Comics for Beginners

How to Write & Draw Comics

Pro Tips

Art tutorial: 5 hacks for drawing backgrounds quicker

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Do you have to draw backgrounds on every panel? The short answer is no. If you start with a good establishing shot and learn these 5 hacks, you can get away with very little background drawing!

1: Structure

If you place your characters against a wall or another big surface (like the sky!), a few rightly placed lines will give the illusion that we’re still in the place you showed us in the establishing shot (usually a wide shot in the first frame to establish the room or setting we are in, who is present, where the door is, stuff like that).structure-background

2: Silhouette

The outline of whatever is behind your characters can be quite enough – and a LOT quicker to draw! So if the scene takes place in a living room, just black out the shape of the lamp and a couch, if it takes place in the woods, black out tree trunks and leaves.

Pro tip: If you let elements poke in from the sides it lets us know there is more outside the frame. It’s a cheap trick but it works every time! Hint or show part of an object or shape and our minds will fill out the rest.

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3: Shadow

Some shadows – from a window, a tree or other objects nearby – is a great way of showing us what is outside the frame while avoiding to draw it all together. Don’t try to think realistically of where the light would be coming from or how the perspective would look, just treat it as a nice shape to liven up your drawing.

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4: Gradient

A color gradient – or in this case just a grayscale one – can sometimes make it out for an actual background. It’s perhaps not the most sophisticated solution, but it makes the character “pop” and that’s often all you need.

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5:  Riff

A “riff” is a graphic shortcut. Every artist has her own. Sometimes a riff is just some shapes/lines, not a realistic rendering of anything. Make your own riff or copy from another artist whose style resembles yours. I think I lifted this one from Mike Mignola, a brilliant background artist to steal from – because he rarely draws much and has a superb sense of graphic storytelling.

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Again, you need some background, at least in one or two frames per page, so the readers know where the characters are. But once you’ve established the world around your characters, it’s OK to cheat a little on the rest of the page. And now you know how!

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If you want to know more about background drawing and perspective, check out this episode of the Comics for Beginners course.

What if I can’t afford a studio space?

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I often give aspiring artist the advice to get a studio space with peers, to help boost your creative skills and work ethic. But an office in town is pricey and what if you live in a place where there aren’t really any studios that fit the bill?

Sitting in a room full of people working, is a great way to ensure you get some work done too. And an inspiring work environment with people who are better than you, will certainly make you up your game!

Investing in a studio space is actually an investment in your skills and your productivity, not to mention the network of other artist who may become your job entry. I personally think going all in on a studio space I couldn’t afford at the time absolutely made my career. And remember: it’s tax deductable!

If a studio is still out of reach, see if you can’t find some peers to connect with online. Commiting to post a certain number of pages each week or check in every Friday with a report of your progress and next week’s goals, can easily make up for lack of an actual studio spot. Hold each other accountable and try to be constructive in your critiques.

An online peer group should not be too big or to ambitous in terms of tech solutions. A Facebook group or a Skype call should suffice. Find just a handful of talented and dedicated peers with a common interest and start from there.

A lot of creators make good use of coffee shops or the local library for working, especially in the writing phase. But you can also do rough sketches or character designs in a cafe or the like. For some, the noisy public space is where they do their best work. And experts will tell you, that changing location is a proven way to kick your creative brain into gear.

Hope these few tips to beat the procrastination and gain some momentum without the actual studio space. But if you CAN get a spot, even just for a week or a month, give it a try and see if it doesn’t boost morale and skills tremendously. I know it did for me!

Related podcast: Working from home

ProFile: Vince Hernandez

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Vince Hernandez has worked in the comic book industry for over fifteen years and is currently the Editor-in-Chief for Aspen Comics. He has created and written the comic book series Charismagic, Trish Out of Water and the upcoming Damsels in Excess. He also has worked as a writer for Electronic Arts, Def Jam Entertainment and Marvel Comics.

What made you decide to work in the medium of comics?

Actually, working in comics happened rather coincidentally for myself. When I was eighteen years old, I was looking to take on a second job and my brother mentioned a position that was available with the comic book publisher, Top Cow. Since he was already employed there, I certainly had a great start and after interviewing there, I became the assistant to the Director of Marketing, Kate Sherwood. I worked at Top Cow for four years before I took the position with Aspen where I’ve been Editor-in-Chief for the past decade. It’s not the usual route to get into comics but I certainly think I’ve made the most of the opportunities I’ve been presented with.

What part of the process is the most challenging or frustrating to you?

Editing comics in general is a very demanding and oftentimes frustrating position. It encompasses scheduling, talent management and crisis control while also maintaining a professional level of creativity necessary to make a product fans will enjoy. I think if I had to pinpoint one aspect which usually ends up more frustrating than any other, it’s dealing with talent’s schedules and their understanding of meeting a deadline. I can literally name off the small list of creatives that understand this process. The more frequent response I get from artists is that the quality of their work will suffer if they rush, which I have found is little more than an excuse because they can’t meet a deadline.

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring comics creator, what would that be?

One thing I would tell aspiring comics creators is to be realistic with their work. This is a broad tip of advice, but it’s something that a lot of aspiring artists and writers haven’t yet learned. Realistically look at what professionals are doing and judge your work accordingly. There’s no shame in admitting that you’re not on the level yet, but there are consequences when you put yourself out there prematurely. It marks you as an amateur before your career even begins.

http://www.aspencomics.com/

Working from home – Comics for Beginners podcast episode 19

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Working out of your house can be tough – especially if you have a demanding family with little or no respect for your need to be drawing comics all the time. In this episode I offer some tips how to make it work, and some ideas how to get out of the house if it doesn’t.

Related post: What if I can’t afford a studio space?

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ProFile: Aaron Alexovich

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ProFile-Aaron-Alexovich

AARON ALEXOVICH’S first professional art job was drawing deformed children on Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim. Since then he’s been deforming children for various animation and comic projects, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, SLG’s Haunted Mansion, DC’s Fables, Kimmie66, Confessions of a Blabbermouth, and three volumes of his own horror/comedy witch series, Serenity Rose. Aaron currently lives in Southern California, where the bright light makes him sneeze
for mysterious reasons.

What made you decide to work in the medium of comics?

There’s something incredibly personal about making comics, you know? It’s just you sitting there alone building a whole world up on a page. Almost like making an entire feature film single-handedly. Not every art form can compete with that kind of control. I love it. Kind of feels like dreaming when I’m really into it.

What part of the process is the most challenging or frustrating to you?

Every part feels frustrating most of the time. I sort of live for those little moments when things seem to come together. If I had to pick one especially tough part I’d have to choose inking. Still trying to find a way to ink stuff without killing all the energy in my roughs…

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring comics creator, what would that be?

Always be working on something you love. Even if you have to take iffy jobs just for the money, it’s important to have a project you love on the side. Otherwise you’ll forget why you got into comics in the first place!

Aaron Alexovich’s site is heartshapedskull.com