Notebook

• A comic strip artist should carry a notebook at all times. Throughout the day, the people and places she encounters may inspire an idea that can later be used in creating a character or scene in her comic strip. As the artist collects ideas, she creates a large arsenal from which to pull when it comes time to sit down and draw seriously.
  
  

Template

• Every comic artist needs a template from which to work. Decide what size you want your comic strips to be by figuring out the size of each individual box in your strip and how many boxes you want per strip. A popular arrangement is two 5-by-3-inch boxes, setup as two boxes per line. This leaves plenty of room for the artist to draw a clear picture and include text for dialogue or narration. Format and save the template for your boxes to your computer. Practice drawing within these boundaries often so that you begin to master spacing.
  
  

Materials

• A regular piece of paper and a pencil will work for sketches and rough drafts, but your serious drafts will appear cleaner and clearer with the use of quality drawing materials. Cartoonists use pencils of varying thickness to draw on Bristol board of which there are several types with varying smoothness. Experiment with more than one type of Bristol board to determine which you prefer. The smoother the board, the more the pencil lead "bleeds." Some cartoonists like this look or can manipulate it for their drawings. Also experiment with different sized leads for drawing characters, landscapes and writing text.
  
  

Text

• Use a lettering guide to keep your letters a consistent size and written in straight lines. Lettering guides are plastic templates with cutout spaces for the artist to write in. Write the first draft of your text in pencil. Finalize your lettering by removing the guide and inking them in permanently with a fine-tipped black pen.
  
  

Drawing

• Sketch your characters in pencil in the remaining space once the text is written in. Ink over your characters when you are pleased with the pencil outline. Use drawing ink and a fine-tipped brush, making sure that the brush is heaviest with ink on the outline and underside of the characters bodies. Fill in fine details with a fine-tipped pen, including facial details, clothing details and the background of your scene, such as a brick wall or wooden fence. Keep your lines simple and sparse - for example, the separation between a wall and the floor can be accomplished with a slanted line across the panel. Erase the pencil marks underneath once the ink has dried completely.