If you're an emerging artist who was hoping to get feedback on your comics portfolio from me at #eccc2020, here's a roundup of what I probably would've told you:
1. Violating the 180 degree rule makes this sequence hard
to follow, particularly without any environmental clues to tell the reader that the p.o.v. has shifted so drastically.
to follow, particularly without any environmental clues to tell the reader that the p.o.v. has shifted so drastically.
2. A few more incidental overlaps will make the foreshortening on this figure read a lot more clearly.
3. Symmetrical compositions with a character dead center imply an important moment, often with a religious significance. Maybe don't draw every panel like that?
4. This thing you've drawn looks kind of fake. Google image search is free! Invest the time to look for reference and give your reader something convincing instead of just making it up.
5. An establishing shot would help the reader understand where this takes place, and enrich their sense of the possibilities of the story.
6. Find some life-drawing sessions to attend, or at least try to practice from photos online.
7. If you want to understand the gaps in your visual storytelling, show these pages to someone who doesn't know the story and ask them to tell the story back to you.
8. Nudge this part over a bit to eliminate that tangency. If you don't know what "tangency" means in this context, there's no better lesson than @schweizercomics' Guide to Spotting Tangents. curiousoldlibrary.blogspot.com/2011/10/schwei…
9. You've flattened out the illusion of depth by rendering the foreground, middle ground, & background with similar values. You can create depth and direct the eye by organizing them into overlapping planes of light and dark instead.
10. As a working artist, you can only spend so much time on every page. There are better ways to use your time than rendering every brick, floor-tile, or area of woodgrain.
11. These characters look like they're floating (or falling.) Try to draw the figures and the background so they're seen from the same eye level.
12. Unless this is going to be a wordless comic, you're going to need to
leave more room for the lettering.
leave more room for the lettering.
Thanks for reading! I'm really sorry I'm not going to be at Emerald City this year. It's been my favorite con for years! If you were planning on picking something up from me at the show, take a look and see if it's available at my etsy store! etsy.com/shop/SteveLieb…
Among the stuff that's now available in my etsy shop: an 8½ by 11" print of the portfolio advice in this very thread. Sure you could make your own just by cutting and pasting what I wrote, but this one also has a doodle of me smiling at you encouragingly. etsy.com/listing/663291…
