Once the first draft is ready, we can revise it a couple of times to make it perfect. But in the case of Gustoso!; as I mentioned it is very faithful to the first draft.
Next is the penciling process, where we define the artwork of our comic. And in my experience, it’s better to stick on to the art style you are most comfortable with. Yes, we should make the anatomy, perspective, etc as accurate as possible, but the underlying artwork should be the one that is most related to us. Based on the other interviews and talks I have heard of other artists, many of them try to attempt a different art style for a new comic but eventually end up in the style which they are most comfortable with. But if someone is versatile enough to do that, then they should go for it. As I am a beginner in this technical process, take these notes, with a grain of salt.
Penciling is also the process where a lot of editing can also happen. What looked good in the draft might not look good while penciling it. So a lot of erasing, and correction needs to take place while penciling. Start with inking only after you have penciled everything in your panel.
For Inking, I used Sakura Pigma Micron Pens for Gustoso!. I have also used digital inking for other comics, but for inking for larger projects I go for traditional. Any mistake in Inking, just note it down and correct it on your laptop.
After inking you can scan your pages and then do corrections in your laptop. Here you can correct the paneling, erase any unwanted lines, etc.
I use Autodesk Sketchbook for coloring my comic. For Gustoso! I used a normal fill tool, to color. Coloring is something I always struggle with. If you don’t use colors in the right proportions, the comic won’t look good at all. For Gustoso! I limited the color usage, by making all backgrounds grayscale while keeping the animals, humans, and the Gustoso! Biscuits in color. This could also give a contrast to the Gustoso! Biscuit and the wasteland the animals are living in.
It was I think in early December that I completed Gustoso!. And at that time Pratheek at Studio Kokaachi was helping me a lot with the process. He helped me a lot by providing the final touches to the comic.
I might make more comics in the future. But I feel this one will remain very special.
Gustoso! is a gift to the child in me, who dreamt of making comics someday. 😊
You can get the digital version of Gustoso! here:
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