I don't know what possessed me to choose to make my latest comic in classic Ligne Claire [link]

Grrrrr

It is soooooo hard. For someone who has zero free time, it's the worst possible option.

Every detail and background has to be line-accurate. The colours must be pleasing, just this side of pastel and far away from gaudy brights. The characters must be anatomically correct and beuatifully drawn. This is actually harder to do as part-cartoonish than ultra-realistic (for me at least, realism comes easily to my pencil).

And the workflow is killing. I draw the roughs in pencil, then draw over them again using tracing paper/layout paper, to refine the pencils. Then again, in ink or brush pen, to refine the "cartoon-ish" lines. Only then do I trace it into Adobe Illustrator. Then I trace over it with the Illustrator brush pens (the art pen strokes for use with Wacom tablets). Then place it in the panel(s). Then I add the colours and then the shading. All this takes ages because I have, as I said, no time.

Why did I choose this style? I blame Scott McCloud [link] . He convinced me that more "iconic" characters has universal appeal. And the greater the accuracy of detail in the setting and background, the more it draws the readers in.

Ok, moaning over, I must say I'm very pleased with what I've made so far. I've been drawing my main character over and over until the figure's face, lines and expression become a "muscle memory". The story telling flows easier then.