04-11-2013, 04:56 PM
I wanted to start a study group specifically for graphic storytelling. It's a very tough discipline and there are very few resources available on this subject. I'd like to see what I can do to change that.
Here is a list of priorities I'd like to focus on in this group.
1-story: We all have ideas for a great story written down in our heads by the time we finish a drawing. But drawing and storytelling are two different beasts entirely. It's very hard to keep a story on track from beginning to finish, but the key is to workout the broad strokes first, until you have a structure to build on and then work your way into the details.
2-world building: As artists and designers we are world building vending machines. This should be 2nd nature. The difference between world building for any other media and sequential art is you need to be able to keep up with it 100% of the time.
3-design and composition: I'm talking about page design. This is one I've always struggled with. It's all about making sure anybody can pick it up and understand it. Everybody has encountered that first time you picked up a comic and said "how do I read this thing" and bad page design makes experienced professionals and editors scratch their heads. No matter how cool your story or plot is it will fall apart if nobody knows how to read it.
4-expressiveness and pacing: This is the most important cherry on top. It's the difference between Rob Liefeld and chuck schulz. Can you deliver a joke? Can you make the reader empathize? Can you surprise, shock or scare the reader?
5-A quality finished product: Color, rendering and line weight. All the things that you notice at first glance is what is going to sell the comic in the first place. I have an extensive collection of very bad, yet well drawn comics, because the artists did their job.
First assignment is to post a picture you want to base a story on.
Try to keep it restricted to one or two paragraphs. If your story can't be explained within those constraints, then it's too convoluted and you need to dumb it down to a level that anybody can understand.
Her's an example from the comic I'm getting started.
A half whit volunteer peacekeeper in a post ww3 America has pledged revenge on abusive mercenaries, that murdered his best friend for laughs.
He finds himself on the run, abandoning the Shelter and protection of his post for danger, adventure and a meaningful existence.
Here is a list of priorities I'd like to focus on in this group.
1-story: We all have ideas for a great story written down in our heads by the time we finish a drawing. But drawing and storytelling are two different beasts entirely. It's very hard to keep a story on track from beginning to finish, but the key is to workout the broad strokes first, until you have a structure to build on and then work your way into the details.
2-world building: As artists and designers we are world building vending machines. This should be 2nd nature. The difference between world building for any other media and sequential art is you need to be able to keep up with it 100% of the time.
3-design and composition: I'm talking about page design. This is one I've always struggled with. It's all about making sure anybody can pick it up and understand it. Everybody has encountered that first time you picked up a comic and said "how do I read this thing" and bad page design makes experienced professionals and editors scratch their heads. No matter how cool your story or plot is it will fall apart if nobody knows how to read it.
4-expressiveness and pacing: This is the most important cherry on top. It's the difference between Rob Liefeld and chuck schulz. Can you deliver a joke? Can you make the reader empathize? Can you surprise, shock or scare the reader?
5-A quality finished product: Color, rendering and line weight. All the things that you notice at first glance is what is going to sell the comic in the first place. I have an extensive collection of very bad, yet well drawn comics, because the artists did their job.
First assignment is to post a picture you want to base a story on.
Try to keep it restricted to one or two paragraphs. If your story can't be explained within those constraints, then it's too convoluted and you need to dumb it down to a level that anybody can understand.
Her's an example from the comic I'm getting started.
A half whit volunteer peacekeeper in a post ww3 America has pledged revenge on abusive mercenaries, that murdered his best friend for laughs.
He finds himself on the run, abandoning the Shelter and protection of his post for danger, adventure and a meaningful existence.