This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
the characters. With a plan in place, a team of artists is selected who are both available for the contracted timeline and suited to performing the art work. Layouts are designed, approved and the work is assigned to a penciler who creates the basic drawings for the book. From there, inks are incorporated to add depth to the art, determining where lights and darks will come in to play. The colorist is next to perform his/her magic, adding subtle or vibrant hues, shadow, contrast and tone. Finally, the work goes to a leterer, someone whose job it is to effectively fit word to images. Post production work entails cleaning pages, ensuring panels are straight and formating print ready pages for printers. The process is repeated for the book’s cover.


Each of the artists seem to have their own favorite “tools of the trade” as diverse as the people and comics they create. David Brame, a professor at Ryerson University in Toronto who closely identifies with his job as a cartoonist, uses “whatever tools are necessary to make the work as strong as possible.” Overall, the program of choice in working with color seems to be Photoshop. Heather Breckel uses a 4X5 Wacom Graphire tablet while Brame prefers a loose pencil style which he tightens with the use of brush and ink, a technique clearly seen in his distinctive style.


No longer restricted to a “house” style - a term which applied more in the days of corporate comic book publishing, these artists seem to enjoy great freedom of expression in defining their unique styles, as evidenced by their diverse portfolios. These aren’t your Daddy-o’s comic collection from his youth. The comic books of the golden era were guided by the house with McCarthy-like restrictions, and mandated ratings, but today’s graphic novels push the limits with their creativity. They also can contain much more mature content. “The audience has matured,” says owner of the Indie Bookstore, Atlas Comics in Charlotesville, VA, Beau Eichling. “One of the big misconceptions is that kids are the customer base, but it’s actually those kids who grew up in the 50s and 60s with comics and are still


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