My friend Bill Riling loves drawing comics and he is a master of the classical approach to creating and drawing a comic strip. His creation is called The Adventures of Lewis and Cluck. In this article, I’ve included some behind the scenes insight into Bill’s creative process. I hope you will pick up some valuable tips and also check out Bill’s comic. Once you start following the adventures of the “Explorer Chickens” you are sure to become a fan, just like me.
Bill works as a feature animation story artist at Dream Works and his story boarding approach shows in his comic strip planning and layout. Below is a sample of a future Lewis and Cluck strip where the “Explorer Chickens” are searching for the mysterious Big Foot. As you can see, Bill has roughed out the Sunday page style layout and then written himself lots of editorial notes, in red, on how he wants to improve the final strip.
Below is the final strip. You can compare the two and you will see many of the notes incorporated in the final as well as some changes that weren’t originally noted. It’s a great example of the classical approach to drawing a comic strip and worth some study.
