My first few Phantom Sunday strips were drawn digitally, using Manga Studio and Photoshop. For this page, I took a few screen shots of a selected panel as I worked, so I could share a "behind the scenes" look at the process. Using the pencil tool, I sketch out the scene in blue.
The inking tools in Manga Studio are amazing -- and look and feel like the real thing -- but without the chance of spilling the ink bottle! Of course I inked the Phantom first!
Background now inked -- penciled loose -- so much of the drawing done in the inks. I changed the gun from the pencil stage, so he's not just reaching for it, but has it in hand.
Finished panel, with blue pencil layer dropped out.
The whole Sunday page partially inked. Some of the pencils still unfinished/rough here.
And the published version -- inks done -- lettering done in Photoshop (ComicCraft fonts) -- and color by Tom Smith. The next several pages were all done this way. Eventually, I switched to printing the blue pencils on bristol board and inking by hand, so there is a piece of original art, rather than just a computer file -- but the digital process allowed me to hit the ground running and get the strip (which had fallen behind) back on schedule.
