Kazu Kibuishi draws a charming and lovely comic called Copper, as well as many other comics, and graphic novels like Daisy Kutter, which is on the ALA’s 2006 list of best books for young adults.

A nice sideline about Copper is Kibuishi’s detailed walkthrough of how he creates the comic. I’m fascinated to see how professionals do their work. It involves a meticulous attention to the details of tools (he describes precisely which pens and inks he uses for the different phases of drawing), a revealingly low-tech approach to some aspects (laying out panels: “I just eyeball it to save some time”), and the always-familiar tricks to make progress:

I also round the corners after I’m about halfway done with the drawings. For some reason, doing the corner-rounding gives me a sense of accomplishment and helps get me pumped to finish the rest of it. It’s all about inspiring (or tricking) yourself into getting things done, I suppose...

Also refreshing is seeing that a guy who draws this well can hold a pencil so “incorrectly”. He’s like the Dizzy Gillespie of sketchers.