Following along with my “How To” posts we next have a look at the excellent process explanation found over at RPG World. Ian J. takes the read all the way through his process for creating his comic beginning with the pencil sketch.

Ian uses a non-photo blue pencil to rough out the comic first. For those that don’t know, non-photo blue won’t be picked up by scanners when you scan the image in “black & white” mode. This means Ian can ink over the pencil drawings and not have to worry about erasing the pencil work. A real time saver and should anyone get their hands on the original artwork a deep reveal of his creative thought process is present.

The ink work is then described and shown in three stages of varying thickness, complete with photos. This gives the lines a dynamic feel and emphasis certain areas of the drawings where he wants the reader’s eye to jump too

Probably the best part of this “How To” is Ian’s detailed explanation of how he uses the computer to finish the comic. He has extensive screenshots and details on how he uses PhotoShop to color and shade. He also explains how the word balloons are created. All very useful and interesting.