Emma is sick today so I'm subbing in! My topic is about art: 5 areas to work on that will help you become a better comic artist.
Practice:
The first and most important is practice. The more you do the better you get. Draw every day and try new things, even if it's just for fun. I've seen people go from rudimentary skills to expert in a pretty short time just from constant practice.
Life drawing:
Drawing figures from imagination is ok and from photos is even better, but nothing beats drawing from life. It helps you improve the “weight” of your figures, i.e. how they balance in any pose, and also understand how shadows and lighting radically change how a figure looks. This applies just as much to stylised, non-realistic art.
Simplification:
Comic art means repetition and that means simplification. The more you have to draw something the simpler it should be so it's easier and faster to do each time without making mistakes. Remove internal lines and extraneous detail, save that for cover art. Focus on the main shapes and important details only.
Backgrounds:
These make comic art 100% better! Just try not to overpower figures that are the focus of a panel. Background should be background… make it lighter, lines less thick and black etc. Plain colour, blurred figures, sketchy lines and many other things make good backgrounds. But try not to use photos. Usually.
Consistency:
Lastly there's consistency! Whatever you draw should be relatively repeatable so that audiences get to know your style and focus on the story. It doesn't matter if your art is a bit rough and your figures are not quite right etc, as long as the art is consistent it makes up for it all. Just stay in the same style with the same colours and the audience will be happy.
What are your top five art skill tips?
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My top 5 art tips
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Jan. 10, 2020
9 likes!
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Banes at 7:51AM, Jan. 12, 2020
Ultra Fine tips!
Andreas_Helixfinger at 9:59AM, Jan. 11, 2020
These are all fine tips(Y) Not sure that I'm experienced enough to give any tips of my own yet, but there is one thing that I'm currently training myself to do, that I think could be a good advice to fellow artists out there. Try to relax. Take a moment to really feel how your grip on your pen is, is it relaxed and loose or is it tight and stressed up. I think smoothness in how you handle your time and your handiwork brings more smoothness to your art in the long run. Gonna take a while for me to get there, I realize that now, but I'm working on it(Y)
hushicho at 3:10PM, Jan. 10, 2020
These are all absolutely great tips! I would add something I learned not too long ago about backgrounds, and that is this: make your backgrounds organic. Make them more a setting than a backdrop, if you're going to go to the trouble of drawing an elaborate one. You don't even have to have backgrounds in every panel (and you shouldn't, because it can overcomplicate things and confuse readers), but if you're going to do it, make it an organic setting that holistically includes the characters you have placed in it.
skyangel at 2:26PM, Jan. 10, 2020
Great tips for us all there! :) Drawing from life is great and I'd love to be able to afford a model. I've tried using selfies but it can be very time consuming trying to get the exact pose from the right angle too! Good art is all about observation though for sure and studying how people move in day to day life or even actors in movies, can greatly improve ones ability to tell when a pose looks right or wrong.
mks_monsters at 12:21PM, Jan. 10, 2020
I like these tips. Thanks for sharing.
Jason Moon at 10:07AM, Jan. 10, 2020
Draw a little everyday (practice) and you will get better and better. Saying that you can't draw is silly, everyone has a style that can develop with practice. I recommend not only using your imagination though. Look up references for objects or people you have a hard time getting down on paper to help you develop their designs.
Ozoneocean at 9:52AM, Jan. 10, 2020
Thanks David
davidxolukoga at 9:43AM, Jan. 10, 2020
💙💙💙💙