Jessica
Guest post: A five-week comics unit for teens
We welcome a new guest poster, Jess Worby, with this excellent lesson plan designed for older teens. This spring, I taught comics to an 11th grade studio art class at LOMA, a public art high school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The students had already been taught life drawing, bookbinding, paper-making, and more. I based the…
Guest Post: Paulo Patricio on how to make a panel grid in five minutes
in ActivitiesOur longtime friend and collaborator Paulo Patrício is an illustrator and cartoonist born in Angola and currently living in Portugal. Among his many projects, one that will be of particular interest to visitors to this blog is Quotesoncomics.com, an ever- growing collection of quotes about comics (also on Tumblr). Check his blog for more pictures and updates. It happens…
A holiday gift idea: the beginning cartoonist’s starter kit
The holidays are coming! Here’s a gift idea for you friends/relatives/encouragers/enablers out there: a beginning cartoonist’s starter kit! To get your special person started in comics, just use the following checklist to buy him or her the basic tools of the trade: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures will explain how to use all of this…
Guest post: Dan Berry’s guide to making 24-hour comics
In a few short weeks (January 29-30) I’ll be hosting the annual 24-Hour Comics event held at the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême, France (where Jessica and I are currently residents) and sponsored by La Cité Internationale de la Bande Dessinée et de l’Image. The 24-hour comic, invented by Scott McCloud, has become one of…
Teaching Comics to Teens
A two-week comics course for teenagers, taught and written by Jessica Abel. Originally published as a blog series in 2012, compiled here as a single guide. Week 1, Day 1: Using comics to tell your story With this post, we inaugurate a fantastic new series by Derek Mainhart, a cartoonist and teacher of comics at…
Guest post: Cartooning and Confianza
(Or, How to Get Your Students to Hug You at the End of the Semester) As a male teacher, affection in the classroom is a tricky thing. I cannot as easily show my affection for my students as some of my female counterparts seem to so easily do. I cannot engage in conversations about their…
Quickguides: scan clean-up for black-and-white linework
When we left off, we had a scanned and merged grayscale, 600 dpi, TIFF image. Right? If that’s not what you have, go back and check the scanning quickguide. There are many ways to approach cleaning up your image and preparing it for print. The one you choose will have a lot to do with…
Quickguides: Scanning
Comics are all about reproduction, so scanning and preparing your work properly couldn’t be more important. Learn to do it well. What you need for this tutorial: a scanner Adobe Photoshop ® your finished comic pages. Make a plan. Your finished comic pages will usually be on paper that’s at least 11″ x 16″. If…
Quickguides: basic layout
In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to lay out a live area. What is the live area? It’s the area of your paper that you’ll fill with drawing (you can draw outside of the live area, but then you get into advanced cartoning: bleeds). Your live area does not include the paper margins, but rather,…
Quickguides: more layout tips
Now that you know the basics of laying out a live area, you can learn some tricks that will help you with the task of laying out different ratios and types of pages and we can also start discussing bleeds. Lay out a live area at the right ratio without measuring anything. Let’s start with…
Quickguides: lettering
Lettering tutorial: Using the Ames guide Materials: Ames Lettering Guide Mechanical pencil T-square or ruler Bristol board Pens Instructions: Make sure your Ames guide is set to size”5″. Locate the 2/3 row, the bottom row of the three rows. Look carefully at the holes. You’ll notice that some of them are linked together with a…
Quickguides: bleeds
What are bleeds? Bleeds—where the image runs off the page—are a powerful dramatic tool in comics. In some traditions—manga in particular—bleeds are so essential as to be part of the basic storytelling vocabulary. However, you can only “see” bleeds in the final printed book and you need to plan ahead if you have decided to…
Supplies list
You can find printable PDF handouts of this page here: color | black & white | text only PAPER 8.5″ x 11″ office paper for sketching, thumbnails, taking notes 14″ x 17″ pad of bristol board – regular (vellum) or plate (smooth) surface for final artwork. Try Strathmore or Canson brand. Strathmore 300 Series Bristol…
What the nib-holding industry doesn’t want you to know.
Man, we have the awesomest interns. Hilary Allison, star of one of my huge student spotlight posts last summer, has been our intern all year, and she’s as fabulous as one would have thought having read that post. She’s also as obsessive. She came in one day beaming because she’d cracked the Nib-Holding Industrial Complex’s…
Interview: Diana Schutz on editing (circa 2007)
A bit of Drawing Words & Writing Pictures history: when Matt and I began working on that book, back in 2005 or so, we planned a 30-chapter behemoth. The idea was to have one chapter per week for a full academic year of work at an art school like the School of Visual Arts, where we…
Guest post: The silence of cartooning: observations from the front of the room
Here’s another thoughtful piece from our contributor Jarod Rosello. If you missed his first post for us, on using jam comics in a freshman comp class, you really shouldn’t; read it here. My classroom is not a particularly quiet space. It never has been. When I taught high school, the teachers in the rooms around mine…
Guest post: Paulo Patrício on character design
in ActivitiesPaulo Patrício is a dynamo. Jessica and I met him in Portugal in the late 90s and ever since he has impressed us with his enthusiasm and can-do spirit (in addition to being an excellent illustrator and cartoonist). Among his many projects are the website Quotes On Comics and his mini-sketchbook series, Le Sketch (which…
Guest post: Nick Bertozzi talks process
Nick Bertozzi is an amazingly talented and prolific cartoonist, a teacher, and a good friend. I was thrilled when I saw this post about the process he used to make his new book Lewis & Clark over at the First Second blog, and asked if we could repost it here. The book itself is out,…
Deleter: have you ever wondered?
in ActivitiesSavvy comics artists have been using Deleter brand graphic white to correct their art for years. Despite the name, it’s a Japanese brand, very high density, easy to use, good coverage. Finding a good graphic white is tough: when you find a good one, you really feel some loyalty. Deleter has earned ours. You can…
Gift idea: Starter kit for a beginning analog cartoonist
Here’s a gift idea for you friends/relatives/encouragers/enablers out there: a beginning cartoonist’s starter kit! To get your special person started in comics, just use the following checklist to buy him or her the basic tools of the trade: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures will explain how to use all of this stuff! Download your gift…
Tic Tac Toe comics–a comics jam for two players
in ActivitiesI just posted here about a new comics jam activity I came up with. Could be a good warm-up exercise or time-filler in a comics class or workshop..
Guest post: the expert comic book reader
Mary Churchill discovered our re-vamped website early on and has been an enthusiastic RT-er and #FF-er on Twitter. Here she shares some observations about comics as a field of study in academe. She is already threatening to write another post that delves into some notions about the process of comics-reading from her upcoming book. I…
Guest post: teaching Shaun Tan’s The Arrival in a secondary school English class
Last year I got an e-mail from Alison Binney asking for permission to use some images from my book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style for an article she was writing for an teachers’ publication. She recently sent me a copy of the booklet, Planning for Innovation in English Teaching, and I really…
Thumbnails for a 6-page story, Arid Ignition
in ExamplesHere are the thumbs, with notes, for “Arid Ignition.”
Character designs for a 6-page story
in ExamplesIt’s great to do the character pinups activity when getting started on a new story, but reality is not always so neat. Here are some character workups for a six-pager, “Arid Ignition,” we’ll see develop over the next few chapters.
Syllabus: 15-week DWWP class
DWWP is a 15-chapter book designed to accompany a typical university-level studio art class meeting three hours a week. However, if you are actually teaching a class like that, you will quickly realize that our book is quite generously overstuffed and there is almost no way you can touch on every single item in the…
Guest post: The jam comic: introducing comics in a writing classroom
in ActivitiesOur latest guest post is by Jarod Rosello, whom I met on a very interesting visit to Penn State last year. Jarod was ringleader of a group of creative writing grad students, all of whom were interested in comics, and in particular, in how to incorporate comics into their teaching of freshman comp and other…
Activity: a comic with no pictures
in ActivitiesThe “pictureless comic” activity, originally from Chapter 7 of DWWP, is one that we use constantly, in formal classes, in intensive workshops, and in casual talks and improvised situations. We once did it in a lecture hall at a comic convention with 200 people! It has so many advantages: at its core, it’s a study…
Video: lettering
At my recent workshop at the Miami Wolfsonian Museum, I taught the students about live area, how to lay out a page, and how to hand-letter. This is the second batch of videos, on lettering. The layout videos can be found here. All of this material is drawn directly from Teacher’s guide chapter 7: Lettering. Part…
Video: laying out a page
At my recent workshop at the Miami Wolfsonian Museum, I taught the students about live area, how to lay out a page, and how to hand-letter. I’m working on breaking down that demo into a series of short videos. These are the first few, on live area, original size, laying out a page, and laying…
Activity: the jam comic
in ActivitiesA great way to introduce people to the world of comics is to make a “jam comic” with a class or workshop. A jam comic is an improvised collaborative comic wherein one person draws a single panel and then passes it on to the next person, whose job it is to draw a new panel…
A simple minicomic format
in ActivitiesWe talk constantly about the importance of working for reproduction in our classes (and in DWWP, of course). Comics are, after all, primarily, if not exclusively, a medium seen in copies, not originals, whether those be on paper or digital. We have our students print minicomics at the end of most of our courses, but…
Activity: drawing prompts
in ActivitiesHere’s a warm-up exercise whose goal is to activate your drawing and storytelling muscles at the same time. It could be a classroom activity but it also works great to do on your own, at home or in a café or bar. This is also the first of a number of posts we will be…
Activity: sum of its parts
in ActivitiesIn our recent workshop at the Huntington Museum of Art, we had the opportunity to try out one of the few exercises from DWWP that we’d not used in a classroom before: the Sum of its Parts (page 23). This is a version of an activity we found in a few advertising class syllabi and…
Chapter 14: the Proportion Wheel
Before you forget everything we just did, test your skill with the proportion wheel a few different ways. Remember to use your logical brain. If you’re getting confused, think: Is the number I’m looking for supposed to be larger or smaller than the number I’m starting with? Is the proportion I’m finding logical? Will it…
Chapter 1: A ball Falling
in ExamplesActions within a drawing examples: a ball falling Place the mouse cursor over the image to reveal the commentary…
Chapter 1 Example: A newspaper
in ExamplesActions within a drawing examples: newspaper blowing in the wind
Syllabus: 5-day intensive DWWP class
This is a syllabus for a five-day intensive workshop that could meet for six hours a day over the course of a week or, alternately, over the course of five weeks. It would be too much to try and get through a multiple-page story in that time, so the focus here is on learning the…
Syllabus: 10-week DWWP class
This syllabus could easily be used for a 12-week class as well. It would probably be enough to add a few extra work days, but you could also add back in some of the lessons we cut here, such as 5.2, “Figuring out the figure 1” and 12.2, “Figuring out the figure 2,” or chapter…
Syllabus: 10 Week Course
This syllabus could easily be used for a 12-week class as well. It would probably be enough to add a few extra work days, but you could also add back in some of the lessons we cut here, such as 5.2, “Figuring out the figure 1” and 12.2, “Figuring out the figure 2,” or chapter…
Student guide chapter 15: 24-Hour Comic
Chapter 15 closes out the book with a fun creative challenge: the 24-hour comic. Prep questions What comes into your mind when we say the phrase “24-hour comic?” Supplies & prep penciling tools inking tools office paper bristol board 24 consecutive hours Activities 24-hour comic (or 3-hour comic) To make your 24-hour comic even more…
Student guide chapter 14: Comics in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Learn a straightforward scanning technique for high-quality line art, as well how to use the mysterious proportion wheel. Prep questions What do you know about how comics go from an original page to printed books? Why do we talk about reproduction so much? Supplies & prep a scanner and a computer equipped with Photoshop black…
Student guide chapter 13: Black Gold
Chapter 13 introduces inking with brush, another classic tool for inking comics. Prep questions Can you identify a drawing made with ink and brush? How can you tell? What do you like or dislike about the brush drawing you’ve seen Supplies & prep inking tools plus round watercolor brush for drawing, bristol board light box…
Student guide chapter 12: Constructing a World
Chapter 12 is a two-part chapter covering backgrounds and world-building as well as the basics of drawing hands and heads. Prep questions Have you read comics that take place in very convincing locations? Have you felt like you really entered that world, sometimes? How about the opposite, comics that don’t feel concretely located? Have you…
Student guide chapter 11: Setting the Stage
Chapter 11 explores panel composition and also includes a tutorial on designing titles. Prep questions 1. What are some of the things that go into deciding how to draw a given panel? Pick a panel in your homework to focus on in order to work this out. 2. What kind of effect can “camera angle”…
Student guide chapter 10: Getting into character
Chapter 10 discusses creating characters, thinking about their personalities, and designing them visually. Prep questions Can you name a character who doesn’t change? How about one who does? What’s backstory? What’s an antagonist? How does a spark depend on a character, and vice versa? Supplies & prep office paper pencils and pens Activities Play your…
Student guide chapter 9: Structuring Story
Chapter 9 explains concepts of classic storytelling. Prep questions What makes a story interesting to you? What is one of your favorite stories? Novels, films, comics, whatever… Can you identify the protagonist of that story? Think about what the protagonist needs to do in the story in order to get to the end. Supplies &…
Student guide chapter 8: Inking the Deal
Chapter 8 introduces nib pens, the classic tool for inking comics. Prep questions How essential is the look of inked drawings to your idea of what comics is? Have you seen comics that are drawn in other media? Do you have favorite artists who work in ink? What techniques do you think they might use?…
Student guide chapter 7: Lettering
Chapter 7 shows you how to letter your comics and argues for the importance of hand-lettering in comics. In this section you’ll find student examples of the activities and the homework. Prep questions What’s the difference between hand lettering and computer lettering? Why might an artist choose to hand letter? Whose lettering do you especially…
Student guide chapter 6: Getting on the Same Page
Chapter 6 looks at the page as a unit in comics, both in the context of a book and as a stand-alone form. In this section you’ll find student examples of the homework. Prep questions What comics have you seen that take place entirely on one page? What kinds of stories can utilize a single…
Student guide chapter 5: Penciling
In Chapter 5 we get into penciling comics. It’s the first of several chapters devoted at least in part to the myriad technical skills used in making comics. In this section you’ll find student examples of the homework. Prep questions How does a “pencil” (a penciled page) differ from a thumbnail? What are some of…
Student guide chapter 4: Bridging The Gap
Chapter 4 explores the concept of closure between panels that was proposed by Scott McCloud in his seminal book, Understanding Comics. In this section you’ll find student examples of the homework and a link to McCloud’s explanation of his comics game, 5 Card Nancy. Prep questions Look at a few pages of various kinds of…
Student guide chapter 3: The Strip Club
Chapter 3 explains the basics of the daily comic strip. Once you’re into multi-panel storytelling, there’s no turning back: you’re a cartoonist! In this section you’ll find versions of “The wrong planet” that you can print out and use if you’re working alone or in a small group. You’ll also find examples of the homework.…
Student guide chapter 2: Every Picture Tells a Story
Chapter 2 uses gag cartoons to show how image and text interact in comics. In this section you’ll find student gag cartoons for you to print out and add funny captions to. You’ll also find examples of the homework as well as a link to a gag cartoon contest. Prep questions What are some of…
Student guide chapter 1: Building Blocks
Chapter 1 introduces the basic terminology of comics and starts you off with a few activities designed to get you thinking about how drawings can tell stories. Prep questions In one sentence, what is your definition of a comic? Beyond words and pictures, what are some of the parts of a comic? What are some…
Teacher’s guide chapter 15: 24-Hour Comic
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 15.1 Marathon cartooning As an in-class project, obviously you’d need to take the 3-hour (or 6-hour, if your class is long) option on the marathon cartooning project, but even so, it is well worth taking the class time to do it. Every time we teach the 3-hour comic, there…
Teacher’s guide chapter 14: Comics in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 14.1 Producing reproductions If you have a classroom set-up or a nearby computer lab where you can demonstrate scanning using a projector, you’re all set. Otherwise you’ll probably need to assign this as a reading/activity to be done at home or in a computer lab. Consider having students e-mail…
Teacher’s guide chapter 13: Black Gold
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 13.1 The liquid line Supplement reading this section with a demo if possible, as well as more examples of brush art from your own collection. 13.2 Softening the black The point of this section is to underscore that brush (and pen for that matter) are not just used for…
Teacher’s guide chapter 12: Constructing a World
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 12.1 Creating a sense of place Right up front, we should say that we’re not advocating filling up every panel with exhaustive detail. We’re simply interested in encouraging students to research and/or think through their settings, and to give the project of creating a sense of place high priority,…
Teacher’s guide chapter 11: Setting the Stage
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 11.1 Panel design We’ve touched on composition before, but this chapter is our most in-depth and explicit discussion on the subject. There is a lot of material here, and it would be easy for a student to feel overwhelmed, so you might start the discussion by pointing out the…
Teacher’s guide chapter 10: Getting into Character
Corresponding Student Guide Lectures & discussions 10.1 Developing your character You’ll probably want to assign this essay as a homework assignment and use your class time to concentrate on the activity. Review the points of the essay by mentioning different well-known or fictional characters and asking students to decide which kind of character they are:…
