Susan is looking behind her...someone is speaking her name...what are they about to say? Maybe something like..."Get moving on your deadline, girl - it's WEDNESDAY already!!!" Or maybe, "What the hell are you goofing off for when it's WEDNESDAY already???" Or maybe...well, I'm sure you get the idea...
I'm often asked how long it takes to do a strip. It's hard to answer because the strips are done in an assembly-line fashion. I don't work on each strip individually. I write a week's worth at a time, then I draw the week, followed by inking and finally photoshopping.
I can ballpark the time it takes for inking and photoshopping. The writing part . . . that's a whole other story. Writing is the deal-breaker for how long completing a week of strips is going to take and whether or not I have to work on the weekend. Sometimes it goes whiz-bang and I've got the week written in a few hours . . . other times it drags on and on for untold agonizing days.
Even when the writing is complete, I'll find myself editing right through the drawing stage. Here's what my writing looks like when I sit down to draw:
I've purposely scanned this image on the small side to make it difficult to read as it's the writing for some upcoming, as yet unpublished strips
Once I've completed the week's writing ( 6 strips ), I loosely sketch out six frames on two sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and label each frame from Mon. - Sat. Then I write in the finished copy for each strip and tape the two sheets to my drawing board. Before I begin to actually draw, I do a quick read through the series to refresh my mind regarding where the action is taking place and who is speaking. This determines things like clothing styles, props, character positioning, etc. You can see a bit of the extra editing that I've done in the first frame. (above)
The above snip is a closer look at the last-minute editing process. I changed "your personal growth" to "self-improvement." There are lots of reasons for making these types of small changes. The change in this strip had to do with over-use of the term "personal growth" in following strips. It also had to do with the fact that I changed what the characters say to each other in the next panel.
You can see where I completely changed the responses and then tweaked the replacement copy from "...always so gung-ho about self-improvement?" to "always so gung-ho to self-improve?"
I also have my own little short-hand to remind me of the "stage-directions" I want to use. In the above snip, I underline words I want to ink in bold letters. Normally, if I want lettering to be bold, I write them in caps on the copy . . . but in this instance, it was on the re-read that I decided there needed to be some emphasis. Notice the word "air quotes" in brackets. That's just a reminder that I wanted to draw the character doing air quotes. (I just checked . . . I didn't end up having Susan using air quotes because I included Kim in the drawing and there wasn't room to make the drawing clear)
When I want to remind myself to use italics in my lettering, I underline the phrase or words with a wavy line.
Another stage direction. Occasionally I will draw a very loose rendering to indicate mood or positioning. I decided to change Susan's reaction in the punchline of this strip so I scratched out the "sigh" and drew a disgruntled Susan to indicate the new tone of the gag.
The little suggestion of Susan's face (nose and eyes) in the above frames are mainly to determine how I am going to position the staging of this strip. When I got down to drawing this strip, I changed the positioning again.
In the above frame, I decided to re-write the punchline. Both punches are similar but I thought the shorter version was better. Generally, a short punchline is preferable. On the second read, I also recall thinking that the line, "Okay, okay - then how about I lose ten pounds and we'll call it even?" didn't really make sense. It's not very clear but the second punch reads, "Would you settle for losing ten pounds?"
I also write the date the strips will appear on my copy sheets. The above 9/21-26 means these strips are for the week of September 21 - 26. On each original strip I pencil "9/21-26" in the upper right corner of my bristol (not on the strip itself) along with a corresponding " 1 " (for Monday) and "2" (for Tuesday), etc. to label the strips for my own filing of originals.
Evidence from my brainstorming book:
The doodles in my brainstorming book generally fall into three categories: 1. loosely sketching a character in several positions to see what works best to demonstate a panel. 2. fiddle sketches of expressions to help me determine what type of emotion I want the character to show. 3. hair styles.
I am always doodling hair styles and thinking about changing my characters' look...even if it's just a minor thing like bangs. Inevitably, I fall back on the same ol', same ol' ...
Below (top) is Kim with her hair pulled back. Now that I'm looking at this, I kind of like it ...maybe Kim does need a refreshening... Maeve is below her. I'm messing with her bangs.
Here's more Maeve. In fact, most of the hair doodles I fiddle with are with Maeve's hair and it's usually with her bangs. I think her hair should be a bit more "messy" and I'd prefer her to have bangs. The reason I don't give her bangs is because Susan has them and I want the characters to be distinctive from one another. Although, Maeve's hair IS long and black and Susan's is short and blonde...
This is no one. Just fooling around.
Again with Maeve and the bangs. I think these bangs are too thick and heavy. The other thing is, because Maeve's hair is dark, the heavy bangs would make it difficult to see her eyes and the eyes are the most expressive aspects of the face.
Sigh...decisions, decisions. I bet you thought cartooning was all fun and games, eh? :)
Here's a page out of my sketch book. I don't remember why but I was having a blue day when I was writing. You can see where I was playing with different punch lines in the scribblings around "Harv". Following is the strip that utilized Harv's thought...
Did you ever have one of those days where you just felt like everything was . . . blah? Like your house needs redecorating and your wardrobe is . . . nonexistent and your hair style looks maternal and your strip isn't funny or worth reading and it's just a matter of time before everyone realizes that and who are you trying to kid with this comic strip career thing anyway? Ever feel like that? ( with your own personal inserted blah-issues of course )
I drew Harv with a perplexed, sympathetic look because I wanted to show that he realizes that Susan really is feeling down-in-the-dumps. If I had drawn him rolling his eyes or with an indifferent "here-she-goes-again" look, it would have changed the entire feeling of the strip. As it is, it's not a gag strip, it's a "I know how you feel strip".
The other doodles show me fooling around with how to position Susan sitting on couch with Emma.
This strip is another part of this "blue day" series. This comes from a very nice memory I have from my daughter. (I know I've mentioned this at some point earlier in this blog but here goes again...) My strip was appearing in an online poll for a major newspaper a few years ago. I knew it was going to tested but I didn't know when. The strips appeared online for a month and of course, readers could post their comments.
Well, I really started out on the wrong foot. When I saw that my strip was going to appear the next week, I checked back to see what I had written for that time period. AND THOSE STRIPS WERE AWFUL! I actually REMEMBER the week I was writing those strips. It was one of the worst writer's block weeks I'd had in years. I was totally blank. I remember thinking I should write about Kim because she hadn't appeared for a while, so I did some strips to continue a little intermittent story line I had going for her. The gags were lame. I admit it. Completely uninspired, nothing original. But it was just one of those weeks.
Talk about bad first impressions.
I got CRUCIFIED in those online comments. Some nice comments appeared throughout the month but for the most part, it was terrible. I hate online polls. The anonymity of posters fosters a very cruel streak in a lot of people. Not liking a strip, thinking it's boring, stupid, poor art, etc ...those type of comments are one thing ... but personal attacks, downright MEAN, juvenile, hateful comments. . . well, I just don't see the point.
Anyway, at one point, the comments got to me . . . it was probably another blue day . . . and I actually went upstairs to my husband and cried. I don't ususally do that. I'm pretty thick-skinned about this rejection stuff after 15+ years in the business. But on that day, it got to me.
My daughter, who had overheard me talking to my husband, went to her room and drew a poster for me that said, "MOM, YOU ROCK."
And it made me feel better and I'll always remember that. (and I have the poster...somewhere) It just seemed appropriate to use in this strip within this series.
So, no big point here. Just a behind the scenes look at the thinking process.
Every year in May, the National Cartoonists Society has a weekend awards gala. (This year it's going to be in Hollywood!) It's a weekend full of seminars and parties and reuniting with cartoonist friends and making some new ones. The highlight of the weekend is the Awards banquet (black tie!) where cartoonists of many different categories of cartooning are recognized as well as one outstanding cartoonist who receives the prestigious "Reuben Award".
This year, my Canadian chapter is sponsoring a page in the Reuben Journal to congratulate the nominees. My very talented colleagues have all sent in art which will be pieced together by our esteemed Chapter President, John Martz.
Below, I'm going to show the art that I sent in, and each stage I go through to finish a cartoon after the pencil stage.
Here's Maeve, after pencil lines have been erased and I've done the initial inking. You can see where I've messed up the chin line . . . my first stroke wasn't far out enough and I had to fill it in to make her face proportioned. I also messed up on the arm holding the martini glass. It needed to be slimmed down. And yes. . . I see the toes don't look right either . . . I know the biggest toe needs to be on the inside of the foot (re. the foot in front) . . . and the drawing is just too loose rather than I actually drew it incorrectly. (although, if it looks wrong, I guess it IS drawn incorrectly)
The second stage is to scan the art in Photoshop. (I still use Photoshop 5 because I know it and it's comfortable) This stage is all about cleaning up the art. I erase any specks that show up from the scanning and the mistakes I've made. Notice that Maeve's chin has been thinned out and her arm holding the martini glass has been slimmed down. I've also erased part of Maeve's bust (boob? breast? bodacious ta-ta? . . . what am I supposed to say here??) because I decided the arm would actually be behind her (insert your mammory word of choice) rather than over it. Same thing with the index finger holding the martini glass . . . it should be over the stem not behind it.
One thing you may not notice here is that I've smoothed out various brush strokes, either by erasing them and making them thinner or inking over them and making them thicker. (the "making them thicker part" will be done in the next stage) I use a Pentel brush pen for the largest strokes of inking. I actually prefer to use a Speedball C-5 but the last batch of paper I bought doesn't work well with the Speedball dip pen. The paper isn't smooth enough and I get a scratchy look. Why am I using this paper if I don't like it? Go back and read this post if you're really interested. I'm still searching for another paper but since I spent about 500 bucks on the stuff I have, I have to use it up first.
ANYWAY, have you ever been driving and notice that you're close to running out of gas but you keep pushing it and pushing it and PUSHING IT because you don't want to be bothered to stop and refill? This frequently happens to me when I'm inking. The Pentel brush gets low on ink and I start getting the dry-brush effect and instead of stopping my inking and re-filling, I keep going because I hate to stop in the middle of the process. I know it's stupid. I KNOW IT'S STUPID. But it's one the things I do time and time again and then I pay for it when I get to the Photoshop stage because I then need to smooth out my rough lines. I don't do all of them. . . it just seems to look bad when I'm doing the long brush strokes. Like, for instance, Maeve's legs and arms. So, at this stage, I've fixed this.
The third stage is dropping in the blacks. . . mainly Maeve's hair, sunglasses, the Maple Leaf and a bit in the shoes. The toes still look wrong and it's driving me nuts right now while looking at them . . . but the art is long gone and the whole thing is a fait accompli. And who the hell looks at feet anyway?
I've connected a few lines here and there . . . like the fingers that are resting on Maeve's hips and the liquid in the martini glass. Some lines can be left unfinished and unconnected and some can't. There's no rule for this. It's strictly based on what I think looks right. I've made the earing loop smoother, I've adjusted the toothpick in the olive, I've painted Maeve's toes (there're those d@mn toes again) and I've smoothed out the bottom line of her nose. I also played around with the Maple Leaf on her shirt which, although it was just a loose rendering of the emblem of our Canadian flag, it still needed a little tightening up. While dropping in the blacks, I still need to go back and erase here and there. At the end of this stage, the art is finished except for . . .
. . . dropping in some halftone screening for a little more contrast and interest. I've added screening to the shorts and the olive. Finally, I've used the airbrush tool to give the sunglasses a little highlighting which I rather liked.
And there she is, all dressed up and ready to go to Hollywood. Cheers!
UPDATE: I fixed the toes and John graciously allowed me to resend the artwork. Hey, John...when next we meet, martini on me!
As promised . . . here is another doodle from my brainstorming book. This is me at work . . . sort of. Note the word "deadline" scrawled at the top with the expletive. A "cartoon" expletive. After all these years I guess I'm hard-wired for the editing process.
Although . . . come to think of it . . . see the snippet of the strip below? (from an upcoming strip on February 19)
I originally wrote that as " SAD? Hell, no " I should have realized it wouldn't pass my editor. It just sounded so natural when I was saying/writing it. I guess I was " in the zone " or something. Anyway, this is what good editors are for . . . to keep you from getting kicked out of papers.
I cropped this little sketch of Kim out of my brainstorming book. I like how she is slouched in the chair and the way her head is resting on the back of the seat. And I like the little swirl under Kim's lips in the head sketch to the left.
My brainstorming book is full of doodles like these. They usually have something to do with what I'm writing about at the time but not always. This particular doodle was related to a gag I was writing. I was looking for words. See the different words written around the bottom of this sketch? I'll write down every word that kind of means what I'm trying to say because (1) it helps me to spin off other word ideas from the ones I can see (as opposed to remembering them in my head) and (2) it gives me a selection of words to mix and match.
The trouble with sketches like these is that they're very fluid because they're done without purpose and if I decide I want to use the same illustration in my strip, it's very difficult to mimic.
At least, it's difficult for me. Still, they're fun to do because the drawing is so free and relaxed and just goes where it goes. And I have to admit that I think they're fun to look at too.
