Page Five, Page Six, Page Seven, Page Eight, Back Inside, Back Outside on the appropriate pages. This dummy book will be your guide to how to lay out an eight page comic.

 These three examples should be how your dummy book ended up. The light grey text is what the opposite side of that page should be. This is how we will have to print out books. Page Eight and Page One will butt up against each other on the paper, and the reverse side should be Page Seven and Page Two. Remember one key thing, you know that bleed wrapping around the comic page? It's not needed wherever two pages but up against each other (the dark lines in the center, splitting the pages above). So when you line these pages up, remember to crop those off in Photoshop. In the end, you'll have six files for each side of the three pages. You'll need to rotate the pages 90° clockwise, so it fits on your paper when you print it. Your final files should look like this:

 

Inside Cover

Outside Cover

If you take your files to a print shop, print just one book first. Make sure that both sides of the paper are lined up right. I've had printers reverse the back side, so one side was upside down. That's a bummer, so check before printing a bunch.

I suggest checking for deals at your office supply shops like Staples and Office Depot. Sometimes they have newspaper coupons for a percentage off black and white copies. Also, many have bulk discounts. If you print 100+ pages, you can get a percentage off. These shops are sometimes a little expensive to print color though. I suggest checking your local print shop for that. I can get my covers printed at .20 a sheet. Another thing to also look into is paper sizes. You can fit two covers on an 11x17 sheet of paper, and cut it in two. Sometimes this can save you some cash.

Your pages should look like the above two examples, and after printing, we are ready for the final step.

Step Six: Fold, Staple, Cut, repeat.
What I do is fold every page individually. If you try to fold all your pages at once, you won't get a nice crease down the center, and it might be a pain to fold. So I sit down, and just fold every page individually. When I'm done, I put the cover on top, and slip in the two interior pages. Then, when I know the pages are all even together,  I use the long arm stapler. I put two staples in the spine, about two inches in from each end. Your books just need some trimming. and you'll be done!

 

What I like to do is an assembly line cut process. First I cut the side of the comics off, then after all the books are cut, I do the top and bottom. Lay down your comic in the trimmer, and you'll be cutting .5" off the side, top, and bottom. Take your time, cut precisely, and push in towards the paper cutter.

Congratulations!

You should now be a proud owner of some mini comics! Send them off to friends all over, trade them, sell them on Etsy, then make more!

I hope I answered some questions for you all. If I didn't cover something, or I was too vague, please let me know. I will expand on anything that I can help you with.

Clashing Swords Mini Comic Give Away!

Hello everyone! I've been working away at this mini comic for about two months total, and today my precious creation is finally complete! This is an eight page story about a group of fantasy adventurers who are seeking a mad mage who has stolen a magical item that could unbalance the forces of good and evil! The story is very all ages, though I feel old school roleplayers will especially get a kick out of this book.

Well, I've got something very special for you! Tomorrow, in honor of Free Comic Book Day (May 5th, 2012), I am going to give away free copies of my comic to the first ten who email me first for the offer! My email is jesse.acosta AT gmail.com. This is totally free, I have stamps, and packages ready to go. If you are one of the first ten, I'll ask for your address, and send it out Monday morning.

Here are some preview pics below!

The cover! 

A pile of my books, waiting to be read!

Page One

For those not quick enough for this offer, my book will be available in my Etsy Shop by Monday. Excelsior!

Commissions and Mini Comics

Hello all! I'm still alive, doing a few commissions as they come in, but mostly I've been focusing on prepping for Spokane Comicon 2012. Right now, I'm finishing up on a new mini-comic called "Clashing Swords." I believe this comic will be a hit among roleplayers, and old school gamers especially. It's definitely Dungeons and Dragons inspired. When it's ready, it will be for sale on Etsy. I'm expecting to be done within the week, and the book will be printed within two.

Clashing Swords logo

I was able to squeak out this commission recently. DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. I've been told that the child who received this couldn't stop smiling once then opened the package. I love hearing these stories!

DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba