Ok peeps, I finally, finally got around to making some posts about how I make comics. It seems as though it's been long over due. I dunno, I've been sorta out of the loop lately.
So yea. Here's how I get my freak on...with comics, in the solitary confines of my studio, in case anyone was curious. For now I'm going to start with tools, and then onto other steps later.
YUMMY COMIC TOOLS!

{01. Mechanical Pencil, 0.5mm lead HB, 02. Lead holder, 2mm, HB, 03. Blue Pencil, 0.7mm, 04. Zebra G-pen, 05. Brausse 66 pen nib, 06. Maru-pen, 07. Felt liner for panels, 1mm, 08. Copic sketch marker, #100 or #110, 09. Royal & Langnickel miniMagestic spotter 3/0, 10. Gel liner, 0.3mm, 11. White Gel liner (for boo-boos), 12. Pilot ink, non-waterproof, 13. Extra G-pen nibs (I wear through a g-pen nib approx. every 20 pages. These are tachigawa brand) 14. Kneadable eraser.}

I thought it'd be handy to include links to each of these tools, but that doens't mean you HAVE to use the same tools I do. Over the years these are the ones I've become the most comfortable with, but  everybody's different, experiment with different things and find what suits you best. I think it's most important to use the tools that suit whatever style or way of storytelling you want to express. That includes working totally digitally and completely ignoring all this comic tool business. I work digitally often, there are even *gasp!* a couple of pages of Soulless I inked in Sai~ (big secret, in case you were wondering) So yeah, don't feel like you're not hardcore enough if you don't want to work on paper or whatever.


Some notes on these tools:
01. Mechanical Pencil: I use this pencil to draw everyyyything. I dunno why, but I just never have liked using traditional wood pencils. Cold metal is way better. I have a pretty light hand when I draw, so HB lead works best for me.
02. I use the lead holder to draw more expressively, whenever I want a little more line variation in my sketches.
03. When I sketch on the comic page itself, I use the blue pencil because it's easy to erase (you don't want to do too much erasing on a page before inking because it'll make your inks bleed more), and even if I don't erase after I ink, I can just fiddle with the levels in photoshop to get rid of the blue lines later.
04. G-pen! I was actually using the brausse 66 to ink up until the about chapter 9 of soulless, but then I found out that I was holding the G-pen at too low of an angle, and that's why it wasn't drawing right for me. So once I figured that out, drawing with the G-pen has been awesome!
05. And since I know how to use the g-pen, I hardly use the Brausse at all any more, but sometimes it's nice for drawing hair.
06. I use the maru pen for drawing fine details, like in the face, hair, and when I'm hatching skin or clothing.
07. This pen is for drawing panels, but sometimes I use it to fill in tight spots with black, too.
08. I use copics mainly just for filling in black areas.
09. Sometimes I like to ink with a brush, just whenever it seems like it might look good for a certain scene. I like using a brush to ink, but I'm not sure that I've found the right brush/ink combo just yet.
10. Gel liners are really handy for drawing backgrounds, like little details and stuff. But they tend to smudge a lot. So use at your own risk.
11. I use white-ink pens to white-out really small areas that I don't want to fiddle with in Photoshop. They do mix with the ink I use, since the ink isn't waterproof, so I only use it to edit super small areas.
12. Pilot drawing ink is the best!!! If you've been trying to use nib pens and they haven't been working out for you, it's probably because you haven't been using he right ink. That was my problem for a long time. The ink is totally awesome, but it is a little hard to find. When jet-pens runs out of stock I kinda freak out because they're the only place outside of japan to easily get it. But-- Speedball india ink also works pretty well, though I think it's a little runny and dries way too slow. But you can get it anywhere!
13. All metal nibs wear down with use. Maru-pens are the worst about it, but G-pens last me about 20-25 pages. I have no idea if that's good or bad time as far as G-pens go, but that's when I end up replacing them.
14. pretty self explanatory. lol

This is the paper I use, I've tried all sorts of different paper, but I like using "manga paper" the best, it's just...made to be inked on. I like .Too brand paper the best, but you CANNOT buy it in the states for whatever reason. So I settle for Maxon, or Deleter brands, which are both totally servicable.

Other tools I use include:
- A light board
- A computer
- Photoshop CS6
- Paint Tool Sai
- Clip Paint Studio (also see here for info in english)
- Wacom Tablet with classic pen