Bonus material edition!
I wanted to break down a bit of the work behind the last comic, specifically the frame where I worked from the reference photos from patrons.
I started with a loose sketch where the were no definite characters yet, mostly to see the composition and leave room for the text.
Once I got the pictures from patrons, some of them were already in the right angle for some of the characters. Others I had to flip, and with some I simply had to speculate how they’d look in profile view because I didn’t want every character looking to the front.
On the definite drawing, I’m working with blue pencil and simple ink tracers on fabriano paper, which has more traction and make the lines a bit shaky.
It has a yellowish hue so I work with it on photoshop with a series of actions I recorded. First, to delete the blue lines playing with channels, then dialing exposure and the “curves” tools.
Later I work the colors in photoshop as well, in very straight ways such as using the lasso tool and a simple size-according-to-pressure brush along with a textured brush I created for shading. And that’s about it!
I’m currently painting white, textured edges on the frame instead of using a geometrical panel, because I’ve been aiming for a looser look with more ‘room to breathe’ around the drawings. I think it has a bit to do with the reading pacing I expect to get and the frame by frame flow of the story.
It is a bit intimidating working with real photos, specially when you are not specialized in likenesses, but it was very fun too and made the story special with the inclusion of Patreon supporters as part of the Secret Knots micro cosmos in a very literal way. I hope it was fun for you too!
Juan
