comics?

[Kittywolf13]

i'm planning on drawing a comic (possiably two) does anyone have any tips and hints for it? i dunno, tips on how to do page layouts, or how to simplifie the process? anything helps really. i have a general idea but learning some more things here and there wont hurt. thanks in advance for your help.

[Kittywolf13]

oh by the way, i'm not aiming for a professional comic to be published or any of that, just something for fun. like a webcomic. just to see if i can do it.

[Kittywolf13]

no one has any input? :(

[Elwell]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006097625X
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0961472812
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671530771

[Rich Pellegrino]

Those books Elwell posted are great. Especially the Scott Mccloud one. I'm not an expert on this but what helps me is if i see if my panel layouts are different shapes and sizes(as in from page to page). Also dont go crazy with your panel designs, just make sure its readable. it wont be boring if it has four corners! I find that if you zoom in on or pull away from the characters from panel to panel it helps the readabilty of the page too. people also read from left to right so keep that in mind. Good luck and post some of your progress!
Rich

[Kittywolf13]

thanks for the advice. i'll look into those books, as well as keep in mind the panel suggestions. :D

[Victor B]

Well comics are hard really hard think of the hardest thing you've done now multiply it by 10! lol no but really as long as you remember you're doing it for fun it should help keep you grounded. The books Elwell posted are great! Also I guess to keep it simple just remember this STORYTELLING thats what comics are all about not the cool action shot or new style of art or lettering or coloring make sure your comics are readable whether youre drawing aliens fighting plankton or a man leaving his house after breaking up with his girl it should be apparent without the use of words ( sometimes flashbacks etc the words are nessesary) what is going on . Aside from that there are a bunch of things to remember and you'd probably learn more from those books not only page layout but panel layout and layout for word ballons. From what everyone says always easier in the long run to do thumbnails (multiple ) of a page before actually working on a page. I'm actually interested in comics too hopefully soon will start working out ideas... I'll be posting in my sketchbook things I've learned so feel free to stop by reminds me I need to update my sketchbook since I came from out of the country I think I'll do that now . So anyway keep it simple , and keep it fun , don't be afraid to ask for crits :confident

[-Optix]

Also get the Wizard special on How to Draw Comic books. It has helpful hints and tutorials in it by a bunch of different professionals. A great read as well. It just came out.

[Silly]

For the longest time I never got anywhere much with comics because I spent so much time on the art that I lost interest in the story before it got well underway. So if you are anything like me, you want to find a story that you REALLY want to tell.

For the one comic I finished so far, I drew all the major lineart in about a weekend. Most of it was crappy, but it gave me confidence that I could at least get the story out without giving up half-way. In a way it was liberating. I thought I was going to redo all the art afterwards, but strangely enough the comic didn't seem to need it as much as I had thought.

(technically I finished a second one, but it turned into a flash animation)

Another thing you may want to consider is that for a web comic, you really are not constrained to traditional page layouts. You can break it up in rows, or individual frames, or any other way you want. You can make some frames animated gifs or flash files or whatever.

[Kittywolf13]

thanks for the ideas guys! i have seen the wizard how to draw comics book...that is interesting ( my bro collects wizard so i have it at my disposal...sorta) and i love the idea of not being completly traditonal if i make it a webcam. i've seen others succesfully do this...so its pretty neat. I am one of those people who wants to but never seems to get too far into it. its hard to think that when i was a freshman in highschool i drew 99 pages...but the story really didnt make any sense when i read it now. oh well. my mind has changed alot since then...so has my art. thankfully.

but i will keep all of this in mind. :)

[zak]

You should probably take a look at this too. Just some pointers and general ideeas to get you on the right track.
http://penny-arcade.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=193091&sid=b453b12baeb152a80a3f02eff71a4083

The hardest thing I believe is finding an original ideea for your comic and beeing able to relay it in a clear and enjoyable way is vital. Seen you sketches and I think you have what it takes to do it.
Best of luck to you! :wink:

[Pandora's Eyes]

keep in mind the difference between a webcomic, which is more like a comic strip, and a comic book. you won't be doing page layouts on a webcomic because it honestly won't work to have readers scrolling up and down to see all the panels.

so if you want to do a webcomic i reccommend keeping it simple such as Liberty Meadows by frank cho, which has only three to four panels per strip. they are all organized horizontally so that they can be read in one shot without having to scroll.

storytelling is your key interest. the thing i find boring about most webcomics out there is that they are all the same silly juvenile humor, essentially gags, that contain little to no story in the long run. take a look at "megatokyo." i dig the art style, and it is quite funny, but there really is no point to it. it'll never end. it's a cow that will die from having been milked far beyond what should have been its duration.

you are telling a story. and like all good stories there should be a beginning, middle, and eventual end. don't just create a webcomic to tell a few cute jokes that only your friends find funny because they relate to the weekend activities you share. write from the heart, and once the story is written, then think about how you want to tell it (pacing, length of story, etc.).

i hope that helps. have fun!