Our new textbook, Mastering Comics, releases officially on May 8 and to celebrate we will be giving away four copies in advance to lucky winners. We have come up with a contest and we will give away two copies here on the website and two in person at our table at the MoCCA Fest 2012!
We’ll be doing some drawings at our table. But in order to qualify, you need to do some drawing too!
To enter, you’ve got to make a doodle comic (see below) and either upload it or bring us a printout.
Online option: For the online contest, upload your comic to Flickr or any other image-sharing site, and post a link to it in comments here. Deadline: April 27 at noon. We’ll do the drawing for the two winners that afternoon.
MoCCA Fest option: To enter to win at MoCCA Fest, just hand us a photocopy or printout of the comic on Saturday with your contact info (cell number and email) on the back. We’ll draw two winners at random on Sunday afternoon. We will call the winners to pick up (If you can’t pick up within an hour, we’ll pick new winners).
This activity is, incidentally, the “extra credit” assignment from the first chapter of Mastering Comics. There, it has the more sober name of “Drawing Prompts Comic”. But a more appropriate name might be:
Doodle Comic
Timed, spontaneous doodling may seem pretty far from serious cartooning, but all drawing exists on a continuum. In this activity we’re going to doodle some more, but then we’ll introduce a sequence to the drawing and improvise a short comic strip from scratch…almost.
Materials
- office paper
- brush and india ink (or a brush pen)
- penciling and inking tools
Instructions
Draw a six-panel grid on your piece of paper (or download the nine-panel grid PDF here and print it out).
Get out your brush, ink it up, and, without thinking too hard or planning in advance, quickly make a single mark in each panel—a line, a squiggle, a blot—in different sizes and densities. Rinse out your brush and let your marks dry.
Look at each panel and try to see shapes or parts of outlines in the marks you’ve made: the curve of a nose, for example, or the drape of a coat, a tree, whatever. Take a pencil (or inking tool) and add to the marks, drawing what you see in your mind’s eye. Do this for each panel.
Now hold the page back and read the six panels in sequence. Is a story implied there? Look for the suggestion of a narrative thread and tease it out by adding to each panel: backgrounds, new figures, dialogue, sound effects. One of your marks may lead to the creation of a character who becomes your protagonist. In that case, you may choose to redraw him in other panels to give the story better continuity and flow.
Matt came up with this activity in his sketchbook a few years ago. He posted an example of his own as well as several variations by other artists here.
Pre-order Mastering Comics now!
Comments
16 Comments to Mastering Comics pre-release giveaway online and at MoCCA Fest!
by Lou Graziani
On April 18, 2012 at 8:13 am
Hey, this is a great exercise you’ve got here. I might share it with my next kids comic class.
by Evan Dent
On April 20, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Here’s my doodle comic:
http://evan-dent.blogspot.com/2012/04/mastering-comics-doodle-comic.html
by Dennis C
On April 20, 2012 at 5:58 pm
Here’s mine:
by Dennis C
On April 20, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Argh, I’ll try this again:
Doodle Comic
And just in case the link doesn’t work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77447460@N07/7097325801/
by Eli Mendoza
On April 22, 2012 at 12:16 pm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77527844@N06/?saved=1
by christopher green
On April 23, 2012 at 4:49 am
Here we go! http://www.wallofballoons.com/?attachment_id=117
by Lou Graziani
On April 23, 2012 at 8:26 am
Here is a link to mine:
http://cy-boar.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ruin_dive.jpg
by Sabrina Miguel
On April 25, 2012 at 9:25 pm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79473823@N07/7114394251/
by Brenda Moreno
On April 26, 2012 at 3:53 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79494276@N04/7115045987/in/photostream
by Mark VanderVoord
On April 26, 2012 at 10:56 pm
Woo! So Excited!
Here’s mine:
http://dr-surly.tumblr.com/post/21892725124/jessica-abel-and-matt-madden-have-written-a-sequel
by Helena Juhasz
On April 27, 2012 at 4:06 am
This was alot of fun! Here’s my version: http://helenajuhaszillustration.blogspot.ca/2012/04/doodle-comic.html
by Tzod Earf
On April 27, 2012 at 6:32 am
Congratulations on your book launch. After the first one, I know this one will be a winner!
Here’s my entry:
Initial Doodle and sketch – https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111271178704651174490/albums/5736023843334258369/5736024252429617282
Completed Drawing – https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111271178704651174490/albums/5736023843334258369/5736023845621829218
by Daniel Jocz
On April 27, 2012 at 11:56 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77681384@N05/6972759242/in/photostream
by Matt
On April 27, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Dennis C and Daniel J, you are our two winners! Please contact us at dwandwp@gmail.com with your mailing address to get your copy of Mastering Comics!
Jessica and Matt
by Dennis C
On April 27, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Awesome! Thanks so much! And great job everybody!
by christopher green
On April 27, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Really great way to run a contest, that was fun. Looks like i’ll be trading you a handful of $ for a copy next week at TCAF :0)