I Have an Idea for a Comic Strip. Now What?
Most likely your idea already includes some characters, a setting and a context. We use a context rather than story in comic strips because most strips are not based on a single linear storyline from strip to strip. Even for those that do, the short format of a single strip breaks up a longer story into small segments, thus putting an emphasis on context.
The context is the circumstances of which define your characters, setting, theme, etc. and how it will be related to your readers. When you tell someone you have a comic about an alligator and bird who are documentarians of the human race, that is the context – the core of your idea.
Yeah, so now what? You might be tempted to jump in and start drawing comics! But slow down, pilgrim. You need to develop the idea first. I know you’re a cartoonist and the fun part is drawing characters doing funny things but trust me, the development stage can be really exciting too!
So let’s start with the fun part, designing the characters. Taking into consideration their personalities and situations, you can start sketching. The trick is to keep drawing them over and over doing many different things with different expressions. We will explore in depth character development in this blog but repetitious drawing is the best way to solidify your designs.
As you do this, you will no doubt think of many ideas, jokes and situations for individual comic strips. Jot them down so you can go back later when you’re ready. Keep these ideas in a single place so you can access them easily to add more. My cartoonist likes to keep a separate sketchbook just for comic strip development. Mark a few pages just for ideas and for now, have fun filling up the rest with character sketches!
How much do you like to draw your characters?
