Graphic Novel Panel, Part 2

If you missed it, you can read Part 1 here. I intended to post this on Wednesday, but Drink and Draw made me forget.

Art and Writing

Someone asked what not to do in art and writing. This rather stumped some of them. Kim said not to submit too little – at least 6-10 finished pages, if not more. Show you have gumption to finish what you start. A one and a half page synopsis and a couple character sketches is way too little. A completed story is great. One to two dozen completed pages is good, too.

Brendan said to be a professional. Approach it as a job. Write inquiry letters. Everyone nodded.

Matt’s was interesting. To make comics your job, you must decide what you want from it. Indie comics feed your soul but pay shit. Marvel/DC pay great, but it is a crappy job. I bet that last one depends on the person, but that is just part of figuring out what you want.

Megan basically said don’t bite off more than you can chew and if you are bored with it, so is the reader. When she first started drawing comics, she started with a long, feminist, cyber punk story, but felt she couldn’t draw. Then (after many years) she realized that she had a problem with people walking down halls for pages to get from place to place. Then she realized she’s in charge and can make the decisions about what to show. Her rule is if she feels ennui when drawing, there is a problem she needs to work out – find a new way to transition, stop and think about what would be interesting or enjoyable to draw.

Mark said to pick a subject you love to death and can never fall out of love with.

I like this question for Kim: What to do it I have a great story but my art isn’t up to par? Should I wait? Kim said give it a shot and see if you can get something that will work. Some artists have started making a graphic novel to force themselves to draw so they would get better. This is actually why I do mini-comics. I get to practice and get better, but I can try new techniques and tools and maintain visual consistency within each story.

Someone asked at what point do you need to layout where a lot of scenes occur. Of course, this varies from person to person, but led to interesting answer. Megan’s first comics all took place in her apartment for this reason – she knew it like the back of her hand and could get visual reference whenever she needed. Matt once took 25 hours to use Sketch Up to plan out a detailed 3D model of a house for a story. When sounds useful.

Then my favorite part: Tools! Though the question was specifically about computer tools:

• Mark – Word for the script, Photoshop for the scanning, Illustrator for framing and layout. He hand letters everything.
• Megan – Photoshop to scan and fix line art and color. Hand drawn and lettered.
• Matt – Finaldraft (and Notecard) and Word for scripts
  Art laid out by hand in ink and pencil – he actually scans and resizes throughout the process.
  Sketchup to build 3D models
  Illustrator to letter
  Photoshop to color
  Manga Studio is for comics like Photoshop is for photos. I am actually starting to be tempted by this program. Might need to look for a demo.
  He likes to do bruises because he gets to dip his thumb in ink.
• Emi – mostly traditional. Photoshop to tone. She finds that she loses the grittiness that traditional provides (I agree).
• Brandon – Word and Google Docs. I always wondered if professionals used Google Docs and now I have my answer.

I will post Part 3, the final part, tomorrow. Look forward to it!