A state machine for the hand that holds the pen, not the mind that plans the story.
What you're looking at
Five states arranged in two tiers. The top row is where the work happens: BLANK (the empty panel), FLOW (when the pen moves without thinking), and STUCK (when the line goes wrong and you know it). Bottom tier holds REPAIR and DONE. Arrows show transitions — some labeled with triggers, some unlabeled because the movement is inevitable. The green self-loop on FLOW is the only place you want to stay.
Why I drew it this way
I rejected a linear flowchart because drawing a panel isn't a pipeline — it's a set of moods you fall into and climb out of. The ellipses keep it organic; the two-tier layout separates the making states (top) from the finishing states (bottom). FLOW gets the thickest stroke and the green because that's the only state worth protecting. STUCK and the arrows leading from it are red because that's where most panels die — you either repair or you surrender to DONE prematurely.
What it argues
Most diagrams of creative process show a clean path from start to finish. This one shows that FLOW is an island you fight to stay on, and that STUCK is closer to DONE than to FLOW — once you're stuck, you're already negotiating the exit. The diagram argues that "finishing" a panel is often just exhaustion wearing the mask of completion.
What I left out
No state for "planning" or "sketching" — those aren't moods, they're procrastination with a pencil. Also no "mastery" or "satisfaction" endpoint. DONE is relief, not pride. If you're proud, you weren't paying attention to what the panel still needs.