tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53337157173639914512023-11-16T03:48:01.977-08:0010 Rules for Drawing ComicsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-23783742552318018462022-02-03T13:00:00.003-08:002022-02-03T13:00:37.875-08:00Moebius' Rules<p><span style="color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">1) <b>When you draw, you must first cleanse yourself of deep feelings</b>, like hate, happiness, ambition, etc.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">2) <b>It’s very important to educate your hand.</b> Make it achieve a level of high obedience so that it will be able to properly and fully express your ideas, but be very careful of trying to obtain too much perfection, as well as too much speed as an artist. Perfection and speed are dangerous — as are their opposites. When you produce drawings that are too quick or too loose, besides making mistakes, you run the risk of creating an entity without soul or spirit.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">3) <b>Knowledge of perspective is of supreme importance.</b> Its laws provide a good, positive way to manipulate or hypnotize your readers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTcWQsvqkQPQIdXpdo41byrMxCwySWZbitfXIEW9ikRvGp5TUMZruR8As-kTqJvAn0Aov9s3gNKAJxYqEIxUq2bfOvbLuY7QK5EmEKtPZ5TrcaQ5l0iHqGzu0Ot4vKL13hJ9hpwrEzmHB8Iyz4KznJyJ7UC6ywxfg7HJu-5Zy549AGsSfyU2RRI5bV=s632" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTcWQsvqkQPQIdXpdo41byrMxCwySWZbitfXIEW9ikRvGp5TUMZruR8As-kTqJvAn0Aov9s3gNKAJxYqEIxUq2bfOvbLuY7QK5EmEKtPZ5TrcaQ5l0iHqGzu0Ot4vKL13hJ9hpwrEzmHB8Iyz4KznJyJ7UC6ywxfg7HJu-5Zy549AGsSfyU2RRI5bV=s320" width="253" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">4) <b>Another thing to embrace with affection is the study of the human body</b> — its anatomy, positions, body types, expressions, construction, and the differences between people.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Drawing a man is very different from drawing a woman. With males, you can be looser and less precise in their depiction; small imperfections can often add character. Your drawing of a woman, however, must be perfect; a single ill-placed line can dramatically age her or make her seem annoying or ugly. Then, no one buys your comic!</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">For the reader to believe your story, your characters must feel as if they have a life and personality of their own.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Their physical gestures should seem to emanate from their character’s strengths, weaknesses and infirmities. The body becomes transformed when it is brought to life; there is a message in its structure, in the distribution of its fat, in each muscle and in every wrinkle, crease or fold of the face and body. It becomes a study of life.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjq-eLlWj76l1UXqruBoJzakzYgpVfgOUMkHeIqJYIYi1UWsFAZG7zG_OTInMDIqnD06zyGtUxNXTRr3gsC79XvLdbozW2vH0nlsFQcHcuFh8XqQb0E1fRd8YkN1B7q6BUnaUZlnmgtDwO8Vq7tivNO1N0kHvf6GHIEbk1zWDf4RHMf95FHh24mt1C=s1000" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1000" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjq-eLlWj76l1UXqruBoJzakzYgpVfgOUMkHeIqJYIYi1UWsFAZG7zG_OTInMDIqnD06zyGtUxNXTRr3gsC79XvLdbozW2vH0nlsFQcHcuFh8XqQb0E1fRd8YkN1B7q6BUnaUZlnmgtDwO8Vq7tivNO1N0kHvf6GHIEbk1zWDf4RHMf95FHh24mt1C=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">5) When you create a story, you can begin it without knowing everything, but you should make notes as you go along regarding the particulars of the world depicted in your story. Such detail will <b>provide your readers with recognizable characteristics that will pique their interest.</b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">When a character dies in a story, unless the character has had his personal story expressed some way in the drawing of his face, body and attire, the reader will not care; your reader won’t have any emotional connection.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Your publisher might say, “Your story has no value; there’s only one dead guy — I need twenty or thirty dead guys for this to work.” But that is not true; if the reader feels the dead guy or wounded guys or hurt guys or whomever you have in trouble have a real personality resulting from your own deep studies of human nature — with an artist’s capacity for such observation — emotions will surge.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">By such studies you will develop and gain attention from others, as well as a compassion and a love for humanity.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">This is very important for the development of an artist. If he wants to function as a mirror of society and humanity, this mirror of his must contain the consciousness of the entire world; it must be a mirror that sees everything.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">6) Alejandro Jodorowsky says I don’t like drawing dead horses. Well, it is very difficult.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It’s also very difficult to draw a sleeping body or someone who has been abandoned, because in most comics it’s always action that is being studied. It’s much easier to draw people fighting — that’s why Americans nearly always draw superheroes. <b>It’s much more difficult to draw people that are talking</b>, because that’s a series of very small movements — small, yet with real significance and that counts for more because of our human need for love or the attention of others. It’s these little things that speak of personality, of life. Most superheroes don’t have any personality; they all use the same gestures and movements.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">7) <b>Equally important is the clothing of your characters</b> and the state of the material from which it was made.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">These textures create a vision of your characters’ experiences, their lives, and their role in your adventure in a way where much can be said without words. In a dress there are a thousand folds; you need to choose just two or three — don’t draw them all. Just make sure you choose the two or three good ones.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHDpC6fOVyZCoHsBG_ceTz_D6OFWGx8cxqWnhLo0w5EWbVdyEtqJQACNbogxvXwbZrsx3ggLs8IGoHpbDczfv8TTWuNStGsT99m6unvN-lBPLXJi52j9fOglYNYjw57tnjVzg8cCwomUYHb11qfM32BNDTbJiSXgQm3mvv2nCwECpMQuD9rBGQr0gl=s1415" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1415" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHDpC6fOVyZCoHsBG_ceTz_D6OFWGx8cxqWnhLo0w5EWbVdyEtqJQACNbogxvXwbZrsx3ggLs8IGoHpbDczfv8TTWuNStGsT99m6unvN-lBPLXJi52j9fOglYNYjw57tnjVzg8cCwomUYHb11qfM32BNDTbJiSXgQm3mvv2nCwECpMQuD9rBGQr0gl=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">8) <b>The style, stylistic continuity of an artist and its public presentation are full of symbols</b>; they can be read just like a Tarot deck. I chose my name “Moebius” as a joke when I was twenty-two years old — but, in truth, the name came to resonate with meaning. If you arrive wearing a T-shirt of Don Quixote, that tells me who you are. In my case, making a drawing of relative simplicity and subtle indications is important to me.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">9) When an artist, a real working artist, goes out on the street, he does not see things the same way as “normal” people. His <b>unique vision is crucial to documenting a way of life and the people who live it</b>.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">10) <b>Another important element is composition</b>. The compositions in our stories should be studied because a page or a painting or a panel is a face that looks at the reader and speaks to him. A page is not just a succession of insignificant panels. There are panels that are full. Some that are empty. Others are vertical. Some horizontal. All are indications of the artist’s intentions. Vertical panels excite the reader. Horizontals calm him. For us in the Western world, motion in a panel that goes from left to right represents action heading toward the future. Moving from right to left directs action toward the past. The directions we indicate represent a dispersion of energy. An object or character placed in the center of a panel focuses and concentrates energy and attention. These are basic reading symbols and forms that evoke in the reader a fascination, a kind of hypnosis. You must be conscious of rhythm and set traps for the reader to fall into so that, when he falls, he gets lost, allowing you to manipulate and move him inside your world with greater ease and pleasure. That’s because what you have created is a sense of life. You must study the great painters, especially those who speak with their paintings. Their individual painting schools or genres or time periods should not matter. Their preoccupation with physical as well as emotional composition must be studied so that you learn how their combination of lines works to touch us directly within our hearts.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYGzOT2w2unLfVRqW7ATSScSzNXFfzIFo_gwIjdV2xxiULEPKjs9sz8Mnhvg4P0rPnnN38Tjwfm60ydlBZAshj8TPK5GQRXO4omKNDs6p3S5taRG6255f7n84AEyCzHkSGe3W0UqGhSAiMA4eT_O4b4jYRcpOnqNFMFYSnXzsqGdYUXMmkNCetVxhN=s1704" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1704" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYGzOT2w2unLfVRqW7ATSScSzNXFfzIFo_gwIjdV2xxiULEPKjs9sz8Mnhvg4P0rPnnN38Tjwfm60ydlBZAshj8TPK5GQRXO4omKNDs6p3S5taRG6255f7n84AEyCzHkSGe3W0UqGhSAiMA4eT_O4b4jYRcpOnqNFMFYSnXzsqGdYUXMmkNCetVxhN=s320" width="240" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">11) <b>The narration must harmonize with the drawings</b>. There must be a visual rhythm created by the placement of your text. The rhythm of your plot should be reflected in your visual cadence and the way you compress or expand time. Like a filmmaker, you must be very careful in how you cast your characters and in how you direct them. Use your characters or “actors” like a director, studying and then selecting from all of your characters’ different takes.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">12) <b>Beware of the devastating influence of North American comic books</b>. The artists in Mexico seem to only study their surface effects: a little bit of anatomy mixed with dynamic compositions, monsters, fights, screaming and teeth. I like some of that stuff too, but there are many other possibilities and expressions that are also worthy of exploration.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">13) <b>There is a connection between music and drawing</b>. The size of that connection depends upon your personality and what’s going on at that moment. For the last ten years I’ve been working in silence; for me, there is music in the rhythm of my lines. Drawing at times is a search for discoveries. A precise, beautifully executed line is like an orgasm!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2lyVwKopQ2AeTRsadQ2KHZtKj8ZOaO6AvwEYtgaT4SU03TIxc79x3NLHgXVDIqK9eZx5xwgqmy29bChOElb99sW4uUjc1ukOOGEn9aIIku0MWsBXRM47u6lvqwMolQT1WsCthSxtf_RH-h_ljUl-yTcqhMp9TdLCg5UYiTTz5kbkJe3tBNYlATppr=s900" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="900" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2lyVwKopQ2AeTRsadQ2KHZtKj8ZOaO6AvwEYtgaT4SU03TIxc79x3NLHgXVDIqK9eZx5xwgqmy29bChOElb99sW4uUjc1ukOOGEn9aIIku0MWsBXRM47u6lvqwMolQT1WsCthSxtf_RH-h_ljUl-yTcqhMp9TdLCg5UYiTTz5kbkJe3tBNYlATppr=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">14) <b>Color is a language that the graphic artist uses to manipulate his reader’s attention as well as to create beauty</b>. There is objective and subjective color. The emotional states of the characters can change or influence the color from one panel to the next, as can place and time of day. Special study and attention must be paid to the language of color.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxp6KRvUNK8bLzdNbNd13WEQvuuGdrilQf_WdKch1HqM6zL78clbciGWsH1eOIKATHLAz_BuDKT0CIwyiqMZZlgiIG4hbGSdR1CcbGKwwCgF5S0bYoGHxO-Z8eeVY7C_mOFdK-kllHcTOJND7lOs6HLYUXmPMWC39iNs88UfM4brr3x28ZbnGr6DJO=s749" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="749" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxp6KRvUNK8bLzdNbNd13WEQvuuGdrilQf_WdKch1HqM6zL78clbciGWsH1eOIKATHLAz_BuDKT0CIwyiqMZZlgiIG4hbGSdR1CcbGKwwCgF5S0bYoGHxO-Z8eeVY7C_mOFdK-kllHcTOJND7lOs6HLYUXmPMWC39iNs88UfM4brr3x28ZbnGr6DJO=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">15) <b>At the beginning of an artist’s career, he should principally involve himself in the creation of very high quality short stories</b>. He has a better chance (than with long format stories) of successfully completing them, while maintaining a high standard of quality. It will also be easier to place them in a book or sell them to a publisher.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">16) <b>There are times when we knowingly head down a path of failure</b>, choosing the wrong theme or subject for our capabilities, or choosing a project that is too large, or an unsuitable technique. If this happens, you must not complain later.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">17) <b>When new work has been sent to an editor and it receives a rejection, you should always ask for, and try to discover, the reasons for the rejection</b>. By studying the reasons for our failure, only then can we begin to learn. It is not about struggle with our limitations, with the public or with the publishers. One should treat it with more of an aikido approach. It is the very strength and power of our adversary that is used as the key to his defeat.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: Lora, Lora, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 1em 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">18) <b>Now it is possible to expose our works to readers in every part of the planet. We must always keep aware of this</b>. To begin with, drawing is a form of personal communication, but this does not mean that the artist should close himself off inside a bubble. His communication should be for those aesthetically, philosophically and geographically close to him, as well as for himself, but also for complete strangers. Drawing is a medium of communication for the great family we have not met, for the public and for the world.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-10612706675657948062017-03-06T08:40:00.000-08:002017-03-06T08:40:28.753-08:00Paolo Rivera's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1. <b>Don't draw, sculpt.</b> No, seriously. All your favorite superhero artists are also great sculptors — it's just that their final artwork is limited to one point of view.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXvI_Qi6khiXSBEqQMVaFzAJTm8H_sMaFxv0pVoSYuBsy8q8VUtAczvoEzXldbdI7BWO3WvthWIHZB1-6o2kLwkzFh6Lnak12cFw2jbgefxLoR17gxzLqF7o_xWVvLxH_qwW2-1J117c/s1600/IMG_2368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXvI_Qi6khiXSBEqQMVaFzAJTm8H_sMaFxv0pVoSYuBsy8q8VUtAczvoEzXldbdI7BWO3WvthWIHZB1-6o2kLwkzFh6Lnak12cFw2jbgefxLoR17gxzLqF7o_xWVvLxH_qwW2-1J117c/s320/IMG_2368.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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2. <b>Storytelling involves 2 major stages for me:</b></div>
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What does your character know, how do they feel?</div>
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What should your reader know, how should they feel?</div>
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3. I'm not a writer, but I am trying to be. My favorite nuts and bolt technique (especially when I'm stuck) is not to write, but to <b>ask questions</b>. I feel no pressure asking questions, but the process of answering them often solves larger problems.</div>
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4. <b>Composition</b>: Watch your tangents! You should still be able to read your panels from far away, or as a tiny icon on a computer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKkcfWn4RagRLden0w-B-yznh_CSCSZcU0MkWngwEOsZpoeFONWWCcbb0jmkKQGLos3l8wKQaW5vDK-PlIai6sNS31Yys_Cpa8EHRTz1kKETOQ2ST4kGeLRElLnQkE_acPv96i_aaXIE/s1600/MYTHCA001006_1L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKkcfWn4RagRLden0w-B-yznh_CSCSZcU0MkWngwEOsZpoeFONWWCcbb0jmkKQGLos3l8wKQaW5vDK-PlIai6sNS31Yys_Cpa8EHRTz1kKETOQ2ST4kGeLRElLnQkE_acPv96i_aaXIE/s320/MYTHCA001006_1L.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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5. <b>Composition trumps perspective, Gesture trumps anatomy</b>. (But you should still learn both).</div>
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6. Don't make a to-do list, <b>have a calendar</b> where you block out activities. Email and social media too. And keep track of your hours, even if it's depressing.</div>
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7. <b>Use models and reference</b>. If you don't know what something looks like, your reader can sense it. If you do, they won't even notice. Be knowledgeable, but invisible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0npak-Z6Y0aHW99CaYSRX6sFDTMtT0rXIjDf_kH9a9sZUCZwH1X1oUJzqIfGC4uJVnIJJZuuzb_LtB5MW0c6DV-8d1S2ZTC50uR3b_t7aemK4ylNjFBpkv8D3HA3IuYwlQBCzGwc8dM4/s1600/wacky_reference_wed_329+Spidey-Style-Guide-Ref.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0npak-Z6Y0aHW99CaYSRX6sFDTMtT0rXIjDf_kH9a9sZUCZwH1X1oUJzqIfGC4uJVnIJJZuuzb_LtB5MW0c6DV-8d1S2ZTC50uR3b_t7aemK4ylNjFBpkv8D3HA3IuYwlQBCzGwc8dM4/s320/wacky_reference_wed_329+Spidey-Style-Guide-Ref.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
8. <b>Writers: avoid stage directions</b>. Concentrate on motive, dialogue, emotional beats. Weird, unexpected things happen when you start to put characters on a stage. It can be difficult to predict, so let the penciler handle the logistics.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
9. <b>Start small</b>. If you want to paint comics, draw one first. If you want to draw a graphic novel, draw an 8-page story first.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
10. <b>Throw crap at the wall</b>. See what sticks. Clean up the mess.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<i style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;">You can view Paolo Rivera's work at:</i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="https://www.paolorivera.blogspot.com/">https://www.paolorivera.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-8205644581928951742016-06-02T07:23:00.000-07:002016-06-03T09:17:34.184-07:00Matt Kindt's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. <b>Write what you know.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
2. <b>Constantly be learning new things. </b>This way you can write about more than you know right now. Listen to people. Ask questions. My best conversations I’ve ever had were with a friend that would constantly ask questions. Nothing was off limits. As a result, he has a data bank of the most interesting stories of any living person I know.<br />
<br />
3. <b>Stop trying to perfect it.</b> It won’t be perfect. You’ll be able to draw or write it even better ten minutes from now, tomorrow, a year from now. Forever. What you create in this moment is just an artifact of who you were at that moment in time. Don’t hate your old work because it’s bad. Love it as proof that you’re improving. You’re better now than you were then.<br />
<br />
4. <b>Inking.</b> If it even crosses your mind that a page or panel needs a darker or bigger shadow or more blacks spotted – it does. Don’t be lazy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkmEgjzqLYSQG5nqWYpcBAmeR9NXD0wZ0EUCkeHOFHuTO6i3Tu6cxFf5S_smhUKn2qFYE1hUkHmT_UHSFHPAeYXr357zb19BfRPc6cDQgqPxgpokC2AGAat0U3aaaIhEB1XMWXFC3MvM/s1600/mind_mgmt_20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkmEgjzqLYSQG5nqWYpcBAmeR9NXD0wZ0EUCkeHOFHuTO6i3Tu6cxFf5S_smhUKn2qFYE1hUkHmT_UHSFHPAeYXr357zb19BfRPc6cDQgqPxgpokC2AGAat0U3aaaIhEB1XMWXFC3MvM/s400/mind_mgmt_20.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
<br />
5. <b>Don’t describe your story idea to someone. </b>Let the finished story tell it.<br />
<br />
6. <b>Movement and production.</b> The two words my printmaking instructor Leon Hicks, at Webster University, said over and over again. Keep making work. It’s how Jack Kirby made his career. Ideas and art spawn more ideas and art.<br />
<br />
7. <b>Get an honest critique.</b> Find one person in your life that will give you the honest hard truth about everything you do. True honest feedback is like gold.<br />
<br />
8. <b>Be honest with yourself.</b> Look at your own work critically. Don’t be down on yourself. Stay optimistic, but try to recognize your own weaknesses so you can address them. If you hate drawing hands, there’s probably a reason. Spend an entire sketchbook.<br />
<br />
9. <b>Amazing art can’t fix a bad story.</b> But a good story can fix mediocre art.<br />
<br />
10. <b>Read, Research, and Refine. </b>Read everything. Only good comes from reading comics and books. Constantly be studying the process of other artists, writers, directors – everyone. Always be looking at your process for ways to refine things. Adopt advice and try it out. Take some and leave some.<br />
<br />
<i>You can view Matt Kindt's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.mattkindtshop.com/">http://www.mattkindtshop.com/</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-12828423254213417182016-05-31T23:30:00.000-07:002016-06-01T07:14:00.569-07:00Bill Griffith's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. <b>Cartoon Characters have souls.</b><br />
<br />
2. As Freud meant to say: <b>"every cartoon character you create is you."</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_F7bIryu74alc4tkR1A677lSf5r-ONqH1GfuIQgM7zp8qbWcBqewRzCXdavEUbfSnSdjkE18W4UQ5XvHBX9dm-YIN4doacWl6FkBhULrbgRl3R8Fi0nKK0UPUQi_-zFMvXvYnItp_qw/s1600/doublepor.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_F7bIryu74alc4tkR1A677lSf5r-ONqH1GfuIQgM7zp8qbWcBqewRzCXdavEUbfSnSdjkE18W4UQ5XvHBX9dm-YIN4doacWl6FkBhULrbgRl3R8Fi0nKK0UPUQi_-zFMvXvYnItp_qw/s400/doublepor.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
3. <b>You're the auteur of your comic.</b> You write, cast, light, film, direct and edit...you have final cut.<br />
<br />
4. <b>Each panel, strip, page and spread is a graphic unit.</b> Compose them that way.<br />
<br />
5. <b>Comics are equal parts drawing and writing.</b> With writing being a bit more equal.<br />
<br />
6. <b>Ambiguity is OK.</b> Ask the reader to meet you halfway.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XyIRGIoIJrxtwtzICUfNN5wl3QH-0rwJD7cb6qwkbOugh1iVORMrNUKbGICxk6D0m_ew1nxja40zg7CBiIohOOxuta5J6bJ_zk0sv1jxI2NzTVZiwkQxLQWNM6e6yx2GTbj2CRc7E0k/s1600/3483_ZIT00512_original.gif" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XyIRGIoIJrxtwtzICUfNN5wl3QH-0rwJD7cb6qwkbOugh1iVORMrNUKbGICxk6D0m_ew1nxja40zg7CBiIohOOxuta5J6bJ_zk0sv1jxI2NzTVZiwkQxLQWNM6e6yx2GTbj2CRc7E0k/s640/3483_ZIT00512_original.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
7. <b>Don't just look at comics for inspiration.</b> Stare at Hopper, Rembrandt, Magritte, Durer, Hiroshige and Marsh.<br />
<br />
8. <b>It isn't necessary to completely write out your strip or story in advance. </b>Let the characters speak to you.<br />
<br />
9. <b>While you work, take breaks to stretch your neck and upper back.</b><br />
<br />
10. <b>Never listen to anyone else's advice on cartooning.</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0T2V_W4uu-NG4-1Gu3cD91NLGYvGDe2VB6acGVdzryBrNQwA_y8-vNutg_ASWcXOW1WEVbLgQrzireuiOMdVguzFXtPp2-ASAzs_SZMGWRcwan3EWNGK67x1iMpaWI9xTOxj9I6oZXTw/s1600/Griffith_Rules.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0T2V_W4uu-NG4-1Gu3cD91NLGYvGDe2VB6acGVdzryBrNQwA_y8-vNutg_ASWcXOW1WEVbLgQrzireuiOMdVguzFXtPp2-ASAzs_SZMGWRcwan3EWNGK67x1iMpaWI9xTOxj9I6oZXTw/s640/Griffith_Rules.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<i>You can view Bill Griffith's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.zippythepinhead.com/">http://www.zippythepinhead.com/</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-76458796506179386652016-05-31T08:07:00.000-07:002016-05-31T08:16:38.403-07:00Ben Granoff's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
(When I say "you" -- that's just me talking to myself.)<br />
<br />
1.<b> Know your process. </b>It'll
help you create images you like with efficiency and consistency. One
process per project.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hOX-llkZqwNxOJVVc-hiYaVmbsRhLLc0KAajt8fxVfr5UGm9HITyuiA-i1KeNp09F0R7dcOD0JRWQTgx6lzoPJ_Z0bMn3Zd-uZe67y1Htb_0DsT__Hiadx0xOwBom285ps7pmu-nGWk/s1600/ben-step1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hOX-llkZqwNxOJVVc-hiYaVmbsRhLLc0KAajt8fxVfr5UGm9HITyuiA-i1KeNp09F0R7dcOD0JRWQTgx6lzoPJ_Z0bMn3Zd-uZe67y1Htb_0DsT__Hiadx0xOwBom285ps7pmu-nGWk/s400/ben-step1.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
2.<b> Adjust your process. </b>You'll
build a bigger, better toolbox to draw from by playing with different
approaches.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3.<b> Find the drawing gestures you want to
make and make them. </b>Your muscle memory will build and expand
its own visual language and style. Make curly-cues and shark-teeth as
often as possible.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4.<b> Find the good stuff and
study. </b>Who's on your Mount Rushmore of comics? Figure it out,
tear it down, build a new one. Never meet your heroes. Obviously,
read more than comics and fiction. Get over the crippling social
anxiety that made you a cartoonist in the first place and mix it up
with reality...maybe later? Maybe later. At the same time, comics is
your medium of choice for a reason--read as many kinds of comics as
you can and build a reference file--mine's on tumblr:
<a href="http://thousandwordcomics.tumblr.com/">http://thousandwordcomics.tumblr.com/</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
5.<b> Contrast devices against
grids. </b>If every layout-move you make is a special effect then
nothing is really special. Only Sam Kieth can get away with this kind
of thing and you're no Sam Kieth. Grids and right-angle-centric
layouts are great for setting the meter; once you do that you can
break the meter with soooommmettthiiiinnng craaaazzzzyyyy.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
6.<b> Use the tools you want to
use. </b>Pencil and crayon? Pudding and dirt? I knew a guy who
drew a book in his own blood! It was disgusting! Go for it,
Rembrandt. You're the man now, dawg.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMtkkVPfba59At0KepAnhzIV9D3zvvV9a-t1yZfAAkQW3UN5AcVc3jfQ2kaxwWxGpYU7pfm8vPIPwJaCcsLrKQSQTHNXcvhS9g_lAjsMD3uy3uNVC0aSpg0uI2sAyLDssoNbtKZ7Z8zc/s1600/ben-step2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMtkkVPfba59At0KepAnhzIV9D3zvvV9a-t1yZfAAkQW3UN5AcVc3jfQ2kaxwWxGpYU7pfm8vPIPwJaCcsLrKQSQTHNXcvhS9g_lAjsMD3uy3uNVC0aSpg0uI2sAyLDssoNbtKZ7Z8zc/s400/ben-step2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
7. <b>Balloons and text are a part of
compositions. </b>You're gonna waste a lot of time and
good compositions by shoehorning text into images if you don't plan
accordingly.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYKiDQ0TVB22NH8Q7-zi3y_BcN9ir9usJWua1iKuUf-g1mRizR6Tge4I6b8hv6wgwPEMSip14jdQkL5kQL5xX0uMqsddewOWuTKaiQRZVdgWaaN58XGApIb5p4eNc6pozDC00UYcumHY/s1600/ben-step6.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYKiDQ0TVB22NH8Q7-zi3y_BcN9ir9usJWua1iKuUf-g1mRizR6Tge4I6b8hv6wgwPEMSip14jdQkL5kQL5xX0uMqsddewOWuTKaiQRZVdgWaaN58XGApIb5p4eNc6pozDC00UYcumHY/s400/ben-step6.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>8. <b>Letter
first, balloon around. </b>Squashed lettering is strictly
amateur-hour...but I still did it a few times in my new book.<br />
<br />
9.<b>
Edit text to accommodate acting. </b>If the speaker you've drawn
isn't saying the words you've written then redraw that face or change
that text. Unless your character is a ventriloquist then their mouth
should be open when they speak.<br />
<br />
10.<b> Image/text
balance. </b>If you have a ton of text in a panel then you
need to pair it with either a simple image of the speakers (like a
silhouette) or an image that isn't of the speakers. When you combine
effectively drawn body language with text that reads as an image, a
voice is produced in the readers' head. When you have too much text, that voice is diluted. Conversation panels with multiple dialogue
exchanges back and forth between characters produce no voice as
characters change their tones and conversation shifts. Don't be lazy,
give every moment its due or cut some of that dialogue.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjslbIEc0Xc1SRLuWFYrRUp5908Myk7sz5RxX-4HQ1X0ISYRdeLSVtDjJUZMBt8DnpQ-c6qK6JpO_WUpDT8fA9iU6ar76cdbaua2LWS9_3p5BnDM2qW-n2S_evfc3z_HB9rFjor-MZ-r0/s1600/ben-step10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjslbIEc0Xc1SRLuWFYrRUp5908Myk7sz5RxX-4HQ1X0ISYRdeLSVtDjJUZMBt8DnpQ-c6qK6JpO_WUpDT8fA9iU6ar76cdbaua2LWS9_3p5BnDM2qW-n2S_evfc3z_HB9rFjor-MZ-r0/s400/ben-step10.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>You can view Ben Granoff's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.picturesforstories.com/">http://www.picturesforstories.com/</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-71573690171535054792016-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:002016-05-16T08:44:47.236-07:00Benjamin Marra's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
1. Draw things you have a deep emotional connection to and make you want to draw. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
2. <b>Emotional accuracy is more important than emulating reality. </b>Realism is overrated and reality is an illusion anyway. Just make a good drawing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxTzaCNB-Nvg3oPa0BxrwNt5I6k_MeleB583oVUWy172V5-3Q5VZ9HWxqBMQt7P0oaIeRrKko6o2y2raCuPeIUNcAfAPDIfK-WnvfLXJXuVwRFXPIxIokmzfgegCsaINDfC1x8XZTaig/s1600/26_marrarbma.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxTzaCNB-Nvg3oPa0BxrwNt5I6k_MeleB583oVUWy172V5-3Q5VZ9HWxqBMQt7P0oaIeRrKko6o2y2raCuPeIUNcAfAPDIfK-WnvfLXJXuVwRFXPIxIokmzfgegCsaINDfC1x8XZTaig/s400/26_marrarbma.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
3. Balance light and shadow. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5qwqkGhKbWvXWLeJvJ1JKrW_gLeQt8TBd0dPRIzqW6r9Flb7lTo4dssQE0t0MQlHQKb-fuzjjUUKlQjiDUtykrWkOfRT9Yww8BMte7hEmO-9e9o2OyKx8y71s9HJ5DbNN3aI4EUHe9Q/s1600/26_bromance01.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5qwqkGhKbWvXWLeJvJ1JKrW_gLeQt8TBd0dPRIzqW6r9Flb7lTo4dssQE0t0MQlHQKb-fuzjjUUKlQjiDUtykrWkOfRT9Yww8BMte7hEmO-9e9o2OyKx8y71s9HJ5DbNN3aI4EUHe9Q/s400/26_bromance01.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
4. <b>Don't create walls.</b> You'll only run into them later. Avoid Puritanism of materials, tools, techniques, methods, and approaches. Don't be a perfectionist. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
5. <b>When you feel like you hate how a drawing is turning out, that's when it's the most important to keep going. </b>Don't be too harsh a judge, but don't believe the drawing is any good either (you can never plan to create a masterpiece). You want to be right in the middle, in the zone. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
6. <b>You can only progress if you finish things. </b>Reflecting on finished work, seeing what was successful and what didn't work, you can learn what to keep or change moving forward. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
7. <b>Style comes from what you do unconsciously. </b>Embrace your deficiencies instead of hiding them. The struggle to draw something is more interesting than casual success in facility. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
8. <b>Strive for the best you can do, accept what the drawing is when you fall short. </b>At a certain point the drawing becomes its own thing beyond your control. Let it be what it will be.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
9. You gotta know the rules before you can break the rules. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
10. There are no rules.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<i>You can view Benjamin Marra's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.benjaminmarra.com/">http://www.benjaminmarra.com/</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-10775726057022947982016-05-13T07:23:00.000-07:002016-05-13T10:16:14.163-07:00Tom Hart's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">1. A struggle is a good thing. Be in it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">2. A surprise is a good thing. Respond to it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">3. Study how others did it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">4. If you steal, become better for it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">5. If you copy, copy deeply.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">6. Composition is everything. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">7. Characters are runes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">8. Activate the space.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">9. From Joe Chiapetta: This is not the bomb squad. Take unnecessary risks.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">10. It should mean something, it should express something, it should be something.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxIQ4FxSfXjkGHQC6nQFfKwZUGVKFATFYV65U9aPtbjNEAAZNRBJhfwpf-UbxHM1uHZsjo-44mfyIaR2SnCQ9cd_gYO9TGMRqa66jbjBd9A0GblwL-kpsKjynjc2WifC-2QaBQUjIAoc/s1600/hart_hutchowen.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxIQ4FxSfXjkGHQC6nQFfKwZUGVKFATFYV65U9aPtbjNEAAZNRBJhfwpf-UbxHM1uHZsjo-44mfyIaR2SnCQ9cd_gYO9TGMRqa66jbjBd9A0GblwL-kpsKjynjc2WifC-2QaBQUjIAoc/s320/hart_hutchowen.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><i>You can view Tom Hart's work at:</i> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.tomhart.net/">http://www.tomhart.net/</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-23018867637046941012016-05-11T07:39:00.000-07:002016-05-11T10:17:43.181-07:00Larry Hama's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. Don't have people just standing there.<br />
<div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFKMhbuoR3uwzab_rmileE0cFPstYo52Rz_DarapjqMzV4Pxoj8jBS-l1HYqBAc0E_fsmRCZC8iKC68LVIxXAY8baxYuDPeU7qEQTjfM1aySTGPVVEnJrG63AXxQkZqr2nLeMjmKnOIU/s1600/silent-interlude.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFKMhbuoR3uwzab_rmileE0cFPstYo52Rz_DarapjqMzV4Pxoj8jBS-l1HYqBAc0E_fsmRCZC8iKC68LVIxXAY8baxYuDPeU7qEQTjfM1aySTGPVVEnJrG63AXxQkZqr2nLeMjmKnOIU/s320/silent-interlude.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2. ANY expression is better than a blank stare.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3. Avoid tangents and any straight line that divides the panel.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
4. If you use an odd angle in the shot, there has to be a reason for it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
5. If you don't have at least one panel on each page with a full figure, your "camera" is too close.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSOMVFfdEPzAlTE-fWHjw8R5QvBRPiX9aytAHA23LxBw6Hd59dOH-mHFQxu2OxYr9Fn4psDn7adlpWZc94bRr8iCxbu1BM3x7FIwza-TmbDfRIE-oN_xYTytOeUq9CHaGW2iKHwJc2-4/s1600/Silent02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSOMVFfdEPzAlTE-fWHjw8R5QvBRPiX9aytAHA23LxBw6Hd59dOH-mHFQxu2OxYr9Fn4psDn7adlpWZc94bRr8iCxbu1BM3x7FIwza-TmbDfRIE-oN_xYTytOeUq9CHaGW2iKHwJc2-4/s400/Silent02.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
6. Plan out your shots in "Lawrence of Arabia" mode rather than in "General Hospital" mode.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
7. Don't think of backgrounds as "things to fill up the space after the figures are drawn."</div>
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<div>
8. If you know what something is called, and you have an internet connection, there is no reason to draw it inaccurately.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
9. If the colorist has to ask if a scene takes place at night, you haven't done your job.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
10. If you can't extend the drawing beyond the panel borders and still have it make visual sense, you've cheated on the perspective.</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-56462412205969277552016-05-09T07:20:00.000-07:002016-05-09T07:20:40.883-07:00Dean Haspiel's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">1. <b>Observe and listen and react.</b> This is your primary engine for story.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">2. <b>Write or sketch (do both) until it resembles something of a story. </b>A story is like a series of jokes and punchlines, funny and not funny. One thing leading to another, and not necessarily in that order!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">3. I understand why we're encouraged to remove story elements that don't strictly contribute to the over-arching narrative, but <b>I try to make entire stories feel like one big red mess because life is chaos.</b> Answers are not as interesting as questions, but choices and decisions (for better or for worse) make or break characters and steer story.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">4. <b>Shape your story.</b> Subtract for clarity, but leave room for interpretation. Your reader is your co-author. Struggling through the layout stage is the most critical part of making comix. Everything after that is craft, revision and execution.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-MeFbzrJ58tIIiSCTaa0QEXjSgiylqa3L03NyC5q9RwmmOH8XToaCynD71r-CSqc4uAAbxprLujX_TqhgQk6kbYtguLoaf5k6H0tb3HukDg08HkEM1mMIzxPbPOkf-1mJCxRftAfFVs/s1600/Dino_Layouts.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-MeFbzrJ58tIIiSCTaa0QEXjSgiylqa3L03NyC5q9RwmmOH8XToaCynD71r-CSqc4uAAbxprLujX_TqhgQk6kbYtguLoaf5k6H0tb3HukDg08HkEM1mMIzxPbPOkf-1mJCxRftAfFVs/s320/Dino_Layouts.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
5. I used to care about accountability for verisimilitude but emotionally true is what I strive for. You want a photo? Take a picture. You want a fact? Do the math. Otherwise, <b>draw something that means something but don't be scared of what's complex and human.</b> It's how we relate.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzjjG5CKTJAOZAigyYYmGmFm5efPcQtM3ewSr89WYyS-bpvG1wu2_YGPFGGIq7v-G0HuVbnVg0xfNUZxUp_oDyBpaPMAuTuuYf-AjczyttZ6axFjUTUtl9VOTfcJ-9SYQlsFeh7EqW00/s1600/TommyRocket_blue_zpsiyvfwryj.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzjjG5CKTJAOZAigyYYmGmFm5efPcQtM3ewSr89WYyS-bpvG1wu2_YGPFGGIq7v-G0HuVbnVg0xfNUZxUp_oDyBpaPMAuTuuYf-AjczyttZ6axFjUTUtl9VOTfcJ-9SYQlsFeh7EqW00/s320/TommyRocket_blue_zpsiyvfwryj.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
6. <b>Image is text, too.</b> Sometimes I draw first what I want to write and then reverse-engineer my story-making process.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">7. <b>The art should always serve the story.</b> A splash page should feel like a Sergio Leone vista or extreme close-up. The moment before or after a trigger is pulled or something is revealed. Inset panels expose, hyphenate or hide information. Use them wisely.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCR_nhm8BPXBeYoPY8hZ_l8cTPpxbTQj2lnSmmJDAsQS5tfkYTGbwDM68uEqUbVdTswuFRO_yQLv6REYlEz3HOtxxHsjIXzW9LTa2-TJlQAqGbkt5bd3JNTDLk5Fhh6asqc-MVpPYSmOs/s1600/strtcode_zuda_00095_zpsltrmjukc.gif" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCR_nhm8BPXBeYoPY8hZ_l8cTPpxbTQj2lnSmmJDAsQS5tfkYTGbwDM68uEqUbVdTswuFRO_yQLv6REYlEz3HOtxxHsjIXzW9LTa2-TJlQAqGbkt5bd3JNTDLk5Fhh6asqc-MVpPYSmOs/s400/strtcode_zuda_00095_zpsltrmjukc.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
8. If your art stops me from indulging the story at its intended narrative pace so as to ogle and cheer how well you drew something, you're being a diva. <b>Don't vogue. Immerse me.</b></span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">9. <b>Read books and comix.</b> Watch movies. Listen to music. See people doing things. Do things. Talk.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">10. <b>Sometimes, walk home a different way. </b>It allows you to see new things and, perhaps, think differently. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><i>You can view Dean Haspiel's work at: </i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.deanhaspiel.com/">http://www.deanhaspiel.com/</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-28864363965753160702013-11-11T06:20:00.003-08:002013-11-11T06:21:51.889-08:00Alex Toth's Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Eliminate the superfluous, the unnecessary. Be lazy!</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Edit your art continuously, at every stage. Save work!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Focus on the remaining (important) picture elements.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Emphasize what is important in a scene. Save drawing!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Isolate such key elements (as one does in a view finder).</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Closeups only when needed: face(s)-for mood and expression, and objects-small, difficult to distinguish in other ways.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">To set a scene, a place, to establish a locate, etc., go to a wide shot, angles okay (down/up, etc.)-but again, simply!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Then, cut to tighter shots-pace them, for interest, etc....(wide/one shot/two shot/group/close-up/tight close-up).</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Establish light source, if need be, for dramatic mood
and for blacks, drop shadows, etc., on figures & objects and walks,
as correctly placed as you can make 'em!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Eliminate such light/shadow work in other shots.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Simplify, simplify, simplify, throughout!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Remember, some scenes will and must be pedestrian,
unimportant, and dull- because they are "bridges" between key
storytelling scenes. As in any story telling form, movies, TV, books,
plays, music, opera, painting, etc., you <i>can't</i> knock 'em dead with <i>every</i>
shot. Remember, this is what gives pace to a story, visual commas and
periods in a pictorial "paragraph" or "sentence"! These are the resting
places in an otherwise moving storm! <i>Use</i> them! Without fear!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Some such "rests" or "pauses" can be heightened in
pictorial interest by way of a pretty scene of quiet mood-if your locale
allows! Don't stretch logic to do it!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">By learning to eliminate unnecessary objects,
figures, and background, etc., you can focus on what is left to draw in
the shot-and draw it well enough to "carry" the shot!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">In other words: strip it all down to essentials and draw the hell out of what is left!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">All of this advice is based on Roy Crane's critiques of <i>my</i> work-and he is absolutely correct, on <i>all</i> points!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">In the <i>Wash Tubbs </i>and <i>Captain Easy</i> strips and in<i> Buz Sawyer</i>,
with Sundays focused on pal Roscoe Sweeny, his work of fifty-odd years
demonstrates its validity! in his work, as in no other of his
contemporaries' offerings, you will find an extraordinary sense of
balance, in his design of space within a panel frame, a strip, or a
page! His simplicity allows us to see the use of shapes within his
pictures, how they create tension, action or repose...clearly!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">He avoided confusing details!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">To quote something just read: "To <i>add</i> to <i>truth</i> only <i>subtracts</i> from it!!! (Isn't that beautifully put?)</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Authentic devices, objects, machines, locales, furniture, buildings, etc....to lend credibility!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">As Sickles put it: "Understand how a thing is built and you'll have no trouble drawing it through!"</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Spend more time<i> thinking</i>-about what and what <i>not</i> to draw, and <i>how</i>-and you'll do<i> less drawing!</i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Pre-</i>plan, <i>pre-</i>think...Thus, save work and time!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">But-whatever you do, do it well!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Tell the story as best you can! Bend to that storm!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Be honest to it. Give it all you've got! Enhance it!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Study films, photographs, paintings, etc. for
composition! For cutting, cropping out of nonessentials, pacing, punch,
economy, forceful and direct impact. But also for beauty and
subtlety-tension, suspense, action, humor, light and dark, balance, line
vs. mass, ad infinitum! <i>Use it all!</i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Analyze everything you see-be critical! Positively so!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">See-observe-remember! Build up your memory file!</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Good luck</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBH-4IYp1cGtiNjYE9zmrthyphenhyphenVNkZB9oYUoAM-Axi8QTVyCjQrIOlrSq1X6hXuEo0yQfh4ayVcBebGLdaCM91QgyArGb96_ehRFmw81clnvrbr8ssUCl3Y4dLo1G7UbStKViBUMttA-TtQ/s1600/at.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBH-4IYp1cGtiNjYE9zmrthyphenhyphenVNkZB9oYUoAM-Axi8QTVyCjQrIOlrSq1X6hXuEo0yQfh4ayVcBebGLdaCM91QgyArGb96_ehRFmw81clnvrbr8ssUCl3Y4dLo1G7UbStKViBUMttA-TtQ/s320/at.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-41896303544752066702013-11-07T21:30:00.000-08:002016-03-16T17:27:54.918-07:00Simon Fraser's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
1. <b>Left to right</b>. Don't get fancy and you won't lose people.<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
2. <b>Pay attention to eyes</b>. That's the first thing people look at.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uauxLU3PcolYrcXwInXJ-8nJ-Z8AFwcFlTGLhuSJbxR91Pm4u0lVQIDBXf89rPiQSa621ICDsYbj9LfjrkjWAaYf71fghQMUa4b82HqGo-kJM8Uc_KBKJiE-DFdD8LaVVhFplyRTRs4/s1600/simon_fraser_eyes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uauxLU3PcolYrcXwInXJ-8nJ-Z8AFwcFlTGLhuSJbxR91Pm4u0lVQIDBXf89rPiQSa621ICDsYbj9LfjrkjWAaYf71fghQMUa4b82HqGo-kJM8Uc_KBKJiE-DFdD8LaVVhFplyRTRs4/s400/simon_fraser_eyes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
3.
<b>Control as much of the process as you can</b>: penciling, inking,
coloring, even lettering. You don't have to do it yourself, just get
your own people in and keep an eye on it right to the end.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
4. <b>Don't hide things you don't know how to draw.</b> Put them front and center so you give yourself a push to improving your skills.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
5.
<b>Keep practicing</b> <b>drawing from life</b>, drawing from a model, drawing what
you see around you. When you stop doing that then you start to dry up
and become predictable.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
6. <b>Nothing is un-drawable</b>. It might be very very hard, but you CAN do it.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
7.
<b> If you are working from another writer's script, read thoroughly, then
read it again.</b> Let those words become your words and therefore your
character's words.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
8. <b>Try not to design asymmetrical characters.</b> Also avoid tattoos. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
9. <b>Clarity above all.</b> No fancy layout or visual flourish is worth losing your reader's full comprehension.</div>
<br />
10. <b>All rules are completely ignorable, if you can make it work.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>You can view Simon Fraser's work at:</i> <a href="http://activatecomix.com/creators?id=6">www.activatecomix.com/creators?id=6</a><b><a href="http://activatecomix.com/creators?id=6"> </a></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-807735274303507162013-11-05T06:10:00.001-08:002014-06-10T18:39:45.491-07:00Zander Cannon's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
1. <b>Every panel will express its subjects' 1) position 2) scale 3) details or 4) emotion.</b> Very rarely can it reliably express more than one of these. Try to vary between each type as much as possible to keep the page interesting and people engaged.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
2. <b>Anchor important things along lines or in clusters.</b> Heads of a crowd of people along the horizon is a good one.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
3. <b>Thick lines and shadows should define edges of objects, thin lines define details.</b> Edges of weighty, massive objects should be defined by a very thick line or a substantial area of dark color.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQalSvqcuzUlpI-ZaLfmjWGYaDnFE2wVXB7ozRISJpBFIpq45B084eq5IE5yyuo-LmV0nKuwTEEdcDJEnHpJxEDRZuvQhEQb_g11j88oc9Ze1u6J9z-cXVqTT4hlVFna8SrHzLzaW2Rw/s1600/Heck-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQalSvqcuzUlpI-ZaLfmjWGYaDnFE2wVXB7ozRISJpBFIpq45B084eq5IE5yyuo-LmV0nKuwTEEdcDJEnHpJxEDRZuvQhEQb_g11j88oc9Ze1u6J9z-cXVqTT4hlVFna8SrHzLzaW2Rw/s1600/Heck-2.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
4. <b>As often as you can, incorporate word balloons and lettering into the art.</b> Efficient, corporate workflows make this difficult, but if you can manage it, good, well-integrated lettering can make your artwork look 10x better. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
5. <b>More so than ever, there are no 'right tools.'</b> Use what makes sense. If selling commissions or originals is important, use archival tools on nice paper. If efficiency and speed is paramount, work digitally. There are no rules other than what looks good to you.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
6. <b>Waste time and experiment on things you love.</b> Become blindingly fast on things you don't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
7. <b>'Should' is a poisonous word.</b> Don't do what you should do. Draw what you love, what you would love to read, and what tells others how you think and feel.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
8. <b>Design your characters so they are recognizable by silhouette or by color, or, ideally, both.</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
9. <b>Art is the intersection between seeing the lines on paper and seeing what they represent.</b> As soon as you can see both, stop; you're done.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
10. <b>Alternate between drawing something that people will see (encouraging you to be polished) and something for just you (inspiring you to be daring) as often as you can.</b> You need both.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i>You can view Zander Cannon's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.bigtimeattic.com/" style="background-color: transparent;">www.bigtimeattic.com</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-46396935167636806242013-11-01T05:54:00.002-07:002013-11-01T05:56:29.796-07:00Michael DeForge's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
1. <b>Figure out your grid.</b> This is one that
obviously doesn't apply to everyone. All my comics are on grids.
Deciding on which one I'm going to use for any given story ends up
dictating a lot of how the rest of the comic is going to read - tone,
pacing, the level of detail in the drawing, length, etc.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I like grids with two columns for the "call and
response" sort of rhythm they have. It's good for dialogue, gags,
keeping a story moving at a steady beat. I find that the six-panel grid
is the easiest to design, since it gives you very clean and simple
diagonals to work with. I like grids with three columns to stretch the
pacing out a bit more and really let characters move around (or
across) a page.<br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://studygroupcomics.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/inc1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3044" height="400" src="http://studygroupcomics.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/inc1.gif" title="inc1" width="262" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
2. <b>Don't overdraw.</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3. <b>Feel kind of weird and shitty about coloring your comic.</b> If
you are drawing a color comic, constantly look at your finished pages
and ask yourself, "would this page work just as well without color? Is
it doing something that I couldn't accomplish in black and white?" It
doesn't really matter what the answers are, but it's an important thing
to feel self-conscious about. This applies to any design elements on
your page that might be superfluous or purely ornamental, really.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
4. <b>Print stuff yourself sometimes.</b> Aside
from all the lessons (in economics, in design, in production) that
self-publishing teaches you, comics is also one of the cheapest mediums
to work in, and it's nice to take advantage of that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
5. <b>Learn how to letter by hand.</b> There
are, like, four exceptions to the "hand lettering always looks better"
thing, and it's a good skill to have anyway. Even if you end up using a
typeface because you can't afford the time to letter everything
yourself, just knowing how to do it will make your pages flow better. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
6. <b>Ignore "blocks."</b> I know
there isn't one way to deal with writer's/artist's block, so this is
just how I do it. I can't take a break during those stretches. If I'm
not feeling it, I just have to work through it anyway. Sometimes that
means turning out thirty pages of garbage and tossing them in the
recycling bin before hitting my stride again. The longer I spend away
from the drawing desk, the more I'm thrown out of my routine, the harder
it is for me to get back to work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Drawing for comics is such a weird and different
process compared to other types of drawing. Some days, working on a
comics page has more in common with organizing a spreadsheet than it
does, say, drawing in my sketchbook. So I need to keep that muscle
memory there because blablabla it's like exercise etc</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In general, I think it's dangerous when cartoonists
wait around to be "inspired" to work. Drawing isn't always going to feel
like lightning bolts are coming out of your fingertips or playing jazz
music. It's work, and on most days it will feel like work. If you've
chosen comics as a vocation, a lot of your time is going to be spent
measuring panel borders or crosshatching a brick wall, so get ready.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
7. <b>Set deadlines.</b> Set
yourself a reasonable quota of pages you can do every week (or month)
and force yourself to meet those deadlines. Ignore your friends, lose
sleep, let your health decline, etc. Allow other things in your life
organize themselves around your art. Feel awful about yourself when you
fail to meet those deadlines. Eventually feel good about periodically
letting yourself off the hook after you've been meeting them for a
while. Eventually, these routines become so internalized that you no
longer need to police yourself as much.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
8. <b>Learn when to draw generic and when to draw specific.</b> This
is an intuitive thing. Sometimes a cartoon house that looks like a
triangle on top of a rectangle is the best possible choice for a panel.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
9. <b>Overshoot.</b> Every new
project should feel like you're attempting something a little outside of
your skill set. (This might actually be the case)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
10. <b>Take advantage of the low stakes.</b> The fact that there isn't any money in comics isn't
ideal, but there are advantages to not having anybody pay attention to
what we're doing. If you succeed, nobody really cares, and if you fail,
nobody really cares, which means there's a lot of freedom to experiment.
These things are cheap to make and you're taking a smaller financial
blow by xeroxing 200 copies of a comic nobody buys than by (for
instance) pressing 200 copies of a 7" nobody listens to.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>You can view Michael DeForge's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.michaeldeforge.wordpress.com/">www.michaeldeforge.wordpress.com</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-71013821272888199762013-10-29T16:48:00.001-07:002013-10-30T07:04:33.810-07:00Jeffrey Brown's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1.<b> Think about your audience.</b> But don't cater to them. You should keep in mind that you're making
comics that someone else will read, so things should be clear and
comprehensible, and not so esoteric that no one else will get it. That
doesn't mean you should just try to make something with the idea that
it's for a particular market or demographic.
<br />
<br />
2.<b> Don't pay attention to reviews.</b> Of course, it's impossible to completely ignore the world's response
to your work. In fact, the whole point of putting work into the world is
to get a response. When you inevitably read those reviews you're trying
to avoid, at least try and get something from them - sometimes there's
actually constructive criticism that can improve your work. Internet
comments sections and Amazon reviews should be avoided at all costs,
though.
<br />
<br />
3.<b> Don't compare yourself and your work to others.</b> Don't feel like you're a failure because you're 5 years older than
such-and-such cartoonist was when they got their six digit book deal. Or
because your work never comes close to being as good as that of your
idol. There will always be someone better and some other work that will
always be better than anything you ever make in your entire life.
Chances are, those people are different from you, and the work you make
is different, and none of that makes your work any less worthwhile.
<br />
<br />
4.<b> Make work without ulterior motives.</b> Make comics to express your ideas, not to do other stuff like getting
revenge, impressing someone, win back an ex, etc. Except change the
world, that's probably okay to try.
<br />
<br />
5.<b> Be willing to compromise in your work.</b> But never compromise your work. Learn when you can bend to an editor
or publisher's wishes and when you should demand your work's integrity
be maintained. Sometimes they'll make your work better, sometimes
they'll only make it more marketable, sometimes they'll ruin it. Think
big picture and long term with what you want from your comics.
<br />
<br />
6.<b> Don't Settle.</b> Don't give a half-hearted effort. Draw your crowd scenes, your feet,
your complicated machinery. If your story requires a tedious ten pages
of thing-you-don't-feel-like-drawing, find a way to do it instead
of deciding that can really be done in just two pages. Unless it really
can be done in two pages.
<br />
<br />
7. <b>Enjoy it.</b> Comics are hard work - and they should be - but it's work you should
be enjoying. If you're not enjoying it (at some point in the process -
either the act of writing and drawing, or holding the finished book, or
whenever), then you're either drawing the wrong comics or you should
reconsider if drawing comics is really what you want to be doing. If
you're not enjoying it because you're not making any money from drawing
it, then you really may need to think about doing something else, like
banking.
<br />
<br />
8.<b> Trust yourself.</b> If you're relatively happy with the work you've made, then chances
are, with 7 billion people in the world, there's thousands and thousands
of other people who will also be happy with your work. You'll still
need to get your work to those people. And there'll also be at least a
couple billion people who actively hate what you've done, and several
billion who will be absolutely apathetic toward it. Don't worry about
all those people, just worry about those first thousand. Make the comics
you want to make.
<br />
<br />
9.<b> Don't be afraid to put your work out into the world.</b> If no one sees it, what's the point? By all means, keep making work
even if you're not going to let anyone see it, just don't be afraid of
what people will think or say. Just making art is more than most people
can take credit for, and putting it out into the world will put you in
even smaller, better company. All that's left is to keep at it until
you're making really good work.
<br />
<br />
10.<b> Work!</b> Work, work, work. Work all the time. Make lots of work. Do the work.
If you're not actually working on it, you'll never actually make
anything. That seems obvious, but there are plenty of people who talk
about the ideas they have and never actually do anything with them. Most
people probably think great ideas are rare, but actually great ideas
are everywhere. Pretty much everyone in the world has one or two great
ideas every year. What's rare is people who actually follow through and
make those ideas a reality. You have to work.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1193509302p5/45429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1193509302p5/45429.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1193509302p5/45429.jpg" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<i>You can view Jeffrey Brown's work at: </i><a href="http://www.jeffreybrowncomics.com/">www.jeffreybrowncomics.com</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-18645285717756222462013-10-28T06:34:00.000-07:002013-10-28T06:34:37.943-07:00John Allison's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">1. <b>Get good, then get fast, then get good and fast. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For every stride you make, you'll introduce a load of mistakes. I'd gain in one area, but find another one slipped a bit. I'd begin to improve at inking, but start making heads taller and taller, then have to rein that in. Or my anatomy would get better, but as it did, I'd start drawing with a line that was too thin or too fat. Don't worry about it. Take a moment to step back and look objectively at what you're doing every once in a while.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. <b>If you're going to read the good reviews, you have to read the bad reviews. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You probably shouldn't read any of your reviews, and you certainly shouldn't make decisions based on what strangers say about your work, but the faults people see in your work, no matter how they sting, probably have a root somewhere.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">3. <b>Vary your diet. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Comics made by people who only read comics read like comics made by people who only read comics.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">4. <b>There's no such thing as perfection. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You can't make a page perfect. Just get it done. Move on. 95% done is good enough 99% of the time.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">5. <b>Allow yourself to be bored. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There are a million ways to distract yourself today. Turn your phone off when you go out, give yourself time to let your mind wander. That's when a lot of the best work gets done. Computer games aren't productive. Checking Twitter/email/Tumblr every three minutes to see if anything has happened isn't productive. It's counter-productive. You're wasting your limited lifespan. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">6. <b>The good stuff is what comes when the bad stuff is out of the way. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If you feel like you're in a rut, but you have to keep going, have faith that good work will come again. In the meantime, challenge yourself with the uninspiring material, make it more than it currently is. And remember that most people won't notice the difference. Something that feels flat and tired to you might be someone's favorite comic you ever did.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">7. <b>Stay healthy. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Making comics is hard. Treat yourself like an athlete! If the work you do with a five-alarm hangover is better than the work you do well rested, you're an incredibly singular specimen.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">8. <b>People want to see a little of themselves reflected back at them in a story. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You should make work for yourself first and foremost, but remember that you don't want to be the only person who wants to read it.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9. <b>The devil is in the detail. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Don't go for the easy joke, the stereotype, the rote rendition. They've all been done. And you'll do all of them at first. But as best you can, go for something new. You'll be rewarded for it.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">10. <b>Make a place that readers want to visit. </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The best comics creators make settings you want to crawl inside and characters you want to know. Do whatever you can to make that happen. Use everything you can from your life, from the things you enjoy, to build a place that readers want to be.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i>You can view John Allison's work at</i>: </span><a href="http://scarygoround.com/">www.scarygoround.com</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-56309350028059846742013-10-25T08:03:00.000-07:002013-10-25T08:04:18.360-07:00Sam Henderson's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <b> </b></span><!--[endif]--><b>Use what you feel comfortable with--eventually. </b>Some people use markers or ballpoints or copy paper, some even
use a dowel rod. There's no one correct way of executing anything. But it's
best to start with conventional tools first. Start with india ink, bristol,
T-square, gummy eraser, comfy chair, blah blah blah, just like everyone else
more qualified than me will tell you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>No halos. </b>My own pet peeve. Even some of
my favorite cartoonists do it. I can't stop you. It really bothers me when a
person or object is standing in front of a black background with a white
outline around them. It suggests you're passive-aggressively trying to impress
people with the quality of your line. If the thing in the foreground is also
black, maybe have some kind of light shining on it to make it stand out,
but don't make it look like it's glowing in the dark. Don't get me started on
balloon tails crossing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Keep a sketchbook. </b>You never know when an
idea will hit you out of nowhere that you'll forget if you don't write it down.
It also keeps you in practice. If you don't draw something new every day, lack
of drawing will become habit and you might not be able to recover. It's like
when guys are told their dicks will fall of from atrophy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Use blue pencil. </b>Computers may make one
more lazy, but that's the drawback. I can't tell you what tools to use or not, that's something to
figure out for yourself. The blue pencil is something everyone should have though. It won't show up on scanners and you can make mistakes without having
to erase them. Everyone should use one.<u><o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Take from sources. </b>A more polite way of
recommending you steal. Not plagiarize, but don't be afraid of being derivative.
Kliban begat the Far Side, Doonesbury begat Bloom County, Simpsons begat Family
Guy, the influences may be blatant but whether you like them or not they're
original in their own right. Kirby is derived from Shakespeare which is derived
from Greek tragedies which are in turn based on tales told by cavemen, and on
and on. There's no such thing as an original idea when it comes down to it, so
you don't have to be a major innovator to be considered unique.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Follow the grammar of comics. </b>Use panel
borders, gutters, and the like, and call them those things, no matter how corny
they might be. Don't show off. Just like the English language requires certain
parts of speech and punctuation used properly, so too does comics.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Market not only to comic fans. </b>People
often tell me something like “My favorite comics are yours and Batman.” It's
the subject matter that should resonate, not the medium. Nobody assumes because
you listen to a certain kind of music, you listen to everything just because
it's music. Is your comic like Breaking Bad? South Park? Dancing with the
Stars? A Woody Allen movie? Pick something you feel is similar to yours, but
the common ground should never be that what you do also has words and pictures
made with ink on paper.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Don't work for free. </b>It's okay to do free
things for friends or students. Just don't heed the promises of strangers who
say they will give you “exposure.” Cartooning is a job like any other. Just let
these people try telling their printer, post office, landlord, etc. the same
conditions and see where that gets them.<u><o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Don't care what people think. </b>No subject
matter is off limits. This isn't to say that you should sit down and think
“what can I do that will offend people?” Just that you shouldn't care if it
does. A tragedy for some is just a statistic for others. Not to suddenly become
a sociopath, use the same boundaries you always have. I may find some things
may not be appropriate, but don't censor yourself because I say so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Do
as I say, not as I do. </b>Let's see, what other corny sayings can I use? “Those
who can't, teach.” “You have to get 1000 bad drawings out of you before you do
one good one.” “One man's meat is another man's poison.” “You can't please
everyone.” Yeah, those work too. I'm forty-four, have been doing comics
professionally for over twenty years, had high-prestige clients, but I'm still
learning. I'm not one to show exactly how to do comics or say how I do
something is the only way. I don't even put clothes on people or make them
other colors or genders unless it's necessary for the gag. My work is based more
on ideas than craft. That doesn't mean yours should be. My stuff may be crude,
but that doesn't mean I only can understand or appreciate things equally crude.
I've centered on this style from trying other ways to figure out what's best
suited for me. Other cartoonists might think everything I've said is a load of
crap and I can live with that. My advice is to just take in as much as possible
from everything you hear or say and use what you feel is best for you.<br />
<br />
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<b>BONUS TIPS!</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Bonus Tip #1: Don't Be a Cartoonist</b>. You
have a life of starvation and poverty ahead of you. There are enough of you already.
I was bitten by the bug early on, but it's not too late for you. </div>
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<b>Bonus Tip #2:</b> <b>Schulz doesn't have a "T" in
it</b>. Whether a classicist or iconoclast or intuitive, we can all
agree Charles Schulz is one of the most influential cartoonists, some
may say artists, of the twentieth century, yet most of the time I see his name misspelled. Enough already. You wouldn't get
away with misspelling “apple” or “telephone.” It's somewhat
understandable with so much lazy journalism, but there's no excuse
for cartoonists to write “Schultz.” If you do, you should have
your hands broken and be forbidden to attend any convention for life.
Same goes for Winsor McCay and Jules Feiffer.<br />
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<i>You can view Sam Henderson's work at:</i> <a href="http://magicwhistle.com/">http://magicwhistle.com/</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-18825729964248438682013-10-23T07:20:00.000-07:002013-10-23T07:20:03.406-07:00Ben Towle's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1500000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Make the kind of comics </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you’d</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> want to read. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK, if you’re trying to land a deal at First Second or Pantheon maybe this isn’t the best rule to follow, but that aside, you’ll be happiest--and make the best comics--if you’re making the kind of comics that </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you personally </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would want to read. If you’re thinking about target audience, demographics, etc. you’re not thinking about what’s truly important about comics-making. If Art Spiegelman were thinking about a “target demographic,” he’d have never made MAUS. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1500000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Read comics outside your genre</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the only comics you read are comics like the ones you make, you’re likely missing out on a world of comics skills and tricks that you could absorb and incorporate into your own work. I think it was cartoonist Frank Santoro who said you can learn more nuts and bolts comics storytelling reading an issue of Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith's </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conan</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> series from the '70s than from any lauded “indie” cartoonist. He’s right. The point isn’t that indie cartoonists aren’t good at storytelling; it’s that different genres employ different formal “toolkits” and you’re missing out on some of that if you restrict yourself to a particular comics niche.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Comics aren’t movies/panels aren’t “shots.” </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How you </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">think</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speak</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about comics affects how you </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">make</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> comics. If you’re thinking of and speaking about comics as if they were movies, you’re confining yourself to certain types of stories, drawings and formal devices. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; white-space: pre-wrap;">What “shot” is this?</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-27ef5adc-c1a8-c043-8788-ac22ac88631b" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="344px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8A1ouQD7YrQbqpc9KK-WsbyQANLhbzrTIfnIBpI_awO9ykpU7mS1PYX-1LhfeFXz0vNzKfsHEkEPWiK4-Qlq4LIFHIlDkYSHbK5oq7AHomi7pr9KiVpoLi-L7SwM6xTF9oM" width="282px;" /></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-27ef5adc-c1a8-3f09-71a3-ffc773693e3d"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What “camera angle” is this?</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-27ef5adc-c1a8-0ac4-d271-892ff72fbb03" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/luPP8ywyg6O6lMZIV9tRQow3LEkTJ80j0Gc4eZHw8EmGpzwALMPNpPPIjg2SQbyjW_lL2B6h4dVfldORuktNm9XJ1D9G19eQ4g4LsT7lmur21o7O-J7rE9u6FU010akIZ5o" width="300" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comics are drawings. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have cameras. We have CGI. If people want to look at realistic images, they can use those things to do it. The best comics are comics that embrace the “drawing-ness” of the art. Taking an inked contour drawing and throwing a lot of highly rendered color and effects on it is never going to yield satisfying results. There’s an inherent visual/aesthetic conflict between the two-dimensionality of inked comics artwork and three dimensional effects. Avoid this stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read things other than comics. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comics are a relatively recent art form. Prose fiction has been around a lot longer and has had a lot more time to develop a wide array of storytelling techniques. If you want to write </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Detective Comics</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, you need to understand how serialized storytelling works and how to keep the reader coming back for each chapter. So, go read some Charles Dickens. Want to learn how to do first person narration with a truly distinctive voice? Go read </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">True Grit</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Charles Portis. (And, for the record, I know that comics aren’t </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">books</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> either--but there doesn’t seem to be the kind of endemic conflation between the two that there is with film/TV and comics.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beware the internet. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; white-space: pre-wrap;">The internet is great. It’s never been easier to get your comic in front of more eyeballs with less fuss and expense than right now--all thanks to the internet. It’s great to “talk shop” with other comics folks on Twitter. On the other hand: (1) The internet bombards you with amazing art all day. There’s no surer way to get down on yourself than by constantly comparing yourself to others. (2) The internet is full of anonymous jerks. Never engage with--or even pay much attention to--anyone who refuses to use his/her real name. (3) The internet is a weird echo chamber that often vigorously lauds mediocrity and ignores quality. Don’t get caught up making Breaking Bad/Pokemon “mashups” because you think they’ll get reblogged on Tumblr. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideas are overrated. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember when </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harry Potter</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> first got huge and everybody went around huffing and puffing about how “unoriginal” it was and listing all the other previous narratives that involved a school for wizards? You know why </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harry Potter</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an international phenomenon and those other things aren’t? A: because a good idea is </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nothing</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in and of itself. Success is in the execution. J. K. Rowling didn’t just have </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an idea</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; she</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> executed</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that idea--she executed it in a way no one had done before, she executed better than anyone had done before, and she executed it in spite of being a single mother with very little free time. Got a great idea? Awesome! Now, actually </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do it</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Know the history of the art form. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comics didn’t begin with last year’s SPX “buzz book.” The art form hasn’t been around as long as some of its other narrative brethren, but it does have a rich past--some of which is still untapped, even in this golden age of reprinted material. Not only will comics of previous eras inform and inspire your own work, but I’ll bet the formal inventiveness of some of the earliest comics will really surprise you. Often an art form’s most interesting work gets done before the formal rules get set in place. In particular, seek out comics from the pre-WWII era.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Write what you know” doesn’t mean what you think it means. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1500000000000001; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contrary to popular interpretation, I don’t take this advice from Mark Twain to mean that if what you mainly do is hang out with your art school buds drinking PBR and yakking about stuff, that your narratives should be about art school buds who hang out drinking PBR and yakking about stuff. It means that if you want to do a comic about the origins of the sport of curling in medieval Scotland, make sure you know what the heck you’re talking about before you dig in. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t get hung up on materials and art supplies. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all have particular tools and supplies that we like--and we all wonder if there isn’t some new as yet untried nib (or whatever) out there that’s going to allow us to up our cartooning game just that last little bit… but there’s a point at which fixating on tools becomes an impediment to actually producing work. By all means, get the best supplies you can--but you can produce good comics with almost anything. Willie Nelson is one of North America’s greatest songwriters. This is his guitar. It has a hole worn in it:</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-27ef5adc-c1ac-d8b0-398d-7b73ddfeb81c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="243px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/YgvI5r5uBjiYPkDt-3lkB40JI1XWzumXq5emfzvxffvPA5c7CbbA3lWFT_CecJgnk8ZKX76JOBGNF5iTYPA7qCDd9gEZ0vr3beJGAKBJzh1XXeQAAljHPTqjUw" width="365px;" /></span></div>
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<i>You can view Ben Towle's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.benzilla.com/" style="text-align: left;">www.benzilla.com/</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-60517348389824144752013-10-21T06:28:00.000-07:002014-06-10T18:46:49.968-07:00Johnny Ryan's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">1. Draw as many comics as you can.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">2. Read as many comics as you can.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">3. Learn how to process criticism in a way that doesn't inhibit your ability to create.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">4. If there is something you're nervous about drawing, you're worried what people will think of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">you when they see this drawing, then you should definitely draw it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">5. Rules are stupid. If you're an artist and you follow rules you have already failed.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">6. That's all I got...sorry.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">7. Y</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">8. O</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">9. L</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">10. O</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZP6B0KR_PkVkGg5wTV-fGj6PLMG_s7uihHVaM4EHa2nYvZhy1nkYPO83OTdDlsXQC_w70X3pPhGzVC_3i8v5fczBtcg_P5DUoAsieDIyOaqgaJTxeEhXMuTe0moQVku9_BzBdvZGgMM/s1600/drake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZP6B0KR_PkVkGg5wTV-fGj6PLMG_s7uihHVaM4EHa2nYvZhy1nkYPO83OTdDlsXQC_w70X3pPhGzVC_3i8v5fczBtcg_P5DUoAsieDIyOaqgaJTxeEhXMuTe0moQVku9_BzBdvZGgMM/s1600/drake.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>You can view Johnny Ryan's work at:</i><a href="http://www.johnnyryan.com/"> www.johnnyryan.com</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-90241755322659910132013-10-19T07:47:00.001-07:002013-10-19T07:48:48.310-07:00Box Brown's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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1. Work hard.<br />
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2. Never compromise your story for the sake of the artwork and vice versa. </div>
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3. Think all the time. </div>
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4. Fuck the critics.</div>
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5. Pay attention to the critics.</div>
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6. It's just lines on paper.</div>
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7. It's important art.</div>
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8. Develop a process that works.</div>
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9. Destroy your process.</div>
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10. Get out of the house.</div>
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<i>You can view Box Brown's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.boxbrown.com/">www.boxbrown.com </a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-33957855953941275452013-10-17T06:04:00.000-07:002013-10-17T08:30:21.511-07:00Roger Langridge's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Let me say straight up that I don't believe it's
possible to come up with a set of rules that are always applicable, for
everyone, in every situation. Any halfway-decent cartoonist probably looks upon
any set of rules as more of a set of challenges – "how many of these can I
break and still make a readable comic?" – rather than the artistic
equivalent of physical laws, without which nothing works at all. So I'm
offering these "rules" just as a set of guidelines I find helpful.
These are some things that work for me... except when they don't. I trust
they'll be taken in that spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Clarity
is Your First Priority</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Comics can do a lot of things - they can look
beautiful, they can challenge you intellectually, they can show off your
incredible range of drawing skills - but if you can't understand what's going
on, all of that effort is for nothing. So I nearly always try to make the information
that the panel or page has to convey as clear as possible – and as easy to
follow from panel to panel as possible – before I even begin to think about any
of that other stuff. Building your compositions according to classical
principles is great if you can do that as well, but if you have to make a
choice between beauty and clarity, or cleverness and clarity, or mood and
clarity, clarity trumps everything. The only exception is if there's some
narrative reason for making the information obscure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I'm referring here to traditional narrative-based
comics, of course; there are other kinds of comics (poetic/mood pieces,
abstract comics) where none of this applies. (But if I qualify everything,
they'll stop being rules, won't they?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Treat
the Lettering as a Part of the Artwork</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Computer lettering is a great time-saver, but it's led
to some really difficult-to-read comics. Sometimes that's because the lettering
itself is done sloppily; there seems to be a school of thought that, because
you're using a font, no further care or attention is required – as if
perfectly-formed letters are the only difficult bit, and balloon shapes,
dialogue placement and correct spelling and punctuation are things that will
take care of themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Other times the problem seems to be that the artist
hasn't thought about the lettering at all, so scenes are staged in such a way
that there isn't enough room for the text, or the dialogue is forced to flow in
a counter-intuitive way in order to accommodate the existing pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me, I always place my balloons before I draw a single
line. Sometimes I'll go so far as to completely letter the page first, before I
pencil; other times, I'll just rough in where the balloons will go. But I
always,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>always</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>place the text before I do anything
else. The balloons are an element of the artwork; they need to be a part of
your compositions, and ideally they should come from the same hand as the hand
that draws the pictures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I have a personal preference for hand-lettering for a
number of reasons, most of which boil down to "it looks better"; I
will resort to digital lettering if limited time makes hand-lettering
impossible, or if I'm specifically asked to do so (for ease of translation, for
example; or company policy; or if what I'm drawing is supposed to fit in with
other comics by other artists and the font is being used as a unifying
element). But it's always my second choice. I have a few fonts based on my own
lettering which I use when I have to. Generic comic book lettering fonts are to
be avoided at all costs if you want your work to have any personality of its
own – they should be strictly reserved for corporate superhero comics, which
(these days) aren't supposed to have a personality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I don't believe artists who say "I can't
letter." I think this is hogwash, in every single case. If you can draw,
you can letter – the same rules of visual balance, aesthetics etc. that apply
to drawing also apply to calligraphy. Just study other letterers, copy their
letter forms, and </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">practice</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> a bit. Spend the same amount of care lettering as
you would drawing. You'll make better-looking comics at the end of it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Show
the Feet Once Per Page</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This is a general rule of thumb I try to stick to,
although it's occasionally not appropriate for certain kinds of comics
(newspaper-style gag strips, for example). But it's a good idea to remember to
show your characters full-figure now and again, particularly if you're doing
action-light, dialogue-heavy scenes. The once-a-page rule keeps me aware of the
issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">4.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Keep
Up the Momentum!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Something I try to do is to avoid having characters
standing in one place doing nothing for two or more panels in a row – unless
there's a timing thing that's required, like for certain types of gags. The rest
of the time, even if it's not called for in the script, I try to have my
characters constantly doing things with their hands, or moving from one place
to another – always, always moving forward in time. Even if you've been given a
script where nothing is happening, you can make it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>feel</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as if something is happening by
keeping up the momentum visually. If two characters are standing still and
talking for six panels, you can have somebody doing something in the background
so the scene doesn't feel frozen in time. Someone opening a jar of pickles.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Anything.</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Just keep it moving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">5.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Remind
the Reader Where Things are Taking Place</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I'm conscientious about backgrounds and environments.
Not that I feel they need to be meticulously rendered in great detail in every
panel; in fact, that's probably a drawback, distracting you from the characters
the story is about more often than not. But I think it's important to clearly
establish visually where things are taking place, and to keep reminding the
reader with little shapes, silhouettes and details that keep the environment in
mind. These don't have to be elaborate – just little cues are all that's
required – but they ought to be there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I generally allow myself a generic, non-specific
background every other panel, tops – less than that if I can help it. Two
background-less panels in a row is something I try to avoid. It's part of
creating a credible, internally-consistent reality in your comics. Which brings
me to...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">6.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>"Realism"
is Less Important than Internal Consistency</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think I'm probably in a minority on this, and a lot
of it has to do with the stylistic path I've chosen to follow, but I'm much
less interested in drawing a thing "well" than I am in making it
credible in the stylistic context within which I'm working. And a big part of
making things credible is consistency. In other words, you can set any
arbitrary standards for "realism" in the world you've created, but
once you've decided what they are, you need to apply them consistently in order
for that world to remain believable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">7.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Keep
It Looking Pretty</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It's become fashionable to say things like
"comics are all about story" and while that side of things is
obviously important, I think focusing on narrative at the expense of design and
beauty can be a mistake. Ideally, you want your pages to be a treat for the
eyes at first glance, because that is what's going to suck the reader in
initially – an ugly comic is a much harder sell than an attractive one, no
matter how good the story is. To that end, I try to break up my page designs
with occasional tricks like circular panels, borderless panels or varying
border widths (ideally at points of narrative emphasis rather than arbitrarily,
but I'm not above an arbitrary use of these tricks once in a while). It takes surprisingly
little effort to add a bit of graphic variety, and it makes the pages a lot
more interesting to look at without sacrificing any narrative clarity.
Well-placed areas of black and use of textures and patterns in your backgrounds
also give a page some weight and make it more attractive. You can do all of
these things without sacrificing clarity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">8.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Motion
Lines Are a Cheat</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This one really just applies to me, I think; E.C Segar
would look bloody awful without his blur of motion lines. But I like to think
that, if I've got the pose right, if I've created credible body language, a
thrown punch (for example) shouldn't need motion lines to sell it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>–<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>
the arc of the fist and its impact should be obvious from the characters'
positions in the panel. I'm not above using motion lines to get a movement
across, but I always feel like I've failed a little bit if I've found myself in
a position where I can't sell that action some other way.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img height="332" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqpohuKQVQ1qclyefo1_500.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">9.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Don't
Run Bleeds Into One Another on Facing Pages</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This is really an offshoot of #1, clarity, I suppose.
It's just something I try to avoid because it makes for a muddy, occasionally
confusing reading experience – unless I'm drawing a genuine double-page spread,
in which case it's essential, of course. But for the most part I try to make
sure there's some white space between pages – so, for example, if I've got a
bleed going off the bottom right of a left-hand page, I'll avoid having a bleed
on the bottom left of the right-hand page (although bleeds at the top of that
page would be perfectly fine). I just think it's clearer, and easier on the
eyes, if one avoids having everything run into everything else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">10.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>End
Each Page on a Gag or a Mini-Cliffhanger</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I got this one from Carl Barks. I suppose it comes
from the newspaper strip tradition, albeit in comics you can do it more subtly
because you don't have to wait days or weeks between pages. It's a great way to
make your pages hang together as a single unit; the comic reading experience
has its own kind of rhythm, each page turn being a beat, and that rhythm
contributing to your narrative momentum. Use that rhythm! Barks used to make it
every half-page, because he worked in half-page units, but I think once a page
is about right for a modern comic book (where, let's face it, there's about a
quarter of the content of an eight-panel-per-page, 32-page Barks comic).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That's all I got! Not all of these will be right for
everybody; it's a personal list, for sure, built up over the years to enable me
to more effectively make my specific kinds of comics. But hopefully there's
something in there you can use, or push back against, or possibly even tear
down entirely and completely reinvent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Anyway – hope it helps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">You can view Roger Langridge's work at</span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.hotelfred.blogspot.com/">www.hotelfred.blogspot.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-5998439556281579462013-10-15T07:02:00.000-07:002013-10-16T07:20:37.351-07:00Mike Allred's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. <b>NEVER forget how much you love making comic books.</b> When a deadline
is crushing in, remind yourself that you started drawing comics for free
and for fun. Getting paid to behave professionally is just a sweet
bonus. When you love doing something, you do it often with passion. The
more you do something the better you get at it. The better you get at
something the more fun it is, which increases the passion, etc., and so
on.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2. <b>Clarity of story must come first.</b> Fancy page
layouts and experimental innovation are swell as long as they don't
detract from telling the story.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3. <b>Study the greats.</b> If a creator from the past is held in high regard, try to figure out why.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
4. <b>Look
outside of comics for additional inspiration.</b> Read books, watch
movies, TV shows, etc. Try to figure out why a story does or doesn't
work and how it can be applied or avoided in your own work. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
5. <b>Never stop learning.</b> As soon as you think you're as good as you're going to get…you are. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
6.
<b>Revisit your past work from time to time.</b> It's encouraging to see your
progress. Sometimes you might even discover that you preferred the way
you did something before and return it to your arsenal. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
7. <b>Don't
be a jerk. </b>Instant Karma's gonna get you. I've found that if I treat
folks the way I'd like to be treated, with kindness and respect, it's
usually returned exponentially. Usually.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
8. <b>
Love life.</b> <b>Stay healthy.</b> Establish a consistent diet, but treat
yourself every once in a while. Find an exercise you enjoy (anything,
even if it's just walking to the comic book store) and do it at least a
couple times a week. Get a decent amount of sleep. All of these things
will result in a clearer mind and more quality pages. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
9. <b>Write down what you do every day.</b> Even if it's just a brief list of accomplishments. For instance, "Working on <i>Madman</i>
no.100. Penciled pages 5 and 6. Started inking page 2." I buy a new
little desk calendar every year. It only takes me a few seconds at the
end of the day to simply mark down what I accomplished, even if I did
absolutely nothing, but melt into the couch and watch movies all day. Over time it gives a very accurate account of my productivity, how long
something took me, what interrupted my progress, and when I
specifically did something. It's the next best thing to keeping a
journal. But it's brief, concise, and effortless. And very very
valuable. It's the key tool to the discipline of a monthly comic book.
It takes out all the guess work as to how to use my time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
10.
<b>"Rock and roll all night and party every day."</b> Or is it "Rock n Roll
all night and PART of everyday?" Just ROCK! It keeps you young.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo2yJAxRXkQMegmCOG-LsM4lbTr9JcXkasC66Uocw0IQNOi0EJdKqW9O063haFsVlbHKC4pU-PDwVmN7-pIZFzuic_9MEdyHnRPxJROpoCT9m5L3jUYaMCWvSkvVSetuEo_w_x8PCJjo/s1600/allred_kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo2yJAxRXkQMegmCOG-LsM4lbTr9JcXkasC66Uocw0IQNOi0EJdKqW9O063haFsVlbHKC4pU-PDwVmN7-pIZFzuic_9MEdyHnRPxJROpoCT9m5L3jUYaMCWvSkvVSetuEo_w_x8PCJjo/s400/allred_kiss.jpg" width="390" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>You can view Mike Allred's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.aaapop.com/">www.aaapop.com </a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-35602815959484022412013-10-15T07:01:00.001-07:002013-10-15T07:21:04.724-07:00Lucy Knisley's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<ol style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Noteworthy-Light; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Don't read your reviews.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b><br /><b>2. Learn when to say yes and when to say no.</b><br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Let the land lie fallow, but harvest the crops while they're heavy on the vine.</b> This essentially means that if you're dealing with a writing or art block, go outside, get some input for your output. Watch a movie. Beat a video game. Sleep a lot. Eat good food. But when the mood strikes you to make work, milk it for all its worth! Cancel the parties, skip the gym-- do what you have to to let your "I need to make stuff" genii do its thing.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Tell the truth.</b> Even if it's fiction, find something true to say.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. If it's not working, try switching mediums for a while</b>. At the very least, you'll have a finger </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">painting at the end of the day, rather than nothing.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Comics should never be</b>: <b>a.</b> a weapon, <b>b</b>. a burden, <b>c</b>. a crutch<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>7. Comics should be</b>: <b>a</b>. a communication, <b>b</b>. a celebration, <b>c</b>. a meditation<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>8. Good art is illustration without good writing. Good writing is still good writing, even with bad art. </b>Focus on your story, develop your art.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>9. Find collaborators who you trust and admire.</b> Surround yourself with people who will make you better through advice, input and support.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>10. Don't let the baby run the business.</b> As much as you try not to read snarky reviews, or take edits personally, or allow an awkward moment at a comic convention disrupt your love for the medium, let it go and focus on what's important; making comics and getting paid for it. Let the baby vent her frustration over drinks with trusted friends, then get to work. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>You can view Lucy Knisley's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.lucyknisley.com/">www.lucyknisley.com </a></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-14320079469196349092013-10-15T07:01:00.000-07:002013-10-15T07:21:25.954-07:00Alex Robinson's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. <b>Show Feet on Every Page.</b> If, like me, you have a tendency to fall
back on panel after panel of talking heads, this is a good way to force
yourself to try other compositions and layouts. I think I learned this
from Eddie Campbell.<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
2. <b>Don't Have Your Lettering Touch the Sides of the
Balloon.</b> Since most people--unfortunately--use computers to do their
lettering now this isn't as much of a problem, but it's a glaring sign of
amateurism that is easily avoided. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3. <b>Solid Blacks Are Your Friend.</b> I'm a big fan of
using a lot of solid blacks. Aside from making the pages more visually
interesting, a white figure against a black background really "pops."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaOptSoBBFyPZnDLPMG-_hhn0kkGH4QF4wNhlepOUeI10KPxxuY5bGrXiB8D3sJuTilX7WFijigG6ptvMtdlw4tqVmKp7-w5HwaRj8CxmwRzzzHDHLS-BiZ5D3vtkCeEXgk3ov-Xy_H8/s1600/Robinson_drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaOptSoBBFyPZnDLPMG-_hhn0kkGH4QF4wNhlepOUeI10KPxxuY5bGrXiB8D3sJuTilX7WFijigG6ptvMtdlw4tqVmKp7-w5HwaRj8CxmwRzzzHDHLS-BiZ5D3vtkCeEXgk3ov-Xy_H8/s400/Robinson_drawing.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
4. <b>Make Sure Your Solid Blacks Are Solid.</b> Another
easily fixed sign of amateurism is when someone attempts an area of
solid black, but does a sloppy job of filling it in. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
5.
<b> Put Visual Reveals on Even Numbered Pages.</b> If you put that splash page
showing the young lovers finally embracing on page 5, the drama will be
spoiled because as soon as the reader turns the page to read the spread
of pages 4 and 5 their eye will immediately be drawn to the big image on
the right hand side. They'll go back to read page 4 (hopefully!) but by
then the cat will be out of the bag. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
6. <b>Keep Moving.</b> Your work will have flaws. Make each
page as good as you can, but don't let the quest for perfection ruin
your momentum. Figure out what mistakes you made and try to make your
next page better. I vividly recall being unhappy with a page I once drew
and told myself that once I completed the book I would go back and
redraw that page if I had the time. I did wind up having time, but
couldn't remember which page it was I wanted to change. Keep moving. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
7. <b>Draw What Pleases You. </b>You're going to spend
way, way, way more time with your work than any reader or critic so make
sure you're having fun. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
8. <b>Left to Right.</b>
When composing a panel, keep in mind that most westerners read
left-to-right, so that will dictate not only how the reader interacts
with the page, but also within the individual panels. Suppose Wolverine
is punching Batman in the face. Ideally, I would put Wolverine on the
left side of the panel, so the reader's eye would follow Wolverine's arm
to the point where it connected with Batman's jaw--so the momentum of
the reader's eye would mimic the motion of his arm. If, on the other
hand, I wanted it to be a surprise that it was Wolverine doing the
punching I would flop the layout so first the reader would see Batman's
face with a fist hitting it and as the reader continued from
left-to-right we would find out *who* was punching after we discovered
that a punch was happening. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
9. <b>Use Good Materials.</b> I filled in the blacks in my
first graphic novel with Sharpies. Within a few years the blacks had
turned a sickly greenish-brown, so now I'm sitting on 600 pages of
useless art. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
10. <b>Don't Listen to Any Dumb Rules.</b> Essentially, rule 7 is the only one that matters.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>You can view Alex Robinson's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.comicbookalex.com/">www.comicbookalex.com</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333715717363991451.post-27477691057384073732013-09-18T19:59:00.008-07:002022-02-03T13:16:37.816-08:00Dov Torbin's 10 Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-54681a3d-3426-f33c-8db2-2c50154dfc9b" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Try not to use more than a single word balloon for each character in a panel.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> In order to save space and drawing time, many cartoonists have their characters interact in long back and forth conversations within a single panel. Dividing the word balloons into separate panels and giving the conversation some room to breathe will make for better pacing and will be easier to read. There is a fear amongst cartoonists to draw “talking heads” comics, but squeezing vast amounts of dialogue into a small space creates a more boring reading experience.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaSkMrNMjI7mPXq38L9bVvkAI-9IX18M9nihZ0K5aLHYlZAxXZmcRlWDLaVuFVu19FDZWELO9xgzGz1oYhZzAEudZNVvo5FboPB_Wd6yQEWge3dqFH2HZ3gsGh4LHvChkR5CICYq6LwtU/s1600/balloons.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaSkMrNMjI7mPXq38L9bVvkAI-9IX18M9nihZ0K5aLHYlZAxXZmcRlWDLaVuFVu19FDZWELO9xgzGz1oYhZzAEudZNVvo5FboPB_Wd6yQEWge3dqFH2HZ3gsGh4LHvChkR5CICYq6LwtU/s400/balloons.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t use words where you can use pictures.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> I once heard designer Chip Kidd remark that if you have an image of an apple, don’t put the word “apple” underneath it; choose one or the other. Ultimately, comics are a visual medium and showing your story rather than telling it makes for more engaging storytelling. It forces your readers to do a little work; to piece things together in their heads.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Always keep in mind that people read left-to-right and then top-to-bottom.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is very basic theory that sounds obvious when said out loud, but I repeatedly see some of the best cartoonists in the world forget this simple rule. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This panel orientation, for example, is instinctively confusing because it doesn't follow this rule and thus can be read two different ways:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHtqRC2nyHPcO1XvT3XpxObSF2PqO0qmMHNRpzwgT-AxXideW3rB7MvyWWMD1Q3blnEvdvafyKOsPrrrUBgzMB0sckzpVDqrDUXtfPTePA2BEKMwoz8ewV4khWwgPyC_MONBBq3yFeZ4/s1600/panels.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHtqRC2nyHPcO1XvT3XpxObSF2PqO0qmMHNRpzwgT-AxXideW3rB7MvyWWMD1Q3blnEvdvafyKOsPrrrUBgzMB0sckzpVDqrDUXtfPTePA2BEKMwoz8ewV4khWwgPyC_MONBBq3yFeZ4/s640/panels.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The word balloons in the panel below can be read in either direction because of their awkward positioning:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUj0QICgm0_q_asvVJx9W6IOg_qpGsuxpU5U8HXtTdL3JilI8vXNercJ14A2tsL6xb0F6ayuMYyD8MW9PibGEEBQWbLiTcIteynOcStP3Ua5qDwEiXOGcCXeTWaCbNlQBcoOCCBY9zfcw/s1600/badballoons.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUj0QICgm0_q_asvVJx9W6IOg_qpGsuxpU5U8HXtTdL3JilI8vXNercJ14A2tsL6xb0F6ayuMYyD8MW9PibGEEBQWbLiTcIteynOcStP3Ua5qDwEiXOGcCXeTWaCbNlQBcoOCCBY9zfcw/s400/badballoons.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Use bleeds sparingly.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> A bleed is a powerful storytelling tool, which can evict either a sense of timelessness or the briefest of moments. If overused, or done for no real purpose other than aesthetics, then its use becomes meaningless and the power it can yield is lost. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Create a balance between black and white.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Many young cartoonists are intimidated by the use of heavy blacks and, as a result, leave their pages looking stark and weightless. A rule of thumb I created for myself when I was first starting out was to try and give each panel a balance of 50% white and 50% black. I met Jaime Hernandez at a convention once and he told me that he doesn’t look at the balance of a single panel, but rather of the entire page. Jaime’s rule is both more sensible and practical than my own.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to use heavy blacks. Use them to create balance, mood, and to frame what you want to stand out in your panel.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Put in as much background detail as possible.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Of these 10 rules, this is the one that I struggle with the most. It doesn’t matter what style you draw in, background detail will make your settings come alive and enwrap your readers into the world of your characters. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Art is not supposed to be perfect</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. There is beauty in imperfections. It makes the work human. There is something very intimate in kn</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">owing that every word on</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the page you’re reading was hand lettered by the person who wrote it. No other art form gives you that. It is completely unique to comics.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>This is why I tend to avoid using digital panel borders and word balloons (and digital lettering when I'm not too lazy). They are too perfect and thus feel disconnected from the drawings. </span> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Your top priority is to make sure your story is clear and concise.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Interesting shots or layouts should not be your main concern and should never be used if they compromise the clarity of the story. A good rule of practice, in order to make sure your comics are clear and understandable, is to thumbnail a lot. Be critical of your thumbnails. Don’t get lazy and use the first one you sketch out. Test out different combinations until you find the layout that works best. Comics are difficult to edit once they are inked. Do most of your editing in your thumbnails. Draw them quickly. Use stick figures. They’re not supposed to be works of art.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reference (from photographs or real life) as much as possible.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> All I can say is, thank god for Google Images. Take advantage of how easy it is to photo reference things in the present age. Back in the day, all cartoonists had photo albums of random objects and subscriptions to National Geographic.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Be cautious though of copying photos exactly. Referencing is not the same thing as copying. This carelessness can lead to all sorts of problems including tangent lines, stiff cartooning, and boring compositions.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Be conscious of how your work will be viewed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you’re putting your work on the internet, make sure it’s sized in a way that fits well on a computer screen. If you’re printing a book, be aware of how your pages are</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">juxtaposed next to each other. For example, if you have a bleed in the top panel of page 2, don’t have a bleed in the top panel of page 3. They will bleed into each other and form a tangent. If you are reprinting a Chris Ware comic, don’t shrink it down and squeeze it into your tiny anthology. Be courteous to the fact that it was meant to be viewed in a larger format. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>You can view Dov Torbin's work at:</i> <a href="http://www.dovtorbin.com/">www.<span style="color: black;">dovtorbin.com</span> </a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com