Day 1: Layout, Framing and Dialogue

When I draw comics, I start with a general idea of where I want the page to start and end.  On this page, I want it to be a jump cut as I don't want to waste time showing all of the boring stuff concerning Little Lorna moving in (although, there could have been some story there if I wanted to).  I wanted to end the page with him jumping in the shower.  Each page of a comic should have its own mini cliff hanger that will encourage the reader to go through the incredible inconvenience of moving their eye to the next page! LOL!

Using the basic comic guides (divisions of half and thirds) I lay out the panels.  Hopefully, I can get everything done in 3-4 panels to cut down on the time to draw it but I will go up to 6 if needed.  3 panel pages usually have a pair of "hero" panels (gorgeous money shots) while 4-5 panel pages may have only one or two.  6+ panel pages usually have none at all.  Just a bunch of talking heads and zoom in shots of some action... sad!

Once I am happy with the general game plan, I'll draw in the borders.  These are done in vectors so I can adjust them in the future while maintaining the border widths.  I'll put in all of the dialogue making sure each panel's dialogue leads into the next as much as possible.  This is another cliffhanger to encourage the reader to get to continue to the next panel.  Too many boring panels in a row can lead to a tedious read.

As you noticed, I don't write out the page in a script.  Unless the writer is VERY proficient in writing for comics, there usually is too much dialogue or panels per page or an undrawable panel layout due to space constraints.  I found over time, this system works the best for me as I can visually see the space shrink as I add dialogue.

Someday I'll build some explainer videos and make literally DOZENS of dollars on YouTube views!

As for now...on to the clean pencils!