How'd you learn? Do you have any tips?

I'm kinda lost when it comes to paneling and lately I've gotten very lazy.

I just kinda learned while I was making it. Usually, I just sometimes come up with interesting panel designs while I'm working on the comic itself (usual strip comics don't... I just want to be different).

The only tip for paneling is to make sure it goes in order. I've seen my fair share of comics whose panels don't go in an understandable order.

...

Will Eisner! [en.wikipedia.org]

Study his work.
The man was exceptional when it came to sequential art and page layouts.

Well, I read and studied up on panel layouts from a variety of sources and then finnally flung up my hands in defeat and developed a cheat method.

What I did when I was putting up comic book style pages was to draw every panel - and I do mean EVERY panel - on its own separate page of paper, with as much detail as I wanted, and then I would look at the stack and decide what panel layout would best present the art work and the visual aspects of information or drama in the most appealing way, sketching in a possible panel pattern on a separate piece of paper. That done I would scan each panel/page into my computer and then cut and paste AND crop as necessary while placing the art onto a master page, in the pattern that seemed to work best for the collective artwork.

After a half dozen or so pages done this way I began to think in panel layouts and was more often able to thumbnail a page set up BEFORE doing the artwork, which is how it's supposed to be done. So, anyway, my methodology worked for me or was working, was allowing me to shift over to doing things the correct way when I finally decided that comic book style work wasn't what I wanted to be doing at the time.

Aside from the above, there's plenty of internet tutorials that tackle the subject and theory behind comic book style panel layouts.

I hope some of this helps.

I prefer making it in either squares or rectangles.

I barely do panels where one character just pops out and encompasses 2 or more panels.

I prefer 'order' in my work. lol

By reading differnt types and genres of comics, and using what I like.

At least for me, everything, including the choice of panels comes down to the point of the page. What emotional impact to I hope to inspire within the reader.

Scott McCloud (sp?), & Will Eisner are some of the creators who have done the best job explaining the cinematic impact of your typical panels.

For Terran Sandz I use a more free-form approach to my panels, as I like the chaotic feel that type of layout creates.

Broken Things employs a more traditional 9-grid layout, so I have to put alot of thought into whether I use quick shot 3 panels (fast editing) or panning shot, long panels.

Study the masters, and apply what you like. You learn as you go. This community is pretty good about letting you know when they think something doesn't work.

Later,
Chip

I, too, struggle with paneling - but I fully intend to work on it, and I've found Scott McCloud's Making Comics has some very useful hints and tips and tricks, as well as a pretty in-depth explanation of why certain panels work and others don't; lots on cinematic details there.

I've got Will Eisner's books, too, but I haven't read them yet. (To be perfectly honest, I'm not even all the way through Making Comics yet either)

Another tip is to read comics as much as you can, and then look at it from an artist's perspective - why does this page work? How does the action flow from panel to panel. How does the artist vary the art to create an interesting flow of tension across the page?