Max Riffner
The Parlor
My weblog work journal. »Archives »Links
The Right Cartooning Tools?
A friend mentioned to me that her son was interested in being a comic book artist and she asked what sort of tools I use, because it seemed sort of expensive. I’ve had this asked of me and my friends several times lately, usually by younger kids at the Krypton Artist Jams. When I was younger, I thought there was supposed to be the right pencils and the right books and the right pens you were supposed to use. The thought being that if you had the right stuff, you would be successful.
I had all the books, a ton of pencils, special pens, a drafting table – the whole nine. What do I use today? A 4H pencil, a sketchbook, a scanner, and a set of cheap brush pens for when I do inked sketches. That is it. One of my pro friends uses a little clipboard and a mechanical pencil. The point here is that eventually you figure out what tools work for you and then you learn those.
And with comics? All you need is a No. 2 pencil and typing paper, which is also what I ended up using over all those other tools when I was a kid anyway. Comics are great in the sense that anyone can do it, you just need a pencil and paper. Those are the only tools you need and they are readily accessible to anyone. Sure, I do most of my work digitally today, but there are legions of professionals who work for the “Big 2” who only have a table and a couple of pens/brushes or pencils to mark up their bristol board. Don’t let the tools get in the way. Find what works for you and stick with it.
Tim LenonSep 18, 07:15 PM
The next time at the comic day have an old inkwell pen and jam it into your arm screaming “Its only good when done in your own blood!”
Just a thought for the kiddies.
-T
LOL I like that idea.
Sometimes i think it is a matter of validation. Some folks think that you can only be a certain type of artist if you use the predescribed “proper” tools. I know that when i was young, i used Croquill (sp) stylus thinking that was the proper tool (which it was according to a book i had at the time). However i HATED inking with that, so i stopped eventually and just decided to use something else. I felt terrible at first, because according to the book i was reading, this was a “proper” tool. Of course, i learned later that this was considered thusly because another artist decided to use it. Plain and simple … had they used crayon, then i would have considered using that.
Also, i think asking about the tools is an easy way to be an ice-breaker in a group of artists. The Creating Comics forum i used to be a part of had this discussion at least once a month when the previous discussion petered out.
@Jason: You bring up a great point that I didn’t really touch on explicitly: learning by doing. No better teacher.
@Kenneth: Exactly the same! I still sometimes get new web designers staring at me crazy when I mention that I’ll use TextEdit if the mood strikes me.
@Tim: No.
@Fredd: We’ve talked about this before, but the whole Rapidograph trend years ago was a good example of this too. I’ve seen old timers use them like a surgeon uses a scalpal, but I’m like a retarded monkey with them and get better results with a cheap pen for a buck.
You can also browse through the Parlor archives.
Recent Articles
- April 27, 2010
- This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day
- January 11, 2010
- #CinematicShowdown
- December 4, 2009
- Guest Strip: The Loneliest Astronauts
- November 12, 2009
- Circling Back
- October 30, 2009
- I'm Still Here
Search
Get the Emails
Grab My Site Feed
Stay up to date with my Feed in your favorite newsreader!
See Who's Linking Here
Check out who is linking to me with my Technorati Profile.
Sep 15, 04:56 PM
Max, you hit the nail right on the head with this one. A whole section of the "wanna-be comic creators" population seem to buy into the notion that there is some "secret" to fame in fortune in the funny book business. A quick look at the "art instruction books" section of any bookstore will back this up.
While there are quite a few examples of books out there than can give good insight for the aspiring creator,(The DC Comics How-To series, Scott McCloud's volumes, Peter David's recent book on writing, and even the Lee/Buscema classic How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way), you also have such garbage as the Christopher Hart volumes.
While I'll admit I've found my laptop to be a vauluable tool in my writing, that’s all it is; a tool. There truly in no book, bit of advice, or class that can replace good ol’ fashioned practice. You learn by doing, simple as that.