What Do You Need To Be A Good Comicbook Artist?
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2022
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Here are 3 Traits and skills I think are super important to consider if you are thinking of doing comics!
1 - The first is Patience! - We spend a lot of time sitting at the desk drawing comics. It can be a shock at first if you are not used to drawing this much... and not used to drawing allllll of the things!
This took me a long time to understand... and I often get students and friends who say they really want to draw a comic... but once they actually do it... they realise it's just not something they have the patience for.
Tip - I think you kinda know if you have patience or not. It's definitely something you can improve through knowing yourself and how to handle the longer stretches of mundane work. If you are trying a comicbook project for the first time though... this is a key thing to set your expectations on in the beginning. It will probably take you a lot longer than you think! And involve a lot more drawing the same thing again and again :)
2 - The Second is a Passion for Story! - This is key if you are trying to use comics as a way to share your own ideas. I know a lot of budding artists who have ideas and want to share them with the world... but to do that you need to want to master storytelling... not just create cool images. No one will care about your awesome idea if you can't frame it within a story... and if you are working alone as an writer/artist, you will probably spend just as much time learning how to tell interesting stories as you will on learning to draw.
Tip - There are a ton of resources on storytelling and writing out there... but I think it's important to find your own personal process for creating ideas and putting them onto the page. If you are working alone as a solo creator... remember that no one else needs to see any part of your process besides the finished product. You don't need to write a script or format your method of ideation in any particular way. It can be visual, or written, or whatever you want. Although Publishers often want to see a script or some form of storyboard to approve before production begins.
3 - The Third is a Love for Drawing! - I think this is important for a few reasons! The first is that we do a lot of drawing as comicbook artists! (Duh!) And you will need to like the process...
The second reason is that the more fun you are having while you draw the more that emotion comes through the page. Often the most unique thing about comics is the direct translation of an artists hand to the audience. We are seeing and living this world through your every mark... so they have to be expressive.
Tip - I always wanted to be an artist but I kinda hated drawing early on. I wasn't very good at it... and I built up a strong 'fear of drawing'.... I liked to 'have drawn'... but I wasn't the kinda person to just sit down and jam. I would be apprehensive and worried about it the whole way through... and a good portion beforehand! It was actually comics which helped me get over this fear ( #exposuretherapy). And I'm really glad I was forced to do so much drawing. Because I notice that now it's something. So I guess my tip is to just sit down and do it... comics are actually the best way to get over a lot of art hang ups... and a great way to learn to draw in general. You just get forced to draw everything... and then keep drawing it again and again.
Happy Drawing!
Tim Mcburnie
Learn Drawing and Illustration from me: www.thedrawingcodex.com
Portfolio: www.timmcburnie.com
www.artstation.com/tim-mcburnie
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Every thing Tim is saying is true. I really dug this cause I can relate.
My first comic series is coming out at image comics this June 2022. 4 issue series, 162 total pages, four covers. "Beware The Eye of Odin" It has been the hardest art endeavor I've ever under taken.
I'm 40 and have 20+years plus experience as a freelance artist and designer. Out of all the art jobs I've been apart of. Comics is the hardest. There are so many skills you need besides drawing.
What I can humbly ad is...
1.You'll need to be PASSIONATE about the story you're telling. It's what is going to keep you at the table drawing when you could be doing something els.
2.START SMALL. Don't do a big series for your first thing. Do 8-10 page stories. This will keep you fresh and excited. You'll finish a thing and can get excited about the next one. If I was to do it again, I'd do some 8 pagers, then 20 pagers, then a 40 pagers. I'd build up to a big thing.
3.GET HELP. Look at the average comic credits. It's rare that anyone does it all. It would be ideal to do everything all by yourself to preserve your singular vision but know... it will take waaaaaay longer...You'll have to be proficient in double or triple the skills...You've got to know all about printing...promotion...publishing... there's a lot to consider. I would build up to that project. If you work with others you'll learn a lot more and they can carry you when you need it. 'Cause trust me if you're on a long journey, its nice to have someone els carry some of the gear.
congrats on the publication!
Hey Tim! (Apologies for such a late reply!) Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! Those are all really really great points. I totally agree. Congrats on your publication that sounds like an awesome thing. I’ll be sure to check it out!
One of the most important things for every professional is to learn constantly how to hate his job less.
Haha! That's a glass half full way of putting it. But I agree 100% :)
If you "hate" what you do, then you should take up something else because you there is a joy every comic artist loves doing about their work-(s) someone like you who hates it no matter what skill level your at. In other words if you hate what your doing then how can you do something you hate doing? Write a novel instead, maybe that will work out for yo.
@@KCComics Billions of people do their job, not because they love it, but because they have to. I think there's nothing wrong about it.
Great video. I completed my first short webcomic a few months ago and am already planning my first full length comic book.
Not sure I'll make any money from it, but I'm at least hoping to crowd fund it and make something for my work.
I LOVE comics because they're the only low-budget visual medium. Movies are expensive with big teams, but novels are nonvisual entertainment. Comics exist between the two. I essentially consider comics to be a "cinematic book" of sorts.
Hey Fated Crystals! That’s awesome you managed to complete a web comic, congrats!
Yeah I totally agree that comics are special because they are an accessible visual medium.
It’s tricky to make money with comics these days. Often with hit based entertainment it takes a long time to master the craft and then create something that stands out. If you listen to a lot of writers creating novels for a living… It often takes them years and years, or decades to really get to the point where they are making any money from it.
But if you own the things that you are creating, it gives you a lot of power over the long run.
@@TheDrawingCodex
Hey thanks! 👍 Yeah, I've pretty much accepted my fate as only being a hobbiest or side-gig illustrator. 😂
I've decided it's better to create the stories I want to create for the love of art than train for art jobs in games or animation. I don't want to relocate to areas where those jobs are hot, nor deal with all the politics that are in entertainment nowadays. I just hope I can make SOME extra money as an artist making my own graphic novels.
As someone who's worked insanely boring jobs( I used to work security at night guarding construction sites in the middle of the woods) and the job was literally get there as 10pm look at the stuff and leave at 10 am.( before we all had infinite content in our phones)
The idea of being cozy at home getting some flats on the page while drinking some tea and listening to an audiobook sounds like heaven xD
Haha for sure! :)
Thank you for your sage advice
This channel is amazing. Thanks a lot for putting up so much good advice online!
You are such an underrated channel, this advice is so useful to me
1.) Patience... It takes time to create Pages and a Comicbook, drawing and constructing.
yeup, you just described me at the core hahah. I was thinking yesterday about what I like and it's all about story driven things. I play videogames that are story driven, I read comics or fiction books, play RPG tabletop with friends, love movies or series that tell good stories. and yes oh yes, I listen to podcasts or people playing role playing games (like critical role) when I'm drawing. Thanks for the video/s love your chanel! :)
Haha, nice I'm glad this resonates with you. (Apologies for the late reply here!) I think one's overall interest in story is important to consider from a career pov... if you are around other people who care and talk about story stuff it makes a lot of difference. If you are around people who don't care much about the story side it can be hard! So many concept artists just talk all day about how stuff looks cool :)
Great content
3:19 Alot....all day!
Brilliant stuff as always mate :)
Thanks man!
Thanks Tim! I've been working on a webcomic for the last year or so, and it's been my favorite project ever, and I want to make comics professionally in the future, but sometimes it is hard being alone as much as you are as a comic artist. Everyone needs at least some social interaction, I know that I do. How have you balanced that human need with your drive and passion to create?
Hey Marcus (Apologies for the late reply here!). That's awesome you have been working on a webcomic. I totally hear you on the alone thing. I reckon it's important to focus on the balance of catching up with people. I agree that everyone needs to be social to some degree. From my experience my need to socialise has changed over time, and I think much of it has to do with how much background people time I have. I'm probably a serious introvert at heart. But when I was single (Not sure on situation here) I had an almost unlimited amount of space for catching up with people. I would meet someone for lunch every day... I didn't feel like an introvert because I was spending pretty much all my work time alone. When I started doing a lot of teaching I started to get more burnt out talking to people. Now that I have a family where there is a lot of stuff going on all day every day... I can basically spend as much time as possible sitting alone :) So perhaps some of your situation is just a matter of booking more social time. I think a lot of it has to do with what else is going on in your life. Just make sure you get the right balance for you... it can take some time to get the mix right and in my opinion it will change over time and you need to constantly adjust. Let me know if any of that advice helps!
I love the 4th point in that I think point 1 dove tails into it. You have to put in the time but you also get a lot of unsupervised moments where you can say 'hey I think this works here' or 'maybe this is idiosyncratic but it works to get the page done and I think it looks good and tells the story well'. All good points though--as a comic artist I can say you will definitely be spending a lot of time drawing.
Hey Conor! Yeah I live for being unsupervised haha :) thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi! I am a teenager in highschool rignt now and I want to become a comic book artist one day and I was wondering of you had any tips for ways to improve and build a foundation too become a comic book artist in the future?
Hi
Recently discovered your channel. You provide some really great insights and inspiration. As a keen artist (drawing, music and other media) I'd love to know, how much do you use reference images when you're drawing your comics. Do you draw almost entirely from imagination now? Thanks!
Hey Mike. Yeah I draw mostly from imagination. When I am using reference it is to understand the structure or detail of an object... not to find a photo of it from the right angle so I can copy it directly to the page.
I can also use 3D sometimes to block out shots or get proportions for a commonly used item in the story... but honestly I normally just draw it because it's faster and easier than using 3D. I am using quite a simplified style though... which does make this a lot easier. I know a lot of people using more reference for realistic styles.
Hi Guys, I would like to know if The line color academy has subtitles for Portuguese-br?
I spoke to Davis via email about this, but in case anyone else Is wondering my courses are in English only with no subtitles unfortunately. Maybe one day I can fix this. But I think it will be a long time in the future.