Hey folks – here’s a bunch of webcomics that you should check out this month. Some are new, some are old and established, but all of them are worth a read. If you’re looking for some new reads, this is a good place to start. You can check back in the archives for other favorites that you may have missed. Click here to continue…
Tutorial Tuesday is here, and this week we’re going to tackle the Female Figure in comics. The basic tutorials and tips I’m going to discuss here applies to drawing females in your typical American mainstream action-hero style. You’ll notice that females vary greatly from genre to genre – you wouldn’t necessarily use some of the tips in this tutorial to draw females in manga, or if you were doing an Indie style comic Click here to continue…
I know I’m a bit late on this one, but I feel you guys all deserve to see this stuff anyway. Here are some of the illustration frinds from around the Internet that I came across in March, and I want to share them with you.
And now, for your viewing pleasure… here is the second part of the tutorial on drawing action poses. If you recall, in the first part of the tutorial, we talked about starting with a gesture drawing/mannequin and developing the scene into roughed forms. Now that we have our characters blocked in, I will be focusing on drawing and inking the character details of our scene. 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…
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.
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!
Mainstream comics are brilliant displays of finely crafted artwork – with the relative costs of ink colors on press dropping significantly, comics publishers have taken advantage of full colour in order to grab the attention of readers. However, color is not just limited to eye-candy and attraction – great comics use color to capture the mood of a moment or to help with the pacing of a story. Here are a number of tips on how to draw comics more effectively through the use of color theory.
I’ve written a short step by step tutorial on applying color to your inked comics, and I have also posted a number of links to various tutorials on the basics of color theory. Have a look at those previous posts for additional information, in order to help you with some of the terminology and concepts explained in this post.
Color combinations are used to create a pleasing arrangement to the reader’s eye, and to attempt to elicit a certain mood. Most of the time, this is done at a subconscious level, and when done correctly, will advance the story in a proper manner. There are a number of rules when using color that can be explained in full detail in the Color Theory post.
In comics, complementary colors are used to produce tension and also to produce harmony, depending on the response you are attempting to create. I have included this colour wheel by Don Jusko – his Real Color Wheel theory teaches the idea that darkened, shadowed colors achieve a neutral dark tone rather than a flat black devoid of any hue. This wheel was created for print/paint in order to take advantage of realistic color created under certain light conditions found in nature, and eliminates the use of black to create shadows (which makes your colors muddy and dull.)
For the greatest vibrancy of colour, use its direct complement (the pure colour directly across from it on the wheel). Note: Jusko’s wheel is quite different from the traditional color wheels you have seen. His complements are direct optical inverses of one another. If you are uncomfortable with this method, use the traditional wheel which relies on black to create shades.
Another method of effective color combination comes from the use of analogous colors. These colours are found beside one another on the colour wheel, and when used together, help to amplify moods. For example – using a combination of BLUE/BLUE GREEN/GREEN could create a feeling of doubt, mystery or an eerie, creepy effect – this is why it is commonly used in horror films and images.
There are also discordant color combinations, monochromatic (single-color), triadic (triangular equidistant on wheel) and more which you can use to add emphasis to your panels.
We’ve all heard of cool and warm colors – but how do they work within comics? Well, similar to painting and color composition in drawing and photography, a cool colour palette within a comic panel will evoke a feeling of despair, sadness, melancholy, etc. At the same time, these tones will also slow down the pace of the story in that particular scene.
In these panels, Peter Parker reflects on some memories of Gwen Stacy while he’s cleaning out some stuff in his attic and coming across her picture.
To the untrained eye, you may have sensed a feeling of regret and reflection, coldness and emptiness – and it wasn’t merely the dialogue that evoked that feeling. The shades of blue and dramatic shadows helped intensify that feeling. Color is used to play upon the subconscious of readers. We associate colors with feelings – and feelings are also associated with temperature. Anger, excitement, intensity, love, and happiness are associated with warmth and heat. Sadness, anguish, lonliness, despair, regret and misery are associated with cooler temperatures.
This temperature effect helps the colorist control the mood of the reader – if it is a tense action moment, perhaps the scene will have more reds and oranges to heighten the urgency. But a dramatic, sad scene like the one illustrated above will make use of subdued, cooler hues like blues and purples.
Determine the mood within the panel, and choose the right color to amplify it. Being subtle in pencils, inks and dialogue works some of the time – but effective color can really drive home the point.
We touched on creating focal points when you’re learning how to draw comics in this post about composition and layout. Now I’ll show you how color can enhance this direction. Look at this panel from Skaar: Son of Hulk, and see where the focal points of each panel are.
The huge yellow blast behind Skaar in the first panel draws emphasis to that particular area on the panel. It is an intense scene with a number of active elements on the page – a chasm opening up, rocks being smashed and flying about, all from Skaar pounding the ground. You could easily emphasize one of the wrong elements and have the scene be interpreted differently. In this example, the emphasis is on the power of Skaar’s impact. By using a fiery yellow blast, it also elevates the feeling of action and strength.
If you look at the last panel, you see the emphasis is on the red figures in the background. Their anger and rage is intensified with the red and yellow fiery tones. If you couldn’t tell they were pissed from the line drawings, you can sure figure it out now.
Another effect used on this page is saturated colors – in the second panel, the figures in the background are of lesser importance, so their colors are muted and desaturated. Meanwhile, in the foreground, Skaar’s leg appears much more prominent, partially because of the stronger line weight, but also because of the deeper, saturated color. The same effect is seen in the third panel – except this time, the background figures are prominent, and the foreground figures are subdued.
As I mentioned earlier, color can be used to evoke feelings at a subconscious level through temperature and experiences from past associations. Another method of playing upon subconscious thought is through the use of polarization and dominance. Visually, the boldest color scheme is the primary color triad of RED-YELLOW-BLUE. Secondary to that is GREEN-ORANGE-VIOLET, and beyond that is the tertiary scheme of the in-between colors (YELLOW-GREEN, BLUE-VIOLET, RED-ORANGE etc)
Here’s an interesting observation you may not have noticed. Check every major superhero you know, and look at their color palette.
Captain America – Red and Blue
Spiderman – Red and Blue
Iron Man – Red and Yellow
Superman – Red, Yellow and Blue
Shazam – Red and Yellow
Now compare that to typical villains:
Doctor Octopus - Green
Dr. Doom – Green
The Hobgoblin – Green and Orange
The Green Goblin – Purple and Green
Parallax – Orange and Green
Notice a pattern? The heroes are often outfitted in the dominant primaries, while their evil counterparts are in secondary colors. This subconscious color scheme forces you to believe that the hero is the most dominant. I’ll bet some of you didn’t notice that. Now, this isn’t a cemented rule, but you can try that effect out in order to accentuate the main character in your next story.
Smaller details such as warm glows, refracted light, mists and hazes, and environmental effects can also increase the dramatic effects in your panels. For example,
this image of Batman standing amongst the shadows shows the city of Gotham in a brooding, mysterious blue-grey haze. There is additional contrast to the focal point (Batman) where a cool bluish-white glow surrounds the hero. This intensifies the dark background and makes the city look even more sinister.
In this image, the warm glow of the sun casts a number of warm colors this sullen warrior. The front of the character has been washed with cooler tones, perhaps to bring out an evil side, but the colored highlights from the light source in the rear create contrast through some subdued complementary juxtaposition (red-oranges-yellows / blue-green-purples). In addition to the glow of the scorching sun, there are some wisps of mist in the chasm behind the main character, creating depth and separation of the foreground and background elements.
—-
That concludes our lesson for today – I hope you’re able to take some of these tips on using color effectively to help you learn how to draw comics that are vibrant and inspiring. If you’re looking for some color ideas and themes, check out Kuler – an Adobe project showcasing designers and artist’s color palettes to inspire and evoke moods for your next project. See you next time!
Last month I posted a number of links to some great webcomics out there. This month I’ve returned with a number of new gems for your collection. Feel free to check some of these out.
The Talos Project by Giorgos Chronopolous
Edge the Devil Hunter by Sam Romero
Dark Wings by Ashley Ann Merrill
The Phoenix Sage Saga by Joseph Sotomayor
Freak Angels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield
Last Blood by Bobby Crosby, Chris Crosby and Owen Gieni
Have a peek at some of these great series. I’ve read through a number of them for inspiration and I try to check in on the updates as much as possible. You may find yourself hooked and trying to catch up on weeks of stories, taking up all your time – but there’s no better way to spend it than by enjoying these finely crafted webcomics.
If you have suggestions for webcomics you enjoy, drop me a line or leave some comments and I’ll review them for webcomics roundups in the future.
I don’t usually use idrawdigital as a platform for self-reflection or life-based posts, seeing as this is a resource site. But I do want to share some background history on why I decided to follow the illustration career path. If I was ever asked the question: What made you decide on becoming an artist/illustrator/designer, I’d emphatically answer – Heavy Metal magazine made me do it.
When I was a a kid, I loved comics. I’m sure there are a number of readers out there who felt the same way – I would grab all of my favorites and trace the panels over and over again until I was able to mimic the artwork by myself without tracing. I used to have stacks of 8.5 x 11 ruled paper in binders with comics that I replicated on my own. Honestly, I think this is how I ‘trained’ myself how to draw. The problem was, the subject matter was always the same – costumed superheroes duking it out, or Star Wars characters or GI Joe, He-Man or whatever the popular toys for boys were at the time.
I grew up and gave up the toys, but I still doodled and drew – eventually making skateboard graphics (DOG TOWN!) and developing detailed backgrounds and buildings. My cousin was studying to be an architect, so I would pore over all of his books and university work to get ideas on improving my own renderings. One day, while looking over his work, I noticed a magazine on the coffee table in his apartment. It belonged to his roommate, and I found myself drawn by the cover illustration of a scantily clad amazonian (I was 13… its natural.) Curiously, I picked it up and thumbed through it, half-expecting it to be some kind of smutty rag – but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was indeed a magazine with mature comic stories in it.
I was hooked – I recall reading a story called Attila by Antonio Segura and Jose Ortiz, a Spanish artist/writer duo who had created this post-apocalyptic world. The story itself was a bit thin, and pretty sexist and had everything that appealed to a teenage boy – the art style was different, the story was darker, and the idea that there was so much out there in the world of comics that stretched beyond the small circle of mainstream comics I was accustomed to. I was led to believe comics were what you found in the Sunday paper and on the news stand beside the Archie comics and the Disney crap for kids. If you wanted something more powerful, you made the huge stride to super hero comics.
Picking up Heavy Metal magazine and reading the stories was as powerful as waking up from a coma – or even being born. I realized that I wanted to step up my game and tell better stories. Ones that were darker, ones that were more cinematic and mature than the corner store pulp I was used to seeing. Yes, Heavy Metal changed my perception of how I wanted to draw and how I wanted to tell the stories bouncing around in my head.
I quickly found myself trying to get my hands on more of these magazines. Since they were classified as ‘mature’ due to their content, I had to basically beg, borrow or steal them in order to stay up to date. Eventually, I was able to bravely and boldly walk into a comic store, grab the latest issue off the shelf and purchase it. I think the conversation went something like this:
Clerk: Aha! Heavy Metal, eh? You like the adult comics, huh?
Me: Ermm…. uhmmm…. nooo. I… uhh… I like the stories…..
Clerk: I’ll bet. The ones that have the big boobs in ‘em, eh?
Me: Uhmmm… no…. seriously… I like the stories…..
Clerk: Sure, you do. They say the same thing about guys who buy Playboy magazines.
Me (mortified): ….
Clerk: It’s ok kid. I won’t tell your mom. The next issue won’t be out for three months. I’ll remind you when its around – and I’m just joking with you.
Me: O-ok.
Here’s the issue from that conversation:
I don’t think I bought another copy from the comics store again. The next time would be at a corner store, and when I was questioned by the old lady behind the counter who thought it was a nudie mag due to the racy cover, I quickly opened it up and showed her it was a comic book. She then thought it was like Conan or something. Yeah… or something! Funny thing is, when I’d see her while I was out side doing what kids did at thirteen, she would always call me over and give me an ‘advance’ copy before she put it on the shelf the next day. Good times.
I did that until I moved out of the neighbourhood. I remember starting high school in the fall, and I used to bike across 3-4 neighbourhoods to get there, and every season (the magazine came out seasonally) I would leave immediately after class and visit the old lady at the store. I’d buy the Heavy Metal, chat for a few minutes, then bike home. I think it took me less time to bike home uphill on those days than it did to bike to school downhill all the way.
I decided I was going to become an artist. I wanted to draw comics, and draw powerful illustrations and tell fantastic stories. So I wrote scripts and drew characters and made comics with the dream of getting my story printed and published in Heavy Metal magazine. I eventually grew older and the dream faded a bit, I decided that I needed to have a career that paid well and allowed me to live comfortably. I put the skills I had to good use and became a graphic designer and now I’m a creative director.
But I still love comics, and whenever I see a Heavy Metal magazine lying around, I ALWAYS pick it up and I remember that feeling I got at thirteen – and NO it wasn’t the ‘funny feeling’ you get in your pants. It was a feeling of enlightenment – like a door had been opened which would lead me down a path to fulfillment. So why am I telling you this? Well, I’ve been at a crossroads with my artistic career for a little while now. I like my day job, I really like blogging, but its difficult to have your voice heard amongst the screaming throngs of Twitter-ers, Bloggers and Net-o-philes, so I end up sabotaging my own projects for fears that I’ll never have any success. Its pretty strange, since I’m extremely confident with my design and direction while I’m at work, but I’m pretty introverted and lack self-esteem with my comics.
I was cleaning out some old books and came across an old Heavy Metal magazine. I sat down on the couch, opened it up and started reading, and a flood of memories and daydreams filled my head. Before you know it, an hour or two had passed – and I felt this sense of purpose again. Now I’ve gone full boar into producing comics again, and once again, I have Heavy Metal magazine to thank for opening my eyes.
If you want to learn more about the publication, check out the Wikipedia entry or the official site. Kevin Eastman (of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame) is currently the editor and has managed to keep this independent magazine alive and kicking with its blend of sci-fi, fantasy and dark graphic storytelling for the past two decades. A lot of the featured content comes from European artists who have established themselves as bonafide talent, but there are a number of North American entries, and a wide variety of short stories ranging from extremely humorous to downright horrific to completely strange and abstract.
If you’ve never read through any of these issues, check them out. You may recognize work from some of the greatest non-mainstream talents out there. I will warn you – some of the material is a bit on the racy side, so you may want to exercise some caution – its not a comic for kids, that’s for sure. The stories are campy and cater more to a male audience, but pause for a moment and just look at the craft of the artists (and in some cases) the skill of the writers. I highly recommend it.
