HOW TO DRAW COMICS:
THE AGITAINMENT WAY!

The real-life saga of one man’s struggle against his art materials!

Now that I’ve got your attention, frantic reader, I want to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind lately: namely, what it takes to be a comic book artist. Already been done, you say? Well, sure, there are loads of books that cover the basics, even a few that cover advanced tricks and techniques. But let’s face it, drawing comics is a complicated process, so even the best books leave out important details. And as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

With that in mind, I’d like to share my own experience, from first learning how to draw comics to actually making them professionally. Sure, I’ll cover the usual technical stuff you can find elsewhere. But more importantly, I’ll focus on the details that are often (frustratingly) left out of those expensive how-to books. Simple but important things like how to clean a brush properly: Most books tell you to buy a Winsor and Newton series 7 sable brush for inking, right? (And a hefty investment it is when you’re first starting out!) But do they bother to tell you how not to ruin said brush in the first week? Not likely.

And just so I don’t leave anything out, I’ll be supplementing my regular Soapbox with additional information in the Agitainment.Comics Forum: books to buy or borrow (and if you don’t already have a library card, get one, NOW — many books on drawing comics are available in your public library for free, and if yours doesn’t have the one you’re looking for, you can usually get it through interlibrary loan; they might even buy a copy if you ask nicely; you can also read many of the best books freely at your local Borders or Barnes and Noble in the comfort of their coffee shops!); free resources available on the web; technical demonstrations; and much much more. In fact, I’ve already begun collecting resources here. And if you know of other good resources not listed, please, add them.

So let’s get started. The first topic I’ll be covering is inking with a brush. Why that, you ask? Because I only started using a brush a couple of months back, and what better way to begin than to share the things I’ve had to struggle with while trying to figure out what the heck I was doing?

So join me here next week for: Inking With a Brush, part 1!

Ex animo!