comic book creation

I had never invested a ton of time into learning perspective and learning it to an acceptable level over the years has been a challenge. So I started on my journey of understanding, 1 point, 2 point, 3 point perspectives and what tools are out there that can help and guide me. Here are the results of my research. I hope it saves you some effort.

My top recommendation for beginners: “Perspective for Comic Book Artists” after seeing some solid reviews on it I snapped it up. What caught my attention was a review from a art major who said he learned more from the book then in his art classes. It is a excellent book and teaches you to think a certain way when taking on the challenge of a scene.

If you are digital and creating comics: Clip Studio Pro is a great starting point and has perspective grids at such a great price! I have upgraded to the full version, it is worth every penny.

Already have a base knowledge of perspective? “Vanishing Point: Perspective for Comics from the Ground Up”. I have not totally dived into it, but looks insane and take about a sphere based perspective… brain melted at that point.

Drawing Dynamic Comics by Andy Smith really knocked it out of the park with this book. It is the Swiss army knife of comic drawing and has a few pages on perspective.

Here are some of my favorite utubes….

This youtube from Drawing Tutorials Online is a great starting point video. You can also find a ton of good pod casts by this art teacher on his site or on youtube.

If you want to be a comic book artist be like a pro and use comic boards, especially if you want to sell your work.

I have had the pleasure of working and creating comics for a lot of years and I will never forget walking into the comic store and seeing a set of Blue Line Pro comic boards and thinking, what the heck are these? I researched it an was very poor at the time, but the next day bought all they had, why?

Have you ever looked at a comic page and went, damn look at the detail! This is because they don’t draw on 8×11 or A4 paper they draw on a type of bristol paper called comic boards at 11×17, which has the defined lines to guide the artist to proper North American art size of 10×15 . The art is drawn at this large size then shrunk down to fit a comic page, giving it great detail. I would never use any other type of paper for storyboards.

Comic art boards are important because….

They are way more durable, meant to absorb ink and deal with erasing better.
It takes a bit to get use too, but you will create better more detailed art.
The boards have no printable blue lines to guide you. I have dealt with a ton of artist and when I pay for work and get art not fitting correctly it cost me time to fix, and gives you a bad reputation.
When you present your art it will give it more of a wow factor and fans like to buy artist boards.
You can use the same boards to create 11×17 art for your posters or cover art. For cover art always think of where the comics logo and details will go, a good rule of thumb is to have a space of 3.5 inches at the top with no primary art details.

I use to have to run all over to comic shops and order boards. We are all so lucky you can buy stuff online. Here are some links on amazon. When you click and buy via the links below you help WhiteFire comics it is win for us both…

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Creating WhiteFire Comics

Perspective Basics

Here are some of my favorite utubes….

Use official comic boards when creating comic book storyboards and cover art!

Premiere (Strathmore 300) Smooth Comic Book Art Boards. Not available in Canada.

Canson Comic Book Art Boards Pad with Preprinted, Non-Reproducible, Blue Lines, 150 Pound, 11 x 17 Inch, 24 Sheets.

My favorite portfolio holder for my boards, I have one for each comics art. Keeps my art organized, safe and displays well at cons.

Canson Foundation Series Create Your Own Comic Book Kit: 10 Art Boards, 2 Cover, 2 Sketch, 4 Layout, 20 Trading cards, and 3 Sakura Pens, 11 17 Inch.

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Here are some of my favorite utubes….

Premiere (Strathmore 300) Smooth Comic Book Art Boards. Not available in Canada.

Canson Comic Book Art Boards Pad with Preprinted, Non-Reproducible, Blue Lines, 150 Pound, 11 x 17 Inch, 24 Sheets.

My favorite portfolio holder for my boards, I have one for each comics art. Keeps my art organized, safe and displays well at cons.

Canson Foundation Series Create Your Own Comic Book Kit: 10 Art Boards, 2 Cover, 2 Sketch, 4 Layout, 20 Trading cards, and 3 Sakura Pens, 11 17 Inch.