Some folks have asked me to show some process work, so here we go!

You can check out the pieces individually on my BLOG, btw: [link]

PART I: THUMBNAILS

I always begin an issue by reading through the script and thumbnailing out the whole thing. They're just little 2"x3" scribbles on computer paper, but this is the part of the process that requires the most thought and decision making. The amount of detail, or lack-thereof, in the thumbs varies pretty wildly from artist to artist (as do most things), but I personally like to get everything to the point to where I know exactly what I'll be drawing when it comes time to move to the big page. Minute details aren't terribly important here, but I do focus very strongly on character gestures and the flow of the storytelling.

PART II: ROUGHS

From the thumbnails, I go straight to the 11x17 bristol (this spread is two 11x17's taped together, so 22x17) with my trusty ol' mechanical pencil. Since I ink my own work, I don't like going too far with the pencils. Keeping it light and loose in the roughs helps the piece maintain a lot of energy as well as saves time. It also makes the inking process more engaging and enjoyable, in my opinion.

I like getting all the shapes, forms, gestures, and facial expressions hashed out at this point, along with some minor details, but I save the heavy lifting with precise textures and details for the inks. The lines here are darkened so that you can see what's going on, but in reality the line work is MUCH lighter. Basically, I want to leave it light enough so that once I ink the page, I can give each panel a quick eraser rub down and you won't be able to tell that there were ever pencils on the page.

PART III: INKS

Now to the inks! This is where things come together and look like real drawings and less like scribbles. I ink with a brush ([link]), but will bust out microns and a ruler for certain things like the stairs, the railing, and the one column that's not exploding. During this part of the process, I do one panel at a time and finish it completely before going to the next. I don't always do them in order, but I do like to take whichever panel I'm working on to completion before moving on to another. Doing it this way helps me easily quantify my daily progress and gives me a sense of achievement each time one is finished. For me, finishing a panel is like reaching a checkpoint/save point in a video game. Nothing beats that feeling! It's the small victories that help you zip through drawing a comic.

PART IV: COLORS

I don't do this part, MUAHAHAHA. I just send it off to this poor guy and make him color in all my blood splatters and energy confetti. And, man, he does a good job, doesn't he?