illustration_comics

Basic Perspective for Comics & Illustration
$12.95
This book does exactly what it promises. It teaches basic perspective. When I was learning to draw comic books this book was a godsend. It explains the basics with superb accompanying illustrations and easy to follow text.If you need to learn the basics of perspective, this book is for you. At only 48 pages it's a little pricey, which cost it the extra star, but as they say, knowledge is priceless. Treat this as a primer for more advanced perspective study, and you'll be delighted. 'Basic Perspective for Comics and Illustration' delivers the goods.You can't ask more than that!

Faber-Castell Getting Started Comic Illustration Set
$32.95
Create your own comic book heroes! This complete Faber-Castell Getting Started Comic Illustration Set includes PITT artist pens, Art GRIP aquarelle pencils, graphite pencils, a blank comic book and more. A fully illustrated instruction book is also inc

Hi-Fi Color For Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Results
$24.99
I am a comic book colorist, already a professional, so keep that in mind as I review this book. There aren't a whole lot of books out there on digital coloring and so this book should be given credit for at least covering the basics and does cover a lot of things about printing which are important to know to get your comics to print correct. It does not however explain much about color itself so it should be called Hi-Fi's technique of rendering comics. This is probably the best single book I've read on the subject (better than DC's guide or bluelines, but that's not saying much because this field of writing is under-represented). If you are already a comic book colorist and can do flats and handle files and so-on this will probably be useless to you, but if you are don't know where to begin this book will cover the basics very well and get you started. The CD that came with the book would be useful for people who don't have a lot of lineart to practice on, but it would have been nice if the artwork was in the public domain so people could post their work on their own website instead of the authors, which I found self-serving.

Zap!: How to Draw Fantastic Sci-Fi Comics
$19.95
For a species that can't know what the future holds, we seem to have reached a pretty good consensus on what tomorrow will look like. In trying to nail down that aesthetic, I picked up "Zap! How to Draw Fantastic Sci-Fi Comics" by Bryan Baugh. It's meant to teach artists how to create robots, aliens, cyborgs, androids, and even something called a space gorilla. But the best part is its chapter on the history of sci-fi comics. Among its most interesting points:

A great definition of sci-fi: "deals with fantastic circumstances that are scientifically plausible based on current scientific beliefs and theories." (If you substitute the word "outdated" for "current, you actually get a succinct definition of steampunk and other retro-futurist art movements.)

The difference between "space opera" and "hard science fiction" is that the former leans more on "feeling," and the latter on "thinking." So in a hard sci-fi work, detailed gears/wires/moving parts are shown to help create a sense of realism; "this could really happen," the audience thinks.

The 1920s marked sci-fi comics' rise to prominence, a time when society was feeling optimistic. The art reflected these feelings, and Baugh states "the depiction of futuristic technology was always shiny and flawless. Spaceships were sleek rockets with elegantly curved fins. Astronauts wore flashy jumpsuits, and robots often had the decorative look of walking jukeboxes."

The reason Star Wars appeared so realistic is that while all the ships and outfits were futuristic, they also looked worn, with scratches and dents. The result "was a completely make-believe sci-fi world that had a gritty, real feeling." The work has cast a long shadow on images of the future through today.