Welcome fellow comic maker! I hope you’ll find what you need on this page. If you have a question that this page doesn’t answer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
CONTACT ME HERE
If you’d like to see the comic that we made in 2021, you can read it online here, or
buy it right here in the store.
Class materials
The Story Checklist is right here!
Grab it, use it, enjoy it!
THREE NEW VIDEOS UP IN THE TUTORIAL SECTION!
The most important one is right here - all about how to set up your pages for print and how to use those lovely transparent rulers you’ve got.
As ever - holler with any and all questions!
STORY SCRIPT TO LAYOUTS
When you have your script even close to what you think is a final draft, start working on layouts!
The sooner you’re seeing your script visually, in panels, with the word balloons, the better. What I always find at this point is that I have to/want to change a bunch of things in my script to get things to work more smoothly or fit into my page limit.
The sooner you start, the more you work it, the better it will be!
There’s plenty of helpful (and tons of not at all helpful) information out there if you want to look for it on layouts, adapting scripts for comics and all the rest of it.
I’ll include some of the links I’ve found that I found helpful and clear.
My video showing my own personal process is below as well if you want to see my dog and enjoy my scribbles.
If you want something to work on to get better at layouts, remember our warmup exercise: Come up with a short, one-page scene or story. Write the story, then immediately do the layouts for it. Keep it loose and fast! Make yourself do it in 10 minutes or less. Use cool illustrations or photos as inspiration for the story.
The more you practice moving a story into panels, the better you will get at it!
Here are the online resources I found and enjoyed:
tips for layouts and panels:
Steve Ellis has a great article with awesome visuals for panel layouts and making the story clear.
lettering and word balloons:
I never gave enough thought or attention to this aspect of things. This article blew my mind with how important the placement of the word balloons was, how much attention went into the lettering, spacing, planning and execution of the letters! It’s great stuff from Nate Piekos.
As ever - get in touch if there are any questions at all!
STORY PITCH to STORY SCRIPT TUTORIAL
THE STORY CHECKLIST!
Thanks for submitting your story idea! I’ll look them all over and send you my thoughts*
*happy, encouraging thoughts full of espresso and high fives.
week 1 assignment:
The Story Checklist
(Download the physical checklist right here)
Come up with the following for your Mini Comic Story:
Title (a working title is fine for now)
Beginning
Ending
Make sure you can check off that your story is:
Simple
Short
Clear
Drawable
Some notes on the Checklist:
The title
should be something that focuses you on the story. This can change - be flexible with it if you want. But have something so that you can reference your story for yourself and others.
Beginning…
this is usually the germ of the idea, and it usually comes pretty quick.
Ending -
this is the crucial part, and what will signify that your story is, in fact, a story, and capable of being turned into a short comic.
Simple -
we can always fill in details. Keep it simple. Remember - you have 10 pages or less to do this.
Short -
It is very difficult to tell a good story briefly. This is the challenge! Is your story able to be told in 10 pages or less?
Clear -
If your idea is clear, you are much more likely to be able to make it simple, short, and still compelling. Clarifying things in your own story takes time, and you don’t have the luxury with this project.
Drawable -
Will you be able to execute your idea? Will you be satisfied with your execution of your idea? If your comic idea is set in feudal Japan, do you have the experience, references and art style ready to go to make this happen? Our program and project have to happen very quickly.
We don’t have time to become the artists we dream of being first, and then starting the comic. This comic will be a representation of what we can do right now.
Make sure you are OK with drawing your comic with your skills NOW.
If you can’t draw horses, don’t have a story about a horse family!
If you struggle with perspective, maybe save the story about a high-flying hero in a dense metropolitan city with dizzying sky-scraper city-scapes on every page.
Play to your strengths, and choose the challenges wisely!