Everything is coloured on the computer though, and that is where I composite a lot of additional elements - my original “pages” are actually a lot of disparate elements that I cobble together once they’re scanned.ĭS: What inspired you to write a collection of spooky stories using the woods as a theme?ĮC: The woods theme only revealed itself in retrospect actually- dealing with so many fairy tales as inspiration, I end up setting the majority of my stories in one mysterious forest or another without even thinking about it. In “The Nesting Place” I used ink for the characters but pencil and charcoal for their backgrounds. Medium wise, for this book, I used a nib (and sometimes a brush) for inking, along with drybrush ink work and a heavy dose of graphite powder, particularly in the later stories. Things really firm up as I work if I waited until my script was absolutely perfect before beginning, I would never, ever begin. So I usually did a page or two of finished (barring edits) art before I was even done sorting out the whole script. It really helps me to envision what the whole comic is going to feel like (let alone look like) as quickly as possible, just so I know what I’m capable of, skill wise, and what I need to adjust.

Process wise I begin with scripting and thumbnail sketches, which are done simultaneously, and from there I do just straight into final art. And even that wasn’t too much of a shift, it was just another format to explore. In a way it didn’t vary too much from how I normally go about making my web comics, aside from the fact that I spent more time on these, and that I was of course dealing with pages rather than the (potentially) endless sprawl of a website. We had a chance to chat with Carroll about the things that go bump in the night, and what it’s like to tell spooky stories to audiences of all ages.ĭS: Can you describe your process putting Through the Woods together, and how/whether it varied from creating your other comics?ĮC: I worked on the book story by story, even though I did have vague plans for each of the comics by the time I’d started (though plans might be too grandiose a word, as they were literally 1-3 sentence summaries at first).

Through the woods by emily carroll