The Dc Comics Guide To Digitally Drawing Comics Free Pdf [WORK]
Babette Bartel
Artist author Freddie E Williams has been creating comics digitally since 1999. He has put together this great resource targeted at those who intend to create comics on the computer, or looking for ways to streamline their digital workflow. You must already know how to draw to get the most out of this book.
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For me, I still think I draw slightly better traditionally, although I think Manga Studio Ex5, which I just started using recently, has narrowed the gap. If you are making comics digitally with photoshop you should at least give Manga Studio a try, you will not regret it.
Comics got their start in newspapers. Newsprint is not the best paper for much of anything, let alone printing comics. But those early cartoonists figured out how to make their work reproduce on it. They discovered that line art in ink would make their comics clear and readable. Years later, that is by and large how comics are still produced.
Create comics in Adobe Illustrator? Yes, it can be done. I originally wrote about my process of how I create comics in Adobe Illustrator in November of 2005. It was one of my more popular posts from my previous site. Probably because it had something useful in it. I would use the same process in 2015. But first, I think the I need to answer an important question:
At about that time, I finally decided to get a new Mac capable of handling OS X. I purchased a 1 Ghz G4 tower. A month later I purchased a copy of the Adobe Creative Suite with the sole intention of learning how to create comics in Adobe Illustrator.
Last month I was invited to write a "How to Draw Comics" guide for an incredible local event, Panel Explorations. It was a comics symposium featuring the likes of Stan Sakai, Phil Hester, Cullen Bunn, Eric Gapstur, Jeff Koterba, Allen Passalaqua and my good friend,...
I tend to waffle back and forth between drawing my comics digitally and traditionally. Why? Because I just love working in both mediums. But, there are other real practical reasons as well. Read on.
Digital comic art allows for faster production times, with the ability to quickly make corrections and edits using the software. It also allows for easy copying, pasting, and resizing of elements, making it easier to work on complex scenes. My favorite apps for drawing digitally are Procreate and Adobe Photoshop.
In the end, as I mentioned at the top of this article, I still waffle back and forth between drawing my comics traditionally and digitally. And I will probably continue to do so into the foreseeable future. I say learn both, as I am clearly a proponent of using both methods. I believe in using whatever tools to get the work done.
As tempting as it may be to jump right in and start drawing for your comic book, try not to get ahead of yourself. You know from reading your favorite comics that creating a solid storyline is crucial. The text drives the visual action and fills in key plot details and character traits.
One recommendation from experienced comic book artists is to establish a consistent style of illustration that is doable and efficient for the scope of your project. That could mean assigning specific textures, shading, or coloring effects to certain characters or backgrounds. Or you may decide to limit the number of frames per page. These are your personal guidelines to create visual continuity and to avoid making drawings so complex that you cannot replicate the look and feel.
Art that is composed of marks made with dry materials on a 2D surface. Drawings include all renderings made by a manual or mechanical instrument on a surface and may include formal, realistic, and/or abstract imagery. Illustrations made with dry materials should be entered in this category. Illustrations made with paint should be entered in Painting and illustrations made digitally should be entered in Digital Art. Ink drawings colored with paint like watercolors should be entered in Drawing & Illustration.
All works in which science fiction/fantasy is the key element should be entered in this category. Do not base characters or plots on already published works (books, movies, comics, etc.). Works that are novel length should be entered in Novel Writing.
A note on programs: For graphic novels, I draw on Photoshop (CS6) on a Mac, and use a Cintiq. I know a growing number of people are using Clip Studio Paint to draw comics, as it has more comic-specific features.
Lettering is an art in itself. I use a font that my publisher made from my handwriting; before that, I used open-source fonts that matched my line quality. For shorter comics, I will hand-letter, but that is really strenuous for a full graphic novel. Some comics will bring in professional letterers to hand-letter the whole book or to arrange the text and draw the special sound effect text. It really comes down to personal preference!
Hi Molly! I'm so glad I found you on Substack. This post is incredibly helpful; there's a lot of confusing information online about sizing for comics, and this is very clear, so thank you for that! I have a Substack and I want to start putting my graphic novellas there. Can you share any info about sizing for Substack? I'm working with Procreate. If you've already covered this topic elsewhere, my apologies, and would you be able to post a link? Many thanks! Excited to read your comics!
Hi Molly! Thank you so much for sharing all these resources, no less sharing for free. It's really amazing. If you get a chance, I'm just wondering if you'd have any advice re: programs. For a short (self-published) piece, I got by with just learning some basics in Gimp and InDesign (I drew/wrote everything by hand, scanned, and used those programs for touch-up and layout). I'm building up to making a full-length book, though, and have been thinking I may need to learn to draw digitally and invest in new tools -but- I'm having trouble deciding which route to take. Do you recommend Photoshop, Procreate? Getting an iPad, Cintiq? I get the sense these may be worth the expense, but not sure... At the moment, I have no digital drawing tools or experience in this realm! Any advice would be very much appreciated :)
This is something that will be more important to discuss when we get into coloring comics; but even if you\u2019re making a book that is only black, white, and grey tones, remember that your grey tones will come out darker than they appear on the screen.
"Understanding Comics" is a departure from the traditional how-to guide format because it is also itself, a comic. All the lessons and discussions are presented in a visual form with captions and/or dialogue balloons. "Understanding Comics" is a great place to begin our list as it takes an academic approach to the medium as an art form and as a means of communication. The book details the vocabulary, traditions and format of the comics medium along with the variety of ways that these elements can be used. Author and artist Scott McCloud is considered by some fans to be the 'Aristotle of Comics' for his extensive examination and exploration of the comic form.
Considered by many to be the grandfather of all 'how-to' books, "How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way" taught a whole generation of artists that there were two ways to draw comics: the Marvel Way and the "wrong" way. The book is filled with the bombastic text of Stan Lee and the artwork of Marvel staff artist Sal Buscema. The Marvel Way was one of the first to use the concept of circles, cylinders and squares as the building blocks for the human figure. It also advocated the use of the stick figure in the layout process.
One of many books created by the phenomenally talented artist and instructor, Burne Hogarth, Dynamic Figure Drawing is the absolute textbook for anyone who ever wanted to learn to draw the human figure realistically and with amazing clarity and motion that just leaps off the page. By providing sequential artists with a fine arts level introduction to drawing the figure from every conceivable point of view, Hogarth distilled years of teaching into the ultimate reference guide.
Prolific writer Brian Michael Bendis has done one of the most requested and potentially impossible to create instructional books with this one. Here, he produced an actual book on the process of comic book writing. Bendis takes us behind the proverbial curtain and forces the reader to not only examine the process of writing but also asks why a writer writes and why a writer would want to write comics. Bendis examines the fact that the process of comic writing is in fact a collaboration in which the writer is writing to the artist first and it is only their collaboration that the comic reader sees. Bendis deftly breaks down the entire comic into its component parts and examines the people and processes of each. Then he does the one thing that so many how-to books shy away from, he explores the business of writing and being a working comic book writer. Bendis is a writer at the top of his game in the industry and this book is a virtual historical document detailing his process of getting there.
One of a trio of books created by the legendary writer, comic creator and raconteur Stan Lee, this is the ultimate writer's guide, especially if you favor the style of writing that built the foundation of the comic book Marvel Universe. Using his typical boisterous style and anecdotes from his illustrious career, Lee lays out the processes of writing for the comic form. He goes into great detail on building the plot, creating heightened action to keep the reader engaged and peppering in convincing dialogue that ground these fantastic characters in the trials and tribulations of the real world. He helps the potential writer fill their own worlds with characters and environments that enrich the overall story. He also clues the reader in on valuable tips of the trade that come with years of building multiple worlds on paper. Lee also brings in several of his illustrious collaborators for their input and insights on writing. All in all, this really is the ultimate guide to writing from the quintessential comics writer.
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