How to Draw Comics

Like most things in life, comics turn out best when you spend the time to plan them ahead of time. When you draw comics, you are basically drawing a movie on paper. To keep your audience interested, you should plan your characters, action and plot line ahead of time, and then stick to your plan when drawing the comic.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Eraser
• Ruler
• Pencils
• Paper

Plan Your Comics Before You Draw

1. Decide how many characters you will use in this comic. You should have a rough idea of which characters you will use before you put pencil to paper.

2. Develop a plot outline. You will need to know how you want the basic action to flow once you start plotting your frames. A frame is one square on the page of a comic.

3. Move on to plotting your comic. Plotting involves drawing rough frames on each page and placing very quick, rough sketches of the characters in them.

4. Create model sheets for the main characters. A model sheet should include a drawing of the character from two angles and contain as much detail as possible. You will refer back to this later to maintain continuity in your comic.

Draw Your Comic

1. Begin by using your ruler to draw in frames on your paper. You can refer back to your rough plotting sketches to make sure you draw the correct frame sizes and positions.

2. Draw careful outlines of your characters into the frames. Use outlines at first, so you can make adjustments later if you need to.

3. Grab your character model sheets to begin filling in costumes and faces. You want each character to have exactly the same costume and features throughout the comic. Refer to your model sheet often.

4. Review your work so far. Now is the best time to solve any lingering problems, like awkward positioning or costume inaccuracies.

Add the Finishing Touches

1. Erase any model lines or accidental marks on the comic.

2. Darken the outlines of your characters to make them stand out more clearly against the background.

3. Darken the frame lines so that the reader can easily tell where each frame ends.

4. Review your work one last time for detail and continuity.

Tips & Warnings

• Use inexpensive paper for plotting your comics, since these drawing will serve mainly as references.

• Use the first frame of your comic to establish a setting. You can do this by drawing a picture of a school entrance or a dark forest, for example.

• When plotting your comic, be sure to leave room for conversation bubbles.