It is a dynamic process that I use and it varies with almost each strip. For example in #1 I "pencilled" on my Wacom tablet. Got everything where I wanted it, "inked" it, then "toned" it all in Manga Studio Debut 4.0. Because the last panel was so similar and only the expressions had changed, I simply cloned the final product of the first panel and changed Aurelas and Doldin's expressions. A time saver of the highest degree!
For #2: "This Can Only End In Flames" I did the original sketch while I was away from my comp but I put down a simple indication of what I wanted, how I wanted it laid out and then placed the locations of my word balloons and numbered them so that I could decide of the dialogue flowed properly. The dialogue called for Daggerborn to talk several times in multiple panels but he would have taken up too much space to put in each panel, which is why you have his dialogue jumping down to Eranith's intro panel. As you can see I didn't deviate much from the intended plan.
For #3: "
Rune-keepers Do It In Self-Defense", I actually did a couple rough layouts away from the computer but I did everything on the computer. A subtle difference to this strip was that I decided to not use tones which hare so prevalent in the first two. I did all of the shading with the pen tool much like I would on a standard fantasy illustration piece I'd do. There were several times where I was working on the reveal of the second panel and burst into laughter by how much stuff was going on to express Narmir's rage using Scathing Mockery on an auroch (the big fat cow with the "dumb" face). It had to be one of the most surreal drawings I've ever done because it begs the question, "Just what could you say to make a cow burst into flames?"Hopefully, you all have gained a little insight into the creative process that I go through when I work on the strips that tell the tale of my LotRO kinship, Children of Iluvatar. I will go ahead and include a rough of the next strip which I am currently laying out and we'll see what process I take that time!
-Darrick
