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calthyechild — Humanizing Comic Book Bubbles (and a font) by-sa

Published: 2012-09-23 20:58:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 2350; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 98
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Description I made a tutorial on how I make my bubbles. I don't really take credit for this version, but damned if I can remember where I got it from and people ask, so... yeah.

Photoshop CS2.

Oh yeah and you can also download the shitty font I use for my comic if you poke that there download button, just as a bonus. Oh and hey look creative commons license so if you do use it and say, print your comic, yeah, knock yourself out. It doesn't even have a readme.txt. You can see how the font looks in Those Who Favor Fire. [link] And of course it's the font used in the tutorial.

Just like, don't go reselling it or anything or I'll probably bite you. Don't take advantage of the generous artist, there's not all that many of me.

There ya go; my font and my tutorial, now you're all set.
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Comments: 7

pixieface [2012-09-24 00:24:12 +0000 UTC]

Awesomesauce! Y'know, that's incredibly helpful for me. I'd been wrestling with balloons for a while. Humanizing the shape = really big deal.

(Fyi, there are some really good free comic book fonts over at Blambot. [link] Personally I prefer Digital Strip for my main font.)

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calthyechild In reply to pixieface [2012-09-24 00:38:42 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I know. I used to use Blambot free fonts (I was fond of Mighty Zeo Caps and ACME Secret Agent, myself) but it bothered me that my comic book font looked the same as everyone else's. So I made my own. I call it shitty but I'm actually quite fond of it, it looks the way I want it to look on my art, you know? I'll probably remake it eventually, but it's far easier than hand lettering digitally!

However, I certainly recommend them to anyone looking for a new comic font!

Anyway, I'm glad I could help you with your bubbles. It really is a big deal to humanize the bubbles, and when you don't have Illustrator or... just hate vectors... I was doing vector bubbles for a while, and while I didn't hate it, I just didn't like having to use one extra program in my process.

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pixieface In reply to calthyechild [2012-09-24 05:34:47 +0000 UTC]

I am not a big fan of vectors either - they just really don't suit my style, which tends to be a bit scratchy and loose, y'know? Vectors are so... clean, and graphic-design-y. Nothing against graphic designers - lots of friends are them - but I'm not one.

I do like your font, very much! Did you use Fontographer? That's another piece of software that someday I would love to have! Back in art college I made a font out of an alphabet I drew on light-reactive paper (the kind you use to develop photos - you can draw on it with a slightly doctored torch!)... I wish I still had that font, it was awesome!

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purenightshade [2012-09-23 22:01:06 +0000 UTC]

That's really cool! I'll have to play with this myself.

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calthyechild In reply to purenightshade [2012-09-24 00:39:00 +0000 UTC]

You should, it's a nice trick to make bubbles mesh a bit better, and I know you work digitally too!

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gingerbreadart [2012-09-23 21:43:03 +0000 UTC]

I probably forgot to tell you this, but this revolutionised how I was making my bubbles. They look so much better in the panels now!

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calthyechild In reply to gingerbreadart [2012-09-24 00:39:14 +0000 UTC]

Aw, really? I'm glad I helped you out! Thanks.

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