▼ This is my finished manga page (read right to left).

 

・ Artist profile: Mochida Moo (Japanese: 餅田むぅ)

I like drawing boys and girls. I occasionally draw official anthology comics.

 

[1] Making a new canvas

I created a new canvas from the [File] menu > [New].

Then in the [New] dialog box, I set the blue icon (“Show all comic settings”) for [Use of work].

 

I select [B5 Color (350dpi)] from the preset dropdown menu to create an A4 page with B5 size register marks and inner frame.

 

When drawing monochrome manga, I work with 600 dpi or higher without anti-aliasing. This manga will be in color, so I set it to 350 dpi with anti-aliasing.

 

[2] Drawing a rough draft (storyboard)

The characters will be a male manga artist and a high school girl.

Since this is a lesson on drawing manga, I decided to make it manga-themed and went for a literal manga artist.

 

As this is a color manga, I decided to make it colorful and added a lot of accessories such as hair bands and hairpins to the artist.

When dealing with two characters, I make sure to contrast the characters’ colors, expressions, and personalities.

 

(1) I drew the rough draft (storyboard) on a layer. I made this manga as the right page of a spread, so I drew while remembering that the gutter (the side where the book is bound) would be to the left of the page. I also make sure to keep the number of frames per page under seven.

 

For drafts, I use the [Pencil] tool > [Darker pencil] sub tool. I lower the hardness from the initial settings and turn off stabilization.

 

(2) I renamed the layer “storyboard”.

I also set the layer color to light blue. The [Layer color] can be set from the [Layer Properties] palette.

 

Note: I set the [Layer color] to light blue, but you can change it to any color you like. For details on the [Layer Property] palette, refer to the following TIPS.

 

[3] Adding dialog

(1) I added dialog using the [Text] tool.

 

I try to place dialog as far from the edges as possible (especially on the gutter edge), but it’s okay if the text goes over the fore-edge (the side that the book opens).

 

Note: For details on how to use the text tool, refer to “Basics” and “Settings” here.

 

(2) I created a new layer folder and put all of the dialog layers inside. I renamed the folder “dialog”, and placed it at the top of the layer palette.

 

[4] Drawing border frames

(1) I selected the [Layer] menu > [New Layer] > [Frame Border folder].

 

(2) I set [Anti-aliasing] to [Middle] in the dialog box, then clicked [OK].

 

(3) This created a frame border folder on the canvas. Initially, a large frame is made along the inner border.

 

(4) I divided this frame later based on the draft, using the [Frame Border] tool > [Divide frame border] sub tool.

 

For details on how to use the [Frame Border folder] and [Divide frame border] sub tool, refer to the TIPS below.

 

(1) With the [Divide frame border] sub tool, I divided the border into three frames as shown below. Then, I adjusted the borders by dragging the square handles with the [Object] tool.

Note: If you want to change the frames to a flexible layout like this example, select the frame with the [Object] tool and set [Keep gutters aligned] to [None] in the [Tool property] palette.

 

I made the following adjustments.

 

In the next lesson, I will explain my drafting and inking process.