here’s the timelapse of the couch cushion strip from a few days ago

the process usually goes like this:

i see a moment in real life that i think will work for the strip: in this case it was watching little guy move the cushion so he could sit down on the couch

(and right now i’m focusing on those moments that dont require any dialogue, right now i’m more interested in telling these little stories without dialogue, so i’ve passed on some great moments that have dialogue. maybe that will change in the future)

then i’ll need to puzzle out how this moment will break down in to 4 frames – i have to select my 4 moments which usually takes some trial and error with some really bad drawings, just diagrams really, in the sketchbook that help me quickly find those 4 moments

then i take a photo of the sketches and cut and paste those moments into the frames of the page

since i had already done a couch strip, i decided to recycle the background from that previous strip not only for continuity, but also because i am very lazy

from there i need to do the actual drawings (which in this case were pretty dismal, though they hopefully worked)

select my colors

go back in and fix little guy’s smile on the last panel (it looked a little creepy the first go-round)

and that was about it

when i write it all out like this it makes the process feel a little mechanical, but for me the magic lies in recognizing the moment when it occurs, and enjoying the finished strip when i’m done