This is the first step in...
This is the first step in creating a new character. First, lay out the basic shapes that you will later form into a body. This is mostly a series of circles and ovals connected with straight or curved lines to create your most basic shape.
Illustrators have long had the job of creating the artistic images that we see. Most people think that all of the work is now done on computers and that there's no need for fine white paper and the luster of a graphite pencil. Though much of the work today does utilize the computer, most artists still start the creative process with a few sheets of white paper and a fancy $5 pencil.
To see the process that an image goes through before it's put into print, we took a trip to 1968 W. Adams in Los Angeles, California, the address of Imajimation Studios, where Mark and Mike Davis create the Blokhedz. Blokhedz is an independent comic book that tells the lives of those who live and breathe in rough and gritty Empire City. They walked us through from sketch to final draft, while explaining the process along the way.
This is an exemplary display of the process used by most who work in the comic or movie industry when creating those books or films that we all enjoy. If you're interested in this type of work, most of the movie studios and comic firms hire individuals for each step of this process, which would be a great place to start if you wanted to make this your life's work.
 After the sketch lines have...  After the sketch lines have been drawn out, you can see your character taking shape. You can see here how the reference lines are used to form a head and face that will have realistic qualities and keep the drawing from looking flat. |  Here, your character has now...  Here, your character has now been completed and any changes that need to be made in relation to proportion and arrangement must be made before going on to the next step. |  This is the first part of...  This is the first part of the transfer process; this is where you will need some additional equipment. A light box is needed to transfer the image onto a clean piece of paper without all of your eraser marks and reference lines. This needs to be done so that the final image that you scan into the computer is as clean as possible. |
 When you start to trace the...  When you start to trace the image, you will want to start from the top and work your way down so that your hands do not smudge any of the work that has already been traced. |  This is the final traced image;...  This is the final traced image; it's cleaner and a much sharper representation of our character. |  This is the final step in...  This is the final step in which we scan our image into the computer and bring it up in our program of choice so that we can shade the character and prep the work for print. The shading process differs from program to program. |