BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED Ce CS CEC SSC Pe en ete Ce V 4) ae ‘pen your skills in penciling, inking and ring with in-depth, step-by-step tutorials 1 JOE KUBERT, GREG HORN, MY PALMIOTTI and more! ‘nthe art of crafting the ct-piteh cover that'll bring ersto the racks with lessons by NK CHO, JOE QUESADA, INCASSADAY and more! your art to the } level with advanced training pro tips by MIKE MIGNOLA, ANBOLLAND, ‘RY DODSON /IGITAL WIZARDRY Flex your artistic muscles by learning how to master Seentcme cemtiea cunt nek iny TO Sak oR ec Ron ene OR UU PSreneese eee eS ehe t-e-ut Maca ia Sa ue eR Ue AC a Echniques such as COLORING, ADVANCED INKING and LETTERING! IMATE RESOURCE FOR SPIRING COMIC BOOK CREATORSTHE BEST OF WIZARD BASIC TRAINING HOW TO PAGES BY a ae ES Wea ee Pa a) PEEL Co AND MORE! INTRODUCTION BY ANDY KUBERTHOW TO DRAW THE BEST OF BASIC TRAINING ADVANCED TECHNIQUES WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT: ‘VICE PRESIDENT/EDITOR IN-CHIEF Pat McCallum + SEMIOR EDITOR Mike Scale» CREATIVE DIRECTOR Steve Blackwell» ‘PROJECT EDITOR Andy Sorvin + EDITOR Brian Cunningham + VP/SENIOR MANACING EDITOR Joe Yanarella EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mel Cayo» EXECUTIVE EDITOR Androw Kardon» CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sear T. Collins « ESIGNERS Grad Bowersox, John Gonzalez Eric Goodman, Jairo Leen, Arlene So, Kevin Vancio, Jett ‘kor * CONTRIBUTORS Ty Dietsch, Grog Hi tick Vuong, Chris Ward » RESEARCH EDITOR PUBLISHER Jim Slvr» ASSOCUTE PUBLISHER Rob Foon VP/CFO Edward P. DuPré» VP/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ‘tha Donato * VP/ABVERTISING DIRECTOR Ken Scrudato + PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Darren Sanchez «DIRECTOR OF C1R- LATION Tom Conboy + COVER ARTSTSTery Dodson, Rachol Dodson, zason Koh, Rodolpo Migir« BACKCOVER ARTISTS Grog Hom Kelley Jones, Jimmy Plmioi, Joe Quesada ADVANCED TECHNIQUESSLINTRODUCTION ty riers vere / 4 CHAPTER ONE: INTERIORS 5 LINKING by Joe Kubert 10 | ADVANCED INKING by simmy Peiniot 20 | POWERFUL INKING ty steve Leber 24 | INKING & RENDERING by Joc Rubinstein 28 | BUILDING A SETTING oy nike nignoie 32 | MOOD by Ket Jones 36 | COMICS & COMPUTERS by scot Mocious 42 | LETTERING ty chris topos 4G | COLORING by quiet Design ‘50 | DIGITAL PAINTING ty eg Hom 56 | CHAPTER TWO: CAREER MANAGEMENT ‘57 | BREAKING IN by sean T.cotins G1 | INTERNING ty the wizard statt 66 | ULTIMATE HOW TO GUIDE by Chris Ward and the Wizard Stat 72 | ARTIST SURVIVAL GUIDE ty patrick Vuong 78 | PORTFOLIOS ty vim catetore | 83] CHAPTER THREE: COVERS | | 84 | COVERS by Frank cho 89 | COVER CRITIQUES by John cassaday 95 | ICONIC COVERS ty Joc cuesada ‘99 | DRAWING ICONIC COVERS by Jo Quasada and tha Wizard Sat 83 | COVER THEORY ty srienBoliand 106 | COVER CONCEPTS wy tte wicare stat {1G | ANATOMY OF A COVER oy rau smits 168 | COVER LESSON ty tert, D0dson and Rodolfo Mig Pl WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGINTRORUCTION.. ANDY KUBERT! hievolume of How te Dswenti Photocop, lutte orate pina ro “advanced tchniques"forcovers, grams that are avalableon the computer. ic bus Inking, coloring, breaunginvothe ‘So many upane-coning bicandafew otherpoints—allotahich ve hawefcutitst beak no eal with to someestet or anctherin my nest. My st answers usu that youre 20-plu (wow!) yoars of makngalving = ary good yu got work yu submit your | comice arta. work and got rejected, at usually means “Theft thinga potenti eadesee athe that you have some wark to do og your cover The cover isthe st mage thatthe stuf up to nu We al of hard werk and ‘eadar connects wth, sotehaucbe trie practice, Theres a ton of competition out ing, simple mage thas to gab at reader there. You wil make ‘And most enough where leh decir tock up the impart, you have to acop eric Hetotiptirousnttoseettintress hen Once you land your rt gis, you want enough fo possblepurchase. A gpd way to hang on and hopeful tur this ino & Trvandheepthe character cuntenthecovs the best way to conduct yourself napa countoaminenam one ortwo,raybetree fessional manner. Ther area few simple “Once you land your first gigs, you want fo hang on and hopefully turn this into a career. Along with doing your finest work, the hest way is to conduct yourself in a professional manner.” EN RE stthemost Ofcourse youradtornight wa rules hat apply and areVERY important tho whole LA orXMen teams butliryte A. Mako your deadlines! op the boy cant don, Btu phone als and emai! Tnmyhumbeopinn nkngiione ofthe C-Lstentoyour ear! Remember ite facets ofthe crea sdeofthebzthat gets a commercial busines. thelestanauntofrespec Plan andsitge, 0. Make your deadlines! sninterie NOT racer Aninkerie flow One saute hat te aris. stngroacive acanmongoa, wich stdore—Inow each Sexo Yeor Naat Istomakathestutiok goed Tobostnkare Ar at my dads Scheele that deta se god att; hey ADD Yo the drawing, sowing ul attended ny das echeal et ‘They ad ere, ine Weight an ish the theageo® Thelen wast me tog trough enc raving ith contour afm, There the echo ortho rat yer, rl hen werk ‘a things that you ean do wih pun nkand_—_thooffes nan aminsrtve capaci eal Tush hat cannot be done wih piel, aw anythingnstox of poop, used It doesnt mtr how good fein rt Yo draw monster! ln.clormakesorbrosks the wok and ane But got engulfed the whole word canargu that become abigepartotthe of comics and storyaling. | wound up finished product than the inking uemecty attending the school alrree years was to he advancement of eolor vi the cont atonofhardwork-but loved! theory anda god dae of raminghrowee onawithcompostonismorethan wef, Andy Kubert has workesin comics for over ‘The clor has to complement he drawing: 20 years teaches atthe prestigious Joe romatethe artsy aguodcclat wll Kubert Shoo! of Garten and Graphic At ‘apt isha etl othe pence. And of ands oe of the prem aries in comics course its imperative (aterm my daduses fey, having drawn everthing rom Captain all the time) thatthe colorist b adept at America Yo X-Man fo Baman. ADVANCED TECHNIQUES [KJCHAPTER ONE: WATTS ° INKING Sea) Te aa ANT a0) Tas at) nN L@ IN Pa NIN Tee arnt 8) ae * BUILDING A SETTING - MOOD SH Tare 0) UL) aaa Neh ba e0) Reet} Se Te ELE} PG oe ama NyFendered with black ino cutines Te term Tne cs a used to describe the printing process used for illustrations prepared for newspaper or comic book ‘publication. in are times, gray tones were dificult nd more ‘xponsiv than line-ut drawings to reproduce. Pencil ines and ‘photographs havo more fluctuations of darkness, and in ‘reproduction and publishingwould either darkon or break. An ink TOOLSF ORINKING TS ABLITY 10 USE These T0016 ARE NOT EALY fauieeo, 7 “owes PRaccs. LO7s OF PRACTICE, ‘RY ARTI REPERTORE” ADVANCED TECHNIQUES [EJWIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAINING PENANDBRUSHPRACTICE ‘Gosshateh patterns] Stipes created racing tht Ths graphic i canbe done with | byleeening | lines of Pores Ae oes patere sald be] pen and spacing ia tie rendered witha eens equalinweight | thei pen and ban. ff various aes nd ree Don'tusea rile, shapes to ceate Use only waterproof India Ink. There are any ‘umber of god nk menufacturor. Inks wl vary In consistency Pros tnd 1a solect the one that "oor for them. Ty several fo fnd out which ‘ano work bot for you ') When opening new bot ot nk forthe first time, stir the nk fom te bottom. After standing {or whl, th ida ot parte fink wl have soparated. Thoy need 0 be mized. 'B) I's a good idea to ganty shake the ink before ‘every use. Make sure the tops securely sewed own, [cant toll you ofthe numbers of csasters that have occurred when the artis thought the bole’ top wastight-and it wasn’, ©) Tho qu inthe nk wil slowly evaporate when ‘the bor You find the Ink does not come off the brush er pen nib smoothly, this probably means thnks thickoning. Justadda ow drops of tap watot and sti. tthe ink continues tobe thick or gunk, got Fid oft, The ink i tao and you need to get a fresh bottle, patternGETTHEPOINT? “Thoda isto relax whon practicing inking, Don't hal your pen or brush to ‘Achoppingstoke | | age black areas ane shoul be inked thine thier ine. | by brash not pen. DRAWINGANDINKING? ADVANCED TECHNIQUESWIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGCORRECTIONS eri onere ies erased, This must ADVANCED TECHNIQUEShysical ‘should concentrate the most. The harmany of the Iker’ style playing off of he poncilar's strength is ‘what creates the best peniorinker team.TOOLSOFTHETRADE Se eer tn ee een een oh) See eee eae et eae eee en eee eens eerie et as ee ey Ce entree eters Po eee ree es Se ery Se Pet oor eae et aeees Sermon me es pare eee ees ee ec ny porsonal preferanco, but some prefer Be eee ey er eee es ead Soret eee a eos ee ety Some ements thore—itsthebest I cost sound $25, but er neers? eee re ey einen eer Crs eer eee eee ees eect es eter res cre ee ea eee ee Cee geet a ee er a See eee eer Per eee een eet toto sed onthe fires The po should eer eee perenne eet ete) brands Pen size should be O and higher a eC eee Serene templates, triangles anda Fenech curve set Thos are vor important especialy the ee et renee eels Cee eee ad eee eee area pete or een ee nee] ee ee] Pee ee eter Serre rae eater erent ot last foreeer Se ec eee eee ee ee Eheninte tiae ae ee ere era Benen i ee re Eee eer en oe sts ee eee Peat erento eee teen ey Pe ened Perret eee cet Sri: Coren neat i ADVANCED TECHNIQUES [iJ]Po Finishes #1—Thi e where ook tho tight reakdown, and inked it fn. ruled inthe background, and separated teforeground image (the {ii fromthe background, This moans lusedathicker ine around the {Gand a thinner ino around the guy. also did some brushwork in ‘he hair, [kept t somewhat simple for th example, but you can see how a drawing ability is necessary here, judging by how | went in and ‘worked or the nose ana ie cheeks. Finishes #2—On this plce, used a different ech- ‘nique. backit the guy the background blackening ‘themmale igual this to sure tat the place eos ‘ood in black-and-white bofore heading oft theca! ‘orst.Dont tate the colorist for granted—always make sure the figures separat in black-and-white) Finishes #3~In this example, | blackened th fore- round (the git), a wells droppod out tho lowers on her dross. From thera, went dark on the backgaun imorder to pep the midle-ground figure (the gu) rit ‘out, This ges a diferent feoling tothe mal was llth attention is drectod to him. PROINKER HELPFULHINT: tis not an nker’s job to add mood or texture tothe page. That's the ‘encile's jo, unless he has any specific directions for ho inka. Fight, thave no reason to change the pencil work. That's why | got lot of wor, and some inkrs don’. Your ob as an inkor i o opa- rate, clarify or correct the arwerk (ke, for example, i sometimes ‘thors an adtional finger). ‘Uniosshre'sa mar problem with a piece ofan willl myer, ‘or the pencils before changing anything Your pncir and yuretor wil ‘thankyou, wth the efor thanking yu by ging yeu more work.ADVANCED TECHNIQUES.WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGADVANCED TECHNIQUESZIP-A-TONE senaration tol to ‘background 1o the barkof the panel | used the Zips in this panel (#2) to ‘reatoasoparatoplano nthe back ofthe van. Again, luseda 20 percent Zp-a-Tone “dat sheet, which is the right porcentage ‘0 use when the art gers shot down forJimmy Palo i a mulile-award winning nker/atist wha has bean worked for every aor ith tiles auch ae Conan, Batman and Darel his credits. ADVANCED TECHNIQUES.it tm Stove Ui comics tor about 19 years on project ike Whitoout, On the Road to Perdition and Hellboy: Weird Tales. studied at the School, and my goal as an artist is simple: t tell good stories. One way odo that isby carefully com posing black ink onthe page, also called “speting backs." The earafl placement of areas af solid black ina line-ar drawing separate ‘rom an amateurish ane. Wel-placed areas of lack 1 've bean working in _ make ltr ease dete, conral hs ‘a professional job iowor's {ocus, enhance the luson of depth, establish the direction of ight and make a picture look better. In color comic your composition of black will help a ‘ood colorist understand your intentions and keep ‘an amateur colorist fron screwing up too much. If your drawing a black-ané-white comic, those dark 30 for ensuring that what you want them 0, P13 WIZARD BEST OF BASIC TRAININGPOWERFULINKING POSEAPATTERN Use blacks to create patterns. This is pretty basic, bu will they make pleasing pattem aroard the panel and throughout ke some practice: Youdon't want your panels or pages tothe page. Figure G isn't bu. ook out of balance. Try to arrange areas of black so that of balance. LETTHELIGHTSHINE ‘Spotting your blacks where tho shadows fall wll help keep diferencein fling betwoon a ictue with black spotted all you from looking amateurish, You'd be amaze artists never figure this it. Figures fine. Donte the one who draws Figure J. ‘Also, ‘of how powerfully you can set the oof ooHIDEANDSEEK ‘Romomber how Isa that the eye i attracted tothe point ‘of highost contrast? Wall, tho reverse is also true— ‘Fader ton tolgore the paint of lowest contrast. you put abu tetursin front ofa texture, youereste camouage. ‘Sometimes youll want to ut tis fo hie less important otal, but you have to show something important forthe ‘try, don't camouflage it! Make it pop! In Figure K, the ‘boot on the lft pops. The toot onthe ight gets os. ‘SOME TIPS on gottng better: Make reduced copies of your pencils, then get out tracing payer and a big, Don't worry about good drawing—Iust use big, bold stroke marker. Plan out your black aroas on the tracing pape Turn the marker sketch upside-down and gee if squint oF hold the page at a distance. ‘Also ty sketching from lio in sot the masters of black-and-white art: EC comics), Al Wiliamson (another EC master), Bernie ‘When I'm inking, I rogel squint at my pages and hi ONATANGENT. ‘One of the hardest mistakes to aod isthe tangency—the accdontal arrangement of stuffon our page othat it ater the picture or confuses the roaar. Ty to spot your blacks lina way that makes i clear were one picture ends and another begins n Figure Ee intentionally incude bunch ofangencies, which are warked inredin Figure 3 Sharpie 1d your oye to wheroit should got might help to tus Yo composing pletures with lot of sold black. Study x Toth (Zorro), Milt Caniff (Torry and the Pirates), Wally Wood (check out olé rice have doth? Does my ye a0 the moctnparan pars? Dak th patter lek? Ae heer angancies messing ings {p? An eamotagganhingnportan? alas workto gator ths but hats us of hing wth earning ood uk) Stove Lieber can do mare than us ink powerull—he also wrote The Complete l's Gude 1 Creating Graphic Novel for Penguincreators that Joe Rubinstinhasn'rworked with. The;arly | most recently, his work has been seen on Justice League par of his career saw hi asstinglegendske Wally Wood Classified I Can’ Bolleve it’s Not Justice League with Kevin and Dick Glordano, but he's aso worked with John Byrne on Maguire and Dark Horse's ArchEnanios wih Yvl Guicoht. [2S there's very few itl or Captain Amorca and Infinity Gault with George Pérez: and PLY Wizarb BEST OF BASIC TRAINING‘know thar great inka ike Wally Wood, Tony D’Zuniga, Joe Kubert, Alfredo Aleala and many others used a variation ofthis ‘method, but for thoso of you that find this ‘approach too 23, bering and predictable, don't be discourage. It an be more free- flowing ad improvistiona especialy when you combine steps, as well ee next, “This figure was outlined using Stop #26 usual wth a pon (érawn with ink to establish stape), but then Stop #2 (Ghickening forms, adn shadows) and Stop #3 (nished ‘rendering strokes) were combined. By using my brush in ‘bold, sensual way (a fa waersolor pining), Fve simul taneously established th it source (shadows) and the rendering by how lused the brush, ‘The long-haired guy is outined (Stop #, drawn wth nk), but nal Interocting some indestion ofthe thick and thin (Step ligt soures) anda touch of Step #3 (rendering), being consistent wth the light sourco. Then lus a brush further rein force the darks nthe head nd then lastly uso a brush fo render (Step #3) but not forgetting draw (Step #1) a8 | apply the brush strokes. Ep wzere cesr oF sasic trainine