I’m going to take you through the process of a graphic novel in a series of posts. This is from my perspective, as a writer and artist who makes fantasy books for middle grade and young adult readers - but hopefully it will be helpful even if you’re interested in making a different kind of book!
Hi Molly! I'm so glad I found you on Substack. This post is incredibly helpful; there's a lot of confusing information online about sizing for comics, and this is very clear, so thank you for that! I have a Substack and I want to start putting my graphic novellas there. Can you share any info about sizing for Substack? I'm working with Procreate. If you've already covered this topic elsewhere, my apologies, and would you be able to post a link? Many thanks! Excited to read your comics!
Hi Molly! Thank you so much for sharing all these resources, no less sharing for free. It's really amazing. If you get a chance, I'm just wondering if you'd have any advice re: programs. For a short (self-published) piece, I got by with just learning some basics in Gimp and InDesign (I drew/wrote everything by hand, scanned, and used those programs for touch-up and layout). I'm building up to making a full-length book, though, and have been thinking I may need to learn to draw digitally and invest in new tools -but- I'm having trouble deciding which route to take. Do you recommend Photoshop, Procreate? Getting an iPad, Cintiq? I get the sense these may be worth the expense, but not sure... At the moment, I have no digital drawing tools or experience in this realm! Any advice would be very much appreciated :)
I love all of these so much, especially as someone who’s been looking into smaller comic builds and forming stories, these are super helpful! My only current access to any of these is Procreate, do you have any advice on how specifically to start even a small thumbnail on it?
Also on Procreate, how many layers do prefer to have per page? I’ve been looking into how I might try different styles of creating!
Hi Molly! Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this series - they're absolutely golden!
I wonder if I might ask if you have any other brush recommendations for those like me who prefer a slightly cleaner and thinner line, but really enjoy the look of traditional ink or pencil Mr Natural presents. Is there something of a midpoint between that and a standard adjustable dot?
Thank you for the technical details! In the past I've looked for an answer about what kind of black I should use for lineart and text on the internet and it's really hard to find useful tips, but this post was so so so useful! I'll definitely keep it in mind.
(also, on behalf of an art director I talked to recently, thank you for the part about organizing the layers... apparently lots of people forget to do that, especially in cover illustrations)
This is incredibly useful! It's remarkably tricky to find concise, useful information on this kind of thing. Thank you!
p.s. Witch Boy is purchased and ready for my son's birthday in December...might not have known about it without first reading your newsletter. So, yay for newsletters! :D
I've been waiting for this part, and it didn't disappoint! These technical details are the things I've always struggled to get clear direction on, so I really, REALLY appreciate you taking the time to compile it all in one place! As always, your newsletters are ridiculously helpful. Thank you so much for this, Molly! (Also, I definitely lol'd at "Ruth Gader Binsburg")
Hi Molly! I'm so glad I found you on Substack. This post is incredibly helpful; there's a lot of confusing information online about sizing for comics, and this is very clear, so thank you for that! I have a Substack and I want to start putting my graphic novellas there. Can you share any info about sizing for Substack? I'm working with Procreate. If you've already covered this topic elsewhere, my apologies, and would you be able to post a link? Many thanks! Excited to read your comics!
Hi Molly! Thank you so much for sharing all these resources, no less sharing for free. It's really amazing. If you get a chance, I'm just wondering if you'd have any advice re: programs. For a short (self-published) piece, I got by with just learning some basics in Gimp and InDesign (I drew/wrote everything by hand, scanned, and used those programs for touch-up and layout). I'm building up to making a full-length book, though, and have been thinking I may need to learn to draw digitally and invest in new tools -but- I'm having trouble deciding which route to take. Do you recommend Photoshop, Procreate? Getting an iPad, Cintiq? I get the sense these may be worth the expense, but not sure... At the moment, I have no digital drawing tools or experience in this realm! Any advice would be very much appreciated :)
I love all of these so much, especially as someone who’s been looking into smaller comic builds and forming stories, these are super helpful! My only current access to any of these is Procreate, do you have any advice on how specifically to start even a small thumbnail on it?
Also on Procreate, how many layers do prefer to have per page? I’ve been looking into how I might try different styles of creating!
Thanks again! I love these little classes!!🫶
Hi Molly! Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this series - they're absolutely golden!
I wonder if I might ask if you have any other brush recommendations for those like me who prefer a slightly cleaner and thinner line, but really enjoy the look of traditional ink or pencil Mr Natural presents. Is there something of a midpoint between that and a standard adjustable dot?
Thank you for the technical details! In the past I've looked for an answer about what kind of black I should use for lineart and text on the internet and it's really hard to find useful tips, but this post was so so so useful! I'll definitely keep it in mind.
(also, on behalf of an art director I talked to recently, thank you for the part about organizing the layers... apparently lots of people forget to do that, especially in cover illustrations)
Now I can't wait for the article about colors!
This is incredibly useful! It's remarkably tricky to find concise, useful information on this kind of thing. Thank you!
p.s. Witch Boy is purchased and ready for my son's birthday in December...might not have known about it without first reading your newsletter. So, yay for newsletters! :D
I've been waiting for this part, and it didn't disappoint! These technical details are the things I've always struggled to get clear direction on, so I really, REALLY appreciate you taking the time to compile it all in one place! As always, your newsletters are ridiculously helpful. Thank you so much for this, Molly! (Also, I definitely lol'd at "Ruth Gader Binsburg")