How ICECUBES Gets Drawn.

Here’s a quick look at how an ‘ICECUBES’ strip gets drawn.

1. Here the panel sizes have been determined and the loose ‘blocking’ sketches go in. Note that the drawings are very ‘gestural’ here, to get maximum movement and life into the drawings.
2. The text grid lines are drawn. Although I usually do this first, in this case I felt like putting the characters in place before the text because I had a good feel for what I wanted them to look like. Note: I had already done preliminary sketches before blocking out my characters.
3. The copy is written out and any spacing problems are worked out. The speech balloons are drawn and sometimes adjusted for a better read. Note: some details have been added to the drawings. For example Peckinpaw’s eyes in panel 3 have been moved up and his face is more round.
4. Now that I know where the text goes and the speech balloons fit I first do a preliminary erasing, then a redraw with bolder pencil lines. I use a 2B or 3B pencil to make the final pencil lines before I ink with a metal nib. I start my inking by doing the letters first. Note: before I ink I do another erase so that my pencil lines are very faint.