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PART 1 – Basic Supplies That You Probably Have Within Arms Reach

So you’re ready to start Makin’ Comics the circlecomics Way. I’m proud of you for accepting the challenge. Now, did you bring your supplies? Of course not, this is Part 1, the part where I tell you what kind of supplies you need. Be ready in Part 2 though, I’m going to ask you the same querstion and you better say “yes.”

If you’ve read other Makin’ Comics guides you’re familiar with the fancy, expensive tools that they tell you to buy before you can start Makin’ Comics. Well don’t look for that here. At circlecomics, we’re only concerned with telling you how to get started already! You need to start Makin’ Comics and you need to start YESTERDAY, so let’s go! Here’s something that’s going to blow your mind. I’m the first person who’s ever told you this (congratulations to me): the supplies don’t matter. What?! What did you just say? What kind of blasphemous, dingle-dork was that? I have a Masters Degree in Fine Arts and you just said that the tools I choose to make art DON’T MATTER? Get. Out.

Sorry, Chuck, but it’s the truth. The tools don’t matter. If you’re ready to make comics, if you’ve got a story that you just have to get out… don’t sweat the tools. There’s only 2 things you’re going to need to follow along with THIS Makin’ Comics guide and I don’t care what you pick. Alright Dan, quit jabberin’ and tell me what I need! You need 2 things (you might want to get a pen and a piece of paper to write this down, ‘cause I’m only going to say it once): 1. Something that makes a mark and 2. Something that receives a mark (perhaps the pen and paper that you just grabbed, whoa!).

Did that blow your mind? Do you need a minute to pick the brain matter off the floor and put it back in your head? Alright, while you do that, I’m going to give you a list of the things that *I* use when I’m Makin’ Comics the circlecomics Way.

1. Something that makes a mark

You can make marks with just about anything. Different things make different kinds of marks, so you should try out a few things before settling on one. For me, it’s pencils and pens (I know, I said I was going to be different than those other Guides, I’m going to lie about a lot of things, you should get used to it).

For starters, I use a pencil. There’s all kinds of pencils and different hardnesses. You’re going to have to try ‘em to find the one you like best. I settled on a New Hampshire Fishercats pencil that I got at a baseball game.

When I can’t find that one I use one that says “Colorado Rockies” on the side.

Other than that it’s standard #2’s or a sexy ‘naked’ all-graphite pencil. The reality is that all of these pencils are the same thing. When you get into the hardness factor of pencils these are all just the same #2 hardness with different swimsuits on (‘cept for that naked one. That one’s naked).

Sometimes I don’t have a pencil handy. Other times I’m at work or in a meeting or the dentist’s office and the only thing I have handy is a pen. I love drawing with ballpoint pens. I love the smoothness of the line. I love the way they sometimes leave that little ball of ink when you use ‘em a lot. I love the way the ink smells after you’ve been using them for a while. You can vary the line weight if you practice. And bonus: when you scan ballpoint pen into the computer, you can put it in greyscale and it looks like pencil anyway.

Usually when I draw a page I’ll start with any of the pencils listed above to get a good tight line drawing and then go back over it with pen (a process we call “inking”) to set those lines fer serious. When I first started drawing comics I was using black felt tip markers ink pages but the older I got the more I thought that looked like crap. Time to upgrade.

Now I use Pigma Micron Archival Ink Pens like all the other snobs. They’re not the most expensive pens (one guy I know uses a pen that costs $35!) they’re going to run you like 3 or 4 bucks, but they are of sufficient quality if you want your comics to look more like the kind of stuff that you’re used to seeing in comics (as far as the lines are concerned, if you can’t draw, that’s something for a different chapter of this guide). Like Slurpees they come in a variety of sizes. I usually stick to the .03, .05, .08 and 1pt Brush tip. We’ll go over these more when we get to the Chapter on Inking.

Beyond pens and pencils, the world is your oyster. Heck, I haven’t tried it, but you could probably make a mark with an oyster. Get creative, think outside the box. Try using a box. There’s no limit to the kinds of things you can find that you can make a mark with and thereby make a comic with.

2. Something that receives a mark

It’s that simple. What can you make a mark on? Will the tool that you’ve chosen as your marker (possibly a marker) make a mark on this surface (or animal?). Most artists (including me) choose some kind of paper or canvas for their comics because they (we) have almost unanimously decided to work with pens, pencils or paints. Paper and canvas are ideal for those tools.

There are all kinds of paper and canvas out there and you can make comics on all of them. In the past I have used yellow lined paper, notebook paper with and without blue lines, rough sketchbook paper, smooth sketchbook paper, foamcore (seriously, you gotta try it with a ball point pen. Sooooo smooth), napkins and table cloths. Ultimately, I went with the same thing that every one else decided on: smooth Bristol Board. It usually comes in pads of like 25 sheets and you can get it in just about any size you could possibly need. For the #2 pencils and Micron pens that I use, this stuff is pretty much ideal.

And that’s it. Once you have those two things, you’re ready to start Makin’ Comics the circlecomics Way. All you need now is an idea and some characters. But, Dan, which is it? An idea or characters?

We’ll cover that next week in… Makin’ Comics the circlecomics Way Part 2 – Which Comes First: an Idea or Characters?