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Random comics advice
Feb. 3rd, 2019 12:01 amSomeone asked me for general comics advice just now, and being that this is the second person in about as many weeks, I'm gonna post what I wrote here, too:
- As far as Scott McCloud's books go, I think the 2 biggest takeaways are that (a) take advantage of the transition between panels (the gutterspace) to pace the scene, and (b) be aware of where on the clarity <--> intensity spectrum you are with any given page or panel, and whether you want to dial it one way or the other.
- Always leave room for words. A big way that comic panel layout is different form normal illustrations is that the speech bubbles are also composition elements. Relatedly, leave the final word tweaking to the layout/inking stage, because sometimes the speech bubble shape requires re-phrasing everything.
- Don't belabor the art. Or, as I usually say, "draw shitty." Each panel will be read in about 10 seconds, so no need to spend 3 hours on it. Often-times, it's more important to have strong silhouettes and panel composition than to get every eyelash in the right place. That said..
- Try to have a "highlight" on every page -- it could be the primary emotion shot, or a cool splash image with a great background, or a great action shot -- I think of that as the "anchor" for the page, and everything else on that page either builds up to it or leads away from it. And that "highlight" *is* the thing you spend more time on, whether it's perfecting the layout or getting the words just right or cranking up the intensity.
- Panels are beats. Sometimes it helps me to think of panels rhythmically, so a smaller panel is like a staccato 1/8th note, while a large panel is like a whole note.
- Try doing a short 1-2 page trial just to test out your process -- how much will be paper vs. digital? Will you dedicate a chunk of time just on character and setting design, or will you wing it in the inking process? Will you finalize details in the penciling stage or in the inking stage? Will you hand-letter or type it on the computer? When and how will you do your speech bubbles? How long *does* rendering take? Those are all questions that are best done with a small trial thing first.
Edited Feb 3 to add:
- Don't start with the space epic that's been in your head since 3rd grade. Or rather, don't start at the beginning of that, and don't "start" by spending hundreds of hours doing more world-building and character design. You've been doing that in your head for 10+ years, the challenge is getting it OUT of your head. So: Pick a favorite scene and draw that. Then draw another one. Then another one. It may take you 3-5 years to draw your story, but hey, it's been in your head for 10+ years, 3 more years is nothing.
- A scene ends up being 2-5 pages, and it takes 4-8 hours to draw a page (unless you're either really good or draw really shitty). So drawing a scene takes 20-30 hours. Plan accordingly.
- Make sure to vary up the panels on each page. I usually try to make sure there's a wide shot on each page to show the relative positions and setting. Big panels with backgrounds tend to take longer to draw but also take up more page real estate, and small panels with a close-up take less time to draw but there tends to be more of them, so it mostly evens out at the end of the day.
- As far as Scott McCloud's books go, I think the 2 biggest takeaways are that (a) take advantage of the transition between panels (the gutterspace) to pace the scene, and (b) be aware of where on the clarity <--> intensity spectrum you are with any given page or panel, and whether you want to dial it one way or the other.
- Always leave room for words. A big way that comic panel layout is different form normal illustrations is that the speech bubbles are also composition elements. Relatedly, leave the final word tweaking to the layout/inking stage, because sometimes the speech bubble shape requires re-phrasing everything.
- Don't belabor the art. Or, as I usually say, "draw shitty." Each panel will be read in about 10 seconds, so no need to spend 3 hours on it. Often-times, it's more important to have strong silhouettes and panel composition than to get every eyelash in the right place. That said..
- Try to have a "highlight" on every page -- it could be the primary emotion shot, or a cool splash image with a great background, or a great action shot -- I think of that as the "anchor" for the page, and everything else on that page either builds up to it or leads away from it. And that "highlight" *is* the thing you spend more time on, whether it's perfecting the layout or getting the words just right or cranking up the intensity.
- Panels are beats. Sometimes it helps me to think of panels rhythmically, so a smaller panel is like a staccato 1/8th note, while a large panel is like a whole note.
- Try doing a short 1-2 page trial just to test out your process -- how much will be paper vs. digital? Will you dedicate a chunk of time just on character and setting design, or will you wing it in the inking process? Will you finalize details in the penciling stage or in the inking stage? Will you hand-letter or type it on the computer? When and how will you do your speech bubbles? How long *does* rendering take? Those are all questions that are best done with a small trial thing first.
Edited Feb 3 to add:
- Don't start with the space epic that's been in your head since 3rd grade. Or rather, don't start at the beginning of that, and don't "start" by spending hundreds of hours doing more world-building and character design. You've been doing that in your head for 10+ years, the challenge is getting it OUT of your head. So: Pick a favorite scene and draw that. Then draw another one. Then another one. It may take you 3-5 years to draw your story, but hey, it's been in your head for 10+ years, 3 more years is nothing.
- A scene ends up being 2-5 pages, and it takes 4-8 hours to draw a page (unless you're either really good or draw really shitty). So drawing a scene takes 20-30 hours. Plan accordingly.
- Make sure to vary up the panels on each page. I usually try to make sure there's a wide shot on each page to show the relative positions and setting. Big panels with backgrounds tend to take longer to draw but also take up more page real estate, and small panels with a close-up take less time to draw but there tends to be more of them, so it mostly evens out at the end of the day.
