TOOLS
The episode parts of From Sand To Sky are made with a very simple toolset. I’m using three notebooks, but each has a specific purpose. First there is the big black leather-bound book that contains all the island maps, family trees, location sketches and other things connected to world-building. It’s the kind of book that I hope is never lost or stolen! Then there is a smaller black ring-bound book. It’s used for rough sketching, working out body poses and basic panel compositions. Finally, I am drawing the final pencilled panels on graph paper. This particular graph paper was a little expensive, but the lines are a beautiful, fine non-photocopiable blue and the paper is very smooth and nice to draw on. I don’t mind spending a bit of money on something that makes the hardest part of the work a little easier.
I am using three drawing tools for the stories. The first is a blue, non-photocopiable pencil for doing the rough layouts of the panels. Then a black 4B pencil for marking the final outlines. Finally I am inking the finished art with a simple fine liner. I decided to just use one width of pen, as the final work is in colour so I don’t have to worry too much about different elements of each picture standing out from the others. Then I have a small ruler, eraser, whiteout and a pencil sharpener. It’s a very beautiful little metal sharpener, that has a good weight in the hand. That doesn’t help anything to do with either drawing or sharpening, just I sometimes like to throw around in my hands while I’m thinking of the solution to a drawing problem.
There are a few other things I use to produce the final pages, which I will discuss in a later post about process.
This post originally appeared on the From Sand To Sky blog.
