Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Nitty Gritty Begins

boy at easel on stage painting

The Secret Origins of How to Become a Comic Book Artist


Here are things I feel you will need to know about comic books and art; so I will be discussing:

Tools of the trade
Terminology

Visual Vocabulary
Line

Form
Light and shadow
Composition
Perspective
Anatomy
Clothing and drapery
Animals
Backgrounds
Color theory
Acting
How to tell a story visually and with panel to panel continuity.

Prepare your portfolio
How to find work


Here are things you can start doing, if you are not doing so now.

Get a sketchbook that you can carry with you all the time and draw every chance you get from reality. Draw people and whatever you see around you. Draw the reality of your existence.

Visit museums and see art of all kinds, drawings, paintings sculpture, etc. Read books about art. If you can't afford to buy them, them take them out from a library while they still exist.

Take a life drawing class. You may find some in your neighborhood that charge a fee per class ranging from $5 to $10. Figure drawing will be the most useful thing you can do. If you can't take a life drawing class, then draw the people you live with. Ask them to pose for you or draw them while they watch TV. You'll be amazed how still people are when they are in front of the television.

Find out of if there are any weekend drawing classes (these may be free) at your local community center, high school or college. You may also try finding someone to mentor you.

Start a reference file for yourself. Cut pictures out of magazines and save them. You never know what you will called upon to draw.

If you're here, then you're probably already checking out online resources like blogs, video tutorials and forums, so keep doing this.

Now the first chance you get also take a business course. So you don't become an artist who can be taken advantage of; learn the business of art. Learn about contracts, copyright, management, etc.

Resources

DCD Vendor Services - For self-publishers seeking distribution with Diamond Comic Distributors

Schools
The Kubert School
THE CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES

The Definitive List of Comic Publisher Submission Guidelines

to be continued…

Keep reading. Share with your friends. Please comment.

Remember… Just Create!

read next - Talk the Lingo
previous - Don't be a Stepford Wife to the World

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

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