DAY 5: PUTTING IT TOGETHER

When is a comics page "finished?" For almost a century, printing technology and market forces helped define the look of a finished comic as one that is completed with ink. Now in the twenty-first century, desktop publishing and the internet are changing how cartoonists work. Though some still prefer the traditional look of inked comics, others are using a wide range of media such as: charcoal, paint, collage, colored pencil, and a whole array of digital techniques. These days anything goes!

DAY 5 CHALLENGE

Working from yesterday's twenty-four index cards, "finish" your comic. You could use the plan you developed and redraw them as comics pages with 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 panels per page. Alternately, you could rework the surface of your index cards themselves, building up drawings on top of your roughs. You could also scan or take a photo of your cards and draw on top of them digitally.

TIPS

  • The speech balloons are the anchors that pull the reader's eye through the comic. Whether you hand letter or use a computer, make sure the lettering is not a struggle to read! Legibility is key.

  • Experiment and find what feels right for you.

  • Drawing this comic will be a lot of work. If you do four panels per page, that's six pages of comics. You probably won't be able to get this all done in one day! Do the best you can today with the time you have available and tomorrow's lesson contains some time management tips!

INSPIRATION and EXAMPLES


  • CCS alum Melanie Gillman '12 draws their award-winning webcomic As the Crow Flies using colored pencils. CCS student Filipa Estrela has created comics with felt. Richard Stevens draws his webcomic Diesel Sweeties with pixel art. For years, Emily Horne and Joey Comeau have made their webcomic A Softer World using photographs instead of drawings!

  • This handout will provide you with a few simple tricks to help you improve your lettering.


  • Jet Pens has tons of reviews of various cartooning tools (pencils, inking brushes and nibs, erasers, etc. etc. etc.) Poke around and you may learn about the perfect tool for you!

TODAY'S FUN FACT

Cartoonist Jim Woodring is the creator of Maximus Nimbus, the world's largest dip pen. The drawing tool is seven feet tall, weighs over 25 pounds, and can create lines seen at great distances.

FINAL WORDS by James Kochalka from The Horrible Truth About Comics


"A lack of technical ability can contribute to the fear or timidity that stands between you and greatness, but it does not have to. Ignore your lack of technical ability. Technical mastery of one's medium does not an artist make. The only quality you need is the ability to open yourself with honesty and pluck out the truth!"

If you post your work from this week online, make sure to use the hashtag

#CCS1WeekWorkout so that other workout students can check out your work!