UsachanMaN (Level 15)

Intro

Hello Anime Vice! :D It's been a while since I blogged, so tadaaa~ !

Well, as the title of the blog says, I'll be doing a brief tutorial on how to create your own manga page using the Manga Studio Debut 4 program, by Smith Micro.

Enjoy! (I'm still a beginner at this, so bear with me :D)

*please note that the character(s) and ideas that I include in this tutorial are original (i.e. my own work). Please don't use it without referencing me, and dont remove my initials (NA) on the right-hand bottom corner of the pages. Thank you!

Tutorial

NB: BEFORE STARTING, MAKE SURE YOU'VE OUTLINED, PLANNED, OR BRAINSTORMED HOW YOUR PAGE WILL LOOK LIKE! I usually sketch out a rough outline in my pocket sketchpad before I begin my work.

Not much action is going on in this page, since its one of the opening pages of my comic, its mainly just an intro to one of the secondary characters :P

Oh yes, and please excuse my crappy handwriting XD

Step 1

Sketch the page using the "pencil" tool found in the right-hand tool box:

*Note, the reason why the cat is in a different color is because I imported it from my own documents. You can do that by hitting "File" > "Import" > "Image File...". Also, I chose to sketch in light blue, you can choose whichever color you want. I find it handy to sketch in a color other than black since it wont get confusing when you trace over your sketch in Step 3.

Step 2

Time to PANEL! The next tab over (after "Sketch" tab) is the panel tab. The program provides you with various kinds of panels and layouts. I believe you can also draw out your own panels, but I'm still not quite sure how to do it.

For this image, I want there to be 3 panels, 1 big one on the right to get the man's entire sitting figure, and 2 small panels on the left for the close up of the man's face and the cat.

Step 3

Time to OUTLINE! Ok, so its time to outline the sketch, and that`s the next tab over, called "Draw". For outlining, I usually use the kabura pen setting

(Aside: I moved the cat from the ground to the character's lap in the first panel)

Step 4

Patterns

Under the same "Draw" tab, the program has loads of brush types under the pattern brush option. I'll start adding patterns and such on the images in the panels (the button to the left of the eraser option). After clicking that, you get a menu full of different pattern options.

It'll be tedious for me to screencap every step of what I've done, so I'll just show you a picture of each panel, and tell you the brushes I used.

Panel 1 -

Couch : For the couch, I used the "Flower Gradation Airbrush" under the Pattern Brush option. I shaded the folds at the bottom of the couch, the cat's shadow, as well as behind the character's head with the marker option on the left of the Pattern Brush option.

Ground: For the ground, I used the "Lace" pattern under the Pattern Brush. I shaded underneath the couch using the "Cross-hatching" pattern.

Cat: For the cat, I used the airbrush pattern at various shades of gray.

Man: For the man, I used the marker option for his hair and for the shading of his shirt and book. For his skin, I used the airbrush pattern.

Panel 2 -

Man: For his hair, I used the marker option. After that, I topped it with the airbrush option. I then used the kabura pen and added the white highlights. For his skin, I used the airbrush option, and shaded him using the airbrush using a darker shade of gray.

Panel 3 -

Couch : For the couch, I used the "Flower Gradation Airbrush" under the Pattern Brush option. I shaded the cat's shadow with the marker option on the left of the airbrush option and also with the marker option.

Cat: For the cat, I first colored him with the marker, then I used the airbrush pattern at various shades of gray.

Man's arm: For the man's arms I used the airbrush option for the shading

Book: For the book, I used the marker option to shade it.

Step 5

Time to TONE! Ok, so this program comes with loads if screen tones that you can use as a background. For this page, the background I used it called "Vertical Lines Fem". Basically, you drag the tone from the menu and place it on top of the panel. Then you trim it to the areas that you want it to appear. (in my case, I trimmed it so that it appears only in the background and not on the characters or the couch).

Step 6

Time to add some SPEECH BUBBLES!! So now we go to the next tab over, and that's "Character". You get a wide array of dialogue bubbles, and you can choose whichever kind you want.

Now you can add text into the bubbles by using the dialogue box that appears when you double click on the speech bubble. See the image below for instructions:

So following the above steps, you can add the text you want in the speech bubbles, and you're good to go!

Final:

So when you`re done, save and once saved check your documents, and under the file that you saved this project in, you`ll find a finished image of your page:

The End!

So we reached the end of the tutorial! Hope you found it helpful!! XD If you want to check out more of my art, I've uploaded some on my Usachan's Artist Corner thread.

If you`ve got any questions don`t hesitate to post them here and I`ll be sure to answer them as best I can!

UsachanMan over and out!

UsachanMaN (Level 15)

Intro