Materials for Comic Books

Just like any art piece, novel, or project, comic books require a set of materials. Mark Crilley goes over what materials he uses as a comic artist in his video. Here is a basic list, though of course you don’t need all of these:

• Sketchbook: to draw/write ideas
• Strathmore smooth surface Bristol: cardstock paper for comic book pages
• Pencils and Sharpeners
• Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser
• Black Prismacolor Pencil
• Artist Ink Pens of various thickness: Pigma Micron, Copic, Faber Castiel
• Watercolors: Grumbacher, Winsor & Newton
• Color Pastels
• Color Pencils: Prismacolor (Verithin and Ordinary)
• Color Markers: Copic, Touch
• India Ink
• White Designers Gouache, White Acrylic, White-Out
• Different size brushes

With the traditional materials, you may need a scanner and an art program to edit, color, or add text to the comic page. A good site for text is Blambot which has free dialogue, sound fx, design, and symbol fonts for comic book artists to use. The two most prominent art programs used for comic books are Adobe Photoshop and Manga Studio. Paul Holden lists the pros and cons for both programs in his article. [2] This is a list of other digital art programs:

• Krita 
• MyPaint 
• ArtRage 
• GIMP 
• SAI
• SmoothDraw 

Though expensive, Wacom Tablets are helpful with art programs and are a faster than drawing with a mouse. Encyclopedias or other reference books are also useful, especially if your internet is not working. Get books of landscapes, cultures, clothing, anatomy, weapons, architecture, vehicles, or anything that will be of great help for your comic book.

Sources:

[1] Crilley, Mark. (2013, August 9). Mark Crilley’s Art Supplies: Everything I Use and Why. [Youtube]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEBzCr_kNns.

[2] Holden, Paul. (2009, December 10). Manga Studio vs. Photoshop Part 1. Retrieved from http://www.pauljholden.com/blog/2009/12/10/manga-studio-vs-photoshop-part-1/.