Big thanks to everyone who became Facebook fans of Missile Mouse!
So today I want to share with you the process behind one of the pages from the from The Star Crusher. This was one of my favorite pages to work on in the book, but it was also a beast. As you can see from one of the panels from the page above.
Step 1: the Thumbnail
I couldn’t find the thumbnail for this page, but I drew it at about 1 x 2 inches, very loose and simple, almost just stick figures.
Step 2: the Sketch
I draw this at the actual print size which is 9 x 6 inches. I keep it really loose, which helps me to focus on layout, composition, and shape and not get bogged down in details. This gives me a good sense of how it will look when printed.
Step 3: the Rough
I don’t have a scan of this step, but I took a photo of the page in the middle of inking. I take my sketch page from step 2, scan it, blow it up, and print it on 11x 17 paper and use it as a guide for my roughs via the light box. You can see the roughed-in drawings in the spots not inked yet. I don’t labor over the rough too much preferring to reserve some of the exploration of the drawing during inking.
Step 4: the Inks
Here it is fully inked. Microns on heavy stock laser printer paper. I bought a ream of this stuff at my local print shop and made my own guides in Photoshop, then printed them myself on my Epson. The ream cost about 35 dollars for 250 sheets as opposed to comic paper which is a buck a sheet at it’s cheapest. I also letter it at this stage using a proprietary font I made from my handwriting.
Step 5: the Flats
Once the page is scanned and imported into Photoshop, I lay in the flat colors by selecting and filling, and/or using the hard round brush. I keep the characters on a separate layer from the background.
Step 6: the Final Color
Here’s where I add in all the shadows and highlights and the effects like swoosh-marks, sound effects, and gun flash. And it’s done. On to the next page!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
You know how I loves me some behind the scenes. Thanks for this gift
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Jake, this is amazing. I agree with Rigger, it’s great to see the work in progress and the process in which it takes for each page. You put a lot of work into this and it shows in the final product. Always a treat. Thanks.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Holy cow. How long does this entire process take (for one page)?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I’d say 4-5 hours. Flatting and coloring take the most time, followed by inking.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Looks great dude… I’m itchin to see the final book!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I’m with RAWLS. I can’t wait for this book.
Great to see more process stuff, it all looks fantastic!
September 4th, 2009 at 2:33 am
Wow thanks for the step-by-step Jake. Its so cool to be able to see your work process.
I loved ‘Missile Mouse in The Guardian Prophecy’ and Ive pre-ordered ‘MM The Star Crusher’. Hope its incredibly successful for ya!!!
September 4th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Awesome, Jake!
It’s so cool to see the page develop. You make it look so easy.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Nice process. Thanks for the tip about printing guides on the paper you like to use ( and at a lower price/page). What filters to you use to remove your underdrawing from the inks? (if you don’t mind me asking).
Great work as always.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Thanks for the process stuff. As always both inspiring and daunting.
Do you try to re-fill your microns or just replace them? You must go through tons. If they could make a Rapidograph that wrote like a Micron.
Can you give a name for that paper so we could find some?
September 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Gavin – I just use the threshold tool.
Arkonbey – I’ve never tried refilling them. Usually by the time the ink runs out the tip is also toast too. The paper I use is a Hammermill coverstock for laser printers. I just wen t down to the paper store with my pens, erasers and pencils and asked for several pieces of paper and I tested them all out, and the Hammermill worked best for me.
September 6th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Great! Thanks for this insightful view behind the scenes!
4 to 5 hours ?! naah.. really? You are a machine! Let me try that for a change
September 6th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Great! Thanks for this insightful view behind the scenes!
4 to 5 hours ?! naah.. really? You are a machine! Let me try that for a change
September 11th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I love looking at stages and process! I’m sure all your fans really appreciate you taking your time to show us! AWESOME!!!
September 18th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Thanks heaps for sharing this…as everyone else has said…awesome to see the process in doing a strip.
I have really learn’t that for every drawing it’s always a case of problem solving. Looking at how you’ve used colour to seperate out the important elements in this scene is cool.
Really appreciate you sharing this.
October 1st, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Thanks for the insight on your process. I’m working on my first graphic novel right now and am having a devil of a time with scanning.
The book will be 6 x 9, like yours, but I’ve been drawing on 8.5 x 11″ paper, because that’s the biggest my scanner will take.
Do you scan your inked drawings somewhere else, or do you own a large-format scanner?
Thanks again for all the help. Your pictures are so clean and beautifully rendered!
October 1st, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Scanning the large pages and stitching them together in photoshop is a huge pain. Luckily, I have access to a large format scanner at my day job. Makes my life a lot easier. Good luck with the graphic novel, Jess!
October 1st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Thanks for the help, Jake. Is your employer hiring, by chance?