I want to start drawing comics. Where do I start?

[ignivome]

Hi!

I'd like to start drawing. I think I'm "not so bad" at it but I'd like to be more serious about it. I want to learn properly and be able to draw from my creativity. I have red the books Making comics and Perspective! for Comic Book Artists. These are very good, but I'm still missing something... Where should I really start. I have listen to many many many tutorials on youtube and thats really interesting but I'm pretty sure these are not where I'm supposed to begin with. I have listen to this video and finally understood that I had to focus on a single thing first, then another one, than another and so on, but I still don't know where to start.

Should I start with:

• Geometric shapes (2d and 3d after)
• Parts of the face ( lips, eyes, ears, nose )
• body figure
• objects
• ...

Can you please help me about it please?

My goal is to draw a graphic novel (comics style) (black and white) (with inking process)

ANY advices, references or tips would be REALLY appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[Thom]

Understanding anatomy and facial expressions are pretty important. Proportioning is key.

This is personal preference, and I don't know how to practice this, but if you can make your pictures feel energetic, you'll be doing well. See John Romita, Jr.'s work in Amazing Spider-Man in the 80's, especially things like "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut," ASM 229 + 230.

[American_Zombie]

Hiya, I struggled with the question of where to start for years and I wish I'd learnt the basics of anatomy and perspective while I was still in school, as it is I've had to teach myself as an adult and I still have a long road ahead of me. I'd say start with:
-Going to life drawing lessons, check your local community centre/college and try to go once a week if you can.
-Study Perspective, all kinds, learn all about one point, two point and 3 point perspective until you can do it in your sleep, there is a great pocket book called perspective drawing by Mark Way that I've found really helpful and you can pick up cheap.
-learn gesture drawing to help your characters "act", try to get hold of anything by Andrew Loomis, he's the godfather of figure drawing.
-There are some great books on the mechanics of visual storytelling in film and comics that are pretty useful; Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner, Words for Pictures by Brian Michael Bendis, Cinematic Storytelling by Jenifer Van Sijll and maybe (if you want to go down the digital route) get a subscription to Imagine FX, a monthly magazine by imagine publishing that is a pretty good guide to create fantasy and Sci-fi art digitally.
- people are a bit divided on using Photo reference for body language and expression but I think it's a great tool, this is a great resource for 100's of images http://senshistock.deviantart.com/
I could go on and on for quite a while with a bunch of different things and may add some more stuff tomorrow when I've got a bit more time but this should be plenty to keep you going

Draw a lot from life as much as you can and carry a sketchbook around with you! Best of luck!

[doodledude]

Draw alot put miles under your pencil literally.Draw from life and your imagination.Study other comic book artist that you like.Fill up a sketch book every month then start another.Drawing is very labor intensive look at it like a sport.Practice everyday a little do loose sketching everyday to improve your gesture drawing.Gesture drawing is very important in comics because characters are fighting jumping kicking and punching.Expressions are important because your characters have to emote.If you do not do gesture your characters will be stuck in the mud.There was an artist on digital webbing who is still there who was getting alot of praise.I looked through his thread and his characters looked very good.But as I got to the third page in his thread I noticed all his characters were just standing up fist beside the waist legs straight and no real dynamic or challenging gesture drawings going on whatsoever.I pointed this out to him and he became angry and said he would work on this after he finished his latest commision.I said you can work on your commision but you will never draw a comic for yourself or the big two if you can't do movement and foreshortening.Now this was site full of other comic artist and they missed it.This tells you that a pretty picture can fool even them.You will also need critique to tell you what you are missing.It will hurt your feelings but it will make you a better artist.Instead of asking a question post your art and ask for crits.Thats how fellow artist can help you the most.It takes courage and a thick skin to be an artist.

[Dr Mike 2000]

Being able to draw people is a really good start. They're typically the most interesting thing to us in a story, and we're very highly tuned to when a human figure looks off.
So basic posture, facial expressions, all that kind of thing is good to work on. The Loomis books are a great free resource, get them here: http://illustrationage.com/2013/04/0...ion-downloads/

I'd suggest setting yourself a goal like a simple 2 page strip. Its more fun than just sketching and like doodledude says it forces you out of just doing stock pinup poses. Write a script that means something to you and draw it. Post it here, or any of your existing work, and I'd be happy to give some more pointers, and I'm sure plenty of others would too.

[Thom]

You will also need critique to tell you what you are missing.It will hurt your feelings but it will make you a better artist.Instead of asking a question post your art and ask for crits.Thats how fellow artist can help you the most.It takes courage and a thick skin to be an artist.

THIS. A million times this. It holds true for all creative endeavors, as well. I'm an author and a musician, and without honest critique and feedback, you'll never see the holes in your own game.

[Lee Stone]

Speaking from my own personal experience: draw.

Fear is the biggest obstacle you will overcome. And it seems to never go away.

Fear of not knowing enough.
Fear of not being as good as (insert name here).
Fear of losing your abilities if you take a break (or lapse).

You will never know enough. And as long as you think that, you'll always seek out new things to try.
While it's good to admire your fave artists, don't put them on a pedestal. You can be as good as them, eventually, but you should just try to be better than you were yesterday. Baby steps.
You can't lose anything. Once you've drawn something, it's committed to memory. It may seem like it takes some work to get back to a certain level if you lapse but it's still attainable. And you can excel past it.

When I started drawing, I had all kinds of problems (and still do). Anatomy, perspective, lack of detail, backgrounds.
If you try to tackle it all, it can be overwhelming.
It's best to just do some mini-comics or comic strips. Be happy with them. Then after a short period of time, come back to them. What were you pleased with? What could you have done better?
Write down your weak areas and rate them by importance.
Then, pick the one area that sticks out the most and work on it.
Then repeat the process.

Also, don't forget what you were pleased with. It's little things like noticing improvements in your work that builds confidence the most. And confidence is important.

As for technical abilities and learning... read everything.
You may not end up drawing like every artist you study but you'll pick up a thing here and a thing there.
Sometimes an artist will focus on certain features of a face, for instance, and neglect to mention something that they take for granted. While another artist may mention something that triggers a light bulb in your head.
And sometimes, two different artists could be teaching the same exact thing but you'll tune in better to one or the other because of the way they approach it.

Something else... and something I struggled with for a long time...
Don't get hung up on what your "style" is.
Your style will develop naturally because your eye finds certain aesthetics more pleasing than others.

As for books I recommend:

Drawing Words & Writing Pictures
All three Will Eisner books
All three Scott McCloud books
The DC Comics Guide to series
Books by Andrew Loomis and Jack Hamm
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
And a few Anatomy drawing books

Also, take a look at youtube. You can find a bunch of tutorials on there. And sometimes it helps to actually see the pencil strokes or hear someone elaborate on why they did this instead of that.

[ignivome]

Wow thank you so much. It helps me a lot! thanks

[Ghost]

Some very good advice in this thread so far.

All I really have to add is that alot of art is problem solving. I dont think it ever really gets easy, and thats what drives some people away. But if you find a way to embrace the struggle you'll be better off than most. It just takes time and practice, like anything else.