@̶AmyReeder and @̶BMontclare praise Glyn Dillon’s The Nao of Brown and go off on an epic Harry Potter/Die Hard tangent.
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ShowNotes///
00:01:40 – Rocket Girl KS update
00:03:05 – 3 Chicks Review Comics Episode 55 http://goo.gl/s8ybX
00:04:38 – Sidebar’s pod http://goo.gl/pogkS
00:05:44 – Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
00:18:18 – Creeping into Harry Potter/Die Hard spoiler tangent
00:19:18 – Brandon erroneously calls Die Hard better than RoboCop.
00:22:05 – “I’m gonna make some slash! You hear that JK Rowling?!”
00:24:40 – Brandon’s thinking of Mario Van Peebles
00:31:00 - Meeting other pros at conventions
Music:
Palace
Clams Casino
Rocket Girl Kickstarter: http://kck.st/108y2Tr
Subscribe on iTunes: http://itun.es/i6xf9sG
Rocket Girl is so much fun to draw! Most of it takes place in 1986 New York; the rest takes place in an 80’s-inspired future.
It’s a lot of research—a lot of people remember New York in the 80’s and I don’t want to get it wrong. I went probably tooooo crazy with the above panel. So to make it worth it, I’m going to make you look at it and explain what I did to reconstruct Times Square North in 1986!
1986 predated the “Disneyfication” of Times Square. It was pretty dangerous and smutty back then. The last three images here were some of the main references I used. Check it out—Panasonic’s slogan was “just slightly ahead of our time”—pretty perfect!
I actually freehanded all those signs. I don’t even know why. It was that kind of laziness that begets more work. Like I could’ve scanned what I had so far, placed in the logos and printed the sample so I could trace over them. But I didn’t feel like scanning the page and manipulating logos on Photoshop.
This is mostly for the previous panel (which you can see here), but I had to draw Times Square South at a higher angle, an angle I didn’t have great reference on. This is where it got a little nuts…I went into this great site skyscraperpage.com that documents all skyscrapers in the world—where they are on a map, when they were made, how tall they are. From there I could figure out which buildings existed in the 80’s, and where, and what the buildings’ names were. So once I knew that, I could look them up on an image search, and even look around on Googlemaps street view for extra help to visualize them.
I also read up on the south tower (One Times Square), because in the 80’s you could actually see a building there—the place where the New Year’s ball drops—now there’s just a bunch of advertisement screens covering it and it’s virtually empty inside. And yet the 80’s version is not the original version of the building, either. They had completely remodeled the facade by the 60’s. I was pretty confused until I figured that out.
It was too much work, but pretty fun nonetheless. I DID fudge things, of course! Not that I’ll show you where those are.
To support the Rocket Girl Kickstarter, click here.
Behind the scenes of Rocket Girl. Amazing attention to detail of 1980’s NYC and Times Square—and then add in some fun.
Process GIF 2
Here’s an animated gif of that Rocket Girl teaser!
- The sketch took up a quarter of an 8.5x11 page.
- I inked this at print size…the composition is such an extreme close up that I’ll keep my proportions better if I keep it small.
- Then come the color flats, which I’m really only including so you can experience the terror I get every time I start coloring. For some reason color flats look way worse than black-and-white inks…I think because if it’s black and white, we fill in the blanks and make it awesome.
- So after it’s flatted, I basically shade it and add effects until it “stops looking like that.”
And don’t forget to check out our Kickstarter for Rocket Girl! So excited about this book!!!
Behind-the-scenes. This was the first “finished” image of Dayoung Johansson, ask ROCKET GIRL!
@̶AmyReeder and @̶Bmontclare react to the opening hours of Rocket Girl’s KS campaign, plus details on the series lead and setting!
Kickstarter: http://kck.st/108y2Tr
Robot6 Interview: http://goo.gl/vWAJB
iTunes Download: http://itun.es/i6xf9sG
A great end to a looooong day. Check it out; & remember that there’s new podcasts every Wednesday!
ROCKET GIRL
A new comic by Amy Reeder & Brandon Montclare.
Check out the Kickstarter at: http://kck.st/108y2Tr
Fresh off their C2E2 appearance, @AmyReeder and @BMontclare talk conventions, expos, trade shows and everything in between!
ShowNotes///
00:00:32 – C2E2!
00:01:42 – SDCC!
00:02:35 – Meeting fans
00:10:00 – Brandon: comicon journeyman
00:14:20 – Con goer diversity
00:18:52 – Otakon!
00:20:20 – Upcoming Appearances
Music:
The National Anthem
Lupe Fiasco x Radiohead
New podcast where Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder look back at the classic single issue: SANDMAN #8! Why it was and still is so awesome, and how it inspires us as creators.
You can also download it on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/podcorn/id621903985?mt=2
One of my all-time favorite comics—consistently throughout the years. And they had some really amazing promo posters back in the day!
(Source: nuxxfromtheforum, via ericdittloff)
New Comics Podcorn up now—Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder talking about women in the comics biz. Also available for download at iTunes here: goo.gl/wSivD
I’ve had a lot of aspiring comics artists ask me if I use very much reference and I’m slowly understanding what they’re really asking. I have folders and folders of reference so I can get things right—like a car, a time period…stuff like that. But what they’ve really wanted to know is if I use reference for poses.
And I occasionally do—though if I’m confused about something I usually pose in the mirror first to see if that helps. Mostly I just come up with the pose on my own, not that it’s easy…but it gets easier, the more you do it.
But I think what some people are REALLY asking is whether I copy a pose—like either trace or draw it at the exact angle or whatever. That answer is pretty much “no.” Not unless I created the photo myself for the express purpose of drawing it at that angle. Even then, it’s nowhere near a straight copy.
Why am I asked this? I’ve only recently realized this is what a lot of amateurs do. Like I was always confused why their work would seem so inconsistent. But what it really is, is they find some cool pose and just copy it, because it’ll look better than what they come up with on their own. So some poses look amazing, leaving everything else to look much worse.
These artists are better at copying than drawing. I’ve always been better at copying, too. It’s an interesting talent: you get a lot of attention from it and it makes you avoid getting better as an artist by working on the things that aren’t your strengths. I should know; I didn’t try to actually learn to draw until I was 23.
Here’s what I suggest: when you use a pose for reference, don’t draw it at the same angle—change it up. I know a lot of these artists are GREAT at figure drawing—if you do figure drawing, try turning the subject around on your paper as an exercise. If they are facing you, create the drawing as if you see them from the side or from behind.
Because “drawing from life” only helps if you’re actually processing and interpreting life. It is possible to copy something and still not learn from it.
When you draw something in a comic, make the reference serve the story, NOT the other way around. I always try to draw something before I consult reference.
In the above panel, Brandon called for a “crouching slide,” one that “only a supercop in an action movie would take.” I could see something fuzzy in my mind, but I’m not an active person and wasn’t sure how the mechanics would work. So I started making chicken scratches to brainstorm what I was seeing. Then I looked online, but couldn’t find a great search term. So I returned to the thumbnail and just composed it as best I could, and it turned out fine.
When I went in to draw the final page, I remembered there was some version of what I wanted in a “Mall Cop” trailer and sure enough, I found my ref!
But notice that it’s flipped, the angle is different, and the body types are totally different. This is what I’m saying—I’m processing what is physically happening instead of copying the lines. Even though he’s large, I can tell his torso is slightly bent, and I know what position his legs and head are in. And I process that accordingly.
After I found this, I also found videos of baseball slides, which is what I should’ve originally searched for. So the pose ends up being a combination of all I’ve soaked in, plus my own personal choices.
Rocketing it…
Perspective in Storytelling 0
This is the final (and introductory) post to my “perspective in storytelling” series! If you would like to link to the posts, either reblog this, or send them here. That link should lead to everything I’ve done on the matter. I’d recommend reading them in order—that is, earliest to latest.
I made these because I think that there are a lot aspiring comics artists out there who get advice on their work that’s bent more on accuracy (like anatomy or perspective) than it is on actual storytelling. This bothers me, and it seems lazy. Accuracy is so obvious…it’s much harder to learn the storytelling skills that accuracy should be serving.
So this is not a how-to…it’s a when-to: When to use certain perspectives or angles to serve which storytelling purposes. If you are confused how perspective works, get a book and read it! It’s math, people! And there are a lot of books out there.
Keep in mind I mostly explain how *I* approach perspective. That’s really all I’m an authority on…and there are so many options out there. So it’s my hope these posts will free you rather than create rules you think you need to follow.
Actually, what I REALLY hope, more than that you’ll use my techniques, is that my thinking will get you thinking. I feel so strongly that art can be analyzed, learned—even solved. I hope that comes through and becomes addictive.
Finally, if you enjoyed these posts, please spread the word. I appreciate your support!
Check out the overview and all 28 parts of Amy Reeder’s posts on using perspective in comics storytelling!
Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare talk about their upcoming launch into iTunes, and create a shelf p0rn contest! Tell us what in my bookshelf we should review, and if we choose yours, we’ll ship my book out to you after we review it!
Some of my shelves below (click on the little icons if you don’t see it):
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Go behind-the-scenes, page-by-page of Halloween Eve as we share our thoughts and memories making the comic!
Comics creators that make us want to create better comics! Amy Reeder & Brandon Montclare go back and forth about personal motivations, as well as the work of other writers & artists who bring out the best in us: a wide range that includes a little bit of Grant Morrison, Moebius, Sean Murphy, Ernie Chan, and more!
