Tools for Comic Art

[Grifter730]

I got a question that's comic-related, but not necessarily US comic related. I'm looking into comics that are more children oriented, much like how many Sunday comic strips are. More specifically, I'm looking into European comics that I read as a kid, such as the Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Tintin, Asterix, etc. I'm curious, what type/size paper are these comics drawn on? Also, do they use crow quill pens or brushes? and what of the coloring process?

I know many of you live in Europe, so I'm hoping that someone here can point me to some books that might shed some light on this process, or maybe someone knows the process as it is. To me, it seems as if it looks similar to comic strip style, but I really don't know, so I don't want to make any assumptions. Any knowledge would be appreciated.

[Firewalker]

I believe there was a french press title on how to draw tintin, we had that book in our school library when I was a kid... But that's about all that I can remember.

I believe the title was:

"Comment Desiner TinTin" or something similar, it's been a long long while...

You might want to research "European Animation Styles" or "French Animation" (most of the comics and cartoons you speak of were french) online, as well.

-=(v)=-

[Grifter730]

Is there any chance you can look that title up for me? I can't speak French, or any other Euro languages :( I'm actually more interested in the comic drawing process, since I don't really care much for the animated versions of these comics. I actually managed to find like sketchbooks of Franquin's on Amazon.fr, but I got lucky on that, and it really doesn't have anything but sketches, so I'm still out of luck on trying to find info on the tools of the trade.

[Grifter730]

I think I just got lucky, but is this the book you're talking about?
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2930284250/171-8082355-4023401

I also found:
1. http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2873930497/qid=1082584980/sr=1-70/ref=sr_1_2_70/171-8082355-4023401
2. http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2873930462/qid=1082584828/sr=1-47/ref=sr_1_2_47/171-8082355-4023401
3. http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2912969433/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/171-8082355-4023401

All of which I have no clue what they're about. Doing a search for "Peyo" on that site turns up 184 results. I went through all the search results, and starting around 80 or so, there were many books that didn't seem like they were just his comics, but might be other type of art books, though I can't seem to figure out what they say.

[natethegrate]

hi grifter,
im not shure but i think asterix and luke are drawn with brushes and gauche/watercolors.
another method is,like the french comicdrawers(moebius,bilal...), to draw the outlines also with brushes and/or pencils and color the pieces first with alcoholic based color (marker refills) to get the main color. then they start to paint over with gauche(dont know how to write) and color pencils...this is just the method coro is using.
this are the things i know about that stuff,hope i can help you alil bit

natE

[Firewalker]

If you're not that interested on how the euro comics are put together but are more interested in layouts and such, just pick up any book on drawing comics in an american way, then apply the layout to suit your design... The layouts are pretty much universal...

Now the art, it's all up to you on how to do it, all you can really do is experiment or find the "How to draw tin tin book" which I've had no luck on finding...

I'd just pick up a crap load of the books and then learn to draw and colour from looking at their style...

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[Grifter730]

Actually, I am interested in all aspect of the way Euro comics are done. Their layouts are slightly different than US or manga layouts, in that they usually don't break out of the panels, and a lot of what's going on is really drawn out, without missing any timeframe in between, so it looks almost repetitive, and probably annoying for the artist at some points, but it makes for really excellent reading. I'm most interested in their tools though, since I'm really curious if they usually use different stuff than their US or Japanese counterparts.

Riki

[Fozzybar]

aaaachhh.....Gschwätz! :p

Hi, nate, long time no see...what's up with you...walking around the blocks in the centralstation area at 4 am again? Or drawing some trees? Dinos? What's the status with your studies?

Shame on you, if you don't post on this dsg-topic:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22479&perpage=30&pagenumber=1
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Hey, Grifter...Robolus is a comic/cartoon artist here in germany...pm him, i think he can help...

Where are you from btw?

[Grifter730]

Well, I live in the US, and before that, in Indonesia, though I'm Chinese blood, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I grew up reading Euro comics instead of US comics, since they were more popular there (in Indonesia). I did read the superhero comics during the 90s, after I moved here to the US, and I do like them a lot, just like I like mangas a lot too, but I'm wanting to learn the Euro techniques because I want to try and draw an online comic that's more "for all ages", much like the Franquin, Peyo, Herge comics are. I got the characters and storyline roughly thought out, but I'm still doing some research right now.

[Firewalker]

judging by what you're saying, you don't need any books. You seem to know everything there is about these, so why not just give it a shot? If you need to learn basic panel layouts, just pick up a book on drawing sequential artwork, and you should be set...

You really seem quite knowledgeable in this area, so I think all you're looking for is a "how to draw like this" kind of book. Your best bet is to actually just look at the art, and learn to draw from what you see... I know it's not a big help, but you're asking for mostly dated info.

-=(v)=-

[jester]

This place might hold the answer to your questions:

http://www.penciljack.com/forum/

Jester

[Wolves_Fan]

Penciljack is awesome thanks jester