The last time I did something like this people were calling it a "tutorial". There appear to be a number of ways of going about producing work on a computer. You may have a better way. This is just the way that suits me. So I'd prefer to call it a step-by-step. Alternatively you may not have a clue as to how to go about it in which case this'll give you some ideas.
I keep a template for the Gotham Knights covers handy in the hard disk of my '96 vintage Apple Mac 8500 series computer. I keep it at a width of 6.943 inches and a height of 10.503 inches at a resolution of 300dpi. I keep it as a bitmap so it only takes up 804k of memory.
I open it in Photoshop 5.5. I make a duplicate of it so the original template isn't spoiled, convert it to Grayscale and change the size to 450dpi. It's now about 14MB in size.
In the Layers palate I create a new layer which I call "Pencils". I draw my rough straight onto the Pencils layer using a Wacom tablet and pen. I double click on the Hand tool and I have the whole page visible on my screen. At the top of the window it tells me that I'm viewing it at 16.7% of its actual pixel-for -pixel size. Being somewhat numerically challenged I find that hard to explain. Just trust me on that one. At this small size I have to draw fairly spontaneously and with a thick line. In some respects the rough looks better than the finished inks.
When I read the script for Batman Gotham Knights 37 I jumped at the chance to draw the Penguin. The Bat-editorial-team, in their infinite wisdom, thought the Penguin's appearance in the story was too brief and incidental to warrant an appearance on the cover. They wanted Spoiler instead. I have to confess I'd never heard of her. Pretty soon reference was emailed to me and I was able to get on with an alternative rough.....
gotham nights 37
