Advice from the Pros - The DrawingBoard

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The following comments were e-mails that many comic professionals were kind enough to contribute. The original compilation was created by Adam Sacks.

Gerry Alanguilan
My advice to aspiring artists is this: Before you do anything, they have to first sit down and think long and hard if drawing comics is what you really want to do. It's not as 'glamorous' as some may think it to be. It involves a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of patience, and a lot of sacrifice. It may seem cool to be a pro at conventions but believe me, these are the only times that these people see the light of day.

For the rest of the year they are shackled to their tables, working away. This may be a bit exaggerated but for the most part it is true. Being mentally and psychologically fit is as important as the ability to draw well. You may be in incredible artist but if you fold under deadline, it won't mean squat. You'll just be another talented artist in a long line of those who don't have work because they can't hack it. If this piece of advice does not discourage you, congratulations! You may well have that mental fortitude necessary to tackle this job head on.

I have a couple of pages on-line which offer a lot of tips I've picked up in the several years I've been working. They can be found here: http://www.laguna.net/~timawa/tips.htm

Jon Bogdanove
Draw all the time. Study great illustrators, not just other comics artists. You want to develop your own style, not be a clone.

Kurt Busiek
The best hints and advice I can give is to track down and read several books:

UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud
A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS OF COMICS by Lurene Haines
ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE by William Goldman
TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT by Lawrence Block
CHARACTER & VIEWPOINT by Orson Scott Card.
And practice, practice, practice!

Dan Brereton
When you decide to follow a path toward your goal, remember two things: If you want to be an artist, then decide right now that you're an artist. BE that thing. Dont be an "aspiring" artist. Thats worse than being a bad artist ! Even a bad artist is acknowleged as an artist. BE that thing. Secondly, and most importantly, commit. Once you decide that you're an artist, DO. Commit to the path you've chosen and dont stray from it, never. This is difficult only if you're not really serious about what you want. If you're really 100% commited to your craft, you'll not only practice it, youll devote yourself like a discipline, like a student of any skill.

Keep a sketchbook on youy at all times. Draw at all times; draw from life...not just from your head. In fact, its a good idea to keep one sketchbook for life drawing (people, things, animals, buildings, things you see in your everyday world) and a sketchbook for the actually business of comics (anotomy studies, figures drawn from your head, all the fantastic stuff you enjoy drawing), after a while you'll find that both books are important (in actuality, the former skectchbook is the most important).

Also, dont sit there and draw pin-ups all the time. Draw STORIES, draw pages... this is very important because no editor wants to hire an artist who lacks design or story telling sense. Another bit of advice I can give; Education. If you can do it, and no matter what you have to do to get there, get yourself into an art school and study drawing, painting, design, art history.. if you absolutely cannot afford to go to an art school, take whatever class you can, even a community college life drawing class can be a blessing. Finding a professional comics artist who needs an assistant , in other words, apprenticing, is another excellent way to learn. many aritsts became great by doing either of these things... there are lots of artists looking for assistants, and there's a lot to be learned in a working environment.

Peter David
Keep writing and keep reading. Anything else I say is just bells and whistles.

Warren Ellis
Words of advice to aspiring writers? If you want to get rich, quit now and get a proper job. And an oft-quoted line from Harlan Ellison; "If the fuckers try to rewrite you -- hit 'em!"

Steven Grant
I only have two real bits of advice:

Regarding freelancing: Freelancing is like tightrope walking. The main thing to remember is never look down.

Regarding working in comics: Even bad work is harder than it looks.

Gerry Jones
Stay true to yourself, don't try to give "them" what you think "they" want, don't get hung up on writing the characters you were obsessed with as a fan (because you'll almost always be disappointed once you go through the editorial and continuity mills), and own as many of your own creations as you possibly can--not just legally, but creatively as well.

Barbara Kesel
This is not an easy field to break into, and it's enough of an "entertainment" field that the "who you know" counts as much as talent/skill/determination. What I usually tell people is to write as much as you can while still treating every little thing you write as the most important assignment ever. Good work does get noticed.

Eddy Newell
Pencilers, stick to the script. The illustrator's job is to do just that translating the writer's words into pictures in a clear, logical and visually interesting manner. Figure out how to tell the story first. Then make it beautiful. Don't try to rewrite a story to make it easy on yourself. Respect your writer, he's your partner.

Jerry Ordway
Off the cuff, I'd say that aspiring artists and writers need to keep an open mind about comics. They should strive to be as well-rounded as possible, and try to learn as many facets of the industry as they can.

If you can pencil -- learn to ink. If you just ink -- work on your pencilling! If you're a writer, make sure you read a lot, not just comics. Newspapers, books, anything. Not just for ideas, but good writing rubs off on you!

John Ostrander
Read more than comics. Read literature. Observe how Shakespeare weaves theme INTO plot. Read Scott McCloud's and Will Eisner's books on comics. Read mythology, especially comparative mythology, especially Joseph Campbell. Mythology is where we draw all our primal icons and we are dealing with icons in comics. Read history -- the events of the past are NOT dead, they continue in their reverberations through our present lives. The more you experience, the more you read, the more you KNOW, the more you bring to your work. Study screenplays and drama for their structures; ditto short-stories. Comics as a form have more in common with them than with novels. KNOW YOUR CRAFT. You have to be not "as good" as writers already out there, you have to be BETTER. Why? Because the editors already know the guys "out there"; they have a track record. You don't. Your job is to become a good writer; not just a good COMIC BOOK writer. A good writer is a good writer -- period. The form doesn't matter. Finally -- what does a writer DO? They WRITE. They don't TALK about writing; they DO it. Do it every day, maybe just in a journal, but do it. Oh, and by the way -- spelling and puncuation and grammar DO count. Never submit something that doesn't LOOK professional. You want them to take you seriously, you present yourself seriously. Type it, spell-check it, make sure the margins are neat and the pages clean.

Joe Quesada
My one word of advice to aspiring comic artist is to stop looking at comics. Read them, enjoy them, but look at life as the inspiration for your drawings.

Walter Simonson
To get into comics professionally, you're going to need two things. A good portfolio (writing or art) and a break. Be a tough enough critic on yourself so that when your break comes, you've got a portfolio worth looking at. Good luck!

Sal Velluto
ON BECOMING A BETTER ARTIST.
In order to develop our artistic "Muscles" we have to NOURISH and EXERCISE them regularly. Nobody can do this without the proper MOTIVATION , DESIRE and hopefully a healty dose of AMBITION. We need to have that FIRE IN THE BELLY, the CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE and the HUMILITY to make ourselves TEACHABLE. The process of studying and learning is neverending, so put on a POSITIVE ATTITUDE and ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Matt Wagner
My advice to both writers and artists: Try to draw your inspirations from the real world and NOT from other comic books.

Artists -- learn to draw cars, dogs and trees before concentrating on the exact shading of ripped pectoral muscles.

Writers -- indulge in many forms of fictions that seek to express the human condition before worrying about the defunct gravity on Krypton.
Above all, be prepared to WORK. Like making movies, the production of comics is a deceptive process. So long and arduous to produce...so quick and easy to consume.

Mike Wieringo
My best advise and encouragement to aspiring artists is to never give up, never let anyone tell you that you can't realise your goal, and to take as many figure drawing, perspective, and just plain life drawing classes you can to enable you to be the best artist possible. You have to learn the rules the way they're set down before you can learn to break them to stylize your art!

Good luck!!

Mike Zeck
I'll forego the "practice, practice, practice" speech and mention storytelling which editors should apply 60% weight to when judging samples and apply the remaining 40% to drawing ability. I say "should" because I'm not sure that it's happening in every case these days.

Next time you're in a theater, stay for the credits and realize that, as artist, you're responsible for every one of the disciplines other than story that scrolls down the screen as it applies to comics. Director, actor, camera, lighting, casting, props, costumes, special effects, and on and on. Then on the next visit to the theater, watch with a critical eye and study how all of those disciplines come together to create an effective scene. If you can do that, whether it be movies or television, you're on your way to learning storytelling techniques during your leisure time.

Be aware of the panel to panel flow on your comics page. The art, action, or design should help the reader's eye comfortably follow the story in the left to right and top to bottom manner that we're all taught. Make sure you know why you're doing it before you start overlapping, tilting and skewing panels or you'll only succeed in confusing and eventually losing the reader.

Tip of the day: When you're penciling a story (not yet dialogued), show it to a friend or family member and have them tell you what's happening on those pages. What they *don't* tell you is probably the best clue you can get as to where you've fallen short telling a story with art.

Don't sacrifice storytelling to the love of drawing "pinup" panels or the inability to draw backgrounds.