I've been picking up alot of those big thin books about comic book art and all. but something just seems wrong with all those books. Not one has a lession that I can see at least not the ones I've flipped through. Just mainly examples and frankly not enough examples or step by step stuff.

While online looking for Online Art Courses or possable local Art classes. I came aross a book with lots of pages and ran down the table of contents and foud that there where many areas to read up on and from what I could see alot of explanations of whats being talked about hinting towards lessions or at least tutorial based learning with in it's 260 pages.

I talking, By the way, about "MAKING COMICS: Storytelling secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels" by Scott McCloud and I was woundering if anyone else has read this book, seen it or knows anything about this book.

My art sucks, I want to learn, but I'm also poor and I really can't afford $15,000.00 and relocational cost involved in enrolling in an art school. cant affort bogus, here copy this art style, or anything like that.

I may beable to afford a WACOM soon, maybe even a Scanner or a Copy of Illistrator or a copy of Macromedia Software Suite.

Then again, this book is not be the only resource out there. however it so hard digging through all the crap "SHOW OFF" pages vs. the actual Step by step tutorials of Sketching and Pencle work ones. I've ran my self into a wall search for the latter and have come up empty handed.

Any one know of any tutorial or Free/Cheap Online lessions. By cheap I mean no more then 50-75 bucks. LOL...

Making Comics is an excellent book, but it doesn't teach you how to draw. It's about all the little bits of comic drawing that most people seem to miss. Things like word bubbles and placement, pacing/timing, conveying emotion. It assumes you can already draw to your own satisfaction.

You don't need a wacom or expensive software to draw- those aren't going to make your comic look any better in and of themselves. It's probably a better bet for you to try drawing with a very minimalist style (and practice of course). Everyone wants to be able to draw a fantastic comic but that takes years and years of practice.

I've never found a 'how to draw' book that I'm happy with. You really just have to observe and practice. Thinking about things as shapes helps me a lot, and trying not to worry about how I think things SHOULD look.

yeah, I said it in other threads, I'm more of a Carpenter and 3 dimentional Sculptur then a Pen and Paper Artist, thats my little brother. Then again I can't see how my 3D work won't be helped by a bit of pen and paper skill.

**Sigh** Guess It's time to get back to the looking for a good source of cheap or free how to draw lessons/tutorials.

Bummer...

Oh I do texture work for my Digital 3D Model, and yes while not exactly like Comic art, a WACOM and other Software package do help alot. Still I'm dirt poor. LOL... Guess that makes me a starving artist...

lots of tutorials online, a lot of talented artists are self taught

making comics is awesome.

Dont buy "how to draw" books, they usually seem stupid. Draw from life and draw from reference. Just draw as much as you can if that is what you are interested in.

I dont know if drawing classes work or not but you could always enroll in an artclass at a jr college near you.

I haven't read 'Making Comics' yet, but have you read his earlier book, 'Understanding Comics'? That book was so great! After reading that, I felt like the person before I read it was an idiot in the comic world!

Scotty, where will we be without you?

@subcultured: Yeah, I've raided the Tutorial Thread for every single site listed there. I've actully been working on propley building up my drawing rather then just going strait for the details. After all the idea is, the ink is all the viewer is sapposed to see...

@RobertTidwell:Haven't bought one yet. My little brother has and for some reason he actully got good. Now if that his own style or not, I wouldn't know. but the kid has got skills. Really wish he show up here and get himself an account of his own...

@crazyninnyHUZZAH!... Love that avatar. yeah seems like the guy knows his stuff, and I bet it's got alot of good stuff, if not How to draw, good stuff all the same. I may have to pick em both up somehow...

Ninja Krow
@crazyninnyHUZZAH!... Love that avatar. yeah seems like the guy knows his stuff, and I bet it's got alot of good stuff, if not How to draw, good stuff all the same. I may have to pick em both up somehow...

Thanks! Your avatar isn't so bad yourself! ^_^ *Ninja power!*

Oh yeah, Scott really knows what he's talking about. His book, 'Understanding Comics' takes you really deep into the meaning of it all, and do I mean deeply. @_@ Its not about who wrote what, and what comic was poperal where, but understanding things like... We'll, I can't really desricbe it, you just got to read it for yourself to see how he thinks. @_@

The DC Comics guide to coloring and lettering is quite helpful in some parts. It teaches you how to prepare lineart in photoshop for DC's printing standards. And gives a lot of helpful tips on coloring and computer lettering. For a beginner it's a really good place to start. It doesn't, however, provide a step by step on how to color and could probably use a lot more examples. Still it's one of the better drawing books related to the comics field I've read.

I still swear by How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way though. For everything it did teach me and everything it didn't teach me. It's always worth at least one read.

;-)

Well, in this type of situation, you can take several paths.

1. Teach yourself. It may take awhile, but if you're willing to work for it, than it's a good thing to do.
2. Go to book stores or Hastings and look for certain comic guides and just flip through them. They're very helpful (although I personally never used one).
3. Online guides are good. Just make sure that it's free and that it's credible.