The Making of the 2015 Holiday Manga

In keeping with requests from my loyal readership, here is the "making of" for the 2015 Holiday Manga. The following steps and associated pictures explain my very un-scientific process at completing a manga. 

Step 1: Find relevant portions of Fullmetal Alchemist that portray roughly what I'm trying to draw. This is for several reasons, including my limited time and limited talent - I'm pretty decent at revising an existing work, but have difficulty "seeing" the layout and characterization on my own. Plus, it is significantly faster for me to use existing work.

Step 2: Develop the layout and story for the page.

Step 3: Pencil sketch each panel to make sure it will fit and makes sense.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - pencil sketch and layout planning.

Step 4: Ink each panel with changes in the outfits and facial expressions as needed.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - inked product just before full coloring.

I'm pretty dang proud of the center middle panel. The hatching and ink work turned out much better than I anticipated. I'm less proud of the right hand lower panel - the only excuse I can give for that panel is my 100-pound Alaskan Malamute being bored and nudging my elbow while I was drawing. Close-up of my favorite panel is below.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - snatching the "last perfect gift."

Step 5: Color in the panels using, you guessed it, Crayola colored pencils. I'm pretty low tech with my art. A smaller version of the final product is below for your enjoyment. 

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - sketched, inked, and colored.

I hope you enjoyed this "making of" blog. I'm working on new art and posts for 2016.