Learn to be a Comic Book Illustrator

Step One: Create rough concept at about 3 x 5 inches.
Step Two: Blow up rough and use a light box to create a refined drawing on 11 x 17 inch paper.
Step Three: Ink artwork.

The rough stage doesn't take very long. I drew this rough at about 3 by 5 inches. In this case, I blew it up in Photoshop and printed it out one 11 x 17 inch paper. Since I was doing tight pencils and not inks, I put it on the light box and did a tight rendering using a 4H pencil, which is pretty hard and doesn't smear. The last step is inking the 11 x 17 inch pencil drawing.

A breakthrough that has allowed me to progress quickly is that I've started doing my roughs very small. It allows me to work through the story telling aspects quickly and solve the big perspective and composition problems without getting bogged down in detail.

Who is your favorite teacher?

I've never had an answer to this question. Early on I wanted to study illustration, but few opportunities were offered in my academic sphere. I've always been able to learn more through books than through the teachers I encountered.

That was before I signed up for Introduction to Comic Book Art at Comics Experience, taught by Robert Atkins. Robert is an amazing illustrator who has worked on titles for Marvel, DC and IDW. Incidentally, his teaching is on par with his art.

The class Robert taught spanned over six sessions. During that time, the students worked to create four pages (one cover and three pages of sequentials). We built the pages up from roughs, then to breakdowns, then to final pencils -- all the while getting critiques on how to make our pages better.

Robert has the uncanny ability to make artists feel good about what they have produced even while covering their art in corrections.

During class time, Robert critiqued artwork in Photoshop (which we could see in our browser) and made corrections to the artwork by flipping panels, enlarging, adding, or deleting parts to improve the art turned in. At the end of a critique, rather than feel bad that I didn't do the art better, I felt invigorated to have new artistic weapons in my arsenal. As a result of Robert's instruction, I left every class a better artist.

I improved a great deal during the class and enjoyed it the whole way. The other artists that participated in the class seemed to have had a similar experience. It was great at the end to see everyone's pages and how much we all improved.

I don't consider myself a great artist yet, but I feel that I've been firmly placed on the path to become one. That's what a great teacher does. Now, if anyone asks me who my favorite teacher is I can tell them: It's Robert Atkins.