The penciller is the vision of the comic book. They provide the look, feel, and pacing of the story. A good penciller can make a bad story better, but a bad artist can mess up a really good story. Learn more about the craft of pencilling comic books, learning from pros and others who have gone before you. Be sure to also check out the general comic book resources guide that has links to sites covering the whole spectrum of comic creation.
See something we've missed? Drop us a line at comicbooks@aboutguide.com.
1. How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
This is a classic in the "How To Draw" book category. Although it is a little outdated, the book is still an excellent place to start in learning how to draw superheroes and high action art. Written by Stan Lee, it will give you countless lessons to learn from, with such items as the basics of drawing characters, perspective, and others.2. DC's Guide To Pencilling Comics By Klaus Janson
Klaus Janson is a veteran comic book creator, having inked Frank Miller on Daredevil, including recent works on Batman and Iron Man. It goes into what you need to be a penciller, as well as information on anatomy, perspective, panels, and more.3. Eddie Campbells Blog and Resources
Eddi Campbell, artist of Alan Moore's From Hell as well as his autobiography piece "The Fate Of The Artist," and more has a great blog with his thoughts, examples of his work, and pieces about the craft of creating comics. He has a great series about working with different kinds of paper that covers the basics and some experiments of his own. About Drawing Paper:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
4. Draw! - Two Morrows Publishing
Two Morrows Publishing has a high class line of magazines and books for the comic book creator and collector. Their Draw! magazine has step by step information, columns, interviews, and tutorials from today's top professionals. They offer previews so you can see if the magazine would be a good suit for you. Check it out.5. Scott McDaniel's Website
The artist of DC's Green Arrow, has a great website filled with resources for the penciller. A bit of warning, it is a tad clunky, and in the artists own words, "outdated," but has some great items if you just look a bit. If you click the Drawing Comics link on the left side you will be take to many great article such as the gear you will need, cover and character design, deadlines, and others. Getting insight from a pro is a great way to go.6. Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog
A cartooning and illustrating blog, it has resources going back as far as March of 2005. Some tidbits are just interesting, but you'll never know what to expect with this site the categories that the site covers is big, with such items as art history, interviews, ideas, technology, and comics. This is a great site for artists to peruse almost daily, looking for tips, inspiration, and enjoyment.7. The National Association of Comic Arts Educators
This is primarily a website for people to teach comic art to others, but has some hidden gems. The links section has some great links to art schools such as Kubert's School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. The reference section has lists of books and magazines that would benefit the artist. Then there is information on exercises and guides that can be used in the classroom for teaching, but I imagine could easily be useful for the budding penciller.
