**Beware This tutorial is very image heavy.**
If there is one thing I've seen one mistake made more than other's it improper word balloon construction. For this reason I decided to me a tutorial
on just that subject. Not that I'm some authority on the subject (I'd hate to one day realize that I'd wasted my life in pursuit of the
perfect word balloon) I just see a lot of comics every day that have a lot of potential and getting over this one small hurdle will help
bring them that much closer to their goals. And by their goals I mean my goals which I have projected onto them because and a freaking
comic GOD!!!
Anyway, as you may know I use Photoshop to do all parts of my comic up to and including word balloons and lettering. Many artists
think that you need a vector based program for something like this but the truth is if you chose to use one it's purely a decision
based on preference. There area couple of tools that Photoshop avails you with which are more than adequate for creating nice, crisp looking
word balloons.
THE ELLIPSE TOOL
This is a tool which allows you create a circle (by holding shift then click/dragging) or an ellipse and fill it with any color or pattern you chose. It also allows you to stroke (trace) the outter edge of that circle/ellipse
with a brush stroke of any width you desire (up to 2500 pixels in width). As you've probably discerned,
this is what will be used to make the actual "balloon" that your text goes inside of.
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THE PEN TOOL
This tool is used to create vector paths. Vector paths are, put simply, a way of drawing that utilizes angles to determine where
lines and fills should go rather than bitmaps. For example a triangle is not defined by how many pixels it is made of or even the
arrangement of those pixels but rather the numbers that determing the angles of it's corners.
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The same method is used to define a curved line with vectors. Every time a vector path curves there is a node or two defining
that curve.
We will be using the pen tool to create the stems of our word ballons with these vector paths. Now onto the tutorial.
THE BALLOONS
First things first, don't be lazy. The best looking word balloons take a little more work than you think.
You'll want to devote an entire layer to them of course. You'll want to set that layer to an outside stroke (I'll explain why in
a moment) ensuring that you set the stroke to the desired color and width of your balloon's outline (mine of course are black).
Don't forget to name the layer "Balloons" or something equally clear.
Now make your first word balloon. First grab your ellipse tool and on your balloons layer draw an ellipse. It should be a black
outline of an oval just like this:
Next still using the ellipse tool right click your ellipse and select fill path
The Fill Path window will appear. Here is where you determine what color your ovall will be as well as other properties.
Set the color of your balloon (I use white)and click "OK". Because we set the layer to stroke our balloon will automatically have a nice neat outline around it.
Now we simply hit "DELETE" and the ellipse path dissappears leaving us with our rendered balloon.
Many times word balloons that are perfectly elliptical aren't the most appropriate. At those times it's a good idea to sort of square
your word balloon off. Do this by laying down your ellipse with the ellipse tool. Then select the Direct Selection tool.
Using this tool you can actually grab the curves of the ellipse and manipulate them like so.
Once you have sqaured off the edges of your ellipse and just follow the steps for a normal word balloon and viola!
Finally, the reason behind my choice to outside stroke the balloon layer. Sometimes you have to make adjoining word balloons and unless
those balloons are on an outside stroked layer the points where your balloons intersect will be rounded off insted of nice and sharp like so. The difference is
not huge but an artistic eye will spot it a mile away.
THE STEM
No word balloon is complete without the stem. The stem is that little pointy thingy that sticks out of the balloon and points to
the character doing the speaking. I've seen these done many different ways but the more traditionally accepted stem is a just a
straight or curved "V" shape.
It may seem a little redundant but I put my stems on a seperate layer from my balloons. The reason I do this is because I prefer that
the stem stroke be inside rather than outside. A straight stem is made using the pen tool. You simply use it to draw your V shape
with the point of the V pointing away from the balloon and at the speaker. A bent stem is made by following the same steps and then manipulating
the stem path with your direct selection tool (much they way you did to when squaring off your balloon edges).
Now to fill the path once again notice the fill is given a nice crisp outline because of the stroke on the layer.
Finally link your stem layer and balloon layer then hit CTRL+E to merge the layers.
Warning: This step will combine the two layers into one
effectively getting rid of the stroke property of both so don't do this until your are sure you have the balloon just right.
Then take the brush tool and get rid of the portion of the stem that extends into the balloon and you're done. Also notice that since the layer
was inside stroked you get a nice sharp point on your stem. I've seen alot of people with outside stroked stems oubviously due to making their stems on the same layer as their balloons (an
effort to skip a step and save time). However the outside stroked stem has a rounded point and just doesn't quite look right in my opinion. The same logic applies as
with an outside stroke on adjoining balloons.
THOUGH BALLOONS
As a bonus I'm going to show you how I make thought balloons. Not many people use these now days (I, for one, almost never do) but occassionally you may find yourself needing one.
In the event that I need a thought balloon I start with an outside stroked balloon layer just like regular balloons. Then I'll select my brush tool and set the brush to a size of about
50 pixels (this will totally vary depending on what resolution you work at).
Next you simply make a series of circles with your brush by clicking repeatedly on an elliptical path (Lay down an ellipse with
your ellipse tool first to guide you if you like). I reccommend using your mouse and not your styus for this. It's just more
stable)
Once the ellipse is complete just use your brush to fill the center. Then you can use it (on another layer) to make the
progressivly smaller circles tha make up the though bubble's stem.
And that's pretty much everything I know. I hope this has been helpful for those of you with questions about World Balloon contruction. Good luck!
Out,
T.
