Mar 05
When drawing on the outer edge of your panel, it’s important to extend the drawing as if you were drawing the whole character. Even if parts will get cut off it is a good idea to draw them to get a feeling for where things are supposed to fall. For example in this drawing, Peckinpaw is off to the side and his shoulder is mostly cut off even though I drew the shoulder. Without the shoulder I wouldn’t know where to put his arms and hands. Also note that his left arm is drawn even though I won’t see it because of the book in front of it. That way I know exactly where to put his fingers.
I call this ‘backdrawing’ or drawing in the round. 
click for larger image
Here is a picture of my collection of metal drawing nibs. I have gathered these throughout the years and although I only use a very specific type for drawing and lettering, I like keeping them. The ones I use on the strip are in the little plastic box in the foreground. The techniques I use to draw are very old fashioned to some. Although I do use a tablet for doing commercial work, the plastic ’sliding’ feeling of drawing on a tablet won’t work for the strip. I like the feel of drawing on paper and inking with nibs.
‘Blocking’ just means blocking out how the action gets laid out on the page. In this case I was trying to work out the way Peckinpaw tripped and fell by making the gesture and movement read well in the limited amount of space of the 13″ x 4″ strip. Some artists call this the storyboarding stage.
It’s real important to do this before you start drawing the real strip or else you will be erasing and restarting a lot. I always try to avoid a lot of erasing because it can introduce smudges that are hard to get rid of. It can also mess up the surface of the paper making it harder to ink.
You can see click on the final published strip here.
ICECUBES
