| Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels
by Scott McCloud. See also:
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Book log of
Book log of
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The foremost question is always:
| "Will readers get the message?" |
Remember that:
| "In comics, the two [words and pictures] have to work together seamlessly enough that readers barely notice when switching from one to another." |
In contrast with
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,
here Scott McCloud
has a section of text after each chapter,
expanding usefully on the ideas.
Even better, he also
has optional exercises:
you provide the drawing paper and you have turned
this text into a workbook.
CONTENTS (after Introduction):
The center of the frame shows what is important: a person, the motion of an object, the absence of someone, a distance to be crossed or already crossed, or someone directing attention to something not yet seen.
The contrast and balance of clarity versus intensity.
The many exercises at the end include the great loosening-up exercises of "Quanto comics" and "24-hour comics".
Character design (with an inner life, visual distinction, and expressive traits), facial expressions, and body language.
For facial expressions (together with head position, gaze direction, etc.) consider the six basic emotions and their McCloud's suggestion of what is indicated by their combinations:
| Anger | Disgust | Fear | Joy | Sadness | Surprise | |
| Anger | Rage | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Disgust | Outrage | Revulsion | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Fear | Caged animal | Horror | Terror | -- | -- | -- |
| Joy | Cruelty | 'eeww!' | Desperation | Laughter | -- | -- |
| Sadness | Betrayal | Empathy of pain | Devastation | Faint hope | Grief | -- |
| Surprise | 'What the --?' | 'You ate it?' | Spooked | Amazement | Disappointment | Shock |
Even more emotions are created by mixtures of intensities as well as which emotions, such as:
For body language, express emotions and relationships through elevation, distance, and imbalance.
Exercises include expressions, body language, targeting expressions, targeting poses, and body language in sequence.
Seamless integration and the 'Desperation Device'. Seven ways words and pictures can combine in seamless balance:
The many exercises at the end include a word-specific and a picture-specific exercise, as well as a montage exercise and an exercise on balloon dissection. These are very practical and helpful.
The many exercises at the end include drawing the real world and drawing a nine-panel (no characters and no words) page showing fragments of the place to express a theme.
Describes both manual and computer tools.
The many exercises at the end include
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Related pages:
Books on Buddhism.
Books on Learning Spanish.
Poetry - Learn How to Write Your Own.
Forests of California and Trees of the World.
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