From: [i--ru--r] at [cats.ucsc.edu] (Isaac Truder) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info Subject: Rob Davis Comics Career Article 1 of 9 Date: 29 Aug 92 03:01:29 GMT A Mr. Rob Davis, comics aritst, has written a number of articles on the subject of breaking into the comics business and conducting your business once you're in. He has recently personally given me permission to disseminate his articles to the Internet (they were previously available on CompuServe). This is the first of these articles, entitled... PENCILER'S RULEBOOK By Rob Davis So you have the finished plot in your sweaty hands. What now? There's a blank sheet of Bristol board staring you in the face and laughing maniacally because it has instilled utter fear in you. All that work you've invested to get a publisher or editor to look at your work has paid off, but now comes the real test. At this point, a lot of would-be comic book artists blow it. All their efforts to this point have been geared to getting their work noticed -- not worrying about deadlines, but whether or not it looks "professional". I've heard several writers, editors, and art directors complain that the sample pages from so-and-so looked great, but when it came time to do the actual job, the new guy just didn't cut it. Under pressure to meet that monthly deadline, the aspiring artist couldn't produce professional quality. RULE #1: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER MISS A DEADLINE!!! The first and foremost thing a professional needs to keep in mind is that the deadline is yesterday. If he blows it, he's not the only one that gets hurt. Everyone down the line is damaged and if the editor has to have a rush job done later in the process, the finished product is bound to suffer, and sometimes it costs the publisher extra money. They hate that! RULE #2: K.I.S.S. (KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID!) During the four-plus years that I attended conventions and sent in samples, the comment I always heard was: "You need to work on your storytelling." I would ask how I could do that. Invariably the answer was: "Well, nobody really knows how to teach it. Just keep trying 'til you get it right." The rule of thumb is the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid! Your layouts should be simple, clean and to-the-point. Each panel should have only one action in it and should flow easily and naturally to the next panel. The page should flow together as one piece of work. Avoid fancy panel layouts until you become very proficient at telling the story. The art should emphasize the story, not stand in its way. Comics storytelling should come naturally as you read the plot or script. The artist should image the story as a movie going on inside his head. As the movie progresses, stop the video at the crucial point and move the camera around the scene in the three dimensions, zooming in and out until the picture includes everything necessary to tell the story simply and clearly. A simple and easy exercise I found useful in learning storytelling was to use a VCR and a recording of a well-directed movie (in my own opinion Hitchcock movies are the best.) After you've set up the VCR and inserted the tape, turn the sound on the TV set completely off. Then pay careful attention to how each scene is set up, how the camera moves, etc. When a particularly interesting scene comes up, or an establishing shot beginning a new scene is shown, pause the VCR and closely examine how the director has set the scene to give the audience the feeling that this place really exists. You can't beat this technique, and I've heard from several other artists who use it to improve their storytelling. After working everything out in your head, the ideas need to go down on paper. Personally, I prefer to put my ideas down on common bond typing paper first, working out panel placement and action on the page before going to the Bristol board. This allows me to slove my problems in the layout before it's on the board where any mistake will cause erasures that can damage the surface of the paper. (Inkers and letterers hate that.) Once that's done I lightly pencil in the general shapes of the characters and background in blue pencil (which doesn't reproduce) and then come back in with my regular lead pencil to "flesh it out". Not everyone does it this way. Most pencilers skip the blue pencil and go straight for black lead. In cases where I do the lettering, it's usually done between the blue pencil and the final dark lead. If I'm inking the work I skip the final lead and ink right over the blue pencil. RULE #3: RESEARCH EVERYTHING (even if you think you know how to draw it) After reading over the plot or script, make a note (mental or otherwise) of all the everyday objects that show up throughout the story. Even if you think you know how to draw these objects, get references in the form of photographs or photocopies from library research and have them at hand when you get ready to draw them. I have a file cabinet with two drawers full of clipped photos from magazines. Each file in the cabinet is marked with a general subject (for example: transportation, architecture, interior decoration, etc...). Under each general heading, I may get more specific such as cars, boats, and planes under transportation. Everyone in my family knows to save their magazines when they're through with them. When the pile gets too large to walk around in my studio, I sit down and clip photos and file them away under the appropriate heading. I also inherited a good sized collection of National Geographic which sits on a special shelf in my studio, in case I need reference on some exotic locale. This may sound like an unnecessary amount of work, but it actually saves time by eliminating the need for a trip to the library to photocopy something that I could have easily had on hand. RULE #4: LEARN ANATOMY! At conventions, I've learned that editors and art directors look for little clues that an artist doesn't know anything about human anatomy. An editor once told me that he always looks for hands in submissions. If the artist avoids drawing hands, it's likely that he doesn't really know how to draw them and has other problems he's covering up. Libraries and bookstores carry loads of books on art anatomy. Check one out or purchase one that strikes your fancy. Don't get GRAY'S ANATOMY! While this book is great if you're studying medicine, it's virtually useless to an artist. Beyond anatomy books, it must be remembered that in fashion illustration and comics, human proportions are exaggerated! In real life, a man stands about six "heads" tall ("heads" being the common measurement of the drawn human figure). In comics, a super-hero may be as much as 10 or 11 heads tall! Most "civilians" are between 6 and 7 1/2 heads (women are usually 1/2 head shorter than the men). Since I was trained "classically" in college, I had (and sometimes still have) problems getting used to drawing such "un-real" proportions. RULE #5: DON'T SWIPE (at least on a regular basis) Nothing annoys me more than reading a comic book and noticing a panel or pose blatantly swiped from another artist. When a panel jumps off the page as swiped it breaks the concentration of the reader and makes him remember that he's reading something rather than experiencing it. It's fine to study an artist you admire and even copy or swipe while you're learning to draw (as long as you learn from other sources as well) but develop your own style. RULE #6: DON'T BE DEFENSIVE OR APOLOGETIC ABOUT YOUR ART When you send in a submission by mail or speak to an editor at a convention never apologize or say this isn't your best work. (Besides, you should only be showing your best work!) Listen carefully and attentively to any and all comments about your work. The person looking at your work may well be a rude, insensitive clod, but never, EVER let him know you think that. Editors have a lot to worry about besides smoothing out an artists' ruffled feathers. None of them want to work with someone who can't take critical evaluation of his work without going into orbit. In comics, the editor has the last say. He's your boss, and if he tells you to do something, do it! If you ca't stand the way he is constantly asking for changes to your work (and the good ones will), finish your contractual obligation with him and find another to work with or get out of the business entirely -- you may not be cut out for it. Contrary to popular belief, you needn't have an ego to go well in comics. In fact, the creators that are the easiest to get along with and take instruction well have the most chance of getting a lot of work! No one wants to work with a whiner. Everyone likes to work with an easy-going, happy person. +---------------------------------------------------------------------- | This article is Copyright (c) 1992 by Rob Davis. The author is a | feelance artist whose work has been seen under a number of different | company logos. His professional comics career started with SYPHONS | #7 from NOW Comics, as a letterer. He also lettered RUST #'s 1 and | 2 and penciled, lettered and inked DAI KAMIKAZE!. At Malibu | Graphics Rob has penciled and inked several projects. Among those | were SCIMIDAR and MERLIN. For Innovation Rob penciled STRAW MEN, | MAZE AGENCY, and QUANTUM LEAP. At Rip-Off Press Rob penciled, | lettered and inked THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN NEMO. At Marvel Comics | Rob penciled theee issues of Hanna Barbera's PIRATES OF DARK WATER. | At DC Comics Rob has penciled STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and | STAR TREK (one issue each as fill-in, so far). All this as of | September, 1992. -- -Hades (Brian V. Hughes) "Egads! These look like a women's fingerprints" -- Durlock Holmes