How To Approach Comic Book Style Practice?

[The Helldragon]

At the moment I want to shoot for comic book style art-ery. I'm down with the whole "drawing from life" thing, but from the various books I've read about drawing comics, they usually endorse the whole "build stuff from cubes and whatever" thing. Do any of you think it would be wise to approach life drawing with this technique, or do you think I can use any technique and not have it mess me up when I construct comics?

[otis]

Learn to draw anatomy. Do it anyway you want.
Those books that try to tell you "how to draw comics" don't even scratch the surface on what you need to know as an artist.

[artmessiah]

At the moment I want to shoot for comic book style art-ery. I'm down with the whole "drawing from life" thing, but from the various books I've read about drawing comics, they usually endorse the whole "build stuff from cubes and whatever" thing. Do any of you think it would be wise to approach life drawing with this technique, or do you think I can use any technique and not have it mess me up when I construct comics?


Even when you draw from life you need to have an analytical eye - being able to simplify forms to build coherent structures/figures. So those "cubes and whatever" ;) are an important start to drawing the figure. Once you learn the basics of simple structure you can take shortcuts to putting the icing on the cake (details). Trying to draw a figure or anything for that matter without first having some form of simple underlying map is like trying to build a building from the top down and no wireframe skeleton. :) And you're right, most how-to draw comic books er Books try to teach you the geometric aproach, and this is correct because drawing comics is about style and imagination - so you can take certain liberties with the human figure. But learning the figure from life or even photographs and then using simplified forms to begin with is paramout to pulling off stuff like Jim Lee, Travis Charest, Joe Maderia, Mike Turner, etc, etc. Take care friend :)

[SgtDirtbag]

After you "mastered" the human anatomy, get a bunch of comics you like, preferably with different styles, and try to pinpoint why they look good to you.
Try to find out what the artists did, which choices they made, to creat a style that strikes a chord in you.

- Is it the flow of the lines?
- The varying line-thickness?
- When exactly does it vary and why?
- How are the shapes simplified, altered, stylized etc. ?

Try to come up with more questions on your own, find answers and incorporate them into your own works.

Don't just copy the masters, but take what works for them here and there, recombine it, get inspired to come up with something yourself and you should be good to go I guess.

And the most important advice: DRAW!

[The Helldragon]

artmessiah: Yeah, when I attempt figures I still do that underlying stuff, otherwise they come out wonky just like you said. I'm just wondering whether to apply that to everything as I practice. I dunno, I've been out of the game so long that maybe I need to use sight-size like I used to do to get back into the swing of things.

[Mirana]

The "box" method is just to help you think in volume...it's not an all-encompassing way to learn to draw the figure. For me, life drawing was the best method. No method is going to "mess you up" in terms of stylistic choices. Great comic artists are good draftsman with a long background in life drawing.

Do also keep in mind that as a sequential artist figures are only a starting point. You must still learn how to draw literally everything, plus tell a story. Try picking up some of Scott McCloud's books (particularly "Understanding Comics"), David Chelsea's "Perspective for Comic Book Artists, and any of the "DC Guide to..." line.

[Qitsune]

Will Eisner's books about storytelling are great too. Not so much about drawing as they are about telling the story.

[tomwaits4noman]

two very different things, life drawing and comic art.

comic books tend to be to be based on a stylised reality, otherwise whats the point. take for example sin city, hellboy or Spawn
if they were mere replicas of the real world would there be as interesting?
my guess is no.

the foundations are the same, whether you scribble the outline, use stick man or use cubes and cylinders (i prefer the last) as a foundation with life drawing you are looking capturing realism, with comic art you push certain aspects of the figure of the pose to suit the scene or the emotion of the panel, pic etc.

I think real life references are better for anatomy study but if you want do comic book art then look at a variety of artists and how they stylise the human form.

Once you have the proportions correct you can push and twist certian things.

[SgtDirtbag]

two very different things, life drawing and comic art.
comic books tend to be to be based on a stylised reality
Wouldn't that mean comics are, lets say, the next step after realism?
And to go this next step, wouldn't it be good to have a clear foundation of the first one, realism?

with life drawing you are looking capturing realism, with comic art you push certain aspects of the figure of the pose to suit the scene or the emotion of the panel, pic etc.
So if my train of thought's heading into the right direction, drawing from life would be the first step.
It helps you to master realism and realism is the foundation of stylization.

I think real life references are better for anatomy study but if you want do comic book art then look at a variety of artists and how they stylise the human form.
I think without a clear understanding of the anatomy and proportions of the human body, these artists wouldn't be able to stylise as effectively as they do.

Once you have the proportions correct you can push and twist certian things.
Yeah, once you have the proportions correct.
And what exactly dictates the proportions of the human form?
Its underlying structures, the anatomy.
And how do you get that one in your head?
You said it yourself:
I think real life references are better for anatomy study

I think you certainly can learn something from other comic book artists, e.g. how they stylize reality, how do they compose their panels etc.
But only a clear understanding of reality, and drawing from life really helps with this one, gives you the ability to draw your characters in every pose you want and to come up with your own stylizations which gives you much more flexibility as if you were only looking at other, already stylized, artworks.

[squidmonk3j]

you need speed when working with comics. And without a strong grasp of the fundamentals, you cannot successfully work fast.

[Mirana]

I think real life references are better for anatomy study but if you want do comic book art then look at a variety of artists and how they stylise the human form.

You cannot become a great comic book artist if you do not do life drawing FIRST. You cannot stylize or abstract anything without knowing WHAT you are stylizing.

Go draw from life and see how great your sequentials become.