How to Write & Draw Comics
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?
Seth Kushner (http://www.sethkushner.com/) is a photographer and writer, known for his awesome portraits in Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics and his Schmuck series and photocomics on Trip City. Nathan Schreiber (http://www.nathanschreiber.com/) is an Eisner and Harvey Awards nominated artist, whose own book Power Out won a Xeric award in 2009.
I talked to both Seth and Nathan about the art and craft while I was in New York this fall, only later realizing what a great double feature the two interviews would make, as they worked together on Seth Kushners Schmuck! Their collaboration on the Schmuck series can be found at http://welcometotripcity.com/2013/10/schmuck-14-size-11/
Jeff Parker is a writer for comics currently on titles Batman ’66 and Aquaman for DC Comics, as well as Rovio’s Angry Birds. The past decade he worked mostly at Marvel, with acclaimed runs on Hulk, Thunderbolts, Agents of Atlas, and X-Men: First Class. Jeff drew comics for several years and worked in television animation (The Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot) and live storyboarding, ultimately returning to comics with his graphic novel adventure The Interman. Among his other original creations are the cave thriller Underground with Steve Lieber, the supernatural Mysterius the Unfathomable, and the webcomic Bucko with Erika Moen. He is a member of Periscope Studio and lives in Portland, Oregon.
What made you decide to work in the medium of comics?
I liked writing and drawing, and nothing else brings those disciplines together better for storytelling than comics. Ultimately it’s telling stories that I like to do, and comics lets me tell a lot of them where other media would limit that amount.
What part of the process is the most challenging or frustrating to you?
Good names or series titles are tougher than you’d think, at least for me. I’d rather build a whole story around a good name than start with the concept, it’s actually easier.
I don’t find much about building a story hard, it mainly requires enough time and I’ll get there. What’s much harder is raising awareness of a new project and bringing readers to that. Creating a book and selling it are two different things altogether.
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring comics creator, what would that be?
My advice would be, if you want to be employable on a number of projects and have longevity, adopt a very zen approach to your assignments. Curves will be thrown at you by the publishers, the readership, everyone involved; it’s unavoidable. You can either grouse about it and become known as difficult to work with, or you can ride the wave instead of fighting it. I usually take it as a challenge that I can make almost any editorial note or change work and still get a good story from it.
There have been cases when the requested changes seem arbitrary and start coming way too often to make the job profitable, and I’ve had to bow out, so it’s not like I can always zen my way through. But I give it my best try before I resort to that.
Can I only give one piece of advice? I would also say to do whatever you can to make your collaborators’ jobs easier. If they’re happy with the process, it will just reflect well on you and make the story work that much better. Like, don’t ask for crowd scenes repeatedly, for instance. Do a lot of the visual research for the artist already and save that creator some time by including reference. Don’t try to push them to be other artists that they aren’t, work with who they are. As the saying goes, you go into battle with the army you have.
More at parkerspace.com
Sharing your artwork on social media has never been easier. Take a shot of whatever is on your art table, hashtag it or write a sentence describing it and click share. You can even hook it up with your Facebook and Twitter, and get a wider reach instantly.
Learning curve: 5 minutes. 10 out of 10.
Tripit
Go to conventions often? Get the free version of Tripit and keep all your travel info in one place. Go to Tripit.com to set up your account. Book your flight however you choose and ust forward your ticket email to plans@tripit.com and your info will be in the easily accesible app in mere seconds. SO much cooler than print outs or scrooling through your inbox for a flight number.
Learning curve: None. 8 out of 10.
Dropbox
This is hardly news, but the Dropbox app is absolutely awesome and essential for artists. Save all the documents you need, like your portfolio, a pdf of your graphic novel or sample pages and have access to them everywhere, anytime. The app allows for easy sharing, so you can email a link to files of any size to people you meet – on the spot. Another great feature is the photo upload that you can enable for on-the-go back up of your photo library, so you can clear more space on your phone without plugging in to anything. The free version of Dropbox gives you 2 GB of storage, the pricing for more is reasonable not to mention tax deductable.
Learning curve: 2 minutes. 10 out of 10.
PocketCasts
Why not get smarter while you’re working on your art? Drawing usually only requires a part of your brain to pay attention, you can easily listen to podcasts while you’re sketching and inking. PocketCasts allows you to add your favorite podcasts and stream or download episodes individually. The free version let’s you only add a handful of podcasts, so get the paid one, it’s cheap.
Learning curve: 3 minutes. 7 out of 10.
WordPress
If you have a blog, it’s probably WordPress. But did you know they have an awesome app that let’s you manage several blogs, write posts and add pictures on the go, approve and reply to comments without ever opening a browser? Well, you know now.
Learning curve: 8-10 minutes. 9 out of 10.
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Hope these tips help you get more done on the road and makes life easier for you! Got any apps I should know about? Please comment below!
In this episode I share some tips and suggestions for becoming a better artist. Drawing every day and everywhere is one thing, but what if you find yourself hating the end result? How do you get good at drawing and make it a habit? Well, click play and find out!
What made you decide to work in the medium of comics?
Comics have always been my first love. I grew up reading whatever comics I could get my hands on, and that passion has carried through my life. There’s something about the way comics work on your brain that’s totally unique; how the visuals and the text interweave, how your mind creates motion and context in the juxtaposition of static images — it’s like a magic trick. A great graphic novel can punch you right in the heart.
What part of the process is the most challenging or frustrating to you?
The stupid, unjustified self-doubt. Despite all I’ve accomplished, I still approach every new project feeling like I have no idea what I’m doing, that I’ve forgotten how to write a script, that I’m gonna blow it and it’ll be the last job I ever get. Typical impostor syndrome. I know it’s not true, and I always push through it to get the work done, but, man — it wastes a lot of time.
Beyond that, my professional life would be so much easier if I could draw my own stories. Working in a visual medium without a visual skill set is a little bit crazy. I have stories I’m burning to tell — and I can see how great the graphic novels would be if they existed — but without an artistic partner to help me execute them, they’re just folders on my hard drive.
It’s just a fact of being a writer in this medium, and I’m not alone in it, I know. It’s all worth it when you do finally establish a collaboration and put it all together. It’s totally worth it.
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring comics creator, what would that be?
Give yourself permission to be terrible. For a while. Getting good at anything takes time — you have to put in the hours and get the crap out of your system, because we’re all terrible when we start out. I know when you’re starting out the drive is to make it a career as soon as possible, but you’re better off in the long run to spend the time developing your voice and your point of view. And the only way to do that is to do a lot of crappy work and to learn from your mistakes. God knows I’m still learning.
It’s okay for your first drafts to be awful. They should be! No one’s going to see it, so stink it up! Because no one gets it right the first time, and the real magic happens when you’re editing or revising your work, so just get it out. You can’t fix something if it doesn’t exist.
However, don’t lean on that on an excuse not to up your game. It’s okay to start terrible, but don’t stay there!
website: jeremybarlow.com
Twitter: @Jeremy_Barlow