by Matthew Russell - Posted 4 years ago
Welcome, my CryptoComic Compatriots! I’m back. Sorry about not coming up with your typical blog post this last week. I had to take a little time off. I got sick and in my DayQuill induced stupor, I tried to write a blog post teaching you how to do something (even rereading it, I couldn’t tell what it was about), I just got off on a tangent and started writing about how good the 80’s cartoon “He-Man” is and how it compared to the Thunder Cats.
Looking at it again, I’m not sure if I was comparing art animation, storyline, or memes. Who knows? Well, today, my head finally cleared up and I feel rested and ready to go so let’s get this thing started.
Today I wanted to take you on a deep dive into the fundamentals of comic book art.
This week has been especially exciting here at CryptoComics. I got to do not 1 but 3 videos with my hero Dan Cote (Zen: Intergalactic Ninja, & RE). I have followed his career since I was a little kid. He is in fact the creator that inspired me to get into comics in the first place.
During all of these interviews, I hope it doesn’t show that I was sick. If it does, I want to send out a personal apology to Mr. Cote. He has been my hero for so long and I happen to be sick during the long-awaited interview.
Meanwhile...during my second interview with him (I will post the entire interview below), we touched on the fundamentals of art and how he applied them in his work. He was not “classically” trained at a venue such as an art school, but he learned early on about the fundamentals.
As the host for the video series “Creating Comics with M. Scott Russell” I get a lot of questions and asks for critiques of people’s artwork on Facebook and in my email. I love it all! (Sidenote: This is the coolest job in the world.) I keep finding myself saying the same thing to most.
Like every great coach, I’m shouting that we “Need to get back to the fundamentals!” I probably sound rather mental at this point. But, what are the fundamentals? How do they apply to our work as artists? How do we master them?
Like with basketball, the fundamentals are dribbling, shooting, lay-ups, passing, defense/offense, rebounding, and basic post moves. With art, we have our own set of fundamentals.
This series of 9 post attempts to answer those questions and more. Here I will give you a basic introduction to the 8 Fundamentals of Comic Book Art and in each subsequent post, break each of them down into bite-sized chunks and teach you where to learn them without having to go to an expensive school.
If you think about these with every piece of comic art that you produce, you will be on your way to one of the best comic artist out there. They are, as follows;
Every building needs good construction, sound bones which to build on. The foundations of your art should be simple shapes. When you can break everything down into simple shapes, your art will take on an entirely new and more realistic composition. Things will start fitting into place.
The most important shapes in the world are simply, a circle, a triangle, and a square. We will vary these up in the next blog post and show you how to apply these.
Think 3D. Take your simple shapes out of a basic 2D environment on paper and create depth (both literally and figuratively) in your art. How do we create something in 3D? Its easier than you think. In Part 3 (hehe, get it? 3D...Part 3...anyone…) of the blog post, I will outline everything on perspective and turn you into a believer that it can be done.
This is, in my opinion, the most important of fundamentals. This cannot be simplified into a single post but I will attempt. I can show you the resources that are available to you, most important being a mirror and pencil.
I look at so many beginners work and I see slight issues with gestures. Most have what I like to call the Superman pose down (Standing tall, feet spread apart, hand on the hips, looking slightly up and off in the distance). Who really stands that way besides the Man of Tomorrow?
Well, no one. Part 5 of this series will attempt to give you more natural, realistic poses actually found in the world. We will take your drawings to a less “stiff” pose that will help your character feel more real.
I will demonstrate in the 6th installment how color and light work. Basically, I am boiling down an entire year’s worth of schooling from the Art Institute into a simplified, easy to understand post. Don’t worry, it will be easy to digest, and something you can follow.
We will be covering the basics such as how light works, value & shading, color theory (how color makes you feel), value, hue, and saturation, along with how to find a complementary color.
This is simply “How you arrange various elements of art into your pieces. Simpler to text format in a book, I teach you how to allow your viewers the ability to digest information easily. The 6th post of the fundamentals of art post will be the most challenging as I dive into the composition. This will mainly focus on cover art.
The 8th installment will teach you one of the best aspects; design. This is the entire toolbox of an artist. It is the equivalent of grammar and format of a book.
Last but not least, we will follow up design with a study on materials.
One of the first tools that we learn to use is pencil and paper. It doesn’t matter what you are using, you have to be comfortable with your tools. In the final post of the series, I will teach you how to use your tools for making comics correctly.
Be on the lookout for all of these coming straight at you soon. I will be posting every Tuesday & Thursday on this series until it is complete. If you like it, please share it out and mention us. I would love to see your work as you improve and get back to the fundamentals.
Until next time, my CryptoComics Compatriots. See you soon.
