Last week I gave you a series of webcomics to check out. This week I have something a bit different to put in front of your eyeballs. If you’re in the mood for some more reading material, check out these 10 artists and their blogs / portfolios. You may have heard of some of them, but they are not your average household names, that’s for sure. With sneak previews, upcoming projects, production images and inside looks at their processes, these blogs will definintely give you a different outlook on the lives of the everyday comic artists like you and me. Take my word for it – they’re great resource material. Click here to continue…

For the last few months, I’ve been creating tutorials and giving away valuable information on the creative and organizational processes of drawing comics. This time, instead of a tutorial, I’m going to give you a different type of take-home work. You’re going to do some reading, and trust me – it’s definitely worth it. Click here to continue…

As a followup to my webcomics roundup for 2010, here is a list of comics bloggers that you should definitely follow this year. Some of these blogs contain valuable insights and commentary, some provide you with the latest and greatest in the world of comics, and others offer you straight up eye-candy and popular webcomic magic of their own.

Take a look and get acquainted with these blogs! They’ll definitely leave you inspired… Click here to continue…

Hi folks! I’m going to finish off this ‘How to Draw Batman’ tutorial with some colour and effects. If you’ve completed the steps in part one and part two of this tutorial, you’ll remember that we left off with our Caped Crusader stoically standing with Gotham in the background. Once we’ve finalized the details and added our colors and effects, you’ll be well on your way to drawing comics of your own, perhaps some fan-fiction with Batman! Click here to continue…

The Graphic Novel – the term that is casually misused on a regular basis among those who collect, read and create comics. Some view it as a method of collecting a series of comics, removing the cover and by-lines and sandwiching them all together as one big long story. Others see it as a way of breaking beyond the traditional 22+ page issue format into a lengthier story form, allowing the artists/writer to develop their characters and settings with greater depth.

I don’t care to argue – I love graphic novels whether they are series of sandwiched trades, or magnum opus full length tree killing volumes. But how does one go about starting to put their graphic novel together? 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.

The Development of 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.

About Judge Dredd – the Character

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.

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).

Creating the Workspace

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).

Gather your Reference Material

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.

Setting up your Layers

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.

Drawing the Figure with Construction Lines / Form Sketching

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.

Drawing Batman

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!

In this previous post about drawing backgrounds, I wrote about their importance and how to apply them to your comics in order to add further detail to your stories. Without some kind of defining background (whether its a colour, abstract linework, or a beautifully rendered scene) your foreground characters will just appear like they are floating in dead space with no purpose. This quick tutorial will give you a few more advanced techniques for backgrounds, and how to keep a nice big library for use at a moments notice.

Establish your Settings

If your comic is set in the city, amass a folder filled with reference shots in the city. Skylines, high and low angle views, rooftops, sidewalks, interesting buildings, street scenes, traffic, etc. The more reference photos you have, the better. If your comic is set in the wilderness, you’ll want trees, mountains, lakes, rivers and all sorts of natural vegetation. Separate these files into folders based on location.

Make a Composite Image

You may find yourself seaming two or three photos together in order to get the right look for your scene. Using photo editing software like Photoshop allows you to alter your images in order to create the basic background you are looking for. Here’s some basic tips on how to do this:

Using the transform tools to warp, skew and twist your photos to fit can save you a lot of time trying to figure out what the structures would look like on an angle. Save time and use photo reference where necessary.

Render your Image

Once you’ve set up your photo reference, merge your layers together.

Reduce the opacity of that layer to 40-50% so you can see what you are drawing over.

Your work area should be somewhat transparent.

Now, proceed to trace out your background on a separate layer. Use a variety of different brushes for increasing line weight and creating depth.

I prefer to use a bright colour such as a lime green or a bright red. This shows me where I have traced – using flat black can lead to some problems if the photo below has a lot of dark patches (like the night scene in this example.)

Once your background has been traced out, use the black and white filter to convert your colored line to black.

The Black and White adjustment has a number of options to convert the color on your layer to black and white – choose ‘Maximum Black‘ in the settings.

Adjust the sliders in the dialog box until you have found a dark black that does not lose any of its edge fidelity (gets jagged or too blurry) and click OK. You have converted your background line art into solid black.

Creating the Library

With all of these background files for use in specific situations, you will have an easier time keeping a consistent look to your setting, as well as saving time. I most of your story takes place in a certain area, reusing and modifying the line work is much easier than redrawing it all by hand. This helpful set of shortcuts will make you comics process way more efficient.

Tune in next time for another how to draw comics tutorial from idrawdigital. Check back through some of the previous articles for tips on color, inking and pencils.

So you think you’re ready to jump into your comic/webcomic, right? You have a script, you have a schedule, you have drive, ambition and motivation. Now you need to put pen to paper, or in a digital sense, stylus to tablet. If you’re wondering what tools artists use to master their craft, look no further – idrawdigital is going to give you the run-down on the must have items a comic book artist should have in his / her arsenal.

Drawing Pads

I know I preach a lot about doing everything digitally – but there may come a time when you don’t have access to a computer or have the itch to kick it old school and draw using pencil, pen and paper. There’s nothing quite like the feel of sketching on a natural surface, and it will also keep your skills sharp, your planning in composition and proportion exact, and force you to analyze your subjects more carefully. There is no UNDO feature when you draw by hand – unless you count your eraser, and that can be quite time consuming and sometimes messy.

Go to your local art store or stationery supply store and stock up on a few sketchpads of various sizes. Amazon offers various brands as well if you’re interested in purchasing online for dirt cheap (click the image.)  Keep all your random scribbles and concepts – they make great conversation pieces and journals for the projects you’ve worked on – and they also make great reference material as well, where you can go back and skim for hidden gold you may have forgotten about.

Pencils and Inks

If you’re planning on going the hand drawn route at different stages of your production (you could start with pencils and scan them in, or do your roughs digitally and ink by hand, etc) you’ll need these tools at your disposal. Make sure you buy a graphite pencil set with varying degrees of hardness, there are also non-repro versions as well (the blue line pencils that don’t appear when photocopied). For inking, you can use the traditional quill with ink for supreme control, or mimic that elegant line weight result with technical pens with varying point sizes (from millimeters to brush width!)

A Digital Drawing Tablet (WACOM)

The weapon of choice for digital comic artists – this is the keystone for all digitally created artwork. There are other cheaper brands, but for the purpose of this list, I will be referring to the WACOM brand of tablets. With a plethora of touch sensitive options, advanced cursor control and key mapping functions, the digital tablet is as close to drawing naturally as you’re going to get in the digital realm. There are a number of tablet products ranging from the small and simple, to the expensive and complex. The higher-end versions allow you to draw directly on screen (the Cintiq by WACOM doubles as a touch sensitive monitor) and simulate the feeling of drawing. If you master the use of a tablet, you are well on your way to a fully digital workflow. For more information on using your WACOM tablet, check out this post.

A Flatbed Scanner

If you insist on doing your artwork by hand using traditional means, you’ll definitely want to scan it into your computer in order to complete the job. Sending electronic proofs, cleaning up inks and pencil work, or just tightening up the artwork and converting it to digital format requires the use of a reliable scanner. Scanners come in a number of sizes that can accommodate oversized sheets (especially bristol pages) and have a range of resolution (dpi) depths dependent on your need (large format printing or just high quality). Having a scanner in your arsenal is essential if you’re planning to draw comics.

Software

The final tool you need when you’re learning how to draw comics is the purchase of licensed software. There are a number of drawing programs available – whether you’re following the fully digital workflow, or traditional means, drawing software is absolutely necessary for building your work, or preparing your scanned image for final output on press or online.

I’ve given brief reviews in another post on the different drawing software that is available – there are free options, and expensive high-quality versions. All of the software has a try before you buy option – so you don’t have to commit to an expensive purchase if you’re uncomfortable using the programs.

There you have it – get these tools in your possession, and you’ll be ready to tackle any of your comics projects. Go forth and create!