Drawing a page for Laser Moose

Page 50 Color Final

Working on Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy has been so much fun. I can’t wait for you all to see it in September! But for now, here’s a look at my process.

Step 1: The Script

Every page starts with the script. For this page, the script was:

Panel 1. Wide panel. Trees start rolling down the hill.
Panel 2. LASER MOOSE: Rabbit Boy! Into my antlers! Quick!
Panel 3. Rabbit Boy leaping into Laser Moose’s antlers.

Step 2: Very Rough Sketches

I start the actual drawing with a really rough sketch, just to figure out the general shapes and how to lay out the page. This one’s on a Post-It:

Page 50 post-it

Then I draw a quick scruffy version in a dummy book – which I made from a bunch of pieces of paper folded in half. The dummy book sketches helped me get a sense of how pages would look next to each other.

p50 Rough Sketch

Step 3: Full-Size Page Drafts

Then I take a first stab at sketching out the page in the full size it will appear in the book.

Draft 1

You might have noticed here that I don’t do what any normal person would do: start with a pencil sketch. Maybe it’s all those years of drawing on post-it notes (where I can’t do a pencil sketch first because it tends to mark the post-it), but whatever the reason, I prefer working in pen only. So every draft is in pen. If I want to refine something, I re-draw it. I know it’s weird, but it’s what feels right!

Page 50, Draft 2

Step  4: Final Linework

When I’m happy with my page drafts, I go ahead and draw the final linework:

Page 50 Final BW

Step 5: Colour

All of the work so far has been hand-drawn. I like the feel of pen on paper and I haven’t quite got the knack of drawing on the computer, so I do all of my work by hand. But I do go to the computer for the final step: colour. Since this book is my first major work in colour, this is a particularly fun part for me. Here are the final panels:

Page 50 Final Colour

Any Questions?

Got any questions about any of this? Pop them into the comments here, ask me on Facebook, or email me.

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9 thoughts on “Drawing a page for Laser Moose

  • April 1, 2016 at 6:09 am
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    Awesome Stuff Doug! Can’t wait till it’s released! Good Luck!

    Reply
    • April 1, 2016 at 12:40 pm
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      Thanks! 🙂

      Reply
  • April 1, 2016 at 9:34 am
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    This is awesome. Thank you for sharing your process. My friends always tell me that I should be a cartoonist, too. I’ve done a little bit of cartooning online, but nothing regular. Your post about making a living as a cartoonist was also really good.

    Reply
    • April 1, 2016 at 12:43 pm
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      Glad you’re enjoying these posts, Christopher! Definitely do more cartooning! I highly recommend it! 🙂

      Reply
  • April 1, 2016 at 12:56 pm
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    Hi Doug, great seeing your process. I always really enjoy the sketching bit, how about you? Have you tried out an Apple Pencil yet? I just got one and it’s the closest thing I have found to be able to feel like I am really drawing on paper.

    Reply
    • April 1, 2016 at 1:10 pm
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      Thanks Tara! I’ve got friends who swear by their Cintiqs, so I’ve been getting curious about drawing digitally and the tools that are out there. I hadn’t heard of the Apple Pencil, so I’ll check it out! 🙂

      Reply
  • April 7, 2016 at 1:19 pm
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    Rabbit Boy getting ready to put on hosery, panties, and cape?

    Reply
    • April 7, 2016 at 1:29 pm
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      Ha! No, no costumes for this dynamic duo! 🙂

      Reply
  • April 12, 2016 at 11:39 am
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    Thank you for sharing this with us!
    Greetings from Argentina 🙂

    Reply

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