PAGES BY By 3 3 bite Ta Bi 1a) GEORGE PEREZ Ra ay fv Ps Ss BYJOE QUESADAHOW TO DRAW | THE BEST OF | BASIC | TRAINING volume | WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT: VICE PRESIDENT/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Pat McCallum * EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mike Searle « CREATIVE DIRECTOR Stevo Blackwell EDITOR Brian Cunningham + PROJECT EDITOR Sean T. Collins » SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR Joo Yanarella EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mol Caylo + EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andrew Kardon * CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Alejandro Arbona, Jesse Thompson * DESIGNERS Brad Bowersox, Darren Cruz, Tom Genese, John Gonzalez, Eric Goodman, Kenny ‘Martinez, Arlene So » CONTRIBUTORS Brian Michael Bendis, Danica Hall, David Allen Jones, Jairo Leon, Mark Putnam, Joe Quesada » RESEARCH EDITOR Danie! Reilly (CHAIRMAN Gareb S. Shamus * PRESIDENT/COO Fred Pierce + VP/CFO Edward P. DuPré » VP/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Martha Donato + VP/ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Ken Scrudato » PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Darren Sanchez DIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION Tom Conboy + DIRECTOR OF SALES Stowart Morales COVER ARTIST Frank Cho + COVER COLORIST Brett Evans + BACK COVER ARTISTS Matt Haley, Jim Lee, Greg Horn 208 Pen nc e-alerts on, eg YD EOE 0 26-089 edn ZAR HOW T FAW we weayrathrmsgonene eng rane nd epi spo epee a ere na sem WASH TO on =r apc EO ‘stn carom) naps pessoa ar Shwn Ey thn Boe aes 2088 habitat Ue Set ane WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGi) 4.| INTRODUCTION 1y soc csesia ae . 7‘C\ 6 | CHAPTER ONE: TOOLS OF THE TRADE 7 | ART ESSENTIALS by the wizard statt > |.) 6 11 | CHAPTER TWO: BASICS re 12 | FIGURE CONSTRUCTION by Jim catatiore {6 | BASIC PERSPECTIVE ty Bart Soars c {8 | ADVANCED PERSPECTIVE by Jim catafiore 22 | USING PERSPECTIVE by Jim catatiore tC 26 | SHADING by nartin wagner 30 | CHAPTER THREE: ANATOMY 31 | STRUCTURE by Kevin maguire 35 | HEAD & TORSO ty kevin Maguire 39 | FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ty Kovin Maguire i 43 | HANDS ty Gary Frank 47 | LEGS by Bart Soars 50 | FEET by Darick Robertson 54 | WOMEN by Joseph Michael Linsner 58 | SULTRY WOMEN by adam Hughos G2 | REALISTIC WOMEN by terry Moore GG | SEX APPEAL by michael turner 70 | TEENS & CHILDREN by tom Grummort 76 | PROPORTIONS by Date Keown 80 | CHAPTER FOUR: FIGURE IN ACTION 81 | BODY LANGUAGE ty matt Haley | 85 | MOVEMENT & MOTION ty Bort Sears | 89 | DYNAMIC FORESHORTENING ty matt Haley 93 | MAKING CHARACTERS MOVE by Mike wieringo 97 | ACTION SCENES by Jimtce {03 | FLIGHT by Phi Jimenez [4 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING| 163 | CHAPTER SEVEN: ADVANCED {08 | CHAPTER FIVE: CREATE YOUR WORLD 139 | CHAPTER SIX: STORYTELLING 254| INDEX 109 | REFERENCE ty Joc Kubert {14 | PHOTO REFERENCE by Grog Land {19 | BACKGROUNDS py phit vimenez 123 | SETTINGS by Jim catatioro (27 | TEXTURE by art Adams {31 | METALLIC SURFACES by Jim catatiore 135 | VEHICLES ty sean chen [40 | FUNDAMENTALS OF STORYTELLING by Joc kurert 145 | STORYTELLING by mike wiesingo 148 | LAYING OUT A PAGE ty Norm Breytogte {52 | PANEL LAYOUT ty terry Dodson 155 | DRAMATIC TENSION by Jim catatiore {59 | PACING by Jim catatiore 164 | GROUP SHOTS by George Pérez 170 | CREATING CHARACTERS by Joe Kubert 175 | MONSTERS by doug Mahnke 182 | MECHA ty Pat Lee 187 | ENERGY EFFECTS by Phit simencz (91 | SOUND EFFECTS ty watt sinonson 197 | SPLASH PAGES ty Jim calafiore 201 | COVERS ty Frank cho 206 |INKING by Joc Kubert 211 | POWERFUL INKING ty stove Lieber 215 | SHADOWS by Jim catatiore 219 | NEGATIVE SPACE ty Grog Horn 224 | SILHOUETTES by cduardo Risso 228 | MOOD by Kettey Jones v 232 | EVOLUTION OF A PAGE ty tom Raney & scott Hanna ve 238 | COLORING by christian Lichter & Aron Lusen 242 | SAMPLE SCRIPTS ty Brian michael Bendis 250 | BREAKING IN by scan. cotins WIZARD BEST OF BASICany years ago, during what DAN atic cicsine seen ‘Age of Modern tllustration, artists were called upon to draw with a ‘kil level so high that only the truly great could find themselves making it a profitable career. \ 7%) Back then, everything from books to magazine covers to front pages of newspapers to movie posters required the skill of the world’s greatest draftsmen and women. One couldn't walk the straots without seeing some of the world's most beautiful art gracing. billboards, automobile ads and even food packaging, And there was a great pride taken by these craftsmen, the pride in knowing that they could draw anything, | mean anything, on call. They had to; it was their job Today, with the advent of photography and computer graphics, arguably the great day ofthe great illustrators has passed... or as it? I would argue that as all the past venues for great illustrations have dried up, there is one that | believe to be the last bastion for great artists to express themselves and continually show off their wares. The advertising world’s loss has been the comic industry's gain! Many have commented on how over the last 20 or so years the at of comics has become more sophisticated, That's because nowhere else on planet Earth, in no other industry, will you find the briliance that lives within the world of comics today. I'm talk~ ing Grand Masters in the art of ilustration and, more importantly, storytelling. These great artists, who in simpler times would have found themselves working in other fields, now find that comics are ‘the perfect place to call home. The last place where they can truly, just pick up a peneil and use their God-given skils Which is what leads us to this moment, kiddo! | can feel your palms getting sweaty and you're starting to tremble with ‘excitement. | know, | know, you can’t wait to get past this fore- word and into what lurks within these glossy pages, but bear with me 5 for a second or two < more, because the Seo ced JOE QUESADA kind folks at Wizard have asked me to lay some knowledge fon you before you begin. As Editor-in-Chief at Marvel, artists always ask me what we look for in new talent. Is it a special style or technique, off the hook dynamics, perfect superhero anatomy? Nope, none of that “Where else on Earth will you find comprehensive lessons that will help you begin down the road to greatness?” We look for three major things: a burning desire (let's call it the eye of the tiger), the knack for telling a clear story and the ability to draw anything, | mean anything, on call Sound familiar? Think about it. As a comic artist, you may have to draw a western shootout one minute and a fantastic medieval battle the next. Where else would you find yourself doing that? Where else would you need to be able to do it all and do it all well? ‘And that brings us to this little book! Where else on planet Earth will you find comprehensive WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING i ilessons that will help you begin down the road to greatness? To achieve the skill and the knowledge that twill ake you to become professional comics artist? And, whore else will yu find all these things taught to you by such Grand Masters as Art Adams, Jim Calafiore, Sean Chen, Frank Cho, Gary Frank, Tom Grummott, Matt Haley, Scott Hanna, Greg Horn, Phil Jimenez, Dale Keown, Joe Kubert, Greg Land, Jim Lee, Kevin Maguire, Doug Mahnke, George Pérez, Tom Raney, Eduardo Risso, Dariok Robertson, Bart Sears, ‘Michael Turner, Martin Wagner and Mike Wieringo? That's right, right herein this little compendium of Wizard/'sbest Basic Trainings you'll get the beginnings of what could lead you to the top of the Comic book world, anc! al of it from the guys in the trenches, the worlds leading comic book artists. Hey, lok at me—tm running ‘Marvel and al had to do was draw some pretty pictures. Okay, wel, ‘not afl! had to do, but that sure was alot of i. Look, ! know at first some of this stuff may look tough—it did to all of us in the beginning—but here’s the secret: It's an incredible amount of fun! Keep that in mind and you'll find Yourself blazing through these lessons and craving more. Think ‘about being able to pay your rent by doodling your favorite characters everyday. Sure heats diggin’ ditches, don't it? And, hey, if you're just reading this book for the fun of it, that’s ‘cool. Have some fun sketching away, !can't think of a better hobby—well, outside of | checkin’ my eyelids for holes. i Bur remember this: don't skimp, don’t skip, ital fits together, You can't just focus on anatomy or storytelling without working on your perspective. You can’t Just work on your light sources without learning how to use it in conjunction with your storytelling. I's all part of the same thing; i's all part of learning the craft of classic illustration. So, that's it from me, kiddo. | sure hope to see you at one of Wizards wild conventions with your new portfolio in hand. Who knows, maybe someday you'll be one of our go-to superstar artists. Or who knows~maybe someday you'll be Ecitor-in-Chiof of Marvel? Hey, don't get any ideas! ‘Seo ya in the funnybooks, Joo Quosatla ‘Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada’s stunning pencils have graced the pages of Marvel's Daredevil and X-Factor. WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCHAPTER ONE:CHAPTER ONE ART ESS E NTIALS BY DAVID ALLEN JONES AND THE WIZARDSTAFF vven Jack Kirby needed an eraser. be like shopping for a lodestone in an occult shop—it’s all allen if ‘And i's not just erasers that you'll need if you want to be | you don't know your Bristol boards from your Blick brushes. ‘the noxt Jim Leo or Alex Ross. You'll want the proper pens, | This chapter will catch you up to speed on the basics—from brushes and T-squares to save time, avoid getting frustrated | pencils to inks to erasers—and give you some insight into what by faulty equipment and bring some pizzazz to your pencils. The | the comic pros use on thoir art boards. Now go broak opon that problems that walkingintoan art supply house forthe firsttime can piggy bank and buy yourself some real tools! PENCILS GRAPHITE These pencils (4) are available in a ' 2 wide range of densities, from 2H (hardest) to 6B (very soft), Hard “load”—as graphite is usually 3 called—lasts longer and leaves less material on the page to erase, With soft lead, you leave more - , ‘material on the paper and use it up quicker, and you'll find it more difficult to ink over soft lead because wet ink particles tend to roll off its surface. Twelve- packs can run from $4-$12. MECHANICAL Those pencils (I) are also svalabl na varity of leads, and have one big advantage ovor thoir graphite cousins—you novor have to sharpen them. “I use a .5 mechanical ppeneil for all my comic work, using H to B in tho holdor,” says Ultimate Secrot ponciler Stove McNiven. "Lead holders” (2) are basically big mechanicals that hold longer, thicker graphite, but they require constant sharpening. Typical mechanical pencils cost between $3 and $13, BLUE PENCIL Many artists, like JLA/Avengors' George Pérez, use a blue poncil (3)to do layouts and then go back to re-work them. The blue lead deosn't show up easily when scanned as a bitmap file or Xeroxed, and it’s easicr to distinguish ‘the rough lines from your final graphite pencils. Blue pencils average a lttle less than $1 each, Seni BRUSH TYPES You'l probably be getting more use out of the brushes ‘you use to create comic art than the one you use to |_ clean your teeth, soit's important to use the rghit ones WINSOR & NEWTON SERIES 7 This sorios is tho brush of choico for many comic creators, including Astonsihing %-Men's John Cassaday. Batman inker Tom Nguyen agrees: “Don't settle for cheap brushes. Personally, luse the Winsor & ‘Newton Series 7. If you take decent care of them, they'll last forever.” A Sorios 7 five-brush sot costs around $300, and tho ‘most expensive individual brush costs woll over $200 alone! But for an aspiring pro this canbe an investment worth making. at the right times. Brushos with a wide, flat ferrul (thie metal rng that holds the hairs of tho brush placo) aro goad for thick, sweeping linowork and filling in large ink areas, while ones with narrower, rounder forules are useful for dotail, The longth of | the brush's hair and handlos also affect its output. CHEAPER CHOICES Howover, thoro aro less exponsive possibilitios available for those of you on a budget. Dick Blick offers soveral options: For example, Blick's Academic Sable Round five-set is geared specifically toward students and Will only set you back $30. Imitation sable brushes aro also available for relativoly little cash, but thoy wear out much. quicker than actual sable, TOOLS OF THE TRADE 7 |ARTESSENTIALS PENS ' 2 3 4 s Your othr inking option is the pen, which when used { well is indeed mightier than the sword. As with brushes, however, you need to select the right tool for the task at hand, MARKERS Your standard foll-tip magicmarkers offer a reliable ink flow, are generally inexpensive and don't require refills; the problem fs that their ink tends ‘ofade off the page overtime. ‘Wide felt-tips (f) are the right choice for large black areas, while fine felt-tips (2) and Sharples (3) give you more precision, TECHNICAL PENS Unlike felt-tip markers, technical pens (5) keep your artwork vibrant for ages. Tech pens use ‘ofillable India ink to produce a consistent line with a precise thickness (or a “flat line”), and since they hold a lot af ink they ‘can be used for long lines, making them good for panel borders and the like. For technical pons, uso standard Rapidographs by Koh-L-Noor,” says Astonishing X-Men's John Cassaday, Nibs (the ink-dispensing tips) come in a variety of sizes, so I's “wise to buy a set of pens; that'll set you back around $100, CROW QUILL Tech pens have their drawbacks: Some artists regard them as temperamental and hard to clean, and thei line is too consistent to offer changos of weight or quality. If you want alino of varying thicknoss (Iiko most comic artists do), ‘you want a erow quill pen (4) in your artistic arsenal. This is the type of pen you dip into an inkwell to refill, and a wide array ‘of nibs are available to help you achieve the effect you need. Just keep in mind that since their ink reservoir is hold within tho nib itsolf,erow quills roquire froquent rofilling and ean only be used for rolatively short lines. INKS . Sis ute cae Uae Reus Wat ate a “Learning how and why use is a matter of personal preference. You'll - find that certain kinds work better with th k h 1 Aitferen instruments, “Experimont with Ings work helps different brands to see what sults you,” says hertevcnwomieneweeneres PFSONalize your art and samo." Fortunately, a wide variety of inks are Bee ents atts set you apart.” with thicker inks, such as those made by Kooh- —JOHN CASSADAY, Astonishing X-Men Noor. You can mix thicker and thinnorvaritios until you find the right consistency. If you're using a crow quill pen, 2 thinner ink (e.g. Higgins) will flow more effectively onto tho page Tochnical pens, such as Rapidographs, cane the most challenging instruments to clean ‘and use, t's bost stick with ‘the thin ink made specifically {or the pen you'r using OF course, you're gonna make mistakes, so Pro White {sa must. Thishelps ‘opaque your ink, and is vastly more fective for corrections than regular white-our, [ (si; f go WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING= : zs KNEADABLE (t) Those rubber erasers pick up pencil lines after a piece has been inked. Thy can be molded into different shapes in order to clean up large or small areas and are virtually crumb-free. They usually run for less than a dollar apiece, deponding on size. | ART GUM (2) Asofter eraser that crumbles easily, but treats your surface more gently than your standard Pink Pearl eraser. Inkwork on top of an area gritted-up by an eraser can bleed heavily, and the art gum helps avoid this problem. PINK PEARL (3) This is the traditional pink eraser we all know and lovo. It's dopondablo for erasing pencil lines, but can get a little crummy and smoary if you're not careful. WHITE VINYL (4) Thisis tho most used correction tool because they are tho gentlest of erasers. It works well over ink, doesn't crumble and lasts longer than knoadable and art gum erasers. DRY CLEANING PAD (5) This is a thin cotton bag full of minced eraser particles, It's not so much an eraser as itis a guard against smudging: The porous surface lets the particles leak out, so that if you're using tools like T-squares and rulers, they'll just glide over the particles rather than scraping against the page. @as | es | | BRISTOL BOARD Now that you know what you're gonna draw with, what do you draw or? Nearly all professionals use 3-ply Bristol art board, which ‘comos in two finishes: cold pros and hot press. Hot press is preferred for ink work, since it hhasa smooth surface, comparod | to.cold which is rough and better sulted for charcoal, pastels and pencil artwork. Bristol board ‘can be purchased in large sheets and cut down to tho size you ‘ood; individual sheets are afew dollars a pop. “What's right for me may not be right for you, so do some research before you go down to the art store.” -~STEVEMoNIVEN, Ultimate Secret DRAWING TOOLS Unless you're some kind of freak of nature, you'll need help drawing straight lines and perfect circles. Your utility bolt should carry tools like a T-square (D), triangles (2), templates for various shapes (8) and amechanical compass (4), plus a standard sponge (5) and a cloth rag (6) for picking up spills and ing tools clean. TOOLS OF THE TRADE gARTESSENTIALS | YOURWORKSPACE Setting up your studio is when you. ‘really get to feel like an artist First, you'llwant an adjustable drawing. table, so art can be placed at a ‘90-dograe angle to your vision; these typically cost around $300- ‘$400, though cheaper mods aro available. Besides a comfortable chair, you'll also need an overhoad light for your table, Legendary Spider-Man artist John Romita ‘Sr says, Irecommend a lamp that hhas dual incandescent/fluores- ‘cent bulbs. They emit light that ‘simulates outdoor light, and they're ‘much easier on the eyes." You ‘might even want a mirror to holp with facial expressions. Decorate your workspace with items that'll inspire you—from postors to action figures to original art you've acquired—and you're good to go! | THEBESTREFERENCES Here is just a sample of the resources at your disposal when learning to draw liko a pro. lf you find you need help in one area, naturally, you should seck out as many roferances as possible to strengthen your skills, ANATOMY AND FIGURE DRAWING + Dynamic Figure Drawing, Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Heads and Hands by Burne Hogarth—the artist who mad his rep by drawing Tarzan newspaper strips back in tho '30s and 40s teaches you the basics + Goorge Bridgiman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life—a collection that provides tons of dynamic posos and collects the soparate Bridgman volumes in one handy tom + Human Anatomy For Artists by Eliot Goldfinger—a bit pri but very comprehensive THEORY * Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner—tho creator of the Spirit instruets on the nuts and bolts of storytelling * Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics by Scott MeCloud—both ‘books pravide fresh ideas, advice and viewpoints on the comic art form COMIC MASTERPIECES: + Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons—a revolutionary approach to superhero storytelling, + Batman: Year One by Frank Millor and David Mazzuecholli~a beautiful use of light and shadow * The Deadman Collection by Noal ‘Adams~a look at the innovative, dynamic art of Adams at his lato: ‘60s peak wu) WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCot a ee BASICS + FIGURE CONSTRUCTION Or eas ye 3 SV Hs gts a3 * USING PERSPECTIVE ayespecific to an artistas his style. I's amatter | strongly recommend that you find some books on human, ‘of finding a comfortable process that is also | anatomy and figure drawing. Andif any schools or studios somewhat time efficiont (espocially when working on a | in your area offer lfe-drawing classes, sign up for them, ‘monthly ttle). This is how I doit from scratch. ‘Why? Because we have to grasp the basics. We nood to, ‘Bofore we begin: This isnot an anatomy lesson. There's | understand structure before we can distort it. iii ‘ethods of figure construction can be as | not enough room to even begin to explain that subject. PROPORTIONALRESPONSE ‘Using the height of a human hoad as a unit of measure, the inreal-world proportions, no matter how bulging the muscles, average person Is between seven and eight heads tall, give or It's the largor size of his body compared to his head that gives, ‘take, But we're not drawing real people. We've all seen awide him his great bulk. (He should also be drawn larger overall, ‘variety of body proportions in comic books, depending on the and I'll usually enlarge his hands and fect even more.) Thor artist; everything from realistically rendered to pin-hoaded just wouldn't look right if his shoulders weren't two times Jbohemoths.h’s up to you to decide which approach works best wider than they should be. for you, but there are times when reality just won't do. The Varying proportions can help ereate character, Hulk, for example, would look just like another puny humanBLOCKHEADS ‘When drawing. figure, | usually start with the head. I find it easier to “drop” the body off the nock than trying to position the head on an already sketched-out body. The diagram below shows four stops to how handle basic head construction: ‘As you can see, I'm laying out basic planes of the face, just in, ‘an extremely simplified form, (With tho fourth example you can 800 how this approach helps in finding shadows.) This is the basic shell I use for most of the heads I draw, and ! simply adjust the structure tofitthe character as {rough it in. Inthe {igure to the left, you can see how I've drawn amore detailed ‘hoad from the simplified boginning. WITHATWIST | | When first workingout a particular pose, I start Goa | by drawing little stick figures, Unless a character is at complete, standing rest, | usually try to twist the body, even if only alittle bit, Liko a spring, it adds tension to a paso. In Figure A, I've di through the head, shouldors and hip: ‘tree major independent parts of the body. At | standing est, these lines are paral. n the next figure, you can soe the rotations of each , | line as I “twisted” the figure, | __Becareful Youcan oly twist so far bofore it starts to look woird. One major part of the body can rarely turn perpendicular to the part above or below it. Try it. Turn just your head, * ‘and you'll see that your chin can't get all the | way to your shoulder. at loast not without ‘sovore pain and a trip to the chiropractor. The ‘same is true for your torso and hips. ‘Sometimes I'l ovon draw tho “twist* lines first just to sce how the tension reads, / BASICSskeleton. (Well, just a few of them, __and greatly simplified) It helps to work out various lengths, and to visualize | notice the heavy lino | ng the spine, In this stage, | it helpful to lay in the spine after “the head; it helps kecp things in line don't get the head, torso or hips position, From the spino, ribeage and a rough ‘pelvic shape. Th naturally from 1 Note that I've included the “twist” lines through the head, torso and "pelvis to help orient the figure again. ROUGHLYSPEAKING In this figure, 1 rough in the basic body forms—chost, ‘trunk, arms, legs, etc, I'm still not being too specific here, just trying to get the proportions fooling right. | use ‘simple ovals, tubes and blocks to build the fig jatomy is helpful with the mass of the u'll also note that in some places, like ke | lineating specific plans did with the "block heads.” Draw from-lifo; tll you get used to-it—windowpanes, Come a ec eS CG eerie ae Eee eee Se ae aha WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGim Calafiore’s fino craftsmanship has improved tho pages of many comic books, including DC's Aa id Marvel's Exilos.CHAPTER TWO: PART 2 BASIC PERSPECTIVE wis: of porspective was gleaned frommany sources | chest of perspoctive knowledge. ! fat many different times in my life, One such | According tomy Webster's Dictionary, “perspective” source ve discovered a book which have foundto bo | is"! Theartof depicting objects on a plano.s0 as to show the best single source of perspective drawing: On the | three dimensions and indicate distance away from the ‘Spot Guides: Perspective Drawing by Mark Way | observer;2, Proportion, interrelation, soale;3. Appearance (published in 1889 by Outline Press, London, England). | in torms of distance.” I don't think could have sald ‘Anything you want to know isin t, explainedin relatively | it better myself. G reetings and salutations! Much of what Lknow | simple terms, clearly illustrated. t's a veritable treasure PERSPECTIVE TERMINOLOGY 1. Line of sight: An imaginary ine traveling straight out from the spectator is viewing tho scone, Each panel in.a comic book would 65, Picture plane: An imaginary vertical plane through which the converge at only one vanishing point, Vviowor's eyes to infinity. be considered tohave been drawn on this Imaginary plane. 2.Horizontine: Aline dravm horizontally across the picture plane 6. Ground line: A horizontal line drawn to represent the ‘at the point of intersection with the line of sight. intersection of the picture plane and the ground plane. 3, Vanishing point: The point at which receding parallel lines 7. Ground plane: The horizontal plane on which the viewor is appear to converge at the horizon lino. standing: does not havo tobe the ground plane of the picture, 4, Standing point: The point on the ground plano whore tho 8. One-point perspective: The simplest form of drawn spectator is standing. perspective (digram above) in that allrceding parallel Hines. = & a g WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCONVERGENCEAND FORESHORTENING ‘The principle of convergence states that when object with parallel When objects of equal size recede into the distance, they appear sides are seen in perspective, paraloltines receding from the viewer to get smaller the farther they are from the viewer. This is known as appear to meet atthe horizon line (no convergence). foreshortening. When the amount of porspoctive is slight, tho ‘These receding lines are known as vanishinglines, and the point — foreshorteningis gradual and barely noticed; when the perspective ‘atwhich they converges known as the vanishing point, is severe, the foreshortening is dramatic and powerful. ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE Ve constructed a one-point perspective grid above. Note how the standing point from the previous page translated to an actual drawing, Notico the 15-degree line drawn from the standing point to the horizon line and pay attention to how this ig point was usod to help construct the floor and wall grids, Note also how the series of res were dotormined by locating balance points and following the vanishing tines rom the top of the head to the vertical lines drawn up through the balance points. There is a lot going ‘on here and not much space to teach it. Study it and figure out the best that you can, Bn ne een CO en eee Ree LCE ag Coie nett Semen ‘THERE YOU HAVE our first real look at perspective, areal barebones kind of look as well know that a lot of this might not make a whole lot of sense to start, but keep trying and koop drawing. There's just so much ‘to drawing, and this is really apretty small forum, but hang in there and, eventually, we'll gt it all covered. @ Bart Sears, artist an comics like Marvet'sSabretooth and DC's Justice League Europe, thinks you should have a unique perspective on life, then draw it.im Calatiore here again. ve often stated in tutorials like 1M also say that thore's no ws those that my tochniquos aron't the only way to go, but | possibly covor all tho subtleties of porspoctvo..oven inthis this one's abit different. When itcomesto accurately rep- _ lesson or the next one, “Using Perspective,” on page 22. As with resenting foreshortened objects and creating the illusion of depth, any technique you're interested in, | suggest looking for a book on you must know perspective. | ‘the subject at a store or your local library. Now let's get to it! THEVANISHER | Wolll start with one-point perspective: aneeeeeebonT (Figures: tit ~ ingle point, _eenat | thet erie tea plane—uch a the — , preazoue Earth=then that line isthe actual horizon, _ Butit doosn't have to bo, This line can also be called the eye line. Whichever you call ow - ithe ine runs parallel to the camera, HI CHILD’SPLAY ‘One-point perspective deals with the foreshortening of one dimension, In Figure C, tho depth of the room is oriented to the vanishing point. The ‘other two dimensions, height and with, ‘remain parallel to the camera plane. Perspective can be manipulated to > AND THE RARSHERTAND BRIGHTER THE UGHT IS... saines: (Chase ace kinde yreral, stl.) £ *GUN IN DESERT, NOTHING AROUN? FOR “Esko SUNLIGHT RY DARK SHADOW pea NRL FURS ED + LIGHT FROM CEI How To SHADE "AN OVERVIEW: JU CAN 10 FEN SHADIG, SUCH AS CROSS-HATCHING, THOUGH IT TAKES PRACTICE. AND ONLY REALLY LOOKS GocD WITHA “ZiP-ATONE." ACTUALLY, THEY'VE. GONE. OF BUSINESS. I USE. FORMATT. * OR, se COMICS TOPAY LIKE LUFTWAFFE USE SOFTWARE PHOTOSHOP’ 1946 Expegeny wit A07S oF Works BEST FoR You! * LESS STUFF Ht SE CeOWQUIL (bad ea ps, 0) ‘ey.cntcur con FM or SOMETIMES “OKAY, WELL, THIS {5 COOL. AND EVERYTHING, BUT HOW DOI por? (S OBVIOUSLY WHERE THE LIGHT iS ING FROM. IT COULD BE THE SUN, \MBIENT (or BOUNCED) LIGHTING: SS UGH THAT Is REFLECTED OFF OR OTHER OBJECTS IN THE PANEL. BOUNCED BACK ONTO THE: SUBSET DRAWING. 2 Newt. 1S TD BOUNCE, THE DARKER THE SHADING. cr Waar A DireREce ‘SHADING MAKES! ete a peau Ati, MuC# BETTER. Lors OF Perms Ane ND LGHT er Sage. eed FLAT, A BG Yau, Founese Ue Tor Lane ae FEN, SS “UHEAR THB CUE CAL CALLED. our LUKE ADOBE ™* TO PO THEIR SHAVING. FEAR NOT, WZKIPS. OUER THE NEXT TWO PASES, ERICA GONNA WALK YOO THROUGH (1, StP-By-sTee! BASICSENS, ANP... TARE ATOR AT TE DEPERENT URERS OF COSTING WENT POL COSS-HATOAING IS HOVE. BY PeawN SOF LNES Af SO FEGREE“ANGLES To ce ore Gra, eke JUST GOING 10 FRACICE ON & : pe) Ni os, LIKE A CUBE. 50, GRAS Your hue \ Zines X Bunes SK Anes Mr oe ie WB wh, Wek NNER es A vans pc oO OKAY, HERE'S OUR CUBE! Now, we Wasi THE SHADING ON THE CUBE To we A ‘YEP, THATS A CURE, ALL RIGHT. SO LET'S START BY LITTLE Bir LIGHTER Than THE SHADOW ON THE PECIPING WHICH DIRECTION WE WANT ouR SOURCE. GRDUND. WHY?? BECAUSE OF ALL THAT BOUNCING LIGHTING COMING FROM. How eeour— AMBIENT LIGHT, REMEMBER? So: + Z-LINE cRoss-HaTeHina on THe CUBE! + ALINE. ceoss-HatcHo on we GROUND! TWAT MEANS WERE GoXna SHADE. THIS SVE. You Rockit Now) I7'S THE SAME APPROACH WHEN You cur — | THIS IS WRONG! wave SHADING FILM. CWELL SHOW You How our ret | i) UNkes ARE THE SAME ROT OM THE CURE: AND “Re THE NEXT PAGE.) SEE? WE USED SLIGHTLY LIGHTER GROUND. THE DRAWING LOCKS FLAT. TONE ON THE CUBE ITSELF. EASY, 2) SHAPE OF THE SHADOW POESAT MATCH THE CURE SHWE, SO WHERE'S TRE UGHT GOIRCE: COMING Feon? eas, | WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGflowy ro Cur Sanne (Fite... aM THIS STUFF IS PRETTY EASY TO USE (BUT IT HAS SOME DRAWBACKS), 4, he stl dain ‘carehuly here. | | Ch weasune tH Tie Ava oF Ft cu Dro WE NOUR LATO KNIFE. ANP TRIM NED HIN CUA AL OF THE EXCESS FILM, | LIGHT BOK, Te Alar ease) Nyaeom KNIFE, CAREFULLY CUT THE | FILM LIFT IT FROM TTS BACKING, AND ‘STICK TT OVER THE FART OF THE: DRAWING YOU WANT TO SHAPE. + TTS EXPENSIVE! ANYWHERE FROM $5 10 $10 PER SHEET# * LOTS OF ART SUPPLY SHOPS DONT STOCK IT ANYMORE. "YOU SHOULIANT USE IT UNTIL NOUVE GOTTEN. “THE HANG OF HAN?-SHAPING. NOTHING LOOKS WORSE. A COMIC. Bav/T00 Wh ie ORE vi PRACTICE UNTIL YOU FIND ONE. “THAT WORKS BEST For You! > The many shades of Martin Wagner can be seen in his creator-owned series Hopcats. Basics [4]CHAPTER THREE: ANATOMY Oe Tia Ua EE) Sar eh B a asst) ihsy SUNK Se Lath aga ca (01) 3) + SULTRY WOMEN aay Ce (11a e200 B Ca aS TA SUHreetings, young artists and curious onlookerst | Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League. Mayhap you. ‘Wolcome to Wizards “Structure 101." ile your know me from The Defenders from Marvel. But that's instructor today. You may call me Professor enough shameless shilling! You're here to learn, Now that Kevin, Perhaps you are familiar with my work from DC's the pleasantries have been exchanged, we have a lot to Fo ‘Known as the Justice League, or its follow-up cover, s0 let's bogin! ANATOMY [Kj]HEADHUNTING ‘There's been a great deal of debate, both scientific and barroom, about how many hhoad sizes tall tho human body st ‘our instance, well settle on eigh illustration of Black Widow to (Figure A), In Figure B we've included an illustration ‘of popular figures (and a gawking kid) of ‘various sizes and shapes. You have your short and stocky, lithe and lean, standard heroic ‘man, real superhero, and, of course, a behemoth. This, | hope, gives you an idea about the flexibility of head size. (Naturally, ‘Modok—not pictured—is in a category all his own) ie loft Prater ete Teac eae her irony ANATOMY [EK]FLUIDINTAKE Now wo take it to the finishing stage, Become familiar with ‘anatomy. Know the difference between atricep and a quad. ‘Know your elbow from your.,tawer back. I used to look at, ‘body-building magazines and that was a lot of help, but don't limit yourself to that. Sticking to that may cause stiffness, of the figure (advance cases, see your doctor). Sock out, ‘martial arts or dance magazines. Become familiar with the, ‘body in motion. Fluidity..it's a beautiful thing, ‘As you can s00, I tond to make women leanor than men, FEELINGTHELOVE ‘Tho figure isn’t just a figuro, it's a porson. It has feolings. You can help advance a story simply by the way you have your ‘charactor stand, Without scoing their face or roading an attached line of dialogue, you can let the reader know just how a Russian fomale Olympians notwithstanding. Now that we have the basic figure down, what can we do ‘with it? Heck! What CAN'T you do with thom? Here aro a couple of things to keep in mind. When you're illustrating action sequences—the rules, like your figures, aro a bit more floxible. Try to have fun with exaggeration and. foreshortening. A fist that’s approaching your face looks a lot bigger in proportion to the rest of the body. Trust me. ‘character's feeling. Is he mad? Tired? Dejected? Fun, isn't it? ‘Well, students, congratulations! You've graduated "Structure 101.” But don’t think that's all there isto learn, Don't beliove me? Just turn the page! ‘Kevin Maguire is best known for his cult-classic run on DC's Justice League International, as well as The Defenders for Marvel Comics. ELM WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGJourney to be better comic book artists. In this _ building off a basic torso, we can work toward a completed lesson, we'll focus on the head and torso. | form. Before we get there, however, let's take it one part ‘As discussed inthe provious chapter, like to scribble my at a We ‘eager pupils, to the noxt chapter in your figures as opposed to using the block method. By t's start with the head, a horn head in this instanco. As illustrat you can see where the basic features line up in propo in the middle, nose a little lowe m sure you didn’t neod to read an instructio mind that the shape of the head and ts feature sventuall jot always going to be gla ‘mouths clamped expressive, which natu opon to those change ANATOMY [EJKL WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGEXERCISE THOSEABS! ANATOMY [EdIWIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGFACIAL EXPRESSIONS scsi nscunc ver since | got started inthis bz, people have always com- | smug look on his face. No need for dialogue, Then watch the ‘mented on my use of faces, asking me who my influences | trap go horribly wrong. For me, the hysterical part wasn't when, |were. That's easy: Chuck Jones. | ‘the boulder crushed him, it was the pathetic look on Wil If you're not hip to old Warner Bros, cartoons, he’s one of face just seconds before, when he realized he was screwed. the all-time great animation directors and creator of Wile E. Knowing just what type of expression to give your Coyote and the Road Runner. Check out any scene where Wile character is an important skill. So grab your pencil and E. sets a trap for his fleet-footed adversary and notice the __ let's get emotional! CREATINGLIFE 1 once had an idea fora comic following the life ofa rack. Yeah, tcan hhoar yout “The story ofa rock? Who cares?!” Sure, intellectually, we ‘might laarn something about goology, but emotionally, you're right. Who cares? There's nothing to relate-to, and that's my point. KODAKMOMENT Okay you'ro given asoript whore Hawkeye and Captain America __ Now, there are lat of valid directions you could go with are chatting with a couple of women. Hawkeye's doing the his look, like intense fury or surprise. | chose this moment, | | talking, Let's say his dialogue's something like this: Fbocause it's the most interesting, i's during an emotional | “Hello there, adios. You're looking mighty fine. transition between being happy and insulted. sinensis se ‘that's unique to this moment, as opposed to shawinghim purely. ‘oxprossion hore holongs to Captain America. insulted which could apply almost anywhere, (Especially with ee eee aes friends like Havkeye,) before, Not after, ANATOMY [EE]CHARACTERACTING ‘A good way to works to think of yourself asa director, and your, characters as actors. I's your job to make them perform. Personally, Inever think of comic charactors as costumes with | powers. To mo, they're people. They each react to things | differently and you don’t need dialogue to get that across, Lot's use the X-Men gang as an example. Hero's the story: Professor X heads into the den and fires up the Nintendo, but it _won't work. I's broken! So he goes around asking who brokeit. Each /%Man answers with the same four words: I didn't break i!” See if you can match the correct face to the thought: Let's take a look at what I call my “two-face theory." I's abit ‘more exaggerated than the Captain America shot on the first ppage, and i's something! like using with deranged characters ‘to give them a quirky sort of oxprossion. It’s real easy, Take a shot of the happy Sabretooth and Cll wizar> BEST OF BASIC TRAINING ‘A) I didn’t doit, but 'm sure I'm gonna get blamed for it. | 1D) How many times dot | E) Okay, I did it. But 'm not going to admit it, Ym not gonna tell you who was thinking what. If you can't ‘igure it out, then Lhaven't done my job properly, Break off into individual discussion groups if you're having trouble. THETWO-FACETHEORY | paste it togothor with a shot of him furious. Chock out the results by placing your hand over one side of the third illustration, then do it to the other side, Get it? It’s kinda fun, Now try it with other expressions to see what kind of combinations you can come up with,INYOUREYES Okay, you're penciling X-Men and the script says two words: “Wolverine smiles.” But thore's more to a smile than just flashing enamel. Ask yourself what else is involved. How does he feot? Why i he smiling? Each of hese three facesis exactly the same except for the eyes (and the eyebrows ‘nd forchead). Doing different things with the eyes dramatically changes the meaning of his smilo, In the first Wolverine seems sincera, almost charming. In the second, he looks giddy, even goofy, Not ata the Wolverine we're used to, But the third ‘one, that's tho Wolverine we know and love. That's smile that says gonna kill someone and enjoy it!" It's the eyes ‘that make all the difference. They're not called the “windows to the soul” for nothing, THEEYESHAVEIT {hate drawing characters wio have no pupils, (And no, I don’t moan students) You lose a valuable tool without them. Martial artists suggest lookingin your opponents’ eyes to soe when thoy N attack. (Or maybe | heard that in some Jackie Chan movie) =o aTR vei ‘Anyway, check out those shots of Wolverine with his mask on. You ‘get ahotter sonso of what he's thinking when you actually see his ‘yes. Granted, not showing his eyes works to Wolvie's advantage Inbattle, but you see what you're losing as a storytellerLINESTRENGTH {was taught that when drawing comics you need bold, strong Yos,itindicatos shock, but you've gotta agreo that the second lings. And in alot of eases, that works just fine. But it doesn’t reaction goes much deeper. He's completely staggered and hhave to be a universal rule, There are certain moments where emotionally vulnerable. On an action-movie star scale, the first ‘the characters aren't strong. Thoy're human, They feel awide shot's on a Jean-Claude Van Damme level, whereas the ‘ange of emotions, ‘second one’s more on a Harrison Ford lovel. You know what! ‘Take Reed Richards. He's just been given some devastating moan? So don't be afraid to use different types of lines to add ‘news. The firs ilustration shows. typical comio-book reaction, depth and serious emotion to your character's face. WRINKLE CREAM PLEASE! When drawing young people, especially women, you have to wateh out, Make sure not to g0 overboard on the wrinkles, Lookat the examples at right, Sure, Kitty, Pryde looks really upset in the second shot, but all those wrinklos ‘also make hor look about 10 years ‘older than she should be. So be ‘careful its a dolicate balance. Y'KNOW, | could go on for pages upon pages showing you how to draw an angry face or a lustful face or a sad face, but that's not the point I want 10 illustrate. Facial expressions are one of the storytelling tools you have to work with, They'e not about enciling a goofy face or an interesting they're about penciling an appropriate face. Get inside your characters. Know how they feel from panel fo pancl. Use amirorif itheps. And if pictures really worth a thousand words, thon the right facial expressions worth a thousand thought balloons, Have fun, andl see yan the funy books! wo) WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGHANDS src csi F:: the bad news. Hands are capable of | assuming as great a complexity and variety of shapes as all the other parts of the body combined, thea that you can earn o draw them from afew scant pages alittle optimistic, to say the least. ‘As for the good nows, I'l be giving you some “basio” pointers. The hest way to really learn to draw hands is (as with most things) to practice with references. And loads of roforonces aro available...just look around you, Check out hands ‘on TV. In movies. In magazines. Why, you can even use yourself as a model. After all, most people contemplating a career in drawing have access to at least one hand... BUILDINGBLOCKS When you begin, there are certain fundamentals which should bo kopt in mind, Al hands havo an underlying foundation, Figure A shows an extromoly simplistic, hand shape in which you can see its basic structure—the “hard points,” if you like, Those aro the primary building. blocks of the hand—they are always present no matter ‘what position the hand adopts. Tho four fingors all move ina fairly restricted plane, but the seam which ‘separates the thumb gives it opposable movement. (Figure B). ‘The good thing about using a “building blocks” approach is that it helps you remember you are dealing with a three dimensional structure. But while you are practicing with thoso shapos, you must ‘be looking at real hands for reference. If you leave this important step until later, you will have picked up lots of bad “mechanical” habits and rules which you will find difficult to reconcile with the image of the real thing. have no idea how ‘many hands | have drawn over the years, but am stil surprised by the shapes they ‘make when performing certain tasks ANATOMYWIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGANATOMYAT THE END of the day we are trying to create characters in which a reader can boliove and identify. Using hands and body language is a subtle (yes, that means you ‘won't get much credit for it) way of achieving this. ‘And there you have it. Hands. They're not easy, but when used properly they can Improve a comic to no end. Besides, noarly every comic character has at least one, so ‘you really ought to learn to draw the darn things. Best of luck! Gary Frank's handiwork can be seen in such comics as Marvel's Incredible Hulk and mature-readers Supreme Power, DC's Supergirl and Midnight Nation from publisher Top Cow. WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGLEGS BY BART SEARS ‘elcome to another lesson. This time, wo're goingto take poworful figure, A great part of a figure’s action comes from the legs ooh lagu gua fn yng ojo dom || ceo Sab hom nd yet esta wu bee ‘an important andintegral part of drawing sucessful, | So without further ado, let's shake aleg and start drawing! KNOWHOW TOUSE’EM Legs are not just amorphous shapes that ile froma hero's rippling torso, but strong, vibrant limbs that serve asthe engines. ‘which propel aur great horo at breaknock _spees, thrust him across deatir-efying chasms, and become pawerful weapons which ean, when unleashed, knock the ar 0 powerful foe. The point of allt Flot pra espace tvaraag ‘You have to remember that legs are the base: Incredibly powerful building power, until itis untoast n he jaw. Massive, muscular chiscled logs (right) giv: charactor alook and feel of power, strength— ‘maybe even majesty—that il-formed i little legs just can’t convey. Well-drawn, ‘muscular legs give a character weight. They ‘show the character firmly standing his ground, and capable of doingall of those wildly ‘things tho charactor will inovitably do. Logs are: power. Do them justice. ett ee neuer Pen ee eee a ANATOMY [YjGETBACK Hore wo have the undorstructure for the back view of the leg. Compare this, view with the front view. All of my ‘comments apply. Just remember that this is the same leg, the right, so this time the inner thigh is on the loft sido, ot. ‘Take alook at the mass ofthe back of tho log, Obviously, the comments, for the front of the leg hold true for the back of the log. Look at the two ‘muselos in the contor of tho back of the thigh. These are essentially the bicops of the leg. See how the muscles still ride high on the outside and low ‘on the inside, Note the almost bulbous (bubblo) mass of the major calf ‘muscle, This is important as it gives the calf a nice, round fullness that looks healthy and athletic. (It looks ood on females, too.) Compare and contrast with the front view, and start building that mental sculpture. a WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING FACEFRONT ‘Look atthe eylinder construction of the leg. pictured to the left. Note the simplified ‘overall proportion of tho log, broken down into head lengths. Notice the narrowing of the thigh a the kneo, the way the innor thigh ‘straight and the outer thigh cuts in, See the ‘curve of the calf. I prefer this somewhat bow-logged look; | fool that a porfectly “straight leg doesn't have the sweep or the sort of coiled power look of a slightly curved leg. Now we can look at the mass of the front of the log to the right, Note how tho ‘muscles of the inner thigh tend to start in close to the understructure at the top, and swell as they move downward and then cut back into the understructure, almost forming a horizontal shelf. Notice how the ‘muscles on the outside ofthe thigh start to swell up high on the leg, and then sweep gracofully down into the understructure. Also notice how the muscles on the outside of the thigh tend to sit highor fon the leg than those on the inside, which tend to sit lower.ANARMANDALEG Look closely at the leg and the arm drawn below. Carefully notice all of the muscular structural similarities and use some: ‘comparative anatomy. Essentially the muscles are the same, for in both limbs they sorve the same purpose. They vary in proportionate mass and length, mostly because of the minor functions they perform. For Instance, the wrist needs to bond forward and backwards as well as rotate, whereas the foot isn't good at rotating, so the musoles for that action won't bo as highly developed. This isa rather simplistic explanation. There's a lot ‘more to this, and | could babble on about it and got protty in depth, but for now i's more important to be aware of itand start looking for it on your own, THEOUTSIDER Here we have a structural view of the outer lei ‘Compare and check this view against the others and piece it together in your brain. Remember, a clear ‘mental sculpture is very important. Note the sweeps of ‘the sido view, the curve of tho front of the thigh, tho flatness of the back, and the curve of the calf. Study and retain. ‘Chock out the mass of the muscles to the right. Noto ‘the fleshy fullness ofthe front of the thigh and the back ‘of the calf, Noto the corded length of the muscles of the bback ofthe thigh and the steel tautness ofthe front calf. Pay attention to how the muscle masses follow the ‘swoops of the log. Bulld that mental form. Now, using ‘what you've just learned, construct the understructure for the inside of the leg, lay in the bubble masses, and hard-tine a finished inner leg drawing. ALWAYS REMEMBER that each character you draw is tforent, and th legs must be different. Not everyone has big brutish kinda logs, and some charactors are heavy or short or whatever. Proportion, muscularty, the whole look wl chango. Varoty, for many reasons, the spice of drawing powerful comics. 7) ANATOMY 49CHAPTER THREE: li EE I BY DARICK ROBERTSON SEE Figure A: As a guideline, considor the basic shapes you see in a foot. The bottom has a figure-cight shape to it, with the top larger and wider: drewin —/ aoylindorto show how you | ‘ean begin building depth inthe skotoh, Next, sketch cirelos above tho figure Cit in sequence olay out tho toos, allowing spaco for the bones to connect the tovs to the fect. Figure B: Feet from the side have a triangular shape, like a sloped hill. Use a circle to indicate the ankle and think three dimensionally. Always consider what you aren't seeing bbohind your finished drawing, Itll save you time and holp create a more realistic drawing. Just about every character's got ‘om, but F-- yoneknowe how to draw them, Now, since | happen to draw characters who like to walk around barefoot all the time (like Spider THIsP Ger Close. CLosER/ SMEBSELL IT. SMELL UTE THAT'S AAT FEET ARE ALL ABOUT! Jorusalom from DC/Vertigo's Transmetropolitan or the ol’ Canucklehead himself from Marvol’s Wolverine), Wizard thought it'd be neat if | showed you tho ins and outs of drawing fect. So lot's go. It'S. Foor. BIG reer, SMALL FEET, HAIRY FEET, SMOOTH FEET Of ALIEN FEET. MAKIN’ "EM BELIEVABLE ADDS CREDIBILITY TO ‘My method for drawing feet is to start by loosely skotching a foot in non-photo bluo poncil and then going in and carving out the tighter, cleaner lines in graphito. (Personally, use a Bero! turquoise HB pencil, but find What's most comfortable for you.) Figure C: A foot seen from straight on has a conolike shape. ‘The underside of the foot is two ollipses: the ball and the heel. Considering the ellipse in your feet will help you place your figure in porspoctive firmly in the background and not “floating” init. B WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGDEMIE Foot aren't a particularly meaty part of the body, so learning the shape and placement of the foot's skelotal systom will help you understand what you're drawing, and what creates the surface anatomy and shadows of the foot, ry Foreshortening the foot can be trioky! But if you want your figure to deliver a kung-fu kick that looks powerful and painful, a good foreshortoned foot is important! I's also important when indicating the direction your character is traveling ‘When in doubt, consult photo- ‘graphs or a mirror. If you have a particularly difficutt angle of a foot you need to draw, get a Polaroid eamora and snap pictures of a friend's feet in the position you're going for. Drawing from life is the best practice. Even if your proferred styleis cartoony, it helps ‘0 know what you're simplifying or oxaggerating. FOOTWEAR Another good method to learn to draw feat is to draw shoos. Take some different shoes of all shapes, age {groups and sizes and skotch from them. You'lfind you'll improve alot by loarning to capture litle detalts. (One of Van Gogh's classic paintings from 185 was of a simple pair of shoos.) On superheroes, the basic outline of the foot constitutes a boot like Superman's or Daredovil's. (Women's feet tend to be smaller and more slender.) ANATOMY st |FEET BALLBOY ‘The foot follows a similar motion ‘of moving hool fo toe, whethor i's running or walking, Tho ‘weight of the body is supported fon the ball of tho foot when in midstep, so the forward foot ‘should typically be resting on the heel while the back foot should rest on the ball. FOOTFETISH Creating ugly foot is fun and easy. By adding halt, scabs or Unsightly toenails, you can give your character more charactor! ‘You wouldn't give a homeless guy clean, smooth feet if you ‘wanted to make him look homeless, so consider where your character's feet have been (Figure B). By applying tho same rules of drawing a normal foot to your ‘monster feet, you get a more believable monster. Just dropping Sesh e LFicure D | TOETAPPING ‘Toes are like short fingers. The nail and bones are vory similar in construction, In a pinch, use the top of your thumb for reference on foreshortening and skin folds when drawing a big too, but oxpand the base. Remember to concave the top of the toe abit ‘to make the nail sot into it Here's a tip: Typically, the second too is slightly onger than the big te! Also, notice the ‘curved line the tips of tho last three toos follow (Figure F). Don't make the mistake of lining ‘the tip of your foot up straight or making all your tovs the same length, shape and size! 52 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING off «too, adding clawlike nals that are rooted inthe proper place and adding hair on top of a solid structure creates a menacing ‘monster foot (Figure E). This is important to remember when drawing characters ike the Beast and Sasquatch, ‘Study the textures of lizards’ and birds’ feet as well as other ‘animals. By adding hoso textures to human feet, you can create killer Killer Croc or even Spidey’s enemy, the Lizard! i ivaSIZES&.SHAPES Now that you've got all the basics, it’s time to take a look at different sizes and textures, Here I've provided a number ity af feet, of comparisons to show you a v Figure G: H ‘can determin onthe :n average human adult male foot. We irom the shape, size and the bit of hai Figure Hi: Here's the Hulk’ foot. By using the same anatomy lessons, but making everything fatter and bigger, he looks more believable. Consider the size of the creature that a foot has to support. The bigger the creature, the bigger the foot should bo! fa normal big toe is about the size ofa canister toa 35imm roll of film, then the Hulk’s should be the size of a soda can. Figure t: Horo's the Thing’s foot. | imagine that because of his rocky skin condition, his little toe and fourth toe would sort of fuse togothor, which is why he seems to have four toes, ‘Again, sticking to the correct anatomy and then adding the rocky pattern to the shape makes the Thing’s foot convincing ‘as the foot of an oxisting oroaturo, I's important to indicate where his foot would bend and move. I drew smaller rocks in tho bends to give the appearance of regular movement. I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH that the best place to learn, like all things, is real life, Practice drawing interesting feet from magazines, Remember that style comes from you and your interpretation of real life through your imagination and art, not by copying somcone olse’s style. The more you practice, the better you get! Ciao! @ Darick Robertson got his foot in the door with DC/Vertigo's ‘Transmetropolitan and also has significant runs on Marvel's Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Figure J: A baby's foot should have very few bones showing ‘through. Babies’ foot and hands are small and undeveloped, ‘80 they should appear soft and tiny. This can be achioved by drawing fewer shadows, or smooth shatlow line Figure K: Lastly here's an average, human adult female foot. ‘A good mothod of indicating a female foot is to make It narrower than a mal foot, and smoothor in toxture, With the fine work, less is more. Since many women shave their legs and paint their toonaits, this also is a nice dotail to add. ANATOMY EJCHAPTER THREE: PART 7 WOMEN Hollow my instincts. | just draw what | like. If DON’ TBEABOOB | Taking a cue from fellow artist Mr. Adam Hughes (see, let's look at the dictionary definition of *luscious’ ‘soductivo, sexy, richly luxurious or appealing to the senses. Yop, that is how I feel about the art of feminine The lesson of Vincent Van Gogh teaches us that “art” and “beauty” are highly interpretive torms. Poor Mr. Van Gogh barely sold any artwork while he was alive, and yet many years after his death his paintings are among the most famous, sought-after collector's items on the planet. Before you put pencil to paper, please remomber this! All of tho No kidding, at a comic book convention this past summer, | heard a trogiodyte utter these exact words: ey NEVER EVEN eabse tre tne TROMNALE To Souiee raNeNs 'BOUT & D-CUP 54 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING ow do draw women? Usually with alight blue ballpoint pon. (I hato drawing with a pencil) |How is the sexy girl, pinup kinda thing done? ‘Well, like Ben Kenobi suggested, | use the Force. Meaning, BY JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER ‘else digs itor finds it attractive, thon | am ahead of the ‘game. Who can guess if we will find the same things ‘sexy? The best that I can do is to tell you how | personally define Juscious and then urge all aspiring ‘ovotees of the feminine form to explore their own vision. World's true artistic geniuses have walked through the fires of ridicule, The world always resists new visions. And yet, if an artist is on target, that is what the world wants from thom most—a naw vision, First ofall, lot's all get over the boob thing. Try and figure out what, bosides mammary glands, makes a woman a WOMAN. Girls are different than boys. They are curvy and mysterious, And besides, “boobs” can be purchased—and all enlightened souls know that anything you can put a price tag ‘Is ultimately hollow. You can't buy real sex appe:THETRIPLETHREAT ‘Try and think about women. Girls. incarnations of the Goddess. What is the origin and source of their special spark? is *femalenocs” isa mysterious thing, and everyone defines i in their own terms. Anjone attractedto the female must ask themselves, "What tums meon? What aboutthe opposite sexhits me ike lightningandinstanty shatters my solf-control?* {ama eourso—vating this from the pont af vow of a hotorosoxual malo. To any female artist our there reading this, you re ooking for some sort of cosmicinsiht, tho bost can say "good luck Ploaso don't askmoabout the fominine/masculine mystery, Don't ask me why “all and skinny" sexy to some folks and gratesquoto others Im ustas lst asthe next guy—tm only following ny nose, ‘Thoro aro oortain clichés of boauty—basic olomonts that no ono really, argues about. tn America, men usually ike to keep it simple and break down ‘their preferences into three basic groups. According to Joo Lunchpail, what wo got on tho menu i: B. BUTT MAN C.LEG MAN Laos and gentomen, lam a guy, ared-bloadod, American uy Many A isthe time | have heon out with a girfriend and some female would walk by and totally bow my mind. My grifriond would notice my reaction and say, God, what a faco—sho is so ugly!” To which will respond, ‘Yeah, but did you Bor, take your pick, Yeah, yeah, yeah, men are such pigs (emart men never argue this one). All can say is that men and women soo the world differently. So... do we go after A, B or € if we want to capture something luscious ‘on papor? Hey, If that is your thing, thon by all means, go fort. Ono look at the work of Serpieri (of Druunna fame) andit will be obvious that his work is all about B..and that is the boautiful thing which defines his work and gives it its tunique character, ANATOMY fiWOMEN THEFINERTHINGS Porsonally...'m a face man. I gil has the right face, ‘1am putty in her hands. "You want my soul? Here, have ‘tits all ours. Just grant mo ono kiss.” ove the popular physical attributes just as much. as the next guy, but t's the subtler, less obvious things ‘that got my attention first: 1, HANDS LIPS 3.EYES: ‘These are all elements with which people express. ‘thomselves. Folks who fake E.S.P. are fotaly aware of this In my art am always trying to capture something that is beyond tho vorbal—something that words are at a loss for. ! am certain that this is why my creator- ‘owmed comic Dawn makes absolutely no sense to some people. Tho right porson with the right gesture can shatter worlds and raise empires. The right smi, half= crooked as if itis caught in a wob of somi-denial. A feathor-light touch on the shoulder giving a lover's Consent, and the invitation of so much more... EYEOFTHEBEHOLDER Once in a bar, | witnessed the arrival of the Prettiest Girl in Town. ‘The crowd parted, and the Princess looked around the room, sadly ‘tying to find her equal. She didn't she know that she wouldnt ‘Meeting her eyes, | was amazed by her cold disdain, the harsh and brutal judgment, the icy distance | found there. Clinically spoaking, sho was the prettiest gil in town—tho right figure, the right nose, the right body weight. But to me she was abhorrent. | ‘found her as ugly as hell because her soul was ugly. Inmy work, | am trying to capture the opposite of that. 56 | WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGBEINGHIP | Beyond apretty face, is there any part ofthe female anatomy which | kes me weak in the knoes? You bet, To mo, the force of | fesninty s defined by the hips. ove hips. 1 worship them. | adore ‘thom and am destroyod by thom. L know that not all men appreciate | luscious feminine hips. Hell, my last landlord took one look ata framed picture of my beloved Dawn hanging on the wall, and all he had to say ‘was, "She's shapod lke a par.” |..there's no accounting for taste. TAKEALOOKAROUND! 1D NOT want to tell any aspiring artists out there what or what not ‘to draw: “Draw longlogs and thick, well-shaped eyebrows, that'll be sexy. And don't forget the pert, very round breasts.” Later for that. If you wanna draw or paint women, my sole advice is this—LOOK at them and study them, DO NOT look at books or ‘magazines. Look out your window and down your street. Women are everywhere, and thelr beauty knows no bounds. !1ook ata lot of art, both highbrow and low, and I can say without hesitation that there is ‘an infinite spectrum of feminine heauty just dying to be explored and ‘captured on paper. ‘Look boyond the norm. Look beyond what the media (yoiks—thar includes this boo!) tells you, and find your own line, your own vision ‘and your own idea of beauty. Have the courage to define and embrace |what your own soul tells you a lusctous lady is. Bocause inthis hollow ‘world of pre-packaged pop stars and silicone centerfolds, we nood now visions— desperately. ‘Joseph Michael Linsner, creator of the beautiful Dawn, also paints an eye- catching Conan on the covers of the Dark Horse Comics series. ANATOMY [EdjWiaeesss aaa can help you find an answer, it should be us! We can't | teach you everythi two for you that will perhaps we can open a door or you off on your own personal HEY THERE, bi:] WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING journey into a much bigger world, ‘My only request is that you use what you've learned hore wisely fear thoreare moro artists out there who merely wish to pander to the masses than those who wish to create very attractive, yet very three-dimensional and believable feminine comic book characters. Romember—with great power comes reat responsiblity! I believe I read that somewhere. DEFINITIONS ‘Stop watching and mimicking Jap rae uajob at Marvel or DC. They sce ne ane een a i i | i a i E i iT THOUGHT THEY WANTED TO ‘OOH, YOU KNOW WHAT'S SIX INCHES LONG, TWO INCHES \\ wice, AND caNes MEWILOP 4d ‘Thoproblom s that, ike art or music, itll sounds rather subjective, ddoosn'tir? What you find sultry probably very far afield from what {find as such. 'm sure none of you find androids attractive, do you! I believe the most important aspect of sultrinoss can impart to you—bofore wo got to a fow univorsal ips—is that itreally has ‘nothing to do with how a character looks! That's right. How a ‘woman looks is quite often the least important ingredient in her Witch's brow of sultrinass, That's because sultriness isa character trait. ttcomes from within. san aspect of personality, not appearance, your charactor isn't sultry at heart, no amount of lipstick and You're NOT HELPING. cleavage will change tha Also, do mo a kindness and ple ‘remember not to make all your female characters sultry. I know i's ‘tompting. but if every tay in your omic isa passionate, lusty bad gir, ‘well hen, not one among them wil stand oi.willthey? Of course not! Well now, I could spend all day talking and fil this entire sonwith alot of theory, but that’s not what you ripped open ‘this book for, is if? I shall assume that you already know how to draw a woman, and are ready for a fow bits of advice that seem ‘towork for virtually everyone. FACEIT When drawing faces, try not to over-render. Too many lines clutter up a lady's faco, and ean oven be mistaken for wrink Practice accentuating the eyebrows, eyelashes and lips, while ddo-omphasizing tho foatures which can make a woman seem too hharsh—like cheokbones and noses. Thicker, fullor eyebrows can really ald to a sultry expression, especially when they havea slight ‘arch to them. H you draw the lid covering tho top part of th ican heighten an already sultry expression! This won't help in pane!-to-panel continuity, but it works wondorfully on covers: eye contact! When a reader fects that the lady on the comic is looking at him and no one else in the shop, It works wonders! ANATOMY Ey)i) i | PUCKERUP ‘Thore are many different ways to draw lips, but one tried-and- ‘true way to give them a sensuous look is to draw thom black, with litte highlights on the top and bottom lips. This makes them seem ‘deep and mofst, which I've been told is very sultry! ‘Thank you, Janet, for draining the ast bit of austerity out of the proceedings. It is important to note, however, that less really | SULTRYWOMEN - {is more when trying to render a truly sultry expression. Even if your favorite artist does i, theartily recommend that you abstain {rom over-rendering a face. You won't become bottor by drawing ‘one face for hours and hours; try spending those hours drawing as ‘many faces as possible. Remember, you have to fail at somothing uit a few times before you can start to succoad ati, HAIRRAISING Hair is also an important part of the equation, Whethor your sultry character's hair is long, thick and luxurious, ‘or short and stylish, you can use her hair to create ‘sensuous curves to accentuate her featuras, ‘One important thing to remember about hair: Try ‘not to over-render the individual strands. First, think of ‘the overall shape of the hair, and then be selective about ‘Whore to render the highlights. Wherever you decide to ‘render highlights and shadows willbe the areas to which the roador’s eye will be drawn. g WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGIM CERTAIN YOU'RE COING THAT Ws AS AN EXAMPLE OF} WHAT NOT 1000... BODY TALK | ! ! ‘enough, you'll noti that almost all tho tins you use to draw ‘sultry woman are smooth, soft and curvaceous. Try not 0 uso many hard angles, whothor drawing facial features, hair of oven a pose! When drawing, usellines ‘that curve gontly, like the letters “S" or °C,” Try it...not everyone can make it work. Gan you? Speaking of poses, I suppose wo ought to atleast addross the issue, even though we'ro running out of space rather quickly! Try not to overpose your charactors, As we statod carlenautviens lea charaotrtaiiityeurnerirole |) naturally eultry, then she shouldn't need tostrikea pose to get her innate sonsuousness across. Practice drawing sultry woman in repose, rather than na forced posture. Romomber, a truly sultry lady will be that way naturally, evenif noone is around tolook at her. Sulrinesa should | never be an act. CHESTOFTHEBEST Finally Ife! the noed to discuss the..aham...Zen and Tao of endowments. ‘Many of you may think me a bitof ahypocrite when Itell you thatthe size ‘of a woman's chost has litte to do with a woman's attractiveness, but it fs the truest thing I say to you today. I bigger is truly better... ‘we shal ako our leave of you. I sincerely hope that you are ‘one of the few wino shall grow ‘a8 an artist, and someday make some magic happen. The Scarlet Witch and the Wasp are powerful women in the Marvel Universo. (Hoy, Janct..who drow that ‘Adam Hughes, cover artist for comics such as Top Cow's Tomb Raider and for you, anyway?) Cw) DC's Wonder Woman, had nothing fo do with any of this, Honest. | | Uhh..with that said, I think ANATOMY gCHAPTER THREE: PART 9 REALISTIC WOMEN sy: soon characters in my book, Strangers in Paradiso, look like real women. So, what's that all about, huh? 1 mean, it can't be my skillful use of light and shadow, paints, textures or anatomical detail, don't do that, ise the proper scale, body language and facial expressions into my characters. | believe these I ‘am a cartoonist, but people tell me the female (a nor BA, JUST STAND eve gor 13 WLP HER, KATOIOG, 62 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING Dow touc i FRANCINE: are basic principles every artist should strive for whon they sit down to draw. Alex Raymond, Mike Allred, Paul ‘Smith, Paul Pope, Jeff Smith..ll these artists work in relative scale with dynamic uso of body language and expressive faces to make their stories come alive. Solet’s take a minute to look into this alittle closor, okay? And again, sinco my stories center on women, Il keep my focus on the female form. BIGGER THANLIFE Let's start with the obvious. Fomale horoos look cool on paper, but they are deliberately exaggerated in an offort to make them more dynamic, That's fine i’ like the muscle thing with men. But you can reach a point whore it's hard to relate. If you take the average woman and stand her next to the typical ‘modern heroine, the differonces would be pretty obvious. *You have to be good at drawing Ayam te kee weT ces OC Mime ice eee ae Cee eee ey Se On me struck my eye and seemed like a challenge. Inever knew that | would eventually utilize Pe cae Mane May Ere ne RT Pouca are ety oe ets ead TT aLINEUPA! Think about how tall your female characters are supposed to be. Don't joosn’t work that way, Vary the heights on your characters and you'll find it holps you, and the reader, ‘make themall the same helght, because natur rolato to them a littlo easior. For instance, look at the police lineup we have hi David is 6' tall, Francino is about 5? inmind when drawing them together and. what kind of shoes they are wearing. Details like that count. MAKETHE Once I have the basic form of my character in mind, | go back to my cartooning/animation training to get the pose. That’s because in both fiolds, the priority is body language. Cartoonists don't care about anatomical realism—they want the pose to SING! But oven superhero art out in ccartoony body language before any thought Is given to things like muscles or uniforms. Why? Because it givos you the ind for absolutely no reason whatso- ever, Katchoo is approximately 6'4". Be sure to keop thelr individual heights r ely, dopending on outline of where to put those things. Look at the examples I've done hore. Notice how thoy convey the moment and attitude of the charactors—like devastation, seduction, coynoss, arguing, ete.—withaut any details. That's how important body language is. 've done half ‘my figure work in just a few quick lines. That means alot when you're trying to do 80 zillion pages a day! ANATOMY G)REALISTICWOMEN BODY BUILDING It seoms like such a mundane thing to say, but if ‘you want your women characters to look rea, then ‘raw real women, Don't just draw an outline; think about things ke flesh and bones, You're noifferent ‘than a soulptor, shaping your figures on papor. | Look at this illustration of threo women, The figure on the lefts the female hero, as the arti typically draws her. The figure in the middle is what ‘she would probably ook lke in real life! mean, if | you can lift tanks and punch through buildings, ‘ten you're going te have some meat on you, right? But look at the figure onthe right. Thats what the average woman would look like in the same ‘costume. (And believe me, she's not too happy about woaring it! Sorry, Francine!) GRAVITYWORKS Gravity. Now, that’s a big doal for the artist and the female, | form. Let me show yout how important gravity is to your figure. | Obsorvo; The torso on the left is our horo, the centor draw= ing is a more realistic example of a female form wearing the | same suit, and onthe right we see the same realistic form, unre strained. This is how the fomalo body Is made, The bust is soft; f \ \ n NW AY IT’SWHAT’SINSIDE THATCOUNTS ‘The figure on the left is a common pose in hero art, but itis also ‘tho most oriticized. Why? Well, putting the exatic dancer paso aside, it’s obvious that the forces of nature don't apply to this body—as opposed to the figure on the right, which displays ‘muscle mass, room for internal organs, a working spinal column. and gravitational effects. Let's be realistic; he instant that female hero raises her arms and straightens up, she’s going to find herself in a very embarrassing predicament. I itroacts to things lko gravity and tight clothes. Itreally helps to understand this and incorporate it into your drawings, because th reader also possesses this knowledge, and those details ‘make all the difference in your character's plausibility. ‘Remember, the female figure isn'ta skinny teenage boy with tennis balls in his shirt, 80 don't draw it that way, g WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGBEEXPRESSIVE After you've established your pose and figure, you're ready to fillin the dotails, beginning with the face. Bofore I toll you about croating expressions, havo to mention a common mistake, one even Ido every day. You start off with one eye, finish it, move to the other eye, make itmatch, thon putin the nose and mouth, and notice they make the left eye looka litle high. So then you redo the left eye for about 20 minutes, butyou can't gotit perfect, $0 you try changing the right one instead, ‘and then givo up and draw the head in a different position. If that ‘sounds familiar, then you already know what I'm going to say next and. {tm sorry, but I've got to sayit. .DON'T DETAIL THE FACE UNTIL YOU'VE LAID IT OUT! I's the rule that made your figure look better it will do ‘the same for your face as we ‘An oxpression is captured in a fow quick tines, just like the body language. Look at the examples I've drawn here. You don’t need the hhead, hair, ears or body to convey the expression. I's all inthe eyes, ‘nose and mouth, isn’t it? Also, see the range of motion in the features? Don't be afraid to stretch your character's face to got ‘the expression you need. That's how nature docs it. you try drawing the face with one finished deta after anothor, you'll ond up with tho infamous Asymmetrical Face, ike the one above (on the left). Looks unprofessional, doesn't it? But why? Sure, ‘thas all the proper rending techniques, but the ‘drawing itself is bad. The features are misaligned, ‘and tho faco lacks porsonality and oxprossion. 1 ‘was too busy trying to got the eyelashes and hair ‘shading right. Compare that to the head on the right, which was very quickly done. I used only a few lines, but i's actually a much better drawing. ‘The faceistaid out correctly, and the expression is locked in before you've wasted any time detailing (re: inking) a bad drawing, ‘nd thero you havo it: guoss the trick to ‘drawing realistic women is to know what real Women look lke. f thisis your artistic goal, then your homework is obvious: Go look at some real Women, And don't expect anyon to feel sory for you! But, whatever you do, ploase don't try to learn by drawing the women in men’s magazines ‘ot Vietori’s Secretcatalogs. Normal women don't {ook tke that, and besides, who wants to draw.a character made of Slim-Fast and silicone? S*™) Terry Moore draws two ofthe strongest female leads in the business, Francine and Katchoo from his ‘oreator-owned series Strangers in Paradise. ANATOMY 65A | n ra H SEX APPEAL i wisscvmcs ollo, everybody! Michael Turner here, and Fm loxcited to talk to you about one of my favorite {three-letter words...art! More specifically though, ll ho showing you how to better utilize your artwork to help convey another favorable subject of ‘mine—sox appeal. Sox appeal can be found in almost ‘very aspect of life, but when I think sex appeal, word sensuality springs to mind. In fact, | like to think of it more as “sensual appeal” than sex appeal. To me, sensuality can be much more elegant and actually help ‘exude better sex appeal in your art. Let's begin with a few layouts and I'l show you what | mean! | THELAYOFTHELAND ‘A good layout is the most important factor in prepping your art page. In ‘terms of sex appeal, doing several layouts will help you envision what you ‘want your piece to look like, and what you'd like to have conveyed to the reador, In this first layout (Figure A), it's the body positioning that makes ‘this piece so appealing. The folded limbs, curves of the body and relaxed. ‘domoanor are moro inviting and Keep the pieco from boing too over the top. or stiff By focusing on tho fomale form tsolf and not just a woman's assots, you can make a very sensual and sexy piece of art. What you don’t necossarily soo can sometimes be moro oxciting. By leaving it up to the imagination, the old saying “less is more" can come into play. Now I'm not just talking about fewer clothes, mind you (even though occasionally, that's worked for me in the past!), but less revealing in torms _of What you show of the actual body. As Figure B illustrates, by turning ‘the back slightly and having most of hor lower body submerged, you have ‘to wonder what else lies beneath the water! C15] WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGPlaying hard to got can also be sexy. Here, shi giving you the attitude that you can't always have ‘what you want: Trying to obtain something that seems. unobtainable can definitely exude quite a lot of sex. appeal. Sometimes people have these “bad attitude ‘type girls smoking. To me, it's rather unattractive and. not very sexy. I's just my opinion, but smoking is not ‘something | use to help portray sexy women. THEE YESHAVEIT ‘The oyes may be the windows to the soul, but they also lend a great deal to how alluring your illustration of women can be, The top picture is the more regular-drawn eye, I's open and bright, but doosn't lend too much to sex appeal. By closing the eyelid a bit, you've now added a bit of mystery. ‘Change the eyebrow just a bit and elongate the eyelashes ‘and you've got yoursolf instant sex appeal. g WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING LIPSERVICE Here are afew different versions of lips to reference, Fulllips ‘are very sexy and probably why people got collagen implants. ‘Anyway, 'm more of the natural lip color type versus the bright redlipstick. But ia woman is wearinga hot red dress,.red lip ‘stickis perfect. Also, be caroful with futuristic colors like blu, bbocause can look cold and dead, There are severallip shapes ‘at aro soxy, but in my opinion, the fuller the better! cS NS =DON'T FEEL like you need to draw a but shot on every page to help portray sex appeal. ‘Try to koop things more subtle by focusing on different aspects ofthe entire body. Keep the ‘confidence. That's a very sexy attribute that can work wonders in your artwork and keep away those unwanted, too gratuitous-type reactions. Also, make sure to always practice, practice and then practice abit more. Until next time, takeiit easy! Michael Turnor (artist of DC's Superman/Batman and the creator-owned Soulfire) has ‘never appeared in Playboy, but we still think he exudes sox appeal. And he doesn't smoke, err ia a ANATOMYCHAPTER THREE: PART I TEENS & CHILDREN BY TOM GRUMMETT GUYSARESCRAWNY ‘Toillustrate tho contrast botwoon the horoic figure and the toon figure, let's take a look at Captain America and Bucky. ‘Asyoucansee, Captain America like most *heroio" figures, is about 8 {/2 heads tall in stature. In comparison, Bucky stands about 7 heads tall. This doesn't simply make Bucky shorter than (Cap—proportionally 've made Bucky's head larger in relation to ‘the rest of his body. What wo're aiming for isto visually signal to the reader that our teen characteris younger, and therefore, less to share some of the tricks and techniques luse, Now | you avoid some pitfalls along the tobe brutally honest, io expert on the subjoct—mary | assumption that you already fa of the techniques | use were developed by tril and error, | male and female “heroic” figure. (f you're not, you better ‘observation and tons of practice. As any artist willtellyou, | ‘the study of art and drawingis an ongoing learning process, | let's roll up our sleeves and got started. ve ben fold hata munber oyu are interested in| But wht hope fin isnt eee provid you [Jerse ct bn ita buss ppras to draning eee and Ks and hap Raya ‘ 'm going on the liar with drawing the ‘get crackin’ on the last few lessons!) Soif everyone'steady, | doveloped than his adult counterpart. We have to do more than Just scale down adult proportions, or all we'd have is a shorter adult, As you can see, Bucky isn't built as powerfully as Cap: He's: got narrower shoulders, a more compact torso, and leaner arms and {ogs. To emphasize Bucky's youth, wo want to tone dawn the powerful, muscular superhero | in favor of alean, yet athletic, framo, We want to believe that Bucky's capable of daring feats, ‘but we don't want him to appear too bulky, 70 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING& if 4 °TEENS <.CHILDREN FACEFACTS ‘The head and face are a critical area of the teen figure, Here's where we really go to work on highlighting the youthful aspects of the character. Oddly enough, what we loave out of tho drawing can often be as important as what we put in. Lot's start from the nack and work up, playing around with skull shapes. Tho human skull will basically fit within a square, and by dividing the square into four equal sections we end up With the eye line and a centerline, These lines will help us place the features of the face, CENTERLINE | (CENTER LINE C - EYE LINE J NOSE LINE , sau PA F YX ‘ADULT “HEROIC” MALE Let's work with these two skulls, The one on the left is a standard heroic male, and the other's a basic teen. The heroic male skull is nothing now: broad, muscular neck, angular features, prominent jaw. The teen skull, however, shows a slimmer neck and rounded profile. You might also notice that (MOUTH LINE "Now well work on the faceitsel. I's probably best tostart off with a regular toon who doesn’t wear a mask or helmet or anything. We begin with the same skeletal framework wo'd uso to draw any figuro, roughingin the placement of eyes, nose and mouth, TEEN the slimmer neck akes the back of the skull more Pronounced, This littl variation on the heroie male skull sives us not only arough framework for drawing teen malo, but also teen and adult females, dopending on the features we place upon it. ‘We then begin “fleshing out” the features as we would with an adult figure, keeping in mind we want to portray the charactor as young. Here it's important not to over-render. the features. Lines tend to age a character's face, and ‘over-rendring the contours of the face, particularly around the eyes and mouth, will soon make our character appear t00 old. 72 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGInaddition, the few facial contours we do decide are necessary should look softer and more rounded, While a lantern jaw and furrowed brow make a full-grown hero look grim and heroic, MAKE TEEN GIRL'S NECK SLIMMER! thoy're out of place on a 14-year-old. Simplifying and rounding, ‘ut the face is key to an adolescent look. Also, makernote of the girs slimmor neck, which holps to accontuato her fomininity. TEENSPIRIT ‘Tho true mark of a teenager, however, is exuberance and unre~ strained emotion, which can be played out through various facial expressions. | often take the license of exaggerating ‘those expressions (anger, surprise, amusoment and s0 on) to hhelp portray these emotions to a greater and sometimes comic ‘effect. This is what I find most appealing about drawing teen superheroes—I can cutloose a little more without damaging the “heroic image" of a character. Now that I've shown you the main points of drawing teen ‘superheroes, it's likely that I've raised as many questions as Ive ‘answered. But the bottom line to drawing teen horoos (or any ‘thing else, for that matter) isto make the character convincing, ‘to your reader. This requires experimenting, bending some rules that you've been strictly following, and some tough solf- criticism and evaluation of your work, Now on to children... ANATOMY 73BABYTALK ‘The key element in drawing the human figure—heroie male or female, teens or children—is the head-to-body size ratio. As: ‘we've established, the heroic male/female stands at @ I/2 hheads tall, to emphasize the larger-than-life aspocts of a ‘superhero, The teon's stature is roughly 7 to 71/2 heads tall, ‘and less powerful and dynamic than its adult counterpart. ‘When drawing childron, our aim is to omphasize youth. In many. ‘ways the goal of drawing kids is the same as with drawing. ‘teens, but we take it further by manipulating the head/body ratio toa greater effect. As you can see in the figure below, by keeping the figuro's head the same size as the more adult figures, and reducing the height, we've come up with a figure ‘of more childlike stature. The shoulder width is further ‘narrowed, the torso becomes less angular, and the arms and logs are proportionately shorter than the longer-limbod, more ‘muscular heroic and teon figuros. By further changing the proportion of the head to the body's height, we can draw ‘children from infants to preteens, : { \ ws THEINNERCHILD Here's a figure of about 31/2 heads tall. While adults and teens ‘ar linear and angular, achil’s figures roundor, and madoup of ‘a.sorios of circles and curves. These figures are of a toddler's ‘stature, up to about the age of five. You'l note that these figuros ‘are mad up of shapes resombling circles and jollybeans. By ‘strotehing these shapes out it, he figures grow up abit. say ‘that kids from 6 to 12 years of age are in the neighborhood of 5 ‘6 heads al, 4to 6-year-olds are 31/2.to4 heads tall,toddlers 910 91/2 heads tall, and infants 3 heads tal, This part is whero all the hard work and practice comes in, There's really no better way to work these differences out than by trying out figures at different ratios. And by the way, unlike their mature counterparts, ‘there's no difference between younger boys and gis.KIDS’STUFF Let's keep working with circles here. When ‘drawing kids, to keep ‘em looking young, we keep ‘om round. Lot's take two circles, ono slightly bigger than the other, and superimpose them like this, the larger circle above the smaller, if we ‘stretch them out top to bottom, we'd start to enter ‘the territory of an adult faco's proportion, viewed straight on. If we push them closer together, top ‘to bottom, we get a more elfin or childlike shape for the face. Now by bisecting the face with our handy center line and eye line we've drawn our EYE LINE roadmap for the features. The features of achild . will gencrally take up the lower half of the face, NOSE LINE ‘with lots of space above the eye line. I find this helps emphasize once more that our character is MOUTH LINE uite young. ROLLWITHIT We're rarely loft to draw anyone coxclusively straight on, or in profile, We have to give our character mass and dimension, Like a globe, we can rotate the head, and our map lines will curve on its surface like latitude and longitude lines, This will set out features no matter what the angle. In ‘order to give the skull more shape, Ive ‘curved the lowor half of the face into more of a heart shape to give some ddofinition to the jaw line, GROWINGUP Here's where tho personality and individuality starts to take shape in our character. In the ‘ase of childron, tho face roally is an opon, book. Joy, anger, fear, surprise and all other ‘emotions a ‘exaggerated. I’s here where we can boys from girls, through their hair dress. Try ‘to Koop yaur lines to a minimum, particularly around the eyes and mouth, and watch out for angular lines in the chooks and jaw. Nobody “will go for a craggy look on a 5-year-old. ‘Obviously, there's a lot more to drawing children than can be covorod in this limited space, ‘The rest is really in your hands, Practice some of the things I've shown you, and feel free to experiment. There's no substitute for hard work. and determination..when you've nailed it, you'll know. wo Tom Grummett has illustrated every ago group Jimaginabte in books like Marvel's Generation X and Now Thunderbotts, and DC's Robin, ANATOMY 75CHAPTER THREE: PART {2 PROPORTIONS wyoscxcow Hulk, Pit), proportions have always playod BIG part, When Wizard first approached mo to do this piece | was reluctant, though. Y'see, | ‘wasn't sure I'd have enough time and space to do it justice, or even be able to put into words the things H ‘ey there! In the books I've drawn (Incredible to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity or ogre.” (Yeah, | looked it up!) Anyway, correct proportioning is probably the single most important Part of the drawing process. (No pressure or anything!) Instoad of giving you a straightforward “how to” approach, I've decided to basically give you a walk-through of my obsorvations. So lot ing things up. 've come to understand about drawing proportions. “Proportion is the relation of one part to another or | ASHOULDERTOCRYON Horo you can see the difference between these two Incredible Hulk regulars: Doc Samson, a ‘man of heroic proportions, and Rick Jones, an worage-sized guy who keops in good shape. Rick stands about 5'8* fall and, using his hoad a5 measurement, is about three and a half heads wide from shoulder to shoulder. The ‘guy's no slouch and has certainly proven himself in battle. Stil, he looks pedestrian standing next to tho 6'6" Samson, who's at least five heads wide. Sorry, Riok. Exaggerating the musculature system, pecially the limbs and torso, can add dramatic presence to any superhero, “Do it all yourself. In other words, write Bee eee ce mea Rad can doit, especially to do it again and agai Cre eae ey Ca ee eg 76 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGHEADGAMES With Figure A, I've depicted Wolverine in three different ways to domonstrate how head size affects how large or small your whole character looks, Try covering up two of the figures at a time and look at each one individually In Figure A-f, you see him with his properly proportioned head. He appears short yet very powerful-a real scraper. In A-2, I've drawn his head much too small—he looks lke he's 7 foot tall! In A-3, his head is obviously way too big, unloss, of course, you're penciling The Zany Adventures of Lil Wolvie, HIGHS2. LOWS In this example, Wolverine is the shortest hhoro of these three (and of most comic characters, for that matter), but, in my opinion, he looks the toughest. That's ‘bocause even though he's only 5 feot tall, he's just as wide as Captain America, who Spider-Man— standing at about 5'10"—has closer to } “normal” proportions of an average man in really good shape. So while you should definitely keep your characters’ heights in mind, also pay close attention to their widths. ANATOMYWEAKISSTRONG | ‘A good way to establish the size of your characters is by contrasting them with others of totally different size and shape (Figure B), Pitt looks “larger than lifo" next to lito Timmy! To make Pitt's hugeness even more pronounced, | draw his arms as large as his legs (and sometimes even larger). The way I draw ‘young Timmy Bracken, his head isn’t that much smaller than Pit's, but his body Is probably smaller than the average B-yoar-old boy's. think i's just as ‘much fun exaggerating a character's frailties as itis thelr strengths. And it certainly helps build a contrast. BIGBABE She-Hulk is heavy, wolghing in at about 400 Ibs, and towering ats 7 feet tall (7'4” on a good hair d ‘To emphasize her size and pow: ve given her almost masculine looking arms and legs, but retained ‘the characteristic curves of a fomale, or in this case, of a super Their heads, hands and feet balanced in proportion to each other, but their arms and logs aro too short in comparison, which makes them pretty funny-looking, ally next to Shulkie, a a ee — 7 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGMONSTERMASH ‘One of the things | really like about drawing. coal arostng Rots om sates you can go nuts with proportions! If you're drawing a ‘creature and creating your own ‘monster, you could draw it 30 fect tall with ‘eyes the size of car tires! Just remember, it's very important to keep the size of established characters consistent rolative ‘to the size of others around them. Take the ‘Thing in the example to the right. You ‘know ho's a protty big guy, 90 pitting him against this creature just shows how insanoly huge it ist | RECOMMEND hunting down some reference books on ‘drawing realistic proportions—check your local library, comic shop or bookstore. Once you've studied, practiced and learned the basics, your only limits will be your own talent and Imagination, Have fun! Dale Keown’s pencils can be seen on proportionally coo! books like Marvel's Incredible Hulk, Top Cow's Tho Darkness and his creator-owned property, Pitt. ANATOMYCHAPTER FOUR: ae i tea ca MAU Tt 3 aa nea Ute) See Sy TL Se eT 3 Se NEHA) aA‘ody language is one of the most misunderstood parts of the drawing process. | know some of thinking, ‘Just draw a guy ‘punching another guy, and you're done!" But i's not that imple, The term “body language” refers to the pose one's dy adopts to convey a particular attitude or emotion. you out th PERFECTPOSTURE A good, believable pose should toll the audience just what mood your character's in and what he intends todo. A had pose, on the Hawkoye here (Figure A). Ho needs a chiropractor! He docsn't 400k heroie, he looks uncomfortable. Look at how his back fs arched and haw stiffly his arms are held. t's hard to take him seriously. ‘On tho other hand, Captain America looks confident, heroic, I's something we all do every day, consciously or not. Inthe following pages, 'm goingto show youjust how to “pose” your characters s0 they seem alittle more believable, ‘dealt, you want the reader to understand what's happen- ing without reading the word balloons, and an evocative pose ‘can really pull the reader in! Now, let's get into trouble, baby. ‘and believable (Figure 8). Even though lie's standing still he looks as if he might spring into action at any moment: Notice haw it's not {ust the calm, self-assured look on his face, but his overall pose that ‘olls us who his, His arms are away from his body slightly (telling us o's ready for anything) hs fists aro clonched (but relaxed) _and he's moving forward (to face whatever evils the writer throws at him), ready fo kick Nazi butt! FIGURE IN ACTION [EJ]GETAGRIP ‘Ono ofthe most important things Iloamed about drawing good ‘ody language was how to hod the pee! For years, I been ‘ryingto sth my basic drawings with a firm grip meant for ‘rendering, resulting in st, nn poses, Once 1 was shown how to use a light, “sketching” grip won ‘broaking down a figure, my drawings suddenly became elke and natural! This sketching grip allows you to use ‘the whole arm to create broad, swooping ines. Try it. STRIKEAPOSE ‘No matter what emotion youre ryingo convey you should always ‘break down your figure. Here's how I ensure the most lifelike pose. First, I choose the attitude | want the character to convey. Let’s say | want to draw a menacing-loking Moon Knight. "Menacing’ brings ‘to mind an imago of Dracula, especially whon applyingittoanight- | time character ike Moon Knight, but since he’s a superhero, Moon Knight also needs to be dynamic. Inthe first sketch (Figure ), | draw the basic line for his spine, head, arms and legs, But I realize his lot og needs a moro ec usa tae Adynamie anglo, so | chango it and add the capo (Figure B), Which helps add motion tothe figure. Now here's the key: ketch ‘the pose as fasta can, drawing onl the lines needed to “read” ‘the pose. Onco m satistod that tho pose convoye the attitude | want, start drawing Moon Knight's body over my initial sketch, ‘still using the “sketching” grip. I try not fo use the "rendering" ‘rip until start to draw dotail ike his hands and face. That ‘way, the figure will retain the menacing attitude want without stiffening up. E72 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGSOEMOTIONALBABY Body language can convey a number of different emotions. Everything from love to shock to pain can be expressed through your movements. Here are a few examples to get you thinking about just what your body's trying to say. LOVE The pose Black Cat's striking here is the typical pose for a girl in love. Hor hands laspod over ono shouldor, DEFEAT Poor Frank Castle, Shoulders slumped, ‘head bowod, back hunched ecercencatdleiien te sssion of defeat, Seeman ‘Sniff. heer up, Punisher— hear they raised the ‘minimum wage. ead tilted towards the ‘object of her affection, and. |) one foot swept back, all ‘seem to say, "I'm in love!” PAIN | can't think of a hettor example of pain than Captain Kirk hhimsolt Notice that the pain soem to bo {nhs gut, so his body is folded around hhis midsection, with his elbows almost pointing to whore it hurts. This is a natural, instinctive reaction to pain, as if to covor or protect the offending area, (Plusit looks great on camera!) IMPATIENCE Here'sa ‘typical pose forimpatience— arms crossed, foot tapping. Looks like someone's a litle late fora dato! SURPRISE Surprise? Thatssimplo, right? Not so fast! What it your ‘| characteris wearing a full-face mask, | lke Spidey? Suro, you could cheat and | \<__ have his eyeholos open wido, but > lat’ say they're actualy stitched Now yout have to 80 body language to tll f tho story. "4 ly ———S Z FIGURE IN ACTION 23 |2m only goin wo PINES. Yep, just lke re na (wll, float) i 1 COULD GO ON FOR PAGES about tho many different motions that body language deploys, but unfortunately just don't have tho room. So don't forget that ultimately, the best ene (ro fs atohsethernennin.an abate ihn For perspective on the use of body language from am: 1's Comics and Sequential Artor any work by Alex Toth and Sok Ky Tt ang aan Kb bg lt aml) Whether yu da fr ving ot ca hb Ging your ares convincing body language will make the difference between an ordinary picture and an unforgettable work of art! wo ‘Mart Haley speaks tothe fans with body language in DC's Birds of Prey and the Superman found in Jerry Seinfeld’s American Express ads. WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCHAPTER FOUR: PART 2 “MOVEMENT & MOTION o: asc: scas ello there! We're going to talk about how to create the | notjust with speed ines and effects, but with actual motion drawn feeling of life in your drawings by the use of movement and | into the people (or whatever) you illustrate. So, bear with me, There motion, You must remember that even when | are some relatively simple rules and guidelines to ‘someone or something is at rost (standing stil), itis movingand | follow that can help you loarn how to capture movement in alive, You have to breatho this lfe into the things that you draw,and | immobile, two-dimensional drawings. Let's got on with it! LINEUP! ‘The simplest way to start to create motion in figures, ‘or whatever's moving, is with the conter line. The ‘center line is the line drawn through the center of a figuro, following the lino of the backbone, which describes the general action of that figure. Take a look at the center lines, which can, from this point onward, also be referred to as action fines, that have drawn to the right, Notice that a line drawn parallel to a border, or to the side or bottom of the page, creates a fecling of stillne: ‘or no motion, Note that if you tip this line forward ‘or backward, even very slightly, you start to create ‘movement. Now look at the last action lines drawn bolow...tho one labolod SWEEP. This typo of center line, alone and in conjunction with its relations, is responsible for most, if not all, of those pulso-pounding fight scenes that everyone really loves in their favorite comics. Sweeping action lines are the most noticeablo, and the easiest to execute, because the actions they generally describe are of a grossly exaggerated kind. As in acting (| boliove, anyway), it is always easior to draw (or play) characters acting larger than life ‘than itis to draw (or play) the characters who: movements and mannerisms are of a subtler nature. Therefore, we will start with the big, ‘sweoping action lines, STILL FORWARD BACKWARD SWEEP In the illustration to the left, notice how the center 10, which is tilted slightly backwards, creates a feeling of the character snatching hor head back, away from something or in. reaction to something. Genter lines are the basics of action, FIGURE IN ACTION 35 |Erk » ACTIONFIGURES ‘Now that we've taken alook at center lines, let's see hhow they translate into figures, Here are a couple ‘of simple sweeping aotiom lines, and next to them are a couple of figures drawn using these action lines as center lines (those two words aro virtually interchangeable). Take a good look at the figures. Obviously, there is more going on with thom than a simple center line, which we'l get into shortly, but notice how the flow of the figures matches the flow ofthe corresponding action ino, Like everything else in drawing powerful comics, motion and ‘movement are built up in stages, and each stage has to be dono correctly before going onto the noxt ‘one, ar your finished work will have problems, starting from the first rushed mistake and continuing on through each successive stage. ‘Approach your work intelligently, think things through, and try not to rush through it while you're learning. Spend the time now, and down the road ‘things will come together easiet, and your work will be botter and more successful because of it. ‘When drawing over a center line, construct your figure strongly (see page 12 for pointors), remembering to use the action line as the basis for ‘the spine, and building off of that, For simple, ‘straightforward actions, keep the flow of the arms, logs and head within the same basic sweep of the action line, TWISTED ‘Tocreate even more motion within a figure, try twisting the torso. What that ‘means is turning the shoulder fine to an angle with the hip line, as better ‘explained in the drawing to the left. The shoulder can dip towards the hip, ‘but not too much, Remember, don't twist the shoulders to an angle of more: than 45 degrees to the hips in any direction! By twisting the hips and. shoulders, you create tension within a figure, which creates motion. OPPOSINGLINES If t's true that parallel lines suggest no motion (and I believe itis), then, ‘opposing lines create motion. Look at the two action lines drawn to the right. Two simple opposing action lines, by thoir very naturo, croato forco ‘and tension (they don't even have to cross). Imagine a hero and villain locked in a titanic struggle far above the Earth—onergy glittoring wildly, about them, the fate of world in the balance, their muscles rippling and ‘surging with power, etc. Now, using these action lines, you can draw it! ELE wizard BEST OF BASIC TRAININGALITTLEDOES MORE& MORE Now we have to talk alittle about the difficult part of mavement and motion, the subtlotios. Anyone sitting, laying, standing, hanging around, talking, watohing TY et, fsmovingand haste i and motion, oven if it’s only breathing, Even comic book / | characters have to appear to breathe. People aren't wooden FF | statues, Thoy slouch and shift and fidget all ofthe time, and so \ | should your characters. You can make your characters real and alive by giving them motion, especially subtle motion, Creating, subtle motion is just ike creating those hold actions, but just tone it down, Instead of broad, sweeping, aggravated, opposing lines of action, draw smaller, straighter, more similar lines, closer to parallol action lines. Look at the figure drawn to the right, He has motion and | movement—not a lot, but still, he is obviously a living, |__ breathing, two-dimensional drawing, Notice his center line, only slightly curved, almost parallel with the edge ofthe page, yet still implying motion. Also notice the gontly swooping lin of tho arm, not parallel, but also more a part of the centerline than opposing it, Then, just to give italittlo something extra | thrust the head forward, giving purpose and intent to the movernent, ‘and perhaps suggesting amore action-iled movement to come, | | To the loft we havea quick angle ine drawing and the quick figure using those action tines. ‘That's the subtle use of opposing action lines. Look how Just by turning the shoulders slighty | (actually in perspective—keop reading) and putting the head on a separate, though | pparalle}, conter line, and by twisting the eye line away from the shoulder line (kind of like twisting the hip and shoulder lines), the figure, though not detailed, almost lives and | breathes. Maybe that's something of an exaggeration, but the figure is no longer static ‘or boring, It has movement and motion, ot AMATTEROF PERSPECTIVE Throwing a figure into perspective, as in ‘the drawing to the right, alsoisa good way to imply movement, as does putting a {igure into porspective, These two things are almost the same, but the first doals with creating a perspective forthe figure, ‘and foreshortening the figure within it The drawing to the lower right deals with hhavinga porspoctive background shot and placing a figure within that. For more, see ‘page (6 for lessons on perspective and ‘page 89 for “Dynamic Foreshortening.” FIGURE IN ACTION [EYJMOVEMENT..MOTION Bolow we have a drawing of Cyclops. Notice how static and ‘till the drawing on the left looks, almost as if Cyclops was (od to stand still and pose for a costume and body type rence shot for a sculpture, which is very stiff for comics. Now look at the drawing to the right. I's not as finished as the ‘drawing on the left, but look how much more life and action the ‘drawing has, Cyclops actually looks like he could striko forward, fire his optic blasts, and jump off the page! (Woll, almost...) re dealing with here {s depth. The shot of the ft has very little dopth, (It was designed as part ire sheet for a toy, and two other different view drawings, side and back, make up the whole drawing and display thickness.) The shot on the right is just loaded with it. Notice. that hoth figures are standing the same way and their bodies. WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING arein the same position, but see how the figure on the right is drawn from a slight angle and has beon drawn in a slight perspective, (Note the vanishing lines drawn from the feet ‘nd shoulders of Cyclops. For fun, find the point of convergence ‘of those ines, the vanishing point, and draw in a horizon line, Note that the vanishing point will be off of the page.) My point is that you can create movement and motion simply by how you place the figure within the panel. If you draw the figure from straight ahead, with no depth to his stance or body, hho wil appear flat and lifeless. Look at the drawings, read and study them, and see how all of those concopts are related and how almost all ‘of them work together in every figure and every dray Finally, practice!CHAPTER FOUR: PART 3 hht's right, said dynamic foreshortening, because while ‘making people and objects appear to shrink and grow in proper perspective is cructal for any kin of art, wero tlk ing about applying this technique to making comics more ‘xciting—and that’s what i’ all about, fant it? Simply put, the FORESCORE ‘The first thing we should do is show the difference betweon foreshortening in real life (say, in a movie) and dynamic oreshortoning on.a comics page. In the real world, the fist at the ‘endof an outstretched arm will not appear any larger than when it’s hold at one’s side, In comics, however, the fist must look larger as it comes toward the viewer, in order to simulateaction and inctease tension. Notice how Spidey's “real life” punch (Figure A) looks protty boring? There's nothing wrong with DYNAMIC FORESHORTENING s:susrruscr term "foreshortening” means that an object appears to got shorter as itis tilted away from the viewer; foreshortening is an artist's main tool to make a 2-D object look 3-D on paper. Using it dynamically can transforma superhero’s punch into a mighty ‘wallop instead of a love tap. Let's break some lead... ‘tho pose itso; i's just not terribly involving. But the “comics” punch (Figure B) looks liko it's gonna take your head off— ‘which is what we want! This is because we've treated the arm as a pillar: It gradually gots widor as it gots nearer to us, and ‘ends with a larger-than-normal fist (not too big, though’). The _groat thing about this effect is that you don'tneed to add any speed lines or sound effects to get your point across; the figure itself tolls the story. FIGURE IN ACTION gYouDUMMY a TOTHEFORE ‘Okay, here's my personal, step-by-step method to plan out foreshortening. Let's say we want todo a dynamic shot of Rogue fying powerfully across the page. Well first we have to decide on a pose (this is where the mannequin comes in ‘handy) and sketch it out (Figure ©). ‘the proportions right (the mani ‘or you can oven use an action S body part you want to foreshorten in its natural (in this case, the arms parallel to the torso), and then plot ‘the arc of movement each arm makes up to the position ‘you want to place it in, again roferring to the mannequin, (igure D). Pretty simple, oh? PILLAROFSTRENGTH / reese ' ‘time to “build mass,” as Arnold would say. To do this, wo fall Ll j ‘the tried-and-true method of ae) Sine rerio tes cylinders and cubes. Netor geo or ‘sketch of Rogue's composodof just that—geometrio solids, ‘Tisis he “pillar’ method mentioned ear By thinking of Rogue's arms as pillars or columns, it's easier to envision themin forced 1 | perspectivo; thon you modify thom in the final drawing to‘ ‘esomble human arms. Inthe final piece, Rogue is fying liko a | ‘superheroine should—dynamically! Zz 7 LL WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGSUPERPUNCH Alright, now that wo've mastored foreshortoning in on easy lesson, let's practice afow. here's a shot of the King of ‘the Sea himself, Namor, ina shot you'd probably soe ‘on a cover or splash page. This shot has the same challenges as the previous one, except itsalittle moro difficult bocause fio's com- ing ight at us! We simply foreshorten the ‘main figure first, and then foreshorten his loft arm separately. Notice how “Pople groan w Pree ear iterate )} PRATFALL ‘Okay, suro, but what about a shot of someone eaping instead of flying? Well, here, i's the pose ‘that's all-important. Soe how both of Elektra’s arms are held out in front of her asif to break her fall? In order to make this shot more involving, V'vo put Elektra’s right hand in front of her. shoulder. We still have to draw the entire arm whon constructing tho figure, but we only have ‘to render the shoulder and hand (which can ‘occasionally be a time-saver). The result? Elektra botter have a grappling hook handy. FIGURE IN ACTION [EJ]OBJECTIFYME DYNAMIC FORESHORTENING canbe a very powerful tool, so use it sparingly. You don’t want to knock their eyes out in every panel, do you? Balancing dynamism with subtlety will keop the roader turning the Mf course, we stand on the shoulders of giants, so if you want to see how the masters did it, tart by studying the comic works of ‘the King of Comics, Jack Kirby, or those of Neal Adams and John Romita (Sr. or Jr!). No ‘matter what stylo of art you draw—be it illustrative, cartoony or manga-inspired—using ‘dynamic foreshortening will make your stories more thrilling, give them more impact and keep readers coming back for more! WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGoy. allyou artists out there. ve drawnawide | of life is one of the most important clements of PAbrisverserstestomiah ote | raving comts: ox ot oes help our >» Fantastic Four—and one big thing they all storytelling and the believablity of your charactors, ds ®. haveincommon is they gotta move! They'reallhigh- | butit'sjust downright fun. The best way tolearn how <5) action heroes, so they give you lots of opportunity | todraw motion, ofcourse, isby watching it. Checkout 5°"), toexplarewaystocreatenovement”Thismenth, | the people around you. Watch TV, ospecialy 2 tmgoingto share with youjust how Llkebringing fe | sporting events like gymnastics. Basically, look ‘othe stuff draw! Giving your characters the illusion | everywhere, Now, with that said, let's get moving! MANONTHERUN I've depicted a fow ways to givo Quicksilver his “speed” in flat-out running: mainly, there's speed lines. Lots of 'em! Speed lines are fun because you can make thom follow the shape of the terrain your character's running on, and you can use them in - perspective for dynamic offects! Notice how the ______ lines coming our from Quicksilver make it seem lke he's heading toward you. Throw in Quicksitver's ‘speed trail, some dust being blown up in his wake, some rock and debris being swept along, as well as a couple of pieces of paper being whipped about, and you've got one supersonic speedster! | FOLLOWTHE BOUNCING | SUPERHERO One of the coolest ways to show tho Incredible combination of speed and agility Spider-Man has is through multipl ‘images! You can show Spidey bouncing, twisting and turning in any way you can ‘imagine, Just draw smooth transitions between the moves (as if you were an animator). Making the images flow from ‘one to anothor will holp Wob-head look even more fluid and graceful, Multiple images are also a great way to show Quickstiver’s blazing speed as he super-speed-punches some overgrown baddio into submission! FIGURE IN ACTION [EKjEARTHMOVER Good old terra firma (That's “solid ground” for you folks ‘without dictionaries!) comes in handy, especially when you're: | drawing hugo, powerhouse characters ike the Hulk here. As the Goliath comes in for a landing (Imagine a huge “THOOOM" sound offect behind him!), ho kicks up massive amounts of dust and earth. Drawing several chunks of dirt and ‘rock bouncing off the ground gives a great impression that the ETE WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING WATERWORLD Even though there's probably very litte pure oxygen to produce bubbles at the depths Namor hangs out (and rumbles) in, it’s fun ‘to take alittle artistic license anduse them ‘to indicate just where ol’ Sub-Marinor’s ‘coming from. They also create a sense of |. the water being stirred up around himas he ¢ rockets on through! Notice how the bubbles. from his hand to his head help show movement in his ight ar, whi the small bubbles trailing off by his feet project the image that he’s swimming towards us, Some schools of fish tagging along help with ‘the effect! Hulkstor landed with a tremendous impact! His squatting position also adds to the dynamic of the figure and shows the ‘ealism of gravity pulling him down, It's also fun to draw one big powerhouse knocking another powerhouse across the ground, Show his back and rear ond (tho ‘one that got pounded, that i) grinding up chunks of rock, dirt ‘and dust as his bruised ego (and butt) drag across the ground!conscientious about making i Peron FIGURE IN ACTION [EE]na | matic tingin’ action, whilo the WELL FOLKS, it’s been great sharing some of my “tricks” with you! Unfortunately, ‘due to space constrains, I could only present a few examples, But remember, just think ‘of your characters as always moving, always in motion..you're just freezing thom at ono specific point where as much stuffis happenin’ as you've got the gumption (or time) t0 squeeze in! ww) ‘Mike Wieringo's fluid pencils have graced the pages of Marvel's Fantastic Four, DC's Flash and his creator-owned project, Tellos. ET] wizarD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCHAPTER FOUR: PART 5 ACTION SCENES. «.::: / = oy | ulna is rr aro Overs: comics is action. After all, nobody | Now, there are many ways to get the most excitement likes a dull fight scene. So, as artists, i's our | out of your figurework. But given the space I have in job to fully bring forth intense dynamics. I's not as easy | this column, I've narrowed it down to a few important | asit sounds, though, since we're constantly tom between | ones that can help bring more zing to your work. So ‘maintaining sense of reality and makingascenebigger | grab a pencil hit your board and let's go! " STORYARCS Each figure makes a statement and brings with it a sense of life and movement, While We still have to remember proper anatomy, if we lose the overall flow or arc of a figure's ‘movement, then we lose alot of that figure’s impact and power. ‘Many artists think of the body as connected parts. That's fino, oxcopt by doing that, ‘we sometimes overlook trying to make a general, forceful statement with the figure. Only after we determine a figure's gesture should we break it dawn into parts. The more we can retain of our initial aro, the more we maximize our figure's dynamics. | You should try to havo one or two arcs that dofine your figure's overall movement or gesture. Establish simple arcs flowing through the shoulders and arms, or through the are of tho logs. The groater the arc, the more energy your figure will have. Notice how Figure A has more zing to its step than Figure B. Note that the more we simplify ‘our drawings, the more they'll resemble very simple arcs. DT eeu ORCC a ee ec Mea ‘contradictory task of balancing reality and making the action bolder, and their Ree ae RCC aa Canna) figurework. They never faltered from maintaining a realistic environment, which mado the unbelievable that much more believable. Then thero's eee Msc Ts UMN eR ear eee a Lifo Drawing, really unlocked some doors for me as to how the human hody Ree eee ee eet Mire mee en eared FIGURE IN ACTION taEt] WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING(Ul] wizARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGFIGURE IN ACTIONnt ne ee ee eee a mee AND THAT'S ABOUT IT. | can't reemphasize. ‘enough the importance of maintaining an overall {gesture or arc to your drawings to give them sustained vitality, especially as you tinker with the inner anatomies of the figures themselves. Only by stretching your figures, making them as threo- dimensional as possible, can you hope to make them leap off the pages themselves. Hopefully, these few tips will help bring more pizzazz into. Your fgurework, Thanks fr listening, slim Le can draw action-packed scenes withthe best of them. Check out Marvel's Uncanny ¥-Men or DC's Batman and Superman for the blow-by: blow. WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGll, the Wizard folks have asked me to share | flying. andall sorts of iers—from theultimate fveuy, Thor, 1 few tricks I've learned from some good | and the windriding Storm, to the winged Angel, or oven teachers and years ofexperienceinthe comics. | Iron Man. Each character les differently, based on his or S) biz. ve been asked to talk about flying—that amazing | hor power, but the same set of rules applies to each when supernower just about all ofus wishwe had at onetimeor _youdraw them soaring through the air. Solet'scovorafow nothor There are all sorts of waysto convey asuper-being | of the basics about crafting the illusion of ight. UP,UPANDAWAY Visual clues—the direction the character isWINGEDWONDER | With Angel (Figure €), we got the determination of Vision in Figure A, but with | | much more grace—the arch in his back and his opon hands toll us he's flying | quickly, with purpose, but isn't out to punch the next thing he sees, } LIF TOFFANDLANDING Composition is koy in creating the illusion that a charactor is floating above the ground. To indicate liftoff, you must show the environment from which the | character is leaving and draw tho figure above the ground of that environment, | eraingus know he's already in midair Chock ut Thor's powerful determined ttt (Figure D), We see that he's flying up from a rooftop (the shadow on the building's ‘edo tolls us he's not on it, burt apart from it). His eapo and hair bllow behind him, ‘showing us the rush of air and his direction. And the fact that Thor is heading up "towards the top of tho page lots us know he's headed up towards the sky, Now look at Thor landing (Figure E). Here, he almost looks like he's leaping. down from a higher building, That's a very holpful key. A charactor landing has | his or hor woight bohind him, and his body will bend appropriately. Unless it's the most | Baceful touchdown, a character should have some bend to his kneos, arms and {torso to cluo us in on the pressure of his landing. Furthermore, his cape, hair and arms, all pointed towards the sky, let us know where he's coming from. gQ WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGFlying characters should be handled very differently from ‘swinging charactors, although some similarities remain, Note the position of the Human Torch (Figure F). He looks. {ike he's gliding through the air, his head and outstretched arms and hands leading him with dotormination through the ‘sky. Spider-Man, on the other hand, is swinging from ‘building to bullding, He leads with his foot, and his arms aro stretched out in both directions as he leaves one web bohind to use another. He's held aloft not by any ability to float in the ar, but by the dolicate distribution of weight between his arms and legs, orso and head as he swings. He should look as though ho could fall to his doom if his woblines were to suddenly disappear. BREAKINGBORDERS With Rogue here, we see another example of composition «giving us the visual cues we neod to bolievo she's flying—hor ‘outstretched arms, hair fiying behind her and speed lines all indicate her dirootion, and the planetary background indicates her ‘environment; Her arcing figure is bold enough to break through the panel borders, This final choice is one alot of artists like to use, but italso leads to a common compositional mistake many artists use ‘that destroy the illusion of flying. Sra cm oe coe eee a ae} my poncils, drawing from someone else's script, and ora ane el na eee SRC meer Rae Drea