Today, many artists don’t use the paper anymore and everything is done digitally, but for us is a pleasure to work in the traditional way, at least in drawing, since hearing the scratching sound of the pencil and to feel the dip pens sliding through the paper are sensations that we enjoy a lot around here. Besides we retain a graphic memory, which is very important because the original art is preserved for the collectors since a digital process’s printed copies have no real value against a mechanic original. As artists, we always preserve and increase the handwork abilities, adapting to new tools and technologies.

We use digital technology only as a tool, but one of our goals is to preserve traditional art while we still live, to teach new generations to be artists in a first place, and then teach them during the production process teach them how to use the plastic and digital tools: we think that using both paths makes us real complete artists. On the other hand, the digital media is increasing tradition nal art’s values and prices among the collectors, and it makes business men value manual work a lot more.

Talking about production, when working for external projects, due to deadlines and speed, we must skip the technical script process; this can happen in the case of author projects too, but we usually take special care for these. When a writer and an artist participate on a project, they both work directly on the storyboard in order to optimize the speed of production, which generates a warmer result and details are more taken care of.

In the case when an artist writes his scripts too, he usually does this directly on the storyboard, always under an Artistic Direction, since as creative people, there’s a point we can reach where tiredness and fill can make us commit mistakes during the process. Nevertheless, it’s recommendable to write a technical script for Author’s Rights purposes as a literary piece, apart from the original pages that must be registered as art pieces.

The Art Director must be a person with much more experience, clear and fresh vision that makes him capable of detecting the artists’ mistakes and makes his style better and make it flourish. We think he’s like a taster and not anyone can be an art director, one must be born with it.  Here at ¡Ka-Boom! We also have a script direction, the Director detects the writer’s style in order to take care, during the development, of the base (concept, universe, character psychology) and the script so that the comic book language can be well used to take care of the story and make it accomplish the desired goals and make its success better. An innovation inside our studio is the fact that script writers also do the comic’s lettering. This has the goal of improving the script from its conception to its incursion in the images in order to highlight the story and artist’s drawings even more until creating a symbiosis between both styles.

Depending on the schedules, here at ¡Ka-Boom!, we do the original pages either drawing the whole detailed drawing, or, for speed matters, only sketching some guide lines and making details with the dip pen, inking directly. This can only be done when you have a control over your style, characters, proportions and drawing in general. It can be said that we do the clean up drawing directly on the inking process. Logically, this can be achieved only after many years of practice, but what we recommend to the young people is to do the whole detailed process step by step first for them to get practice and obtain a working discipline, since with constant practice they’ll be able to solve speed and deadline problems with the “tricks” they acquire to move forward.

This is why, above all, before publishing anything, being either printed or for web, here at ¡Ka-Boom! We must do a “cushion” work in case we get ill or for unexpected events, even just to rest for a while. This help us to do a higher quality product and with more caring. Now, we must be capable of solving schedule problems and be disciplined in order to do a continued and fast work without risking its quality.

Talking about Square Kronikles, I did the storyboards as notes for me not to forget the ideas. This usually happens at any time, and that’s why I carry my sketchbook to write them down. Logically, this happens sometimes when I’m outside the studio and I don’t carry my tools with me. It can be a restaurant, at the car, at a mall…this is why the notes are doodles and the writing is barely understandable: the important thing is for me to understand them, though for others may seem like a “doctor’s handwriting”.