Comments on: How much do comic book writers make?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:03:47 +0000

Hmm. I’m looking at some anatomical references and I think that typically a torso should be as tall as the legs. Right now, I’d say that his legs are about 50% taller than his torso. I’d recommend shrinking them by between 10% and 20%.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:44:55 +0000

I actually thought that the legs were too short. So when you said shorten them, I was confused.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:01:05 +0000

I think AC/DC did their concerts dressed up like British schoolboys.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:53:07 +0000

What’s a foppish dandy? hahah.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:52:36 +0000

That makes sense, but the clashing styles was, kind of, the look. You’ve seen the rock star that have that boarding school look, but with a rockstar twist, that’s what I was going for.

Maybe, I’ll make the top look a little less well groomed.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:05:43 +0000

Guy Raggz by ~Puzzeler on deviant ART
He looks kind of like a foppish dandy... kind of aristocratic from the waist up. I'm not sure what to make of the belt and the pants. They kind of stick out. I'd recommend using pants and a belt that fit in more with the well-heeled look of his shirt and hair. Then you can use the gloves to show that he's just not a prep-schooler for life.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:40:31 +0000

Oh, ok, I get it now. Forget my DeviantArt rant. I finally understand submissions.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:39:20 +0000

Got a new piece. I know his head is big and his clothes are crazy. But what do you think of the style of drawing. This is my yo-yo. My excuse for his clothes are on the page.

http://puzzeler.deviantart.com/art/Guy-Raggz-107445704

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:19:16 +0000

I don’t like DeviantArt. Everytime I go to submit new art it forces me to make a whole new deviation category (whatever that means). I just want to submit art to my existing deviation.

And, when I made a deviation and put a bunch of art in it only one piece showed up. What the heck?

How do you work this stupid site?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:48:34 +0000

If you haven't specifically purchased Photoshop, you probably don't have it. It costs several hundred dollars, which probably explains why so many people download pirated copies on file-sharing sites. However, you may have legal access to it at a computer lab near you (such as at a high-end public library, school, etc). Ideally, you'd be looking for Photoshop CS2 or CS3. It's a very professional-grade program, widely known among fulltime artists and art companies.
If you do not have access to Photoshop and would prefer to download a legal program, Paint.NET offers a free alternative to Photoshop here. It's not as good, but it is legal.
Anyway, Photoshop is hard to get used to at first, but experienced PS users can do astonishing things with it. I think I spent 15 hours figuring out the basic commands.
But it was very worthwhile for me. It's definitely saved me hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars. Otherwise, I'd have to pay an artist to do everything for me in my header, in my storyboards, my book covers, my comic book art, etc. Right now, I only have to pay an artist to create original images and then I can arrange and tweak them myself. For example, if you had submitted the Egyptian woman as an image for a comic book of mine, I could have tweaked the face's proportions on my own time. If I had had to ask you to do it, I probably would have had to wait a day or two for you to get back to me.
So, to make a long story short, I think that Photoshop (or something similar) is pretty much a prerequisite to going professional as a comic book artist. Digital coloration is fairly standard nowadays. And Photoshop can even help inkists. However, I don't mean to understate the amount of work that will probably be involved. It's a tricky program and not very easy to get used to.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:28:39 +0000

That stuff looks complicated, where do I even get Photoshop? Do I already have it?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:13:06 +0000

By the way, if anyone is interested in getting me a Christmas present… Comic Books: How the Industry Works includes Stan Lee as one of the writers. Heh heh. For $32 used, it had damn well better be written by Stan Lee.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:08:01 +0000

R.W., I like the idea of having photos at the end. It'd be a neat way to handle an epilogue, for example. It would give the impression of "happily ever after" without forcing you to spell out precisely what happens. However, printing illustrations in the book itself can be costly for publishers, so a publisher may wish to try keeping costs low (particularly in an economy that has been very rough on most publishers).
R.B., I'm not that familiar with free art resources. However, you might find this stage-by-stage coloring useful. If you have Quicktime, you might like this inking video. Although this digital coloring tutorial uses a dog as the example, I think it gives solid and specific Photoshop advice. Here's another another coloring guide.
I'm not aware of a superhero art site that's analogous to SN. However, I was once asked to review a children's guide to drawing superheroes, so I know there are books available. How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way is available used for $4.50 before shipping. Hi-Fi Color for Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Results is available used for about $3 before shipping. Drawing Cutting-Edge Anatomy: The Ultimate Reference for Comic Book Artists is available used for $9 before shipping. I'm not sure whether these books are actually useful, but they're cheap enough that you wouldn't be risking much by buying them. (In contrast, art books for college courses are probably more expensive. For introductory drawing, I had to buy one for $50).
By the way, if any artists are interested in blogging as a professional opportunity, I think it would be pretty easy to make the leap from writing a how-to-do-superhero-art blog to writing an art guide. Nonfiction books pay well, particularly when the subject material is so specific that only a few people (like talented artists) are qualified to write the book.

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:48:38 +0000

I like that I’m a more superficial person here, when in other situations I’m just a naturalist. I’m always going on about clothes and acne cream. My biggest fear is a pimply face. I’m not materialistic, but I do care obsessively about things with little depth. I help to diversify the team.

On a more serious note, B. Mac could you help me find a good site that has some tutorials on drawing anatomy and/or comic book style? I can’t find one that’s not trying to charge me money for it.

On a crazzier note, time to fight. (not really)

B. Mac (Mac Attack) VS. Brett (Blackmist) and Ragged Boy(The Artiste)

Cadet Davis (Commando Brute) VS. TRW(The Death Writer)

Jacob (Master Mutant) Vs. Holliequ(The Veil)

By: Ragged Boy

Ragged Boy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:32:45 +0000

Tristam sounds like my kinda friend haha, he’s got style. I’ve been drawing for a while and I’m still not that great, in my own eyes. Then again, I gauge my level of skill to that of professional comic book artists, who are insanely talented. I’ll get there one day.

I think I’m really good in my style, but I have to learn a more realisti style if I ever what to be an artist. People are picky and everyone’s a harsh critic (not you guys, because I invite your harsh critiques). Her breasts are too big (they’re supposed to be), why do they dress like that (it’s called style, ever heard of it), is that manga (NO! it’s not manga).

It’s okay, though, I’m new to this field so I don’t really feel bad when I get a bad critique, I just move on and learn.