New chapter 3 pages? Didn’t chapter 3 happen years ago? Well, technically, yeah, but last year I breezed through the chapter and made some improvements to the artwork for both print and PDF books! A lot of the work was color adjustments, but the pages have also been re-lettered and generally given better consistency.
Right now, Chio Club members are getting new batches of these pages every Friday! They’ll eventually make their way to the regular site sometime in 2022, but they’re a major example of the kinds of work we’d like to accomplish on fixing up the website and pages via our latest Chio Club goal! If we can get to $100/month in Chio Club memberships, I can start doing this work for ALL of the Follower archive. We’re a third of the way there already!
As an example of what’s changed, take a look at this before and after:
To get more pages like this, and to help us reach our goal, become a member of the Chio Club!
Now that we’re a few more pages into the newest Follower updates, I think I can show off some of the process that goes into making a page. Folks who support us on Patreon get early looks at much more of this kind of material, so if you like what you see, please chip in a buck or two to help us keep the comics flowing and get rewards like this!
This is what the very beginnings of a page look like. As you can see here, each page starts out with a very rough “pencil” sketch. (I work digitally, so not a true pencil, but who’s counting?)
You’ll note that I’ve added in the dialogue text even though there’s no bubble for it to sit in just yet. That step is up next, but in the meantime it helps me make sure that nothing important will be blocked by the text.
After the pencil sketch is done (and this one is just barely a sketch – it’s just enough to lay out where things need to go) then I’ll go in with an inking brush and make refined outlines.
You might also notice some colored guidelines around the edges of the page. These are removed in the end, but these lines let me know where things will be trimmed off when the comic is eventually printed. I designed Follower from the beginning with the intent of printing books, so I use this template for every new page! I’ll talk about making books in a future post.
Parts of the background are left in as pencil sketches due to the method I’ve been using lately. I like being a little more “painterly” and vague sometimes, especially if the stuff is in the distance or is otherwise not part of the main focus. It lets the primary parts of the image pop out clearly – like Leah and her mom in the top panel.
There are a few steps between this initial ink stage and the completed page, but that’ll be a future Work in Progress post. Or, you can join us on Patreon and take a peek at some pages that haven’t even been posted yet!
I’m streaming three times this week! Join me on Twitch, Picarto, or Patreon while I get to work on some reference drawings for Follower, or thumbnails for the upcoming chapter on Patreon!
Tuesday November 10, 2020: 2:30 PM – Twitch & Picarto
Follower will be returning from hiatus on October 28, 2020! It will resume its regular weekly update schedule on Wednesdays.
If you want to read the rest of the chapter right now, Patreon supporters at all pledge levels can read pages 25-32 in their entirety. For as little as $1, you can quell your suspense and find out what’s up in the camp before everyone else. (And help support the comic while you’re at it!)
If you’d like early access to comic pages and other behind the scenes material, support us on Patreon! We are also planning to open a similar monthly subscription pack for wallpapers and other bonus content via Gumroad, so stay tuned!
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