Thumbnails, Red Pencils, and the Initial Lay In - Penciling a Comic Page Part 1

135K
Mark as Completed
Course In Progress

Thumbnails, Red Pencils, and the Initial Lay In - Penciling a Comic Page Part 1

135K
Mark as Completed
Course In Progress
Marvel
Ryan Benjamin demos how he starts a comic page from scratch using Black Panther and Captain Marvel as the focal characters.
This discussion board is available for premium students.
Newest
Judah Rojas
10mo
So am I supposed to read it and come up with my own perspective, or copy him? I just need someone to help clarify this.
@sergeantbigron
First follow along as he goes, and then try it from your own perspective. That's what I do.
Eriko Masuda
The script on this page allows you to concentrate on and enjoy Ryan's artwork in large panels because there is no dialogue. And it is insanely good. By the way, if some dialogues or SFX are specified, Does the penciller need to take into account the position of the callouts and SFXs when drawing? This is because I have been writing Japanese manga,and have been taught to pay attention to the position of the speech bubbles and the amount of text before drawing on the panels.
@jasonj33
1yr
This is awesome to see, just one question though. When it comes to perspective what are you thinking whilst you're creating the story?
Judah Rojas
10mo
I'm thinking black panther on the top of a building standing on a gargoyle with like a worm's eye view perspective.
Zachary Carlson
https://blambot.com/pages/original-art-dimensions-for-american-standard-comics More good info on paper, crops, bleeds, and safe areas.
Bob Collins
What are the measurements for the Crop margin and the Safe Zone?
Neill Brengettsey
https://dw-wp.com/resources/cartooning-quickguides/layout-quickguides/quickguides-bleeds/ The safety zone, aka the live area is at least 1/4″ inside the trim size, and often more. The idea with live area in a full-bleed page is that, even though you can’t literally see it, it forms the margin of safety. You put all your main action, characters, and dialogue within that box, and you know it won’t get trimmed off by an overzealous or sloppy printer. Note that if you were to put panel borders on this line, they’d sit only 1/2″ from the final edge of the book, which, often, doesn’t look very good. Instead, you may want to lay out another, smaller box to bound your actual panels and dialogue. • The trim size is just that: the line where the page will eventually be cut. • The bleed line is at least 1/4″ and often more outside the trim line, for the same reason that the live area is at least 1/4″ inside: to make sure that the art is trimmed off within the drawn area, so that it runs off the page completely. Often, if you know trim size, that means you know where the book will be printed. You can always ask a printer what their standard bleed size and safe margins are. Even if you don’t know their official measurements, though, you can make an educated guess. The only measurement you must know is trim size. Marvel and DC paper is marked for this
Beck Bishop
Can we get files or images of the in progress work so we can practice? Its really difficult to follow along when you are skipping entire sections of the drawing process.
Ely
1yr
I can see what Ryan talks about when he mentions keeping your hand loose and your pencil active. You can see how he's able to capture a lot of energy. Really impressive drafting process, really highlights how important it is to understand the fundamentals of blocking and figure making
@taohung
1yr
Can I show some DC comic characters in this course?
Adolfo Naranjo
Just wanted to share a page I’ve been working on
Sean Ramsey
Nice, this is great! You're really able to nail the sense of scale, and even though you're drawing static objects (buildings) they're still feeling dynamic and alive. Great work!
Adolfo Naranjo
Thanks everyone!
Nate
1yr
Very cool
Łukasz Perdjan
Wow. I absolutely, completely, ultimately take back what I wrote previously. Great lesson (ok, it could last triple time as it takes now, but that's just me - can't wait for the continuation!), especially that part about 'puzzles' when drawing Black Panther's leg - it has taken me some time to consciously make use of that technique and I still thought I'm a wierdo cuz nobody does that! (Apparently not.). And I'm also interested in margins - as @Migue and @cesarcarlos asked below. Thanks in advance.
Migue
1yr
Regarding the matter of the margin of pages, I'd like to know more about it. For example, in case you're doing an image that is shared by two pages, how can you control the crop line and be sure the bleed is right so the two sides match perfectly? Regards
@cesarcarlos
Hi, as a newbie in comic drawing but very interested in getting into it, I have some questions: How much should the crop margins measure? And how much the safe zone? Do the companies (like DC and Marvel) provide the Bristol boards or is that something the artist needs to cover? Is it the same for an independent artist? What happens when you design a double spread? Do you use a board that is double the size? Are all Bristol boards the same weight? Do you use just one size of the board or both?
Neill Brengettsey
The big two supply pre bordered paper. The paper is marked for two page spreads. I'm not sure about the other companies. Art pages are one sided. Companies will tell you what size drawing boards their printers can handle. You can draw on a single large sheet or two single sheets taped together. Weight refers to layers of thickness. Press refers to smoothness.
Nate
1yr
I really like Ryan’s drawings and his process for drawing pages. I have his intro to drawing course, I’m learning some great drawing techniques.
John B
1yr
Yeah he's a great teacher. We've worked with Ryan on other videos in the past and he always delivers!
Neill Brengettsey
The appetizers were excellent, now we're getting to the meat and potatoes!
John B
1yr
Glad you're enjoying the content. We wanted to be as thorough as possible when making this course and there was a lot we needed to cover before we could get to this point.
Use Code BLACK20 to Save 20%
Full course
Discover the art of comic creation featuring top Marvel artists, designed to teach you the secrets of captivating visual storytelling.
View course details
Give a gift
Give a gift card for art students to use on anything in the Proko store.
Or gift this course:
About instructors
One of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies with more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media © 2023 MARVEL
Freelance Artist: Traditional & Digital Artist 🎨 #DCComics #Marvel #PlayStation & Much More
We're a hub for artists to improve their skills and connect with a community of like minded peers and talented mentors.
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!