I get asked how I make my comics, so a good place to start in explaining that, is to show you where I make my comics! (Really, my comic-drawing procedure is very easy to explain–I just wanted to show off here.) So, come on in! I’ll give you the tour.
Let’s start from the ground up, shall we? I found this desk on craigslist, and replaced the top with a heavy pane of frosted glass. There’s a florescent light strip in the middle drawer, so I can turn my working area into a giant light box. It’s pretty handy for tracing Tasmanian Devil cartoons.
On the right side are my sketch books where I draft my ideas, and draw butts with sunglasses. I make a rough story board, and if the layout looks nice enough, I scan it and “ink” right over it. I use quotes there because I ink via a Wacom tablet and a handy program called Manga Studio, on that laptop you see there sitting on a copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. I always wear big headphones while I’m working. Music for the sketching and drawing portion, then a movie or TV show in the background while I ink.
Okay, now lets move up to that pretty wall, starting in the top left corner, moving left to right: a viking ship; an illustration by Robert Lawson from a page of The Story of Ferdinand; Witch Attacks by Will Cardini; a rendition of Robbie and Bobby as golden era cartoon stars, drawn by Austin Bedell; underneath that is a poster of Bear Quest 2 by Zach Taylor; in the absolute center is one of my favorite panels from 2816 Monument by Mark Luetke; left of that are a few pages of mine from current projects; underneath those is my drawing of Julai riding a pterodactyl; to the right is a cut paper portrait of a woman vomiting serif typeface, by Julai; next is a Mega Man made by Nick Meriwether and Misha Burgett; above that is a colored pencil Zelda tribute by Chris Sweet; and to the right of those is an embroidery of a half Brittany/half Austin wedding hybrid made by Brittany Havican.
And that ends our tour. Thanks for stopping by! If you want to know more about how I make my comics, or any of the stuff you see on my desk, or whatever, drop me a question in the comment box.
Awesome to see Mark's art on your wall.
Is the surface of your desk at an angle or is that just from the photo? Thanks for sharing the desk pics! I love this kind of insight.
Mark does fantastic work–I predict that panel in particular will be reappropriated by the neo pop artist, LeRoy Lichtenstein.
I don't own a wide angle lens, so this photo is actually a merged image of several snap shots of my workspace, that's why it might look angled. Incidentally, I learned about the photo merge feature in Photoshop by watching Mark's coloring process video! I appreciate that kind of insight, too, which is why I decided to share this here.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your interest, Josh!
Very nice! Which Wacom are you rocking? I've always wanted to try my hand at one.
I got the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch. It's under $100 and comes with spare pen nibs, which is good because I'm wearing down the starter nib at a furious rate! (That says more about my drawing technique than it does the durability of the nibs)
And you don't find it difficult not drawing while not looking down? I suck at it.
It felt unnatural at first, but I practiced by tracing over some some pencil drawings, and using the stylus pen like a mouse for regular tasks like web browsing. Two weeks of regular use, and my hand-eye coordination was wired to the cursor on the screen.
I need to get me Manga Studio. I see lots of people using it and it always looks so fantastic.
It's a pretty cheap program if you get the intro version. You can have a lot of control over the shape of the pen, and the lines look sharp! I like it, anyway.
My work area is usually my couch for penciling and inking. You put my work area to shame. I use my desk, but only when I use the tablet (and sometime I even drag all that to the couch.
It's just so comfy!
I would like to point out that I also have an accordion in my work area.
Tonight, I've dragged all my drawing junk to the couch to watch Degrassi Junior High. This arrangement does have its advantages over my desk!
I only know how to play Happy Birthday on my accordion, but it comes in handy.
Quite and honor to make the wall! And what a great workspace, mucho jealousiano! Your light table desk is without a doubt the realization of a dream I have had for many years, very very very awesome!
None of my webcartoonist friends live in the same city as me, so it would be cool if there was a way to livestream our working sessions in the same virtual space. Studio mates from across the globe!