Tips For Comic Creators
#1 - How to Start a Comic Page
Starting a comic page can feel surprisingly difficult. You have a story in your head. You know what your characters are doing. You may even know exactly what you want the page to look like. But then you face a blank page. Where do you start? The answer is simple: don't start by drawing the finished page. Start by thinking about what the page needs to accomplish.
1. Know What You Want the Page to Do
Before you pick up your pencil or stylus, ask yourself: What is the purpose of this page? Is it:
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introducing a character?
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establishing a new location?
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showing an important action?
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revealing information?
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creating suspense?
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delivering a joke?
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moving the story forward?
A good comic page is not simply a collection of nice drawings. Every panel should contribute to the story. If you are the artist working from someone else's script, read the page carefully before you start drawing. Make sure you understand what happens before, during and after the page. If you are both writer and artist, you have an additional advantage: you can adjust the script as you develop the visuals.
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2. Don't Start With the Details
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is starting with the character's face, costume or other details. It feels productive. But it can create problems later. You may spend twenty minutes drawing a beautiful character — only to discover that there isn't enough room for the other character, the speech bubbles or the background.
Instead, start small. Think of your page as a series of simple shapes. A character can begin as a stick figure. A building can begin as a rectangle. A car can begin as a box.
At this stage, you are not drawing. You are planning.
3. Make a Thumbnail
A thumbnail is a tiny, rough version of your page. It might only be a few centimetres wide. And that's exactly the point. At this stage, you don't need beautiful artwork. You need to answer questions such as:
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Where will the panels go?
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Where will the characters stand?
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Where will the reader look first?
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Where will the dialogue go?
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Which moment deserves the most space?
Try several versions. Don't be afraid to make them messy. In fact, a messy thumbnail can be more useful than a beautiful drawing because you can change it quickly.
Try this:
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Draw three different versions of your page in five minutes.
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Don't worry about anatomy, perspective or details.
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Just concentrate on composition and storytelling.
4. Think About the Reading Direction
Your reader needs to know where to look next. In a Western comic, the normal reading direction is:
Left → Right
Top → Bottom
Your panel arrangement should make this progression feel natural. Avoid creating confusing situations where the reader isn't sure which panel comes next. This becomes particularly important when you use unusual panel shapes, overlapping panels or characters crossing panel borders. Experiment — but don't sacrifice clarity.
5. Give Your Important Moments Space
Not every panel needs to be the same size. A dramatic revelation might deserve a large panel. A quick sequence of actions might work better with several small panels. For example:
Small → Small → Small → LARGE
That can create a sense of acceleration followed by an important moment. You can also use a large panel to establish a location or give the reader time to absorb a powerful image. Think about your panels as part of the rhythm of your story.
Small panels can speed things up.
Large panels can slow things down.
6. Leave Room for Words
If your page contains dialogue, plan for it from the beginning. This is especially important for artists. Don't finish your character's head and then discover that there is nowhere to put the speech bubble. When creating your thumbnail, indicate the approximate position of:
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Speech bubbles
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Captions
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Sound effects
You don't need to draw them perfectly. A simple circle or rectangle is enough. Remember:
The speech bubble is part of the composition.
It is not something that gets added after the artwork is finished.
7. Think About the Reader's Eye
When someone looks at your page, you want their eye to move naturally from one panel to the next. You can help this happen through:
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character positioning
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direction of movement
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lines and shapes
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contrast
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colour
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facial expressions
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speech bubbles
For example, if a character is looking toward the right, the reader will naturally tend to follow that direction. You can use this to guide the reader toward the next important element. But don't overthink it. Your first priority is always clarity.
8. Establish the Scene
When a scene begins in a new location, give the reader enough information to understand where they are. You don't necessarily need a huge, detailed background. A few important visual clues may be enough.
A classroom might need:
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desks
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a board
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windows
A café might need:
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tables
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a counter
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menus
A spaceship might need:
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control panels
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screens
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distinctive machinery
Choose details that communicate the environment without overwhelming the page. You don't have to draw everything. Draw what the reader needs.
9. Build Your Page in Stages
Once you're happy with your thumbnail, you can gradually add detail. A useful workflow is:
1. Idea
↓
2. Thumbnail
↓
3. Rough layout
↓
4. Pencils / refined drawing
↓
5. Inks
↓
6. Colours / shading
↓
7. Lettering
↓
8. Final check
You don't have to follow exactly this process. Every artist develops their own workflow. But working from general to specific will usually save you time.
Exercise
Here's a challenge you can try today. Create a one-page comic with six panels.
Your story:
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A character enters a room.
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They notice something strange.
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They investigate.
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They discover what caused it.
That's it. No complicated plot. No elaborate character design. No need for detailed backgrounds. Your objective is to tell the story clearly using six panels. Before you draw the final page, create three different thumbnails.
Then ask yourself:
Which version tells the story most clearly?
Choose that one.
Don't Try to Make It Perfect...
Your first pages will probably contain mistakes. That's normal.
You may discover that:
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your panels are too crowded;
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your characters are too small;
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your dialogue doesn't fit;
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your backgrounds take too long;
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your page doesn't flow as well as you expected.
That's part of learning. The important thing is to finish pages. You will learn more from completing ten imperfect pages than from endlessly trying to make one page perfect. So when you sit down in front of that intimidating blank page, don't think: "I have to draw an amazing comic page." Think: "I just need to figure out what happens first." Start with a thumbnail. Keep it simple. Then build from there. Your finished comic page begins with a small, messy drawing.