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Draw Comics PDF
Draw Comics PDF
By
Peter
Dawes
Index:
T
he guy who put this together is named Peter Dawes. Peter is a graphic
designer/illustrator who has been working in the comic field for over 10
years in Winnipeg. Winnipeg has been a breeding ground for great
comic book talent over the years.
Peter worked for a company called Digital Chameleon which was a comic
field pioneer in the electronic comic book coloring field and was based in
Winnipeg. Not only was Digital one of the first companies to get comics into
the electronic age in coloring but they also pioneered electronic inking, color-
ing from pencils, and electronic lettering. They were also one of the best companies involved in the
reconstruction of old comic book classics by stripping out color and restoring the line work and recol-
oring.
Today Peter owns his own company called All Thumbs Creative which provides digital coloring to the
comic industry. Peter has had one comic published as an artist/writer in the Captain Canuck
Summer Special. Maybe some day hell do another.
WHATS A COMIC BOOK?
c
W
hat do you think of when you think comic book?
Cartoons? Funny stories? Superheroes?
Do you ever think of how to make one? Do you know what is involved
and how you could make one yourself?
Begin by reading and looking at lots of comic books. Some youll like
better than others because everyone chooses differently. And isnt that
a good thing? Variety means there is a place for your different book.
COMIC COMPONENTS:
THIS IS A PANEL
THE NUMBER OF PANELS
ON A PAGE DEPENDS ON
THE PACING OF THE STORY.
THIS IS A PAGE THE PANELS ARE IN THE
LIVE AREA AND SPACES
BETWEEN PANELS ARE
CALLED GUTTERS.
WHISPER THOUGHT
BALLOON BALLOON
THIS IS AN SOUND EFFECT
WOW, THAT WAS LOUD!!!
INVENTING YOUR PLOT:
t can be just a single idea. It can be a series of events. But it has to make a
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story for your comic to work. Every story takes place somewhere with a main
character who has a problem.
Y
C
write or draw first. It can be a simple theme like the comic
antics of a cat chasing a mouse where youll draw out your
action and fill in the captions later. It can be a more descriptive plot
synopsis of the story like a fumbling cat tries unsuccessfully to trap a
clever mouse on pain of eviction where you might break the action
generally down into pages. Or it can be a full script exploring camera
angles and outlining action and dialogue and describing each panel on
the page.
For this method we are doing the drawing first based on a simple theme then writing the
rest of the story after.
Whichever form it takes, before you start drawing, it should contain 4 basic parts:
1) Character beginning in a setting.
2) An event or problem.
3) The consequences or fallout of the problem.
4) The solution of the problem.
These 4 parts can be expanded or contracted based on how much room you have to tell
your story. If you are doing more than one issue you can even break the story up so the
problem is in one issue and the solution in the next.
Your plot should have a series of events that move in a logical direction that your reader can
follow, usually in a linear direction (ie. a series of events that follow each other logically in
order of time).
SKETCHING YOUR PLOT:
ow its time for action! Its time to draw the thumbnail sketches of your
N story plot. But youre not going to write your story until after youve
drawn it.
The time you spend working through your thumbnails and character sketches will make
your characters come alive enough for you to choose their words.
In a thumbnail sketch, all that is needed is quick sketches of things (like stick men) for place-
ment that maybe only you understand! This is NOT the time to do a detailed drawing!!! The
purpose of a thumbnail is to break the story down into panels.
For example, you may have to sketch the story of a cat and mouse in only 4 panels.
NOTES FOR THUMBNAILS:
Its action youre drawing, not talk-
1
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ing heads!! Make your characters
show whats happening through their
actions.
Use a visual variety (just like using different words to describe something) - birds
3 eye, up shot, close-ups and long shots.
Imagine you have a flying camera, moving around a scene to get the best
point of view to describe the action.
Decide where you want to place your pictures and words in each panel.
4 Remember you have to leave room for the words. (example)
Most important, the panels should give direction so the reader knows where to go
6 next. (example)
Think about the visual clues that will tell the reader things like time of day, charac-
7 ters feelings, description of surroundings, and clues to the problem or its solution.
(example)
m
acing is knowing how to use your energy so you have enough to
The biggest factor is how many pages you have, fewer pages means you
have to tell you story faster or in fewer panels.
So if your story is only one page and you have only four panels, one panel will introduce
your character and his situation. Panel two will have him encounter his problem. Panel three
might be the consequences of his problem and panel four might be the solution.
If this same story were two pages of four panels, you might have the first panel introduce
the character, then 3 panels for the problem, then 2 or 3 panels for consequence and 1 or 2
for the solution. You decide what is important.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS:
N
o matter how many panels you have on a page, each panel has a story to tell
or a punch line to deliver. Together they should work to show the reader what
the whole story is all about.
Think of your story as a film strip with many frames. You need to take only one
frame from that sequence that best illustrates that part of the sequence, and that
usually means right in the middle of the action each time. You can try doing one
panel strips like in the newspaper to get the hang of making your panel deliver a
point. Then try a one page story of 4 panels and try to get the pictures to tell the story in
order.
Panels can be set up in grid form of the same shape & size in each panel or in free form where the
size and shape vary. Each page set-up gives a different way of reading the page. In grid the panels
tell you to read one after the other in order. In free form the panels themselves can help say some-
thing by varying the size of the panel to display importance. They can also make something feel
small or gigantic, squeezed and free. And the very border you use on the panel can be used for
effect.
FIGURE 1 FIGURE 4
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3
STORY FLOW:
P
anels are not read in isolation but in relation to each other. The
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reader uses comparison between the panels to understand the story.
It is the reader who fills in the gaps of time and action between the
panels. The way the pictures relate to each other determines how well the
story flow works.
You create a flow by using direct and implied action. Direct action is what is
actually draw there. Implied action is what has gone on between panels In order
for the reader to fill in the implied action he must have some clues to go by.
You can add visual clues in each panel to say something about the action that has gone on up to
that point in the picture. For example if someone has come home you can show the person inside
sitting on a couch with his back to you watching TV. But you can also add the doorknob of an open
door and maybe a hat still settling on the hook of a coat rack with a small dust cloud and two motion
lines going up to the back of the couch. What do all those clues tell you about what went on in that
panel?
VISUAL DEPTH:
T you, you need depth. Use depth to show importance of subjects in your
story. Put the most important (big) in the front (foreground) of the
panel, the next important (mid-sized) in the middle (midground) of the panel
and the smallest drawing at the back of the panel to give your picture depth
perception.
Depth shows whats important in your panel and gives direction (left or right) to your
reader. You create the impression of depth through the use of overlapping objects and the
use of perspective.
The use of depth in your panel can also convey feeling like being followed or watched, feel-
ing alone or isolated depending on where the person or object is place.
EXPLORING THE ANGLES:
he angle you use to tell your story can really help bring out important points in the
T story like emotion or direction. Look at the camera angles below and see how each
can enhance your story.
PAN:
Use this to
show a long
landscape like
a street or
beach.
TIME LAPSE:
This shows time tak-
ing place by action.
MULTIPLE
EXPOSURE:
Great for action or to
show fluid motion.
CHARACTERS:
w
What does the way this character is drawn say about his personality?
Think about how you want your characters to look: long hair, punk, round head,
1 square body, skinny, plump, tall, short, clothing, costumes, and props etc. (example)
Everything you use for your character should say something about their
2 personality. A round face looks more happy. A chic haircut looks more hip.
(example)
Your drawings will not be like a class photograph where everyone looks straight
3 ahead. We want to see your characters face from different viewpoints front,
side, back. (example)
Play around and draw characters in action bent over, from the back, talking to
4 each other, scolding, mad, laughing. (example)
FRONT 3/4
EYE
SIDE
EDITING YOUR COMIC:
)H ere are some important questions to ask yourself after you look at
your completed thumbnail sketches:
y Have you left room for words and indicated placement of word balloons and
captions?
y Does your layout tell the reader what direction to go when reading the panels?
y Have you put in visual clues and details that give your reader something inter-
esting to see and help tell the story?
y Can a friend tell you the story based solely on your drawings. "Buddy editing"
will alert you to possible problems in your storytelling.
WRITING YOUR STORY:
ow its time to fill in the blanks. You have drawn your comic to
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show the action, so your words do NOT need to say "and then
and then".
What they do need to say is how your characters feel as the plot evolves
Words should make your readers feel that theyre actually living inside your story.
he Splash Page is like the opening film credits and will grab the
T
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readers attention and feature the story title, the credits for writer
and illustrator and a drawing.
First, choose a Story Title. The title makes people want to keep reading. It
should tease them to look inside. For example:
This story title will be different from the name of the comic on the cover. The comic might
be called Batman but the story might be called Chaos in the Cave.
Second, write your credit lines for the writer and illustrator and anyone else who helped out.
Third, make a drawing that introduces your characters and sets the scene for your story.
COVER DESIGN:
kay you have the house all clean and ready to present but
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how do you get the people inside? Put up a for sale sign.
The cover is your selling feature and should have the
name of your comic book (ex. Superman), a logo of the publisher
(ex. DC Comics) and an eye-catching drawing.
The cover design picture should "capture" the main plot point of your story! It should fea-
ture your main character and entice the reader to open the comic but not give away your
story. The problem is usually presented on the cover and the inside story is how they got in
trouble and how they got out of it. Occasionally, the cover will have a text blurb to entice
people to read it like A pulse pounding story!.
ADDED RESOURCES:
n addition to all the facts and information provided here, there is a wealth
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of other resources available to build your understanding of comics and
comic book creation.
Listed below are a number of book titles available from book stores and even
your local library*.
Action Cartooning
Ben Caldwell (Sterling Publishing)
Comics & Sequential Art
Will Eisner (Poorhouse Press)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cartooning But Were Afraid To Draw*
Christopher Hart (Watson-Guptill Publications)
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
Stan Lee & John Buscema (Simon & Shuster)
Graphic Storytelling
Will Eisner (Poorhouse Press)
Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy
Christopher Hart (Watson-Guptill Publications)
Perspective For Comic Book Artists
David Chelsea (Watson-Guptill Publications)
Reinventing Comics
Scott McCleod (Harper Collins)
The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics*
Klaus Janson (Watson-Guptill Publications)
The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics*
Dennis ONeil (Watson-Guptill Publications)
Understanding Comics
Scott McCleod (Harper Collins)
Draw and Write magazines
(One is for drawing and the other for writing comics. By TwoMorrows Publishing)