April 11, 2015 4:44 PM EDT
I had produced 2 comic strips. The first was titled "Woodside". the second was a spin off and untitled. King features was the biggest help to me, even though they were among all the rest who rejected my work. They gave me the best dimensions to produce the originals in for best reduction quality.
To help anyone who may be interested in comics, here are some tips. I cut a piece of wood to the required dimentions, and used it to outline the strip size. The best method for drawing was to pencil everything first. Then, when it is the way you want it, go back over it in ink. I used a fountain pen with refillable cartridges. It gives a nice thin line as well as wider ones. I had done all of the shading with a shading film. Years later, I was drawing political satire and editorial illustrations for an online newspaper. When I looked for shading film, I sadly found it was no longer available.
It was a lot of work to use, but gave great results. Artists use computers now. If you want to register the copyright, they will ask for a representative example or two. I can't remember if the original was required or not.
The way I came up with subject matter was to keep a small notebook and pencil in my pocket. Life is full of humorous situations, you just need to learn the art of embellishment.
I hope this may help anyone trying to draw comics. Bill E.
