Keeping The Art Simple

Different artists have different methods of drawing. Some prefer the block-of-wood method: They don't know what they are going to draw, but they'll know when they start drawing. Others take a more ordered approach and talk it out until they have an idea of what they want to do. And others just draw whatever they want, hoping it will fall into place. Some of these strategies are better than others, and you need to develop a strategy that works for you.

You're going to find over time that the "art as improv" school sounds great but doesn't really work. The charm of the school is that artists, especially younger artists, see themselves as people based solely on inspiration and that they should only draw whenever they are in the throes of inspiration. While this is a great aspiration, the problem with that is that the artist tends to go from inspiration to inspiration and sees dry spells as just part of the process.

Works if you're only using your art to get into parties and bragging online, but it's not conducive to an actual career.

If you want an actual career, then you need to develop actual strategies. This means that you need to develop some actual strategies. You should always be learning, trying new things (especially those that challenge you), and just drawing for fun, but you need to find ways of replicating your work and doing it quickly and efficiently. While it may sound like you are taking the soul out of your art, the reality is that by simplifying the process you don't have to worry about the boring setting up the stage and get straight to the art.

That is, simplifying the process allows you to worry less about the soul-deadening boring stuff and worry about the fun stuff. Anything that allows you to do that will always be worth it.

Notebooks Are Good

Writers are told to have notebooks on hand at all times in case inspiration strikes. This applies just as much to illustrators. Sometimes you will be bored and want to try something. Or you'll see something you just need to draw. You never know when inspiration is going to strike, so always carry a notebook, something to draw with, and maybe a pencil sharpener on hand at all times; this way, when inspiration strikes you are ready to greet and take advantage of it.

Better yet, this means that when you are ready to draw, you have paper on hand. You have something to draw your thumbnails on, so planning is a lot easier. You can play with a variety of different ideas and approaches without having to commit. If you're dealing with a model you can make notes on adjustments needed for the actual art. If you keep different projects in different notebooks, it even allows you to keep your various projects organized.

In short, notebooks are your friends. Treat them well and they will be your best friends.

Know What You Want to Draw

Too many artists waste too much time trying to determine what they want to draw rather than drawing what they want to draw. Before you start drawing, decide on what you are attempting to do or want to accomplish. Even if you approach the project just trying to see what you can accomplish, you should decide on what you are trying to accomplish. This will keep you focused and allow you to set goals that you can then attempt to accomplish.

You can always change these goals if you decide that they do not work for the project in question; do not feel like you are obligated to attempt your objectives, especially if you were the one who set them. You'll find that sticking to goals that are just not working is the best way to kill a project, so don't be afraid to change the goals as needed, especially if it keeps the project alive.

Thumbnails Are Your Friend

Before you start drawing, it can help if you have some sort of plan of what you will be drawing. Thumbnails allow you to do exactly that: Thumbnails allow you to experiment with different ways of doing things before you have to commit to doing the actual drawing. This allows you a chance to work out the various problems ahead of time and decide on which approach you will take when you actually start drawing.

For those who engage in compositing, a thumbnail gives you a chance to figure out the commonalities between the elements, such as where the lighting is coming from, where everything is going, and how everything relates to each other. By planning out the drawing in advance, you can better make the individual elements look like they were meant to be part of a cohesive whole rather than individual elements.

MISE EN PLACE!

Ann Burrell has one point that you should borrow as an artist: Make sure that you have everything at hand before you start drawing. If you're a traditional artist, this means making sure that you have all of the paper, pens, pencils, and whatever else you use to draw. If you're a digital artist, it means making sure that your device is powered up, you have all of the software issues worked out, and that your software is ready to go. It definitely means making sure that your hardware, including the scanner, is ready to go.

You should be worried more about what you are about to draw than if you have everything you need. Make sure that you have your prep work done before you draw and you will only have to worry about the drawing.

Use Models as Necessary

This is a threefer. The basics here are that sometimes you need to see how things look before you can draw them; that's fine as not everyone can visualize everything. As such you need something to help you visualize what you are thinking about. Models come in three varieties: figures, models, and clay.

Figures, i.e., actual humans, help you get wrinkles and musculature right. If you have a question about how light will hit a figure, a model can help you figure it out. In a pinch, you can use a mannequin, but a human figure is preferable if you have the option; the mannequin is usually too small to give you an accurate rendering of clothing wrinkles so they may not help.

Models, for our purposes here, are anything that provides a three-dimensional way of looking at something that helps you draw. This can be anything from a model of a vehicle, such as a car or a spaceship, to even a 3D rendering program. Anything that allows you to better visualize the object and get a good idea of what to draw works here.

Clay is sort of a fun yet weird one. Sometimes you want to try something really weird and have no idea how to approach the situation. This is where you need to have some clay or equivalent to model the idea and see what it looks like. For some people, this is where a 3D modeling program is more useful for some people, but to each your own: If it works for you, then use it.

In short, if you are having problems wrapping your head around something, find a way to see that works for you.

Reference Books Rule

It doesn't make sense to reinvent the wheel, and reference books will prevent you from doing that. Reference books allow you to look up a specific pose, provided it isn't too unusual. Artists should have several reference books on hand at any time, either physically or digitally. Typical selections include heads, hands, and figures, as well as costuming; the former gives you options on how to deal with body parts, and that's tough enough, but the latter shows you how people actually wear clothes and should answer a lot of questions.

Establish A Style

Every artist should have a style that sets them apart from everyone else. However, this does not mean that you should feel limited to just that style; some artists even have a small number of styles that they can shift between. This means that you can handle a couple of different situations, such as a silly comic strip style to a more somber realistic style. In some cases, you have a base style and by messing around with the tones and shades convert it to a different style, while simplifying it and caricaturing it allows you another style.

Ironically, satirical artists have it rougher than everyone else because while other artists only need to master a couple of styles, satirical artists have to be able to ape a wide variety of styles. This does not mean that they need to master those styles, only that they need to be able to mimic those styles enough to pull it off. But regardless, every artist should have a couple of different styles that they can switch between.

Keep Organized

This is where you get all of the filing jokes from. You need to have some way of keeping all of your files and papers organized. That is, you need to establish some way of keeping all your different notebooks, drawings, and even digital files organized. This is what some refer to as the "morgue"; in newspapers, old issues would be kept around for reference, with the paper versions organized by date, edition, and whatever other criteria the newspaper has. For larger papers that have been around a while, this can be a room unto itself.

For an indie artist, it just means that you should keep a couple of copies of each issue around for showing off, referencing the characters and settings, and generally for the sake of records. Trust me: You'll love the ability to reference your old works, especially when you're debating a remaster.

Pencils Then Ink

This may sound obvious, but some people don't do it this way. Regardless of which medium you use, penciling the drawing should be done first to set down a framework of some sort. When you ink (or paint or watercolor or whatever), you then have all of the details taken care of. You can always modify the drawing as you apply the medium, and a lot of inkers do exactly that (adding pebbling, scales, and even shadowing as they ink).

The advantage to inking is that it saves you a lot of time and effort. By putting down a foundation of sorts, you're not guessing about what you want to do and already have a lot of details worked out. Better yet, the pencils can be erased or covered by the other medium, eliminating them from the final product. If you need to, use the light-blue non-photocopying pencil; the pencil disappears when scanned, thus eliminating itself from the picture.

And a final tip: Onionskin. In animation, if you want to transfer an image from one paper to another, you can put the original image on a thin piece of paper; this allows you to copy the image as needed from one paper to another and eliminate details as needed. While it does require some memory, it can be effective. In digital inking, you can put the pencils on the bottom layer and then draw over them on another layer, and then delete the bottom layer when done. Not revolutionary, but it does make life easier.

Compositing Helps

Compositing keeps getting mentioned, and that's because it can be a great trick. The idea is that instead of penciling the entire picture, you just break it down into different sections and then combine them all into one picture, such as the background, different characters, and any other elements. While you do need to watch shadows, as the possibility for different elements having different light sources is possible (thumbnails help avoid this problem), this is a great solution for those looking to re-use the same background or not sure about element placement.

Use a Tablet

It needs to be noted that there are two different types of tablets: e-readers and art. While using an e-reader is great for those looking for ways to condense their library or access their books anywhere, an art tablet allows you to draw like you would on a notebook but in a digital format. This means that you can pencil, ink, and even color on the same instrument, saving a lot of steps. While this is not cheap, it is an excellent option for someone looking to save time and effort. There are even ways to simulate drawing on paper for those who need that feel.

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Comic book art is all about keeping focused and organized. This means that you should develop some sort of bible so that you can keep track of the various characters, objects, and locations associated with each project. You should also develop a sort of morgue, that is, a compilation of pieces that you can use for reference for your various projects. By developing various strategies to keep your artwork focused and your strategies simple, you should be able to have a long and prosperous career.