Draw Comic Book Action. “Techniques for creating dynamic superhero poses and action”. This is what I need to learn! You would’ve thought that reading comics and admiring the images therein would teach me all the information that I would possibly need to do this, right? Well, it’s one thing to defrost a bit of bread in a microwave, it’s quite another thing to build a microwave from scratch. Do you get my analogy?
Following on from Superheroes and Beyond, I think I’ve got to grips with faces now. They are still not perfect, but they are getting there. It’s dynamic poses and action sequences I’m still having problems with. Jane and I went back to Hobbycraft, as we routinely do, and this was just staring me in the face. Instant purchase. This book is by an incredibly talented guy named Lee Garbett, someone who can not only create, but also teach others how. A rare gift.
I was impressed that the author gave us a look at his studio, and gave us a run-down of the tools he uses. I’ve never really used mechanical pencils to draw with, but I shall be looking to purchase some as the reasons Lee gave were very sound. He also covered things like graphics tablets and software. I recently bought a Bamboo tablet as a cheap starting point, got ArtRage free with my ImagineFX subscription, and am at the very early stages of getting to grips with GIMP. I would love Photoshop or Painter one day, but the price factors them out, sadly.
The first port of call in terms of drawing tips was faces. As I said, my faces are getting there, but you can never have too much advice. One tip that will stick with me is to always include a hand in a close up of a face. A clenched fist or open hand can add even more emotion to a facial expression. Then it was on to the real meaty stuff: poses. I’d never got used to foreshortening (another reason why all my previous drawing looked boring!), but the book explained it clearly, both written and visually.
Equally meaty: fight scenes. A typical picture of mine is one guy standing there. What would make it 300% more interesting? Another guy in the picture, punching that first guy. Several tips and illustrations follow, from conveying movement, to organising group fights. It also explained that camera angles are important too. Looking up at a superhero, triumphant over his fallen enemy gives him gravitas. An interesting portion on pacing and flow actually had me looking back at some old comics I still have floating about, and I noticed shapes and dynamics that I’d never paid any heed to before. They were all there, all the pieces of the microwave, but I had no clue how to put them together.
Lighting was (yet another) aspect I had never addressed. I always felt the shadows would be in the wrong place, but taking the book’s advice on board, I just need to practise more, and be considerate of where the light sources are. I’d never really bothered with doing rough sketches either, I always considered that my first draft was the final piece. Yet another tip that would help my work, and I really should get in the habit of doing. At the end there was a tutorial on using Photoshop to colour your work, but it was a little scant. To be honest, Fantasy Artist and ImagineFX cover this subject in much greater depth every month.
Overall, this book just reminded me to be more dynamic with my art. Draw explosions, emotive scenes and punchy action – don’t draw things just standing there. And I feel one step closer to being able to assemble that microwave, too.
