Instructions on How to Draw a Comic Strip
Comic strips are short cartoon stories that appear in newspapers, books, magazines and online. Most end with a joke or punchline, but many serialize longer narratives over a series of strips. Comic strips have three or four panels, or boxes, that contain drawings and neatly lettered dialog. With a few basic cartooning tools, you can create your own comic strip.
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Things You'll Need
- HB drawing pencil
- Eraser
- Ruler
- Cheap drawing paper
- Heavy bristol drawing paper
- Higgins black magic ink
- Hunt pen nib No. 102
- Hunt nib holder
- Speedball B6 lettering nib
- Speedball nib holder
- water color brush No. 1 or 2
- Micron pen No. 3 and 5
Instructions
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1
Create characters for your comic strip. Think of funny types of people or animals. Search the web for reference images if you like, such as animal pictures. Use a pencil, eraser and cheap drawing paper to sketch ideas. Do not rush and do not worry about making a perfect drawing. Let your imagination flow. Stick figures are a good way to start. Use circles, ovals, triangles and squares to build out your characters over a stick figure. Keep characters simple so they are easy to draw again and again.
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2
Write your comic strip before drawing. Create a joke with a punchline or a visual slapstick resolution. Plan your joke to unfold over three or four square comic strip panels. Write each character's dialog, a description of where they appear in the panel and any action such as facial expressions and gestures. If you are writing a longer story over many strips, the first panel should frame the story and the last should create suspense.
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3
Use a pencil and ruler to draw three or four rectangular comic panels on a piece of heavy bristol paper. The finished dimension of printed comics strips is about 2 inches tall by 5 inches across. Draw your comic strip at 200 percent size, 4 inches tall by 10 inches across. It may be reduced on a copier or computer before printing.
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Carefully draw each panel in pencil, working from your script. Make changes to the script if necessary. Check to see that you draw your characters consistently from panel to panel. Keep facial expressions and actions simple and clear. Leave room for lettering.
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Use the pencil and ruler to draw straight horizontal lines where you wish to add lettering. Write in your letters using either a Micron No. 5 pen or a Speedball B6 lettering nib. The Speedball B6 must be dipped in black ink before use. Let the ink dry when done.
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6
Draw over the pencil lines in black ink to finish the cartoon. Try different tools for inking cartoons. Some cartoonists prefer the Hunt 102 pen nib. Some prefer a No. 1 or No. 2 water color brush. These tools must be dipped in black ink to use, and both offer the ability to make a varied width line by bearing down on the drawing tool. Other cartoonists prefer to ink over cartoons with Micron pens as they make a predictable, consistent line and are easier to control.
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Let the ink dry and erase any left over pencil lines when finished. The cartoon is ready for printing or publication.
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Tips & Warnings
Some comic strip tools take practice to master. The Hunt and Speedball nib pens make beautiful lines and letters, but can also splatter and blob ink on your drawings. Do not overload pen nibs with ink. Pull the nibs towards you or sideways while drawing. Most problems come with pushing against the point of the nib. Brushes also take practice to master. Do not over load the brush with ink. Brink the tip of the brush to a point and pull the point to create graceful lines. Pushing on the point will ruin the brush. Clean tools with Windex and water when finished.
