Even someone with basic drawing skills can create a compelling family comic book. My mother and I adapted her years of family history research into a format that engaged my children in our family culture, while capturing historically unique stories about life in rural Newfoundland.

1. Making a Family Comic Book
By Carla Brown & Gloria Brown, July 2013

2. Russell Andrew – named after
Gloria’s grandfather Andrew

3. First book – Text and Photos

4. Christmas gift – a few comics

5. Materials for Family Comic Book Making
• Photos of the people and where they lived
• Pencils
• White eraser
• White cardstock & paper
• Ruler
• Thin and wide black Sharpie markers
• Scanner and computer
• Photoshop

6. How we made our comic strips
1. Choose / find a story
2. Divide story into 3-8 moments
3. Draw comic book panels on card stock
4. Sketch story lightly
5. Make the dialogue authentic (historically,
culturally)
6. On a fresh paper, draw story in pencil
7. Trace with Sharpie, except text
8. Scan comic
9. Colorize and add text in Photoshop
10.Make a book and get it printed at Lulu.com!

7. Choose / Find Your Story
• Who - Hero – 2 at the most
• What - Change of Direction – something
happened and now you did something you
couldn’t have predicted
• When - Short time - one minute, hour or at
most one day
• Where - Vivid Details - you can experience
with 5 senses
• Why - Emotion

8. Change of Direction

9. One Moment in Time

10. Work with a partner
Identify at least
one story from
your life or your
family history
that has the five
elements
1. Hero or two
2. Change of Direction
(something unexpected)
3. Vivid Details (5 senses)
4. Emotion
5. Short period of time

11. Divide the story into 3-8 moments

12. Draw comic
book panels
on card stock
Why card stock?
The thicker paper is
less likely to rip if
you need to erase
and re-draw a few
times.

13. Explanation at the Top
We put a short explanation on our comics.
This is optional, but we found it helpful because we
felt the grandchildren would not be able to relate
the the reality of their great-great grandparents at
first glance.

14. Draw the
story in pencil
• Draw the
minimum to tell
the story
• Circle for the
head, basic facial
features
• Can start with
stick figures and
give them
thickness

15. Drawing the Human Figure
• Keep it
simple
• Upper Body
= rectangle
or square
• Female
Dress=
Triangle
• Legs = 2
lines, Arms
= 1 line
• Hands &
feet = ovals

18. Make the
dialogue
authentic
• Culturally
• Historically
• Sayings
• Jargon
• Pronunciation
• Emphasis
Ask people from
where your family
members lived to
check your work.

19. Dialogue can impact the drawings
You may find
that you adjust
the drawings to
make the
dialogue flow.
When you draw
each frame,
leave space for
the dialogue.

20. Continuity
Keep clothing details and
color the same on each
person from one panel to
the other
If the kitchen walls are
yellow, they must stay
yellow throughout, but
you can make it slightly
darker or lighter for visual
interest.
When Russell saw the first draft of this comic,
he told his Nana there was a “continuity”
problem – the girl was missing her buttons in
one of the panels. He was five years old.

21. Prepare for Scanning
• Trace with Sharpie, except text
• Scan black and white high contrast – you
want the Sharpie lines to appear in your
scan, but no forgotten pencil lines
• Spend time erasing before you scan - it
will save you time later.

22. Every Space Must Be Fully Closed
Note the
tiny gap
Here’s what
happens when
you use the
paint can tool
in Photoshop
due to the gap
Gap corrected
Photoshop now
puts the color
only on the hat

23. Colorize & Add Text in Photoshop
Even if you are careful to close
every space, you might need
to touch up in Photoshop. The
scanner is not perfect.
Our font is only in Inkscape –
Movi – but use whatever
Color palettes – will your
series have a color palette?
Foreground colors must
contrast from background

24. Colorize
Most of the time,
you use flat
color.
But consider a
gradient like in
this example.
You could also
consider just
doing some color,
not every nook
and cranny.

25. Pencil Crayon Colorization
1) Use pencils on
the sides of
their leads
2) Think “Shade
to Fade” –
Press harder
in the darker
areas, lifting
pressure as
you move
farther away.
3) Do not color
the whole
area.

26. Even kids
can do this