From Thumbnail to Ink to Color

A peek at my process for iterating on a comic panel

When making the art for a comic, I do a rough sketch, letter the text and sound effects, ink over the rough sketch, and then add Color.

Here’s what a panel from Lunar Space Colony looks like in the rough thumbnail stage:

LSC Panel Thumbnail - Rough - Fran's Couch

And then after inking:

LSC Panel Inked - Fran's Couch

I’ve tried skipping the rough sketch to see if I could speed up my process, but then I end up lost when trying to figure out what goes where at the inking stage.

Once the inking is done, I go in and add color:

LSC Panel Color - Fran's Couch

Lunar Space Colony has a pretty limited color palette since I’m still learning color and need to work relatively quickly with the weekly deadline.

That’s the evolution of a panel from sketch to ink to color. I’m sure that evolution will only get better and better as I improve as an artist.

I’m going to start publishing Lunar Space Colony in only a few days! On Tuesday, July 3rd, I’ll publish the first three episodes and then publish a new episode every Tuesday after. I’ve hit my stride with the project and am enjoying working on it. I’m excited to share it publicly soon! 🙂

Author: Brett Chalupa

day: software developer, night: adventurer, video maker, writer

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