Any Tutorials online?!

[Tim Mallos]

Color Tutorials at http://www.comiccolors.com/index1.html

I just came accross these, so no time to evaluate yet. Just tossing them out....

Tim

[Matthias]

I always used to find at art college that those who took 3 hours on a sketch got the most praise...

THIS IS WRONG!!!

Draw as quickly as you can, then quicker... when using a computer to do art, the tools tend to turn you into a perfectionist... that's fine for some styles, but the trick to becoming at home with a computer is to develop the spontanaeity of paper...

That's why I love graphics tablets like Wacoms... I have a sub-?100 A5 one and it serves me well enough... an A4 intuous would be nice tho... mmmm...

I find that people who think they can't draw mainly draw too tightly, and I believe that computers naturally inhibit looseness, and that's the key to expressive drawing...

As to web design - Dreamweavers OK - I used to hate it, but I'll give diskspace to the latest versions If you don't wanna be a big web designer, keep it simple - I mean MINIMAL, but polished looking.

Breasts... hmm... never had that much of a problem... just remember to draw the ribcage first, then the pectorial muscles and then the breasts... That would be the only advice I can give... sigh... I need more life drawing classes...

Hope that all makes sense...

[InkAddict]

i've had some nude model classes and i found that i was quite good at it (though not at first). I have no trouble whatsoever drawing people, even by heart (but cars and buildings drive me nuts when i have to draw them by heart)

I can't say i'm the best teacher around, but i sure don't mind giving some tricks for drawing people:

• 1. practice on people (standing still) you see in the street. Especially their poses (try to look at the way they shift weight, on which leg they're standing, how their basin is tilted compared to their legs and back,...
  don't try to focus on details: it's their general attitude, how they keep in balance: The human body is a heap of weight keeping in balance. Don't focus on moving people. Watch how they put their feet. Don't make stick models out of them: stick models have no weight so they don't have to keep their balance. Stick models are useful to sketch out poses in your storyboard once you know how to draw people, not when you're learning.
  
  2. Take nude model classes. You can follow them at any art school and they usually don't cost *that* much. Or if you have a girlfriend who doesn't mind try on her. Going to the beach can help too, but beware of being seen as a pervert. Nude model classes give you he time and freedom to really look. Unless you're quite a pervert you'll get used to it and start having fun just looking and drawing the small details. No porn mag beats the real thing (i'm talking about drawing here ). You just have to *feel* the 3 dimensions. Also you'll be able to focus on the same person in different poses. This will help greatly with your breast problem too: there are a lot of different breasts and unless you have the sexual experience of a Don Juan, you need the bold experience to know *how*breasts behave. Lara Croft may be well stacked, she would be extremely unreal in a real environment. Also, if you *do*use porn mags, try the dirtier ones (definitely *not* playboy) because you will need to draw *real* breasts (not silly-cones). If you're practicing on your girlfriend, make an easel or buy one (making one is easy and quite cheap). That way you can work in bigger format, which may seem quite superfluous, but will llearn you to focus on the great outlines first: dare to draw *BIG* and again don't focus on details. It's very important to watch out for "shortenings" (an arm extended towards you or away from you looks shorter than when it's kept horizontally before you)
  
  3. Practice drawing fast. Real fast. You must be able to put the general idea of someones pose on paper in less than 1 (one!) minute. Seem impossible? You'll learn. Also you'll develop your own sketching technique this way (mighty handy for use later in storyboards).
  
  4. Once you feel comfortable doing all the above, start focusing on joints and hands. You are by now getting a sense of space you will need to fully complete *this* step. I've put hands and joints together, because hands are mostly joints: Try to visualise how the hand is made of small bones interconnecting with each other. Once you realise this, you will never again draw realistic hands by drawing fingers on top of a flat block. Use a friend for this one or draw people in a caf? or bar. Watch hands manipulating objects, then start looking how the arms move. a lot of people draw hands disconnected from the body (which gives guys with two left hands -- a common mistake). Make sure to always see the arms and shoulder joints (even if they're out of the picture as in close-ups)
  
  5. Now that you can easily draw still figures, try to draw moving ones. People walking are difficult (always draw them *on a surface* because it gives you a sense of space and you won't end up drawing people floating in the air, once you zoom out in your comics) To lear how to draw running people, study stills of athletes (any illustrated sports magazine will do). Very interesting are the video stills you get when pausing a VCR. That way you can study a complete motion. Notice how the balance you learnt is lost and shifted. Watch especially how different people walk and run differently. Watch all kinds of poses. Movies like the blue lagoon are very interesting as are sports programs, because scantily-clad people are easier to study. Probably you will already have added clothes. Look how clothes move. Are they light (silk) or heavy (coats)?
  
  6. Combine people (this is something i'm still practicing on). Draw groups of people so you get used to perspective etc...
  
  7. Don't panic if you're having trouble with a pose; do some research and find photo's with that pose to learn how to draw it. You'll understand the human body better and better, and a cheap anatomy booklet can be of great use. Even when you can't see it, knowing there's a bone or a muscle, will make you draw better other bones and muscles. I advice to keep a small booklet with you at all times in which you can make small sketches (you never know when you might need it).
  
  8. Don't forget male models! And fat people. And skinny ones, ugly bastards,... There is nothing as annoying (in my eyes) as a comic book full of bland, perfect, athletic people.
  
  9. Even if you don't master all techniques, try to give an attitude to your characters (slumped shoulders, muscular always-tense neck, ... big feet,...x-legged,...does the guy wear hi stomach pushed out in front of him, or does his whole body seem to curve with it...?
  
  10.From the start, try drawing faces (ON their bodies... necks can be a pain in the ass if you're always letting those out), an try different expressions on the same face. How does the mean face of your thug look like, once he is crying like a baby...Try to see the face as a
  rubbercement sheet. When a guy's mouth droops of amazement, let his eyes droop a little too. Don't overdo the wrinkles and creases n young persons, but draw more of them with aged people.
  
  
  Voil?
  
  
  As for the breasts, try to see them as bags of jelly, rather than as "things". They move and are squeezable, and most often they sag a lttle when not suspended.
  
  
  Learning how to draw people in 10 lessons
  
  Don't worry if you don't seem to advance. It might take years to become as good as you'd like to be, but advance in your own tempo. After all, a lot of comic artists evolve even after years of drawing, and it's those that keep getting better that are worth it.
  
  Also it isn't realism you want to accomplish, so be free to bend the rules to your needs. (trouble with feet: never draw them in close-up, for instance) But you will see how, as time passes you will get better and better.
  
  Oh yeah, don't despair: i haven't reached the end of the list either and still have moments of utter madness

[Greg Stephens]

Jason Alderman pointed out to me that there are some tutorials on Seth Fisher's site, here: http://www.floweringnose.com/i_resources.htm

Jason also said of Mr. Fisher: "Seth drew the under-hyped HAPPYDALE, and a Green Lantern story, and then went off to work for Presto Studios designing the world of Myst III. I guess he's back now. Haha...he is an utterly AMAZING artist."

[DCastillo]

Figma have tutorials on all the most frequently asked topics (life drawing, perspective, colouring, how to make text balloons in Illustrator...) and even have answers to the most commonly asked questions from artists such as John Byrne, Scott McDaniel, Brandon Peterson and many other big names.

For drawing (whether it be traditional or digitally enhanced), I've always found GFX Artist to be a good starting point. Their tutes on digital illustration and painting are outstanding. It's a very good place to start because it leads to other websites out there with even more good information.

Finally, I've always found that the folks over at the CrossGen Creative Critiques forum are knowledgeable and eager to help and can point you to many other places to find information. I saw comiccolors mentioned earlier; that site has very basic information, but I found one of Laura DePuy's tutorials handy because it teaches you how to select your colours. Then again, she's my favourite colourist, so perhaps I'm just being biased...

There are bunches and bunches of tutorials out there once you start looking, but those are the ones that I have actually (and even frequently) referred to. Hope that helps.

[Thomas]

I had these posted on my site a few months back to browse on the site, but have since archived them, but you can download them to your computer now.

http://members.aol.com/gutterflyart/tut ... orial1.sit

http://members.aol.com/gutterflyart/tut ... orial2.zip

http://members.aol.com/gutterflyart2/tutorial3.zip


They are presented in Flash so you will need the plug in. They are tutorials over how I am creating a flash interface to work with my online comics I am creating over at www.gutterflycomix.com The page isnt up on the site yet, but the comic has begun so feel free to download the tutorials and i hope they help in some way.

[Greg Stephens]

I made a newsblogpost this morning about how to use PHP to determine a previous and next comic and create the proper link. Here's the permalink.

[Rip Tanion]

Pretty interesting, Greg. Sadly, I'm still using the free webspace offered by my ISP, which doesn't have PHP suppoert. I'm trying to use Javascript to do a lot of things PHP can do, but it's very clunky.

I wonder if you can point us to any good web hosting services that are PHP enabled...and cheap...or even better, free.

[Eric F Myers]

Go Daddy supports PHP and it's only $3.95 a month.

[Greg Stephens]

Probably easier to find free than cheap, since many services that are free advertise as such (no better word for 'free' than 'free'), but inexpensive hosting sites use many different words to mean 'cheap' and that's a relative term anyhow.

But here is a listing of many free PHP-enabled hosts: http://www.oinko.net/freephp/

Just one of many that Google finds.

[Rip Tanion]

Thanks. I'll look into it.

[Joel Fagin]

Here're mine. I'm terribly biased myself, of course, but people seem to think the most of the first one.

Comic Website Design Tutorial - Purpose and Design
Comic Website Design Tutorial - Support and Elevation
Attracting Readers Tutorial

- Joel Fagin

[Greg Stephens]

That's a good set of tutorials you've got there. I like that they highlight the web-design part of the webcomicking, which is often left out. I think most tutorials are about how to deal with photoshop as a comicking tool. For example ('cause I noticed it today, not because it's bad or irrelevant in any way) here's one from Questionable Content. At a certain point, though, drawing is easy (just keep drawing until it looks good) while web design is less intuitive. People who can't draw know they can't draw while people who can't design a web page, well, they're often still getting paid for doing it.

[Joel Fagin]

That's a good set of tutorials you've got there. I like that they highlight the web-design part of the webcomicking, which is often left out.

Thanks!

I think most tutorials are about how to deal with photoshop as a comicking tool.

Yes. Basically, "This is how I do my comic" and I actually find they're more like makings-of than tutorials. I get the impression they're there for the fans to read out of curiosity rather than the fellow artists who wish to learn some tricks and techniques. Nothing wrong with that, mind. I read them too and happily pick up the odd cool Photoshop trick from them. It's just that they're a dime a dozen.

At a certain point, though, drawing is easy (just keep drawing until it looks good) while web design is less intuitive.

I think Web design is intuitive but it's just not practiced enough. People will make one website and leave it at that, but they'll do a comic every day. As such, they never get past the... Well, the sort of mentality that has beginners in Photoshop overusing filters because they think it's cool.

Anyway, I digress.

- Joel Fagin

[Tim Tylor]

the biggest problem that I have drawing is, I know it sounds stupid, female brests. Don't think wrong, I'm talking about that clothed ones! I don't even dare to draw a naked one...

If you're still around, there's a good breast tutorial by L.K. Malnassy, who's got a beautiful pencil-drawn comic with realistic figures, Sea of Insanity.

[Joel Fagin]

Writing a script
Characterisation
Composing a page
Writing a gag
Drawing the human face
Drawing the human body

Those are all by McDuffies of... Er... McDuffies.

- Joel Fagin

[Guest]

This one is "G" rated (well as far as I know),

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=browse&id=3

but it turns out that tutorials on creating fake nude celebrity pictures make for some very informative photoshop lessons.

http://www.lairofluxlucre.com/fake-u/page-lessons.html
http://www.scottss.com/Takeoff/tutorials.htm
http://www.scottss.com/learn.htm

Greg, feel free to remove these if they are crossing a line.

[Kris Lachowski]

Hmmm... I didn't mean for that to be anonymous, maybe I should've left it that way. Oh well, the above post is mine.

[Eric F Myers]

I found some cool tricks over at Jonny Crossbones.

http://www.evilspacerobot.com/comics/jonnycrossbones/