I’ve finally gotten around to putting together a comics store at idrawdigital, featuring some of the more popular works out there by a number of talented artists and writers. The idrawdigital comics store features work by Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Scott Kurtz, Frank Miller, Art Spiegelman, Brian Wood, Los Hermanos Hernandez, Todd McFarlane, Peter Bagge and many, many more. Click here to continue…
I’ve decided to create a new series of posts based on famous (and not so famous) characters from various comics we all enjoy. The first character spotlight goes to one of the biggest comics icons of the United Kingdom – JUDGE DREDD.
Created in 1977 by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Judge Dredd is one of the most prominent characters featured in the comics publication 2000 A.D. – a sci-fi pulp magazine similar to Heavy Metal. He is currently the longest re-occuring character in the magazine, appearing regularly since the 2nd issue. Judge Dredd was developed from Wagner’s idea of a lawman similar to Dirty Harry set in the distant future, with the ability to deliver instant justice through ultra violent means. The character’s signature look with his hard-set riot helmet, stomper boots and armored heavy epaulets was developed by Carlos Equerra, who was given an image of David Carradine as Frankenstein from Death Race 2000 as reference.
Plagued by a series of problems that would eventually lead to the temporary departure of Wagner, Judge Dredd found itself in the hands of Peter Mills and artist Mike McMahon for the first ‘real’ issue. The story had been modified heavily by Mills from the original introduction, setting Dredd in a future version of New York City where he had the ability to act as judge, jury and executioner as needed. His hard-line attitude allowed him to exact harsh punishments on criminals, and the basis of the series was born.
Annoyed that the character was redrawn and reimagined, Ezquerra quit and resumed his work for Battle. Wagner returned to writing stories for Judge Dredd again after the 9th episode, and his dark style became the model for all subsequent stories. Wagner would write the majority of the stories from 1980 to 1988, and collaborated at times with Alan Grant.
In 1990, Judge Dredd received his own title – Judge Dredd Megazine. Wagner left 2000 A.D. to assume the primary writing duties for the new publication, and left the stories in the original to be handled by Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and John Smith. Unfortunately, their vision of Judge Dredd paled in comparison to the imagination of its original creator, and Wagner returned to write for 2000 A.D. in 1997, after years of sagging sales of the flagship title.
Currently, some of the stories have been written by Gordon Rennie, in the same dark, gritty style of Wagner. It is believed that Rennie will take over the writing duties full-time once Wagner retires and Rennie has established himself amongst fans.
Joe Dredd is actually a clone of a ‘Chief Judge’ by the name of Eustace Fargo. He is the most famous of the elite corps of Street Judges within Mega-City One, and as a law enforcing Judge, has the ability to sentence and execute criminals under the guise of the law. Dredd travels via his “Lawmaster” motorbike – a high-tech machine equipped with state-of-the-rt weaponry and artificial intelligence. His main weaponry includes a special issue “Lawgiver” handgun with a DNA imprint and the ability to fire a variety of bullet types. Dredd’s uniform is standard issue, with a riot helmet that obscures his entire face with the exception of his mouth and trademark jutting chin, large brass epaulets (one with the Eagle of justice) a large brass badge attached to a chain link, and the Judge’s signature stomper boots.
Judge Dredd’s face has never been shown in an issue of 2000 A.D. or the Megazine. Although it was established that Dredd was a clone of Judge Fargo, it was never stated if he resembled Fargo in terms of appearance. Judge Fargo’s full face is shown in later issues, but Dredd is never fully seen by the viewer, even when his helmet is off or broken.
In one story arc entitled ‘The Dead Man,’ Judge Dredd is drawn badly burned and in the City of the Damned storyline, he is fitted with bionic implants for eyes.
‘I am the Law’
Much like Schwarzenegger, Stallone and other action heroes, Dredd has his own catchphrase – I am the Law. As a Street Judge, he is a living personification of the law, and exacts swift justice against those who clearly oppose it. The line, which proved to be extremely popular to fans due to its straightforward delivery and the truest representation of the character, that it became a signature.
The Old Man
Since the stories in 2000 A.D. are supposed to be set in ‘real-time,’ Judge Dredd is presumably over 60 years of age. Even though he is treated with longevity therapy to maintain his active abilities, in later issues and stories, Dredd appears to suffer from the burden of old age. Currently, there are newer Judges who are being groomed to take Dredd’s place (Judge Giant, Judge Rico), but is has never been determined if Dredd will actually be retired by writer Wagner and Rennie in the future (speculation of Wagner’s impending retirement helped fuel this idea). Although newer stories have Dredd fully aware that his time is coming due, to this day there have not been any indicators as to when this may occur, if at all.
He was diagnosed with cancer, but due to the story being set in the future, and possible cure could be concocted to fit within the storyline. Will Judge Dredd retire, die of cancer or keep going? The future is unclear.
Stay tuned for future spotlight posts on our favorite comic book characters, their creative origins and their backgrounds!
Who do you think should be featured in the next character spotlight? If you have a character request, drop me a line and tell me who you’d like to see!
When I was growing up, I recall taking one look at Jim Lee’s style, and aspired to become a comic book artist with his level of efficiency and precision in his artwork. His runs on Marvel Comics X-Men, Image Comics Wild C.A.T.s and DC Comics Batman: Hush are some of his best known works. Have a look at this gallery of Jim Lee’s work throughout his career.
Lee created an instant chemistry between the young and naive Jubilee and the gruff, overprotective Wolverine during his run as the lead penciller in his own XMen title with Chris Claremont.
The famous pull-out cover of X-Men #1. This image is one of Lee’s most iconic works.
Aboveare some samples of Jim Lee’s DC comics works – note the level of precision and how dynamic his characters look. Below are some samples from his Image comics days.
It’s hard to believe that an artist of this caliber almost took a career path in psychology. Jim Lee started off as a fill-in artist for Marc Silvestri on the Uncanny X-Men title, and it became permanent after Silvestri left in 1989. By 1991, fans were so taken by his work, that Marvel launched a new line simply titled X-Men which featured Lee’s work and the writing of Chris Claremont. After Claremont left due to a working disagreement, Lee continued on until 1992 until he left Marvel with a group of artists to form Image Comics.
While under the Image Comics umbrella, Lee formed a series of titles called Wildstorm Productions, featuring his flagship title – WildC.A.T.s. For years, Image was criticized for its lacklustre story telling and its style over substance approach during the 90s. Lee managed to concentrate on publishing a number of critically acclaimed series such as The Authority (Ellis/Hitch) and Planetary (Ellis/Cassaday).
Lee finally sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in 1998 and returned to his role of illustrator on titles such as Batman – where he was involved in the 12 issue storyline entitled Batman: Hush.
After the Batman run, he worked on Superman for awhile on the ‘For Tomorrow’ story arc, and also teamed up with Frank Miller in 2005 for the oft-interrupted All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder series.
He was currently commissioned to oversee the art for DC Comics online RPG game as the creative director.
You can check out his work at some of these links:
Jim Lee Cover Gallery
Gelatometti – a blog with numerous artists including Lee
DeviantART gallery
I personally encourage you to pick up anything Jim Lee has worked on in the last 20 years. You wont be disappointed.
I’ll leave you with a video of Jim sketching Wolverine in his trademark style at the NYC comic con this year.
In the previous tutorial, I showed you all how to draw Batman digitally, through rough construction lines followed by refinements in tightened pencil drawings. Now we’re going to continue on by inking our Caped Crusader and drawing in a simple background.
Here is where we left off last time. A fully drawn Batman with a thickened outline. Now, we’ll add in our inks with dark pools and shading.
Step One: Create a new layer and call it INK. This layer will be your new area for ink fills. In the event that you don’t like the ink work you’ve done, it is a lot easier to modify a separate layer, than having to go back over previously drawn artwork and correct your inking that way.
Step Two: Start with your pools and fills. Instead of spending time using a brush to fill in pockets of ink, you can quickly set up shapes for your fills by creating an outline using your Lasso tool.
Fill in all your areas with a solid black. I reduced the opacity of the pencil layer in order to see exactly where the selection lines will overlap the linework.
Continue to fill in the solid pools.
Sometimes the lasso tool will create sharp lines and jagged corners which need to be smoothed out. I’d suggest tracing over the edges of your lassoed fills with a small brush.
Now that our main figure has been inked and the form is built up some more, we can start to create a simple background. In this post, I go into detail about the importance of backgrounds and how to go about setting one up for your comics based on the situation.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to whip up a city background in just a few minutes.
Step One: Hide your artwork layers until you see a blank canvas. Then create a new layer at the very bottom of all the layers (just above the background layer which is locked).
Step Two: Using your lasso tool, make a shape that resembles a rectangle with a peak on top of it.
Step Three: Fill in the shape with a solid colour – I chose black for its prominence. Repeat Step two a number of times but stagger the position of the shapes. Make sure they are different widths and heights, but are connected together at some point. You should have a skyline beginning to form that looks something like this:
By using the rectangular shape with the peak, you are creating the illusion of a 3-dimensional form. It is showing the front corner of the building, and creating a makeshift perspective.
Step Four:
Step Five: Fill this shape with a solid colour (I chose a lighter grey in order to create a sense of depth. The darker buildings are more prominent and stand out more than the ones in the distance.)
Step Six: After you have created the first layer of buildings, create a new layer, and make sure it is below this first solid layer. Repeat the same steps to create the peaked rectangular shape (or boxy building shape like you see in the example) but make it much smaller. Fill this shape with a solid colour (I chose a lighter grey in order to create a sense of depth. The darker buildings are more prominent and stand out more than the ones in the distance.)
Step Seven: Add a solid colour or gradient on the base Background layer for effect. For an additional layer of moody, noir mystery, use a noise filter on the gradient or solid fill for a film grain effect.
These are the settings I used. Feel free to adjust the settings to increase/decrease the amount of grain. You’ve created a simple city skyline background. We will further develop it with details once we begin the color and finishing touches part of the tutorial.
Now that the background has been done and the inking portion of the tutorial has been completed, we will create a ‘paper doll’ or cutout from our Batman drawing.
Step One: Hide all your background layers, leaving your pencils/inks visible. Create a new layer called CUTOUT.
Step Two: On your Pencils layer, select the area around your character, ensuring that all the background spots are part of the selection (spaces under the arms, etc)
Step Three: Once the background areas have been fully chosen, we will invert our selection. In the menu, the option is: Select > Inverse
Step Four: Once the selection has been inverted, the selection should appear around the outer edges of the Batman drawing. We will now contract that selection in order to have it fit within the inked lines. Otherwise, when the background fill is applied, some of the edges may appear outside of your crisper black edges you defined earlier.
I contracted the selection by two pixels – this should be enough room to keep the CUTOUT fill hidden underneath the drawn artwork.
Step Five: Fill your cutout layer with a solid white. This layer will now help you distinguish between background and foreground elements. You can link your pencils/inks and cutout layer together, and move it as one unit, or recycle it somewhere else.
That concludes the second part of the tutorial. In the third part, we will tackle color and finishing touches to complete our Batman image. Feel free to check out this other tutorial on how to draw Wolverine while you wait for the next installment!
Okay – back at it for another week of tutorials and tips for drawing comics! Today’s installment features another one of mainstream comics favorite stars – Batman. In the first part of this 3 part tutorial, I’m going to show you how to draw a basic version of the Caped Crusader, complete with a background at night. This tutorial requires a WACOM (or similar brand) tablet and stylus and Adobe Photoshop – you can substitute Photoshop with a different photo editing/drawing software. For the purposes of this tutorial, I will be using Photoshop CS3 and a Wacom tablet (Graphire 3 – the OLD standby).
I like to start with a nice wide sheet – you can use the typical US Paper settings of 8.5 by 11 inches. Make sure your resolution is at least 300 pixels/inch (dpi).
We all know the basic ‘look’ for Batman. The common items include a cape and his trademark cowl, and depending on the level of heroic looking figure, a muscular armored chest piece. I gathered all of these pics from Google images – ripped abs, a vampire cape, and the Batman mask. These items are all you need to get started.
Create a new layer for your rough outlines / blocked images. Choose a small brush ( 1 or 2 pixels) for use when scratching in your construction lines.
Step 1 : Draw an oblong head shape similar to a watermelon.
Step 2: Create dividing lines on the head shape to indicate where the eye level of your figure will be – if the horizontal line is low on the shape, it will look like the head is facing downward. If the line is higher up the head is facing upwards. If the vertical line is closer to the left, the head is facing left, and if the line is further right, the head is facing right. You get the idea.
Curve the lines slightly to create a reference for developing 3D depth.
Step 3: Divide the horizontal line into 5 equal segments. This will determine the proper proportions for the eyes.
Step 4: Divide the lower half of the face into 3 sections vertically. Place horizontal markers indicating the bottom of the nose and the opening of the mouth.
Step 5: Create the shoulder line by drawing a curve that equals twice the length of the head. The center of the curve at its peak should touch the tip of the chin.
Step 6: Rough in some ears. The neck lines should extend from the point where the earlobes touch the head. Extend these lines through your shoulder curve.
Step 7: Add two circles for shoulder sockets, and complete the neck cylinder by drawing a curved line between the two points from the extended lines.
Step 8: Draw another vertical line to indicate the center axis of the torso. Draw another curved line from shoulder to shoulder. This line indicates where the top half of the torso will be (the wider half). You should have a shape that resembles a lemon.
Step 9: From the torso dividing curve, draw two lines extending downwards that curve inwards and flare outwards towards the hips. The trunk part of the torso (where the ab muscles are) should look slender – if you were to draw straight lines here, your Batman might appear like a barrel – in this example, we’re trying to make him look heroic, so we have to bend reality a bit and make the proportions more exaggerated.
Step 10: Block in your arms and hands with cylindrical or oval shapes. Pretend like you are creating a mannequin. This is where you can develop your poses ahead of time, and get your proportions down.
Step 11: Close off your torso and create two curved lines at the hips.
Step 12: Draw another curved line below the bottom torso line – as if it were a belt. From there, create a crotch/codpiece area by making a rounded triangular shape. This will give you a reference point for creating your legs.
Step 13: Extend lines from the hip curves you have drawn. Taper them outwards to give the legs a thick, solid appearance.
You now have your construction lines set for your Batman figure. Now its time to draw the actual character.
Step 1: Turn down the opacity of your rough layer to 25%. Add a new layer, and label it as PENCILS.
Step 2: Using a small brush, begin to draw the main outlines of your character, based on the initial construction lines you’ve made. Use your reference material to help you. Start with the shape of the head and work your way into the body. Don’t worry about details – we’ll fill those in shortly. Concentrate on drawing the exterior lines first.
Step 2: Continue drawing your outline. Refine and reshape your drawing as you see fit.
Step 3: Draw your hands and refine muscles. In this example, I noticed that I didn’t like the proportions leading into the lower part of the trunk/midsection. I am going to fix that.
Step 4: Adjust and reshape the figure proportions if necessary. If you are comfortable with the look of your outline, continue past these tips. If you do not like certain areas of your drawing and want to resize/reshape them, follow along.
I selected the area I wanted to reshape/transform.
Using the Free Transform tool, I adjusted the length and width as well as position of this part of the drawing until I was comfortable with its new dimensions.
I committed to the changes, drew in the missing linework and cleaned up any odd looking outlines or stray marks.
Step 5: Draw in your hands and adjust your muscles. Use your photo reference for hands and fingers, and getting your proportions right.
Once you’ve drawn your outline – go back and re-evaluate it. Do the muscles look right -is the proportion WAY out of whack? Take this opportunity to fine tune your main shape before getting too far into the drawing and having too much work to do later in order to correct it.
Step 6: Add in your details – areas for your muscles, belts and costume pieces…
… add in the details for the signature peaked cowl.
Step 7: Begin to draw in finer details – eyes, profile lines, etc.
Step 8: Draw the chest symbol/clasp for the cape, and the outline for the cape.
Step 9: Draw in the folds of the cape – you may want to re-draw the shoulder lines with fabric folds for added realism. The cape doesn’t have to look like it is painted on. A few curved lines and overlaps in your outline will help to create the illusion of folded cloth.
Side Step: I didn’t really like the proportions of Batman’s torso, so I’m using the same Free Transform technique to fix that.
I filled in the lines to fill out the overall character shape.
Step 10: Draw in the details on the cape, the Batman symbol, and any additional extras – like the gauntlets, etc.
Step 11: Using a large calligraphy brush, trace the exterior outline of your Batman to define the body form. I use a calligraphy brush because it is the easiest method of creating variable line width – it also creates a different style to your linework.
Now that you have completed the outline, you have finished the first part of the tutorial. In the next post, I will show you some inking techniques and a quick method on creating a background.
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial – see you soon!
Going back through the archives, you’ve seen and read about ways to develop your own comics. In this post, I will be showing a group of videos on how other artists create their print and webcomics. Some have commentaries, others are tutorials. Many of the techniques I have mentioned in earlier posts apply, with the artists personal workflow methods injected into the core process.
Here are a few examples:
This first video is done by EXTRA LIFE webcomic creator Scott Johnson. He talks about how he developed this particular webcomic strip about the joys of late Christmas shopping. Scott offers a number of time-saving tips while he discusses certain aspects of his process during this time-lapse video.
In this three-part video series, Brett Lamb from LessonBucket decribes the process used in creating a Frank Miller “Sin City” noir-styled comic book. The process is very easy and effective for creating a comic book, using mainly photo reference and Photoshop techniques. There is no actual drawing involved, but this style works if you are looking to create something hand drawn and are wondering about the effects of light and shadows.
This quick tutorial by master illustrator Jay French shows you how to plan out a panel layout and sketch simple blocked in characters prior to creating a full blown comic.
The tutorial by Xia Taptara of idrawgirls is an advanced tutorial which requires a bit of drawing skill. This is more of a commentary while drawing rather than a step-by-step tutorial. Xia shows you some techniques using construction lines and poses.
From the DVD based on the best selling book “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” Stan Lee and artist Jim Lee explain how to draw individual parts for characters in comics – foreshortening, perspective, musculature and process are all explained.
I hope you learn something new from this series of videos. I’ll be back with some written tutorials later on in the week to add to your knowledge base. Until then, check out some of these other tutorials from the archive.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these – and I’ve decided now that the main focus of the site has shifted towards comics related content and less of illustration, that I would put out a TWILL post at the end of every month with the best links from that period. Comic book artists can gain a lot of info from digital illustrators and Photoshop tutorials, so I don’t plan on scrapping TWILL any time soon. There’s a gold mine of goods out there that I’d like to share – check this out…
Working With Client Changes While Working on a Hippie Bus
Cosmetic Bottle Illustration Tutorial
Social Network Icons – Ice Cubes – Free Download
Super Heroes and Villains – Alphabet
Deskartes Mil – Vintage Illustration
BlackYard Illustrator Collective
Work In Progress – a WIP drawing process Blog
How to Create an Eagle Head Sticker
So there it is – some of the latest and greatest from the month of November. There’s a sampling of tutorials, some free downloads, and even some comic book characters and artwork as well. Next month we’ll bring TWILL back with some of the cool finds from December.
If you have any inspiring links you check out on a regular basis, leave me a comment and a link so I can check it out for myself and introduce it into the next set of TWILL updates!
Keep checkin in!
