To Those Before Me

[Paul_Oblong]

NOTE: EDITED

While any solid advice is appreciated, I am hoping to get the attention of someone who is on the downhill slope of the same hill I'm just now starting to climb.

My interests as an artist can be split into two catagories: Comic Books and Band Art.

I prefer to do as much by hand and at home as I can. But have been running into problems that seem to start from the moment I add coloured inks to any work. So my questions are as follows:

Let's say that I have a page, 11x17 bristol paper, completely pencilled and inked (black only) and wish to have detailed instructions to get me from that point to a finished comic book. What are the industry standard steps? And there's no such thing as too much detail when it comes to the break down.

I realize that now a days almost everything is or can be done digitally. But, I don't like the way it looks and would like to know how the comics I had as a kid (early 80's) were made and how to get something made in that manner. So what are my options at each of these steps? And again, I'm wanting industry standard. There has to be a book or video or class somewhere that can tell me.

I've been able to find a decent amount of reference pictures when it comes to original pencilled pages and inked pages. I've even seen inked pages with preprinted text (titles, comic code stamp etc) glued and even taped on. I know that in the old days this page would then be printed on a new 11x17 to be coloured (and perhaps lettered further) before printing. But is that required for a good quality book? I'd like to do as little in an editor as possible.

If I use an editing program I'd like to have a very specific list of what I should adjust. (I have already gotten a few good replies to this part but more opinions are welcome)

Once scanned and edited (whether I do it myself or not) what is my next step? What format do most printers want the work in and are there any reputable places I should try to order my comics from?


When it comes to the comics, at least for now, I would be the client. The order would return to me to then be distributed.

As far as band art, I figure that once my comic book questions are answered, everything but shirts would be covered by those answers. When it comes to shirts, what should I consider during the design phase to prevent problems during printing? I'm not sure what kind of technique we would employ and am open to suggestions and stories from experience. I am, again because I'm nostaligic, considering old school screen printing. I assume there is a level of detail taht won't come through in the design or will make it look a mess.

As always, thatnk you for sharing your experiences in these matters and sending me in the right direction.

-Paul

[bcarman]

People will probably want to see work.

[Qitsune]

Post some of the images so we can see the problem.

[[email protected]]

While any solid advice is appreciated, I am hoping to get the attention of someone who is on the downhill slope of the same hill I'm just now starting to climb.

Those you will meet on your ascent are those who failed and gave up. Maybe just walk around that hill and meet those who went past the summit?

[Paul_Oblong]

This is a sketch for a T-Shirt piece I'm working out details on. It's not the actual "send to the printer" piece, but it should suffice.


After getting some advice on how to set up my scanner I scanned this pic. I didn't take any before changing my settings unfortunately.



After some more adjustment I got the colour correct.

I was able to remove almost all of the evidence of my colouring in GIMP and created this......



A few things;

I recieved the advice that I should maybe do just the black ink first, removing as much of the original pencils as possible, then scan and reprint it before colouring. Effectively reducing the amount of problems I might have. I agree somewhat because it's easier to adjust a black and white piece into 2 solid colours than it is a multi coloured piece.

I only used cheap Wal-Mart Markers to test my relative colour pallet and I realize the waves that appear with the crossover are a little extreme.

The paper is dyed to look like that on purpose. It's left over I'm using as "sketch" paper.

My main concern is that even in the 3rd picture, with the colour removed digitally, I still am getting a mixture of partial lines, heavily pixelated lines and parts that just look like I drew them freehand in paint after 13 Beers.

I'm fishing for recomendations for each step of my process so that I can have more faith in my artwork and can knwingly produce a masterful piece of sellable artwork.

I would like to perhaps work step by step through a piece with someone that has the time to critique each step and offer pointers. I'd like to do a hand drawn web comic, but not with my current results.

-Paul

[Elwell]

You can get surprisingly good results from even cheap home scanners. The trick is to turn off ALL automatic settings in the scanner software, get the most raw scan you can, and do the adjustments in a proper image editing program.

[Paul_Oblong]

Yeah I took off all of the automatic settings on the scanner and it was a huge change. But I know there are likely better suited scanners out there and a particular list of settings I should abide by.

As far as the editing, I've gotten decent results, but again, an exact list of what to do (adjust levels etc) to achieve a proffesional look in the end result is what I need. I would prefer to spend more time drawing and less time fighting with a machine or noodling endlessly in a program to get my scanned image to look like the original or get it ready for print.

[Birkeley]

I don't do the same kind of work as you, but I think I can offer a couple of tips. The main problem you will run into while scanning (at least in my experience) is that the colours are washed out or dull. I agree with leaving all the options off in your scanner - it's fairly easy to fix things in a photo editing program. The levels tool tends to fix the colour issue. Pull the "white" tab to the left until the whites in your image are bright white, and then pull the "black" tab to the right until the blacks are solid black. This will also brighten your other colours and will fix most colour issues in scans and photographs. If it's for print, this is extra-important.

Do the same for line work - if you are scanning black and white line work, a great way to erase smudges quickly is to select the "dodge" tool, set it to midtones only, and paint over your lines with it (if it eats into your main lines turn down the strength a little). This will remove things like eraser marks or dust picked up by the scanner and leave only clean black lines. If you have graininess or a pixellated look to lines or a colour image (I often have graininess problems when scanning coloured pencil work) you can add a slight gaussian blur under effects. Don't overdo this, though, or your image will look out-of-focus!

I use Photoshop Elements for photo and scan fixing and it works excellently - it's also inexpensive, especially if you purchase a slightly older version rather than the current version. I understand wanting to stay traditional, but unfortunately this part of the proceedings will be mandatory - the days are gone when artists would hand over their original works to the client to have professionally-made reproductions made from it directly, and your clients will need you to be able to distribute high-quality digital reproductions of your work.

Hope this helps.

[Paul_Oblong]

Thank you very much for the helpful and detailed response.

Considering the response I've had on this and other forums, I've edited my original post to better reflect my intentions with my artwork, especially since I seem to have figured out my scanner based issue. Yet questions do remain and I shall hopefully find who I'm looking for in my quest.

Thanks to all for the replies so far,
Paul

[Arshes Nei]

If you are working with media that may be semi translucent and scanning it in, you'll need to grab several sheets of white paper or board and put it behind your drawing. The scanner emits a pretty powerful light that can scan through your drawing. Putting some sheets of white board or paper behind it and a thin book can prevent the light from completely going through the drawing.

Then you can work on the image in any image editing program mentioned above. I just want to note one of the reasons people scream about "their colors being washed out or dull" is partly because of the lamp that's scanning the image.

[Paul_Oblong]

Wouldn't the cover on the scanner do the same thing? Or is it designed to reflect the light?

[Arshes Nei]

Wouldn't the cover on the scanner do the same thing? Or is it designed to reflect the light?

Ok, test this then. Do what I recommend.

do it with just the cover of the scanner

Basically the back of the scanner lid is kinda soft so that's why you see part of your scan more greyish. You don't want to press down on the back of the lid because it can cause problems. That's why the paper and the book combination work fine.

[Dusty]

I don't have a lot of advice on the band shirt aspect...but I do know that it depends on what the band or label is actually doing with the shirt. So it's good to try to find out how they plan to print it beforehand.

I've had full paintings converted to 2 colors without anyone telling me (i.e. I could have charged cheaper and also catered their art to look a lot better). I've also had a few that were printed with full color that looked extraordinary with their detail.

So finding out if they are able to print the exact replica vs a 2-4 color screen print would be wise.

Other than that, I just do what I do...and let them sort out the business half of it. :p

[Paul_Oblong]

@ Arshes - I see what you mean after scanning using once using just the scanner and once using another backing material.

@ Dusty - The T-Shirts are for my own band. I'm scrambling to get merch made after we record our demo and I was just wanting to know what corners I could cut pretty much. I've never had a shirt printed, and especially if I use the guy I'm thinking of using who does it the old school way, I figured there might be certain kinds of details that might not show up in the finished product and would hate to waste the time. I gues I could just ask him when I take him my ideas to work out the pricing

On Reddit I was introduced to WhatifKirby.com In regards to the comic book questions, this site is exactly what I was looking for. Has anyone come across similar websites? I love how they are all pre production images and there are discussions about the making of the artwork itself.

-Paul