COMIC ART LESSON
From: https://elvirafernandezlun.wixsite.com/artforall
Our project: comic strip
1. The Elements of Making a Comic Cover
Before you start laying out your design, you should know which elements to include when making your comic cover. The basic elements to include on a comic cover are:
Title + Subtitle/Tagline
Author
2. Brainstorm & Conceptualise
Step 1
If this is your first time creating a cover, it's advisable to first look and get inspired by other comic covers in the market, so do your own research. Search online to check the latest trends.
Think about the concept of your comic cover.
Try putting yourself in the place of the buyer, and ask yourself:
What would make the cover interesting enough for readers to pick up the comic book?
Does the cover portray the genre of the story?
Does the cover illustration present a question of what the storyline is about?
Is the cover an example of the artwork inside?
Does the cover communicate the tone of the story?
Step 2
Plan the cover by sketching out
3. Plan the Comic Cover Content
Step 1
Brainstorm a catchy and fitting title.
Consider some words that might hook your audience in an instant. A title that perhaps reflects the character's behaviour or emotional turmoil, action plot lines, battles, mystery, or perhaps a funny play on words. For example:
Emotional titles like "Playful Rage" or "Risky Behaviour"
Comeback titles like "Resurrection' or "The Revival"
Battle titles like "5 Armies" or "Bloodbath VI"
Mysterious titles like 'In the Lap of the Gods" or "Hush-Hush"
Pun titles like "The Great Cat-sby" or "Positivi-tea"
The most common titles either use the main character name, are 'action' based, or have a mysterious tone.
Step 2
Choose which characters to show and how many.
Which characters would you like to place on the comic book cover? Only one main character, two main characters, a villain, a group of people, etc.?
Step 3
Distribute and position characters artistically.
Comic covers often show characters performing all kinds of motions, like flying, swinging, running, jumping, falling, etc. There are several ways you can showcase your characters on the comic cover, but let's learn how to do so in a more charismatic way.
A popular layout is the 'villain vs. hero' face-off. Here, the characters are placed in the classic 'VS" pose, opposite each other.
Eye contact is when the character stares directly into the reader’s eyes. This can create a focus of interest and the unknown.
Oversizing villains in the background is very dramatic and can create an ill-fated scene with an ominous tone.
Scaling is used when you wish to show the magnitude of a 'battle' field. A large number of characters are presented at a smaller scale to give a sense of grandeur to the scene. This also helps to integrate more of the setting or environment of the storyline.
Pivotal Point is when a crucial part of the story is presented, for instance the star character stuck in an extraordinary situation. In this case, make sure the cover is centred on the 'hero' in that pivotal point of the story. The artwork should reflect a 'hint' of the story within, yet not reveal everything that's going on.
4. Creativity
Be creative.
