Behind the scenes: How I sketch comic panels! (Patreon)

Despite of working on it full time now, I don't usually update all that much about A Friend of Caesar here (album one should be getting under works this spring!), but today I managed to get a good example picture of how I sketch my panels:

Usually I first make a rough sketch of each panel digitally, as being able to re-size, zoom in, mirror, flip over and completely redo the whole composition is much easier as it would be on paper. I then use my laptop as a light table and gently trace the digital rough sketch onto parchment paper (as below). As directly copying from parchment paper would mirror the image, and drawing digitally I risk getting distracted with drawing in details that would be too small to execute on the page itself, I copy the rough sketch into a sketchbook or other loose paper in the right panel size, making it a mirror image, and then draw in the details that'll show up on the page.

Once I've added the details onto the mirrored sketchbook lineart, I then repeat the parchment tracing process, re-mirroring the image the right way around, and copy it on the proper comic page itself, where I'll then ink and shade it traditionally by hand. Mirroring it twice also helps with spotting random mistakes and details I might have missed otherwise (such as the crooked perspective on the lid of the box here) and helps improve the overall image.

I wanted to share this specific picture because one discovery I've recently made is that I can draw consecutive panels that slowly pan closer on details like these here, by using the same digital rough sketch twice and zooming in! I'll re-do the text in the panels digitally later as well, but I do write it on the page by hand when I work in order to make sure that the speech bubbles and narrative boxes have enough space for it. Though the book itself has been published 122 years ago(!), I removed it here for spoilers. This is for album 3, and that dagger will show up again.