kradeelav

Here's my guide to making comics with Krita, down to the details such as layer setup, borders, speech bubbles, and SFX.

preface: it took me at least a year to figure this process out; but once when you've figured out the system & a template, it's smooth sailing. let's use this finished spread from the selfship comic last year to go through the process:



i'm going to assume a certian level of digital program proficiency (knowing what layers are, having a general idea of what vector vs raster graphics are, etc) since otherwise this post would be a book. rest of the post under the cut; this one's going to be a long one as is.

READ MORElet's start with talking about the layers for a single page of the above comic image.
(ignore the "orbs" and "titania bubble" layers - those were oddities for this specific spread.) Going from the top downwards:



- SFX - sound effects. this is an optional layer to have if you don't have a lot of sound effects. you can use either render the sound effects by drawing them out (raster) or vector SFX; whatever you're most comfortable with. more on that below.
- frame - this is the comic page borders.
- speech bubbles - self explanatory. contains both the text inside the bubble and the bubbles themselves.
- ink - main lineart & drawing layer; self explanatory.
- tone - the shading layer.
- (deleted) ruff/sketch - this is the sketchy thumbnail layer that is imported when i first start working on each spread, and naturally gets deleted when the lineart starts looking good on its own.

so!

there's two types of digital rendering krita can do: raster (most similar to drawing with a pencil or tablet) and vector (computer draws mathematical lines and shapes and text that you can manipulate). a lot of programs fully specialize in one or the other but the killer feature of krita is it can do both on a single page; you just need separate layers depending on the rendering..

that's what this "fx" symbol stands for by the way - these are the vector layers....



... and the symbols circled in purple clue you in that they're raster layers (ink, tone, sketch) where you do the actual drawing. with me so far?

speaking of those:

borders/frame

here's what the borders layer looks like + (the print layout layer above everything in black/yellow). the print layout layer is really only useful if you're physically printing this comic (it's basically bleed/trim if you've heard of those terms, ignore this otherwise).



i really struggled with doing borders in krita until finding this tutorial. since the thing is i make a lot of last minute changes. i need to be able to move and edit borders around easily if a panel's not working for me. so the method above makes it incredibly flexible to just ... up and move one, or to make a gutter wider.

i also really need to be able to see what's behind the borders while i'm drawing it to check anatomy sometimes -- the beautiful thing is you can simply turn the layer style to "multiply" and it's effectively transparent with one click.



like this, voila!

lettering

here's the lettering layer(s) with one bubbles' text selected.



fair warning: krita is absolute ass with the text tool. it's the biggest failing but in newer versions i do believe they're slowly working on improvements. thankfully this program can do just enough to letter bubbles.

essentially, i use the same trick as the frames shown in the video above. if you slap a "layer style > stroke" on the whole "bubbles" layer, that's where that 2px black border comes from, and that layer-style-as-a-border "follows" every bubble so it's consistent.

(rule of thumb aesthetics-wise is speech bubble borders should be slightly thinner than frame borders, and on average about as wide as your lineart.)

SFX (sound effects)

technically you can hand-ink all of your SFX if vector art scares you or if you don't intend on doing much, but the vast majority of pros use vector work for efficiency. hentai/erotic work also has a lot of SFX versus other (non-NSFW) genres for the immersion factor with bodily functions.



the spread above didn't need a lot, though. as you can see it's mostly the inorganic orb clinks and then the big SHING. (i put my for-the-web-kradeelav.com signature on the same layer for laziness).

here's part of my current sfx library below just to show you what i start with for erotic strips; usually i start with some base fonts and start moving the letters around individually.



(a lot of these are redone for every project; there's some in here that are already "outdated" in my eyes.)

miscellaneous

my favorite inking brushes are from this free resource pack. my favorite halftone (shading) brushes are from this (also free).

thanks for reading! COLLAPSE

19 years ♥ #zihark

(meant to post this on vday but got carried away with the colors, lol. experimented with ALL the effects...)

nailah, #fetellius

excited for the twenty year anniversary ~

been experimenting with some coloring/finishing techniques and i'm so impressed with krita's modulo layer effect ...

it's really fun studying  the mathematics behind this class of layer effects and surmising why it works so well in the above screenshot (on top of "flat" cell-shade drawing to add just enough of randomness.) i think it has to do with the logic of gradients but then the abrupt switch to the next gradient, versus one samey blob of color.

"painting" that layer effect on with a watercolor brush (introducing another level of randomness) has some serious mileage! especially if you can still eyeball the general intensity/hue.

one problem i've always had with digital drawings is how stiff and lifeless it can feel without the randomness inherent in physical paints. a lot of effort behind digital brushes is the creators deliberately re-introducing artificial randomness - but sometimes it still feels odd or not enough. wet paints and ink separate, markers fade over time, entropy is its own artisan, in a way.

#zihark #fetellius

evil fates daddy

(locked in with this strip both with the style and panels; now it's just a clean up marathon for the next three weeks.)
#fefates

# sorry you went through all of your shit gunter but i hope this comic makes up for it (blows a kiss) i think you're having fun here at least #fefates

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made a breakthrough on this #fefates hentai strip this past weekend ~

it's the first time i've really tried to blend something truly genre-oriented (hentai), genre-*defying*, and something i'm truly passionate about with eros. i think it's succeeding, actually.

some tenderness ~
filed under #zihark

the draw what you're wearing in 5 minutes meme was a remarkably cute one.

Hope you enjoy this Nagamas gift, MillaDraws ! I had a LOT of fun with your prompt researching modern fashion and thinking about how to subtly incorporate how they'd dress themselves -- both as individuals, but also what possible ways game archetypes (and the story subtly) could bleed in.

Scarlet as a skateboarder instantly hit me especially with the mental image of her flying through the streets with the same grace as her on a wyvern, and she'd look so stylish and joyful with the flower motif that still match her no-nonsense getup, good for an adventure anywhere. That fur collar around her jacket would be needed if her curiosity takes her to anywhere colder!

Gunter -as always- was more subtle; I could ironically see him working as a detective on a tough case no-one cared about or a temporary bodyguard to somebody threatened that he never talked about, but was still a remarkably kind face to the local streets despite his intimidating presence. He also strikes me as always having colorful socks for whimsy even if nobody else sees them. :)

#fefates

to leigh for Nagamas ~ the warmest happy holidays to you two ;)

let's just say when the assignment landed in my inbox i irl YELLED in delight and happy plotting knowing exactly what you wanted out of this hehe. had so much fun adding lil' extra gunterleigh details that you've shared over the years; i'm sure you already noticed a few.

#fefates

#zihark

can't believe i'm learning more about architecture & world history from dank crack game lore youtube vids instead of several years of the former lol

#mscfanart

gunter/corrin under the cut, #fefates
Creator Chose Not To Use Warnings

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(for an exchange on ao3) kal/null, #repcomm, #starwars
Creator Chose Not To Use Warnings

    kal'buir doesn't trust the kamiise to touch his boy after he'd been injured in training. patching him up is a ritual they do in private.    (among others.)

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