Art Projectiles.

You sure have seen this post. It has spread like wildfire over the past few days so I doubt there is any artist out there who hasn’t seen it. But even if you didn’t, you should read on because I’m about to tell you a handy little thing that can help you to protect your art from such assholes as the anon who submitted this bullcrap, as well as art thieves in general.

The magic word is Metadata.

Metadata is like an invisible signature that is embeded into a file. It can contain all kinds of information, like Title, date, keywords for online seach engines, and copyright information. And the best thing is, since this information is “hidden” in the code of your picture, it’s hard to remove it.

There is a nice basic tutorial on how to add Metadata, or “additional file information” to your images in photoshop. It’s really, really easy so check it out!

“Adding Your Contact And Copyright Info To Your Photos With Photoshop” on PhotoshopEssentials.com

I’m not sure if you can do the same with any other art program. If you know how to do this in other programs / can confirm that it works the same way there, please tell me so I can add the information to this post.

hey yall its me the Art Mom™ to help you shade pretty

rule 1: DO NOT SHADE WITH BLACK. EVER. IT NEVER LOOKS GOOD. 

red- shade with a slightly darker shade of purple

orange- slightly darker and more saturated shade of red

yellow- i think like..a peach could work but make it a really light peach

green- shade with darker and less saturated shade of blue or teal

blue- shade with purple

purple- a shade thats darker than the purple you’re using and maybe a little pink (MAYBE blue)

pink- darker shade of red

white- a really light lavender or blue..or i guess any really light colour??

black- okay listen dont use pure black to colour anything unless you want to leave it with flat colours because you cant really shade black lol

grey- a slightly darker shade of purple or blue (less saturated)

brown- slightly darker and less saturated shade of purple or red

I made some Balls of Colour to go with Art Mom™’s post:

well when I do hands I tend to break them into 3 big shapes 

starting with the wrist then palm, thumb then the fingers 

once I have the big shapes in I separate the fingers

here are some more examples of the different parts

one of the best ways that I learned how to draw hands was to draw a LOT of them, in different poses, while looking at a reference. This is a site that I found useful, 

THERES THIS WEBSITE CALLED IRADUKAI AND ITS FUCKIN AMAZING BC VARIOUS JAPANESE ARTISTS POST THEIR STEP BY STEP ON FINISHED WORKS STARTING FROM SKETCH UP TO FINISHING TOUCHES

IT ALSO SAYS WHICH ART PROGRAM THE ARTIST USED FOR CONVENIENCE PURPOSES YEAA

ITS IN JAPANESE THO BUT ITS MOSTLY IN PICTURES SO ITS NOT TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND

Okay so I followed this video about foreshortening and…

GUYS

SHIT

 I get asked of how to write for the comics form a lot, and have put a bunch of advice in a bunch of different places. I want to put it all in one place. This is a work-in progress thing, which I’ll try and add to as things occur to me. Failing that, I’ll be using a Writer Advice tag from now on so you can click that.

THE START

This is how I started. Warren Ellis’ seminal - by which I mean in its real sense rather than my usual use of “flecked with semen” (Though with Warren, you never know) - COME IN ALONE column featured a three part sequence on how to write comics.

This was my in. I still think it’s a good in for you.

(For my generation of comic creators, I’d say C.I.A. was enormously influential. If you have any interest in knowing the intellectual soup where a lot of us came from, you may want to read the whole thing. Or don’t, because you are THE FUTURE, remember, and fuck old people like you, Gillen.)

Anyway - the three parts…

Part One - Preparation Part Two - Script Part Three - Pitch

This is basically what I paraphrase when explaining comics to people in the pub.

Some of it is dated slightly - especially in the third part, as you almost certainly won’t be pitching like that now (though some core aspects certainly are). The core craft and discipline is 100% on point. Take this, internalise it, make it your own.

BOOKS

Warren writing above said that in his day they had it hard, as no-one wrote about comics craft. My generation had it easy, he noted, as there were some books. Your generation has it easier still, as they’re shitloads of them.

I’ll probably edit in more books here as I progress, but I want to put the core two that I think everyone needs to read.

UNDERSTANDING COMICS - Scott McLoud COMICS AND SEQUENTIAL ART - Wil Eisner

The former will give you the basic tools to dissect comics. The latter is a master at work. Take them, internalise them, make them your own.

If you’re talking about story structure generally (i.e. not just comics), when asked, I normally recommend reading McKee’s STORY and King’s ON WRITING back to back. They are both true. They are both 100% contradictory. It will teach you the most important lesson in writing - whatever works, works, and the job is building your own toolbox.

(The secret: writing is enormous. We say “writing” and we’re really talking about dozens of skill-sets.)

EXAMPLE SCRIPTS: The Comic Script Archive is the biggest source of comic scripts online. You’ll see how various people write the form. See what you like. There is no standard method to comic scripts, as you’ll see.

“Where can I find comic scripts” is a question I’m asked all along. You can find the Comic Script Archive as it’s the top entry on google if you enter “Comic Scripts.” 

I’ll say this here as a general thing, as I’ve never said it directly to anyone: if you asked this question, you really need to up your game. If you need mentoring for that, you are not going to make it. Seriously, you can do better. Do better.

If you want to see one of mine, here’s one for Phonogram: The Singles Club. Phonogram scripts are unusual, so perhaps not one to take many lessons from - most artists will club you if you write a script like this. If you want to see me working in a more commercial mainstream stripped-back mode, there was a DIRECTOR’S CUT of DARTH VADER 1, which includes my complete script for the issue. It’s on comixology, but you can probably get it from a shop or Ebay.

OTHER RESOURCES

Decompressed: my comics craft podcast. I’ll do more eventually, probably. I go into detail with a creator over their choices with a book. “Why this panel? Why that panel?” This is basically the sort of questions you should be asking yourself whenever you read a comic for the next few years or so. As Warren says in his essays, yes, it does ruin your reading of comics for a few years, but it’s the cost of doing business.

How To Write For Space (i.e. How Comics Is Unlike Prose): An off-the-cuff piece about how I write for a set format (A 20 page comic).

Some advice I gave on pitching comics.  

Kelly-Sue Deconnick on writing comics.

Warren Ellis on writing comics.

IDLE PIECES OF BULLSHIT MAXIM I SAY TO MYSELF WHICH YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY ON

Never forget: you are a parasite. The artist does not need you.

Scripts are love-letters. They are meant to inspire the artist. An artist who is not inspired will create shit work. 

When analysing comics, assume the creators had a good reason for making the choice they did. Try and work out why they did. There’s a time you can afford arrogance, and it’s far in the future . For now, assume they know more than you do. Even the creators you hate. Especially the creators you hate.

The last isn’t always true, but you’ll learn more this way. I’m suggesting stances which maximise your chance for growth as a creator at the expense of your emotional well-being.

See also : if someone can’t understand your book, it’s always your fault.

(That one will break your heart, btw)

Bear in mind the Gillen/McKelvie paradigm while analysing comics.