Reddit Reddit reviews Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover))

We found 3 Reddit comments about Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover)). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover))
W W Norton Company
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3 Reddit comments about Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover)):

u/MrJeinu · 13 pointsr/writing

I have some experience with webcomics. I write and draw Miamaska, which has been going on for 2+years, and I'm about to start my second comic next month.

General advice for web comickers!

(or: How I learned things the hard way and eventually stumbled into a good system)

  • Always have a buffer. Always update on time. Be dependable, your readers won't invest in your story if you seem flaky.

  • Don't do video/audio or fullpage ads. New readers will close your tab out of annoyance, and those that stay will be extremely peeved when trying to read a chapter all at once.

  • Set up donation incentives. Wallpapers, progress art for the next update, bonus page when a certain amount is reached, bonus mini-comic, etc!

  • Interact with readers! Put up a comment box, do twitter and tumblr, do request drawings. It's fun, a confidence boost, and a good way to build a fan base.

    Regarding dialogue and pacing... what I tend to do is thumbnail an entire scene (3-15 pages for me) first and read through it a few times. I'll leave mini-cliffhangers at the end of each page (like a question, or a realization, or a character entering the scene). During this little review process, I'll also make sure the view for the reader doesn't violate the 180 rule too much, that it's obvious which bubble should be read next, and where the reader is going to look first.

    I don't have any experience in the print form of comics yet. So no advice there. Just make sure your comics are in print resolution as well (300+ DPI), or you'll be sorry later.

    Resource time

    I didn't have many resources starting out, but I'm gonna recommend these for you and anyone else interested:

    PaperWings Podcast -- podcast and blog on web comic-making (ongoing, good community, regular but sparse updates, good backlog). Has even more resources on its website.

    Art and Story -- podcast on print +web comic-making and the comic industry (ended, but a great backlog).

    Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics by cartoonist Scott McCloud, worth a read for any comicker. A little more geared towards print, but breaks down comic theory really nicely.

    Comics and Sequential Art, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative, Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative, by Will Eisner.

    Those books are pretty popular, so you can probably pick them up from the library or find them on the web somewhere.
u/Cheeseho12 · 8 pointsr/altcomix

I'm gonna disagree with a lot of people and tell you to not buy Understanding Comics. I mean, you can, I don't disagree with most of what he teaches, but I disagree with his results. Perhaps it's one of those 'good in theory, terrible in practice' things. The Sculptor, his latest (?) book uses his UC technique 100% and while it makes for an easy read, it's visually boring and the story is just one unbelievable trope after another, complete garbage.

I'm also not going to tell you to copy other comic artists, that's a very common mistake in comics. When you copy other comic artists you learn their mistakes, or shortcuts, or cheats. I still find after I've drawn a page I'll go back and see where I unintentionally swiped a pose or technique from John Buscema (How to make Comics the Marvel Way had a big influence on me as a teenager, which is who it was made for).

For figure drawing you want George Bridgeman. His figure drawing techniques are the foundation for pretty much every other great illustrator in the last 100 years.

Another good source is Burne Hogarth (Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Figure Drawing) his stuff is more action and hero based, but his lessons are sound. He founded what became the School of Visual Arts. These were my first art books when I was a teenager, and they still hold up.

For storytelling, I go for Will Eisner's Graphic Storytelling and the Visual Narrative, Sequential Art Principles and throw in Expressive Anatomy, because, why not?

David Chelsea's Perspective for Comic Artists is great, because it teaches you exactly how to do correct perspective, then in the last chapter he tells you how to cheat at all of it.

For classes, take a look at the horribly designed website for http://comicsworkbook.com/ it's run by a guy, Frank Santoro, who's actually not one of my favorite artists, but he knows his shit, for sure, and he's a helluva nice guy who loves comics 100%. I think his full online class is $500 and he runs it twice a year, I think. Also look in your area for a college or art store that might have figure drawing classes, they are invaluable.

u/xmariposa · 1 pointr/pics

Sup LazyJ507. It looks like nobody's really given you any tips yet, so I'll try, and see if this helps at all.

Work on drawing.
By that I mean draw from life. Often. Get a sketchbook and go out and draw a whole lot. Draw your family, your friends, your classmates, etc. Studying anatomy helps a lot! The real meat for drawing figures is in learning what things are SUPPOSED to look like. Try to find some life drawing classes.

Read a lot.
And by this I mean reading lots of comics. Read lots of comics and read lots of books about comics. See what you like and try to emulate--NOT COPY-- things that you think are awesome. I recommend checking out Scott McCloud's Making Comics and Understanding Comics. Also, check out Will Eisner's books: Comics And Sequential Art, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative and Expressive Anatomy have helped me tons. It's awesome seeing professionals in the comics world give you tips and visuals that help you learn. Also, read novels, watch cartoons, watch movies, play video games. Find the aspects that you like about each and see how you can connect that to making comics. Comics are a pretty limitless medium.

As for this comic specifically, work on size, spacing, lettering, panel layouts, and black-and-white balance. And maybe comedic timing, but that's more in the writing area.

I can't really think of any more tips, but if you're wondering about anything else, go ahead and ask.

(i'm a sequential arts student a bluh bluh bluh)