ART TECHNIQUES/DRAWING

comic & fantasy artist’s photo reference

photo reference
comic & fantasy artist’s
Colossalof ACollection
c
Action-packed with 1,200 poses!
ction Poses

Colossal Collection of Action Poses

Created specifically for comic book and fantasy artists, the Colossal
Collection of Action Poses features page after page of energetic, high-
quality, artfully composed reference photos. This isn’t your average
visual aid full of boring, lifeless models in the same staid poses. In Buddy Scalera
this book, you get WHAM! (Karate chop to the head!) WHOOSH!
(Leaping out of danger!) ARGH! (I’ve been shot!). Running, flying,
kicking, wielding weapons, it’s all here, along with a great selection of
casual activities (talking on the phone, getting dressed, drinking) for
carrying your storyline forward.

• 1,200 dynamic facial expressions and poses,

with an emphasis on action
• Extreme angles, perspective and special-
lighting poses for maximizing drama
• Male and female models represent a range
of ages and ethnicities
• 16 step-by-step demonstrations show how
professional comic artists from DC, Marvel
and other top publishers use photo references
to create cutting-edge art

This collection brings together all three previously

published Comic Artist’s Photo Reference books,
along with brand new actions and demonstrations. It’s
powerful inspiration for drawing smokin’ scenes and
creating authentic characters that leap off the page.

Scalera

es!
US $29.99
Y0635 (CAN $31.50)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4403-0922-9
ISBN-10: 1-4403-0922-1

pos
52999
Impact-books.com
EAN

00
UPC

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 How to Use Photo Reference
BY SEAN CHEN
You’d think that looking at photo reference would
be a simple and straightforward process. But it just
isn’t. Photographs and comic book pages are two-
dimensional representations of three-dimensional
objects.
An experienced artist can trick the viewer into
seeing 3-D people, places or things by leveraging
art techniques such as foreshortening, shading and
perspective. A good photograph can help you add
weight, depth and realism to your illustrations. But
first, you need to know how to look beyond the flat
image of the photo to see form and motion.

1 Find Your Photo

Look for a photo that gives you the
pose you need to tell your story. There are
only so many ways that the body can move
and twist, but there are infinite ways to draw
it. As an artist, you can move your mental
“camera” in any possible angle to create a
new, fresh and exciting illustration. Choose
a photograph that closely approximates the
picture you want to draw. It may not match
perfectly, but as an artist you can borrow
gestures and expressions from other photo-
graphs or something that you envision in
your head.
This photograph shows a tall, physically
powerful man throwing a punch. The low
angle of the shot makes him seem even taller
and more imposing.

From an emotional standpoint, a reference

photo with two light sources adds drama,
depth and feeling to the figure.

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 Demonstration
Watercolor Painting From Photo Reference
BY MARK SMYLIE
A lot of my artwork is in the genre of fantasy. I paint
with watercolor because I like its subdued tones.
In this demo, you’ll see how I draw, paint, ink and
then add a little texture with colored pencils.

1 Select a Photo
For this demo, Buddy asked me
to take a look at a set of photos he
had done featuring a male figure
holding a bow. I chose this pose,
2 Build a Rough Sketch
which I thought had a very nice
dramatic quality because of the
foreshortening and the model’s
backward lean.
First I blocked out the pose roughly,
the overall gesture and proportions.
trying to capture
When drawing
I just set the photo
from photos, I don’t use a light box;
r to it.
next to my drawing paper so I can refe
. I dropped in the
I made a few adjustments as I drew
tions on the archer’s
arrow, and I adjusted the finger posi
the idea of giving
right hand a little bit and toyed with
it, as it were).
the figure pointy ears (going elf with

117

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 5 Ink and Finalize
I inked the image with a Rapido-
graph technical pen to sharpen
the linework. Then I retouched the
watercolor a bit. Finally, I added
some colored pencil here and there
to shape the colors more exactly or
to lend a bit of texture.

When I use photo reference, I do not simply

copy the photo. The final artwork is inspired For more action poses, visit
impact-books.com/
by the photo and hopefully draws from it for a colossal-collection

sense of energy and accuracy.

119

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 Flyi ng

211

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 Ru n n i ng

237

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 Demonstration
Draw a Character on a Background
B Y PA U L C H A D W I C K

Comic book artists use photographs as

a starting point to create a visual story
in one or more panels. Most reference is
photographed in a studio with simulated
daylight conditions. Creating a night-
time scene in an exterior setting requires
imagination and maybe some additional
photo reference.

2 Rough a Sketch
Make some rough sketch lines to get a sense of perspective and pro-
portion. Don’t worry about getting the pose perfect at this point; you
are
just trying to see how these pictures can be merged. The figure and the
background exist in two different three-dimensional worlds, and all you
have to work from are two-dimensional representations of those worlds.
Figure out how far this person is from the building. Based on the width
of the sidewalk and the photographer’s position in the street, this person
would be at least 30 feet (9m) from the building. The head is placed slight-
ly higher than the roof line to keep the focus on the character.
Don’t overlook opportunities to change hair and clothing.

1 Find Your Photos

The model here is in a striking, dram
atic pose
from a slightly low point of view, whic
h gives
her a sense of imposing power. Note
the strong
light coming from the right side.

262

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 wounded

54

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 cape

22

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 Expressions

176

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 73

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 table of
contents
2 Expressions 39
Angry 40
Confused 41
Happy 42
Sad 44
Scared 46
Wounded 50
DEMONSTRATION: Make Your Art
Tell a Story by Mike Lilly 56

Action 60
DEMONSTRATION: How to Choking 62
Use Photo Reference Crawling 64
by Sean Chen 6 Flying 65
Jumping 70

Men
Norman A. Kellyman 10
Kicking 74
Kneeling 76
Lifting 77
Punching 82
Loukas Papas 11 Pushing 88
Rory Quinn 12 DEMONSTRATION: The Body in
Jarrett Alexander 13 Motion by Matt Haley 89
Mark A.S. Dolson 14
Anthony Catanzaro 15
DEMONSTRATION: Character
Design by Rafael Kayanan 16

Clothes 21
Cape 22
Dressing 28
Police 33
Street Clothes 34
DEMONSTRATION:
Create Mood by
Mitchell Breitweiser 36

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 Action, cont.
Running 94
Sitting 98
Standing 102
Walking 106

1
Weapons 108
Blasts 110
Bow 112
DEMONSTRATION: Watercolor
Painting From Photo
Reference by Mark Smylie 117
Guns 120
Knife 128
Nunchucks 130
Staff 130
Swords 132
DEMONSTRATION: Team of
Heroes, Collage-Style by Jamal
Igle 142
Women
Haydee Urena 146
Vanessa Carroll 147
Chanel Wiggins 148
Pamela Paige 149
Zoe Labella 150
Ridada Elias 151
Veronica Bond 152

Clothes 153
Boots 154
Cape 155
Street Clothes 159
Dressing 164
1
DEMONSTRATION: Think 3-D
by Terry Moore 166
Dressing, cont. 170
Gloves 172
Hair 173

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 Lying Down 226
Make-up 227
Punching 230
DEMONSTRATION: Teen
7 Action Hero by Josh
Howard 234
Running 236
Sitting 240
Standing 244
DEMONSTRATION: Drawing
Energy From a Photo Refer-
ence by Thom Zahler 247
Swinging 251
Twisting 252
Walking 253

Weapons 254
Blasts 255
Bow 257
Expressions 176 Guns 258
Angry 177 DEMONSTRATION: Draw a
Happy 179 Character on a Background
Sad 180 by Paul Chadwick 262
Skeptical 182 Guns , cont. 264
DEMONSTRATION: Draw a Knife 266
Beautiful Woman by Greg Nunchucks 267
Land 183 Sticks 268
Scared 186 Swords 270
Surprised 192 DEMONSTRATION: Evolution
Wounded 194 of a Cover by JG Jones
DEMONSTRATION: Work from with cover designer Terri
Studies by William Tucci 200 Woesner 274
Swords, cont. 278
Action 204
Crouching 205
Climbing 207
Flying 208
Jumping 212
DEMONSTRATION: Tracing
(Yes, Tracing) by
Michael Oeming 216
Kicking 220
Lifting 222

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 More Stuff 282
DEMONSTRATION: Creating

3
Pitch Art by David Hahn
284
Battle 287
Drinking 292
Loading a Gun 294
DEMONSTRATION: Use
Photo Reference to
Create a Cartoonish Figure
by Fernando Ruiz 296
Phone 300
Romance 302
Slapping 306
Smoking 307
Special Lighting 310

About the Artists 314

About the Author 318
Acknowledgments 318

Dedications
To Janet
You’re still my favorite.

To Danielle & Nicole

Stick together and help your sister.
Everything else will fall into place.

To Dad & Mom

Thanks for years and years of support
and encouragement.

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