Innholdsfortegnelse for Comic Artist i Comic Artist

Welcome to the Comic Artist collection, packed with stunning pieces of art to inspire you, professional artist Q&As filled with tips and tricks to help you improve your own art, features and interviews that offer vital lessons, and in-depth step-by-step workshops to work along with. With Black Panther, Wonder Woman and Thor leading the charge, this collection is set to be something really special. Whether you’re familiar with the industry standard software Photoshop, or you want to take your first steps in an affordable alternative, there’s plenty here to get you started along the right path. And with expert tips on narrative and depicting characters in your art, there really has never been a better guide for everyone and anyone that is interested in the art of creating comics!…

The latest SketchBook Pro is an all-in one package crammed full of tools and brushes to satisfy any type of artist, giving you plenty of helpful digital assets to complete your projects. Although the software provides you with all the tools you need, SketchBook Pro also gives you the power to edit and customise an existing brush, or create your own unique brush, and the possibilities here are almost endless. In this short step-by-step guide, you’ll learn the basics of creating a new brush, where to customise the brush’s properties, how to best name your new brush and change the brush icon, and finally how to add it to the Brush Palette. I promise it’s not as complicated as all that might sound! “You can edit and customise brushes –…

The animation Flipbook feature in SketchBook Pro 7 can for now be considered a bit of an experiment from the programme’s developers. It’s best to see the tool as a work-in-progress project, because while the brush tools and userfriendly functions are impressive, this new feature is still limited. But it’s worth spending a little time investigating. You can’t export your animation as a video file and the layers system is very basic, but to be fair, this is the beginning of a feature that could very well lead to the next generation of “tradigital” animation tools. In this brief introduction I’ll guide you through the animation side of SketchBook Pro, reveal how to animate with the Flipbook, and explain how to handle the new layers system. “This is a feature…

It was back in the late 1990s that Tony S Daniel made his name in the comic book world with a creator-owned series called The Tenth. Beginning as a four-part mini-series with Image, it later returned for 14 more issues published by Dark Horse. Fans constantly ask Tony if he’ll ever return to it and while it’s something he’d love to do, he doesn’t want to make any promises. “I’ve thought about the Tenth and for me, the concept and approach would need a complete reboot,” he says. “I wouldn’t approach the book the way I did back when I created it. It would serve me better to create a brand new property.” One option is for him to write it, and have someone else draw it. However, his instinct…

1 Jim Lee wants you “I had to work fast because it was going to be showcased at New York Comic Con 2017. I had a few weeks. I was happy to stay at Marvel, but DC wanted me to be part of the launch and l couldn’t refuse a call by the legendary Lee. The panel announcing the new Milestone books took place the first day of the show. So I looked at all the images created of Icon over the years and used them as inspiration.” 2 A bald Icon? “I use many digital tools these days, but drawing in a sketchbook is still my favourite. I can do pretty much anything I want in it. I went for a classic look for this piece: flying with a heroic pose.…

Working alongside writer Brian K Vaughan, Fiona Staples is the artist behind Saga, one of the most eclectic and unusual comics you’re ever likely to read. It’s creator owned, and perhaps that’s the reason it ever saw the light of day. “I never felt like a hired gun. All Saga decisions are made by both of us, from scheduling to foreign edition deals to T-shirt designs,” says Fiona. “I don’t know exactly where the story is headed long-term, so I just take it month by month! Hazel is growing up fast, and the rest of the family is ageing a bit as well, less obviously. I try to have their appearance reflect their circumstances. The last story arc saw the family separated, and Marko and Alana looking pretty haggard. When…

1 The thumbnail stage The team picks one of my thumbnail ideas, and we add the tentacle in the tree to allude to the story. The scene looks beautiful and powerful, but there’s also a sense of danger. I also add some colour ideas for our colourist, Romulo Farjardo Jr. 2 Digital pencils I use Photoshop to do the pencilling, using Ray Frenden’s Blue Pencil brush (you can buy it at http://ifxm.ag/ray-pencil). I prefer to work up all the elements in the scene during this stage, because it makes the following inking stage a lot easier. 3 Inking the image Once the pencils are done, I print the image directly on to Bristol paper and finish it with ink and traditional brushes, transforming those rough lines into fine lines and textures. I want…

Drawing heads with emotions and expressive faces is always difficult and challenging. Even now I struggle with the odd face. However, perseverance and hard work will get the expressive look you’re after in your drawing. When it comes to drawing heads, nothing’s set in stone because different characters have vastly different features. Yet a grounding in head anatomy will enable you to experiment confidently and it will certainly show in your drawing. In this workshop I’ll take you through how I go from initial drawings, using reference and my techniques when drawing heads. I use Clip Studio Paint, which I love, and I work on a Cintiq Companion for prelims and on the actual comic pages on a 27-inch Cintiq hooked up to a 21-inch iMac with 4GB of RAM.…

Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro for Windows and Mac is known for giving artists easy access to its many tools when working on any type of artwork. The essential philosophy behind the software is to help artists feel they have an application that acts just like a real-world paper sketchbook, which you’d use while out and about. The programme is quick, simple and very effective. SketchBook’s Pro’s Lagoon is a user interface (UI) that offers a series of common shortcuts for speedy access. By default, it’s located on the bottom left of the application screen. Having these common shortcuts in one compact area helps you to streamline your painting process. Better still, you can even modify the Lagoon to fit your exact needs. So, let’s see how this can be achieved and…

Layers are an integral part of SketchBook Pro’s flexibility. If you’ve used other software such as Photoshop you’ll be familiar with the concept, but if not, imagine a layer as a sheet of glass which can be stacked on top of others. Layers are the building blocks of a piece of artwork. The key is that each layer is normally transparent except where it contains an image element. For example, if I draw or paint a clear blue sky on one piece of glass (a layer), add another piece of glass (a new layer) on top, and then paint a forest scene on the top layer, I’ll still be able to see the blue sky on the layer below, peeking through the unpainted parts of my forest layer. That’s the…

Every comic artist remembers their early heroes, and for Tony S Daniel two early favourites were John Byrne and Mike Zeck. You might even be able to detect a touch of John’s strong, simple forms and clean, direct line work in Tony’s artwork today. His tastes refined somewhat with Barry Windsor-Smith, an artist whose work is more rendered, detailed and nuanced. Tony still remembers buying copies of Machine Man at his local 7-Eleven. Later came the European comic maestros, like Moebius and Liberatore. “Then Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri came around and changed things up with cool, big images and lots of razzle dazzle. I really got influenced by that, as did most everyone around that time. I started to come into my own a bit later after getting more…

“By 2011, I was working for lots of different companies, but my Lucasfilm job was my favourite. I received a call to draw live on a 2012 Volkswagen Passat at San Diego Comic-Con International. It became one the most rewarding and scary jobs that I’ve ever worked on. I was tasked with drawing images from the six movies. It was a lot more difficult then I had anticipated. The surface of the car had been wet sanded previously, but absorbed the materials I brought with me – all except my Sharpie. I went through 36 Sharpies that weekend. My highlight was one of my good friends at Hasbro – actually, he is a lead art director – came over and brought me a drink. That’s what I mean about having…

Colouring comics is the best job in the art world, as far as I’m concerned, because it leans heavily towards the fun part of art: the storytelling. Colour can take a reader by the hand and lead them through pacing and mood, guide their eye to where it needs to go, and flesh out details in materials and lighting to suit the story. It’s kind of like being the cinematographer and soundtrack composer for a film all in one. The trick to successful colouring is to think about what’s going on beyond the panels of the page, and have those outside elements and motivations influence the things we can see. That can mean a million different things. Maybe it’s blazing hot outside. Maybe the environment your story takes place in…

Black Panther was the first superhero I really identified with. I’m a huge fan of the character. Over the past few years I’ve had the chance to work on the comic and it’s always a blast. When showing the process of how a comic image is created there are always a few creators involved, usually a penciller, inker and colourist. I’ve been inking my own work for years now and I’ve become more comfortable as I move forward in my career. So I decide to treat this workshop like I do my day job, and ask my colourist to do his thing over my inks. I start my work the same way I do all my digital work: I lay down some rough areas and just get rolling. I open…

QUESTION I want to draw someone getting pulled sharply in one direction. How should I achieve this? Tina Wright, US ANSWER Dave replies When yanking your character about in an action scene, consider the physics of the situation and how it affects the human body. Arms and legs will fly and flap about, and their positions can be used to highlight the motion you want to convey. When people stumble or fall, they’ll often make frantic motions to try to correct their balance. Capturing some of that desperation will add that energy to your image. A recent spate of Alien franchise discussions inspire this whimsical space monster scene. I want to examine three varied poses, with each one being created by an external force pulling on the figure. I make…

“All the brushes are displayed in one easy to-access toolbar” SketchBook Pro comes with a variety of brushes and tools to fit the needs of every artist or designer of all levels of proficiency. All the brushes are displayed in one easy-to-access toolbar called the Brush palette. This palette offers all the basic tools with simple adjustable properties for you to enjoy working with. The icons within the Brush Palette are graphically visual and easy to identify, which all helps to contribute to a smooth and user-friendly creative workflow. In this part of our guide you’ll learn how to locate the Brush palette within SketchBook Pro, how to open the Brush Properties panel for each brush and how to organise your brushes to improve your painting experience. 1 Finding the brushes…

Just like the Joker, Tony S Daniel is wrestling with Batman. As we’re interviewing him, issue 45 of the latest series is in its death throes, and it simply won’t die. Normally, Batman wouldn’t be such a problem for the artist, who’s returning to a character he’s pencilled numerous times during his career. The trouble is that his inker has dropped out mid-issue, so he’s on double duty, drawing and inking his boards on the fly, Fed Exing them off to DC Comics while responding to our questions. Long hours aside, Batman is where Tony’s fans want him, and it’s where he wants to be. “It’s like that feeling you get when you go back to your favourite place,” he says. “It’s still what you remember, but you’re older and…

Growing up, what was your dream job? Chances are Ken Lashley does it. The Canadian artist makes comics for Marvel and DC. He does design work for a big toy and games company. And he also draws for the Star Wars franchise: they commissioned him to cover a car with Stormtrooper and lightsaber art. When Ken thinks of his own childhood, he’s always on his way to the local variety store. “To get comics and snacks,” he says. “Well, mostly comics. I spent about 90 per cent of my allowance on Marvel comics.” He was also into TV cartoons about extraterrestrial characters, like Herculoids, and the Galaxy Trio. He’d draw these characters while they were on-screen and put so much time into it that his mum signed him up for…

My favourite character is Special Agent Gale because he’s a sarcastic jerk. Almost everything he says is pretty mean, and I relish drawing those expressions,” says Fiona Staples, probably the hottest artist in comics today. She’s talking about a pale, bat-winged spy character in Saga. After over 30 issues of the smash hit indie title, the comic she created with writer Brian K Vaughan has won her 17 trophies: Eisners, Harveys and more. Saga is the tale of star-crossed lovers Alana and Marko, and their baby daughter Hazel. The couple come from different sides in a galactic war and when their treachery is discovered, it seems just about everybody in the universe is out to get them. As the title suggests, it’s an epic tale of love and war across…

When I start a new project, my first thoughts are usually, “What should this illustration look like, and what drawing style should I use?” Usually, we have a basic idea for the covers based on the stories, but since this was my first cover for the new arc of the series, DC asked me to do a “kick-off” cover. It would need to show what aspects of the character appeal to me, which brings me to my point about the style. I love Wonder Woman – she has so many sides! She’s a heroine, a warrior, there’s a divinity quality to her, and yet she’s very human, and this gives me several references to explore. So, my idea for the cover and for the entire book was to distil all…

Creating characters, scenes and stories has always been an immensely pleasurable experience. It’s always a lot of fun for me and I never tire of it. My methods of creation are sometimes strange and disorganised when I’m dealing with personal works, and the illustrations almost always change during the course of the journey. This applies both to the characters, which often take on a life of their own and grow in directions I hadn’t anticipated, and to the atmosphere and colour palette of the whole scene, which can change radically as I try out different hues for the ambient lighting. This in turn influences the colouring of every element in the image. I create my art using Photoshop in a simple way without using many of the resources it has…