I just finished another semester of Photoshop for Photography. For my Final Project, I attempted to create a retro comic book
I got the idea when I saw two action figures, The Great Khali and The Rock, hanging off a parking sign near where Katherine and I walk Sam. When the figures were still there the next two times we walked by, I grabbed them.
I knew these two figures would be the “bad guys” in my comic; now I needed some good guys. I searched the house (and garage) for other players:
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CH-Our-Players.jpg?resize=875%2C1024&ssl=1)
Our Wooden Artist Model would play our “victim” as well as the victim’s parents. My cast would also include Jane West (“The Movable Cowgirl”), a San Francisco Sheriff’s Department action figure, a San Francisco Police Department Bobblehead and Janice West.
I had to find backgrounds for each scene. Below is an artist’s studio I found for a scene where the artist (aka “victim”) is visited by her parents.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/BG-Artist-Studio.jpg?resize=920%2C614&ssl=1)
Additionally, the Wooden Artist Models needed clothing. Here is the mother’s dress she wore when she was confronting her daughter in her daughter’s studio.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/OBJ-Clothes-Womens-Business-Suit.jpg?resize=668%2C1024&ssl=1)
Using the clothing as a model, I tried to pose the figure in a similar way.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CH-Artist-Model-Face-Front-Hand-on-Hip.jpg?resize=625%2C1024&ssl=1)
I placed my cast in a bunch of random poses that I hoped would be conducive to my as yet undetermined story! Once I finally had a — admittedly thin — storyline, I placed the characters in more specific poses. Some characters, such as the deputy, were amenable to that. Pretty much anything I need him to do, he was. up for.
The Bobblehead, on the other hand, didn’t have any flexibility (“I don’t do sitting. I don’t do raising my arm. I don’t do bending my legs!”).
I put together my scenes but struggled with fitting them into the panels I had designed for each page. After much reworking of the scenes (and copious use of Photoshop’s Generative Expand to make some of the backgrounds larger), I got them to fit.
I added two layers to each page — a scratchy looking layer and an old paper looking layer – to make the pages look old and worn.
Below is the finished project.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-0-v2.jpg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-1-v2.jpg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-2.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-3.jpg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-4.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-5.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-6.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-7.jpg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-8.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-9.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.kathyhawksbirdandphotoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Page-10.jpg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
This was a lot of fun to create!