How to Make a Super-Cool Comic Type Picture Using Photoshop

I have been drawing comic-style drawings for the last few years. I find it kind of calming. This week, for my teaching blog I am going to teach you how to create one.


First you need a good photo to work with. I prefer close ups, a picture which shows a lot of detail.
If you don't have many pictures of your own, or pictures with good detail, I suggest joining a stck photograph web page. My favorite is stock.xchng

http://www.sxc.hu/

I found this picture there.

I love photos with lots of movement and feeling.

Once I have opened the photo in Photoshop, I like to "desaturate" it - basically this means make it black and white. You do this by going to Image/Adjustments/Desaturate.

Next, I like to take as much of the background out as I can. Simplicity is key to my work, I like clean lines and simple pictures which do not distract the viewer from the feeling.

Before you start cutting it up, make a copy of the layer. You don't want to mess it up without having an extra copy lyin' around.

An increadibly handy tool for cutting out the background is the magnetic lasso tool. You should keep a close watch on it though. If you have a busy background (such as the one in this photograph) the magnetic lasso may jeer off occassionally. Just take the regular lasso tool and clean up those spots.

Print the page. You can print it at the lowest quality you can as long as you can see the details.

Here comes the slightly controversial part: the part my Grandfather used to yell at me for... Take this print and do one of three things:
1. Use a piece of tracing paper and trace the outline of the shadows.
2. Use a light table to do the same. Side note: don't have a light table? Neither do I. What I use is a piece of plexiglass, and a cheap neon light. I have also used my glass end tables- just put a lamp under it and now you have a light table! Get creative, I'm sure you can figure it out.
3. Go the old fashioned route and actually sketch it. I do this rather often, seeings how my daughter broke my printer a while back.

Don't get too detailed, the object is to get a general idea of where the shadows and edges lie.

Next, take a black pigment pen (use those "uniball" liquid ink pens or felt drafting pens) and re-draw what you have done in pencil. Make sure you use a pen that makes a fine, yet black and CONSISTANT line. If you use a pen which is not purely black (like a standard ballpoint) parts of your drawing will be missed by your scanner. If you use a pen which is not fine, your lines will be too thick, and sometimes bleed. And, most importantly, if the lines are not consistant and black photoshop will pick up other colors in your drawing which leaves a lot of cleanup to do.
This is where my style comes through the most. I do a messy cross-hatch technique in ink. I do not fill in the places which require pure black at this stage; wait until it is uploaded on to Photoshop for that. I also do not fill in shadows unless there is ABSOLUTELY no detail in that part, or if I want to give the impression of darkness. I also use a filled black area in the pupils of eyes.

Erase the pencil slowly. Pay attention as you do so, in case you missed some spots with your pen. Should you miss some of the pencil, no worries! just stop, and draw it in with your pen.

When you are finished you should have a picture with very little more on it than black ink (or, as is often in my case black ink with a little harmless coffee spilt on one or two corners).

Scan this in to your computer, preferably in a black and white format. I typically tell my scanner it is scanning text; this keeps any little un-erasable pencil marks from showing up on the scanned product.

Save this file, and load it on photoshop.

That's the first half...
Stay tuned for the second, to be posted at a later date...