Advice for Story Artists (comics!)

Aug 10, 20165 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Aug 10, 2016

1.5K Views

I just read the book Framed Ink, by artist Marcos Mateu-Mestre.

These are the tips I pulled directly from him, that I find immensely helpful!
Some of them seem obvious, but they are a fantastic reminder. I really
advise ANYONE looking to write a comic, or any visual story to have a
look here or go pick up this book!

"The image is a vehicle and not an end in itself."
- Each frame needs purpose
- The comic is not a gallery
- Too much unnecessary detail can pull
the reader out of the page, being distracted
by the art rather then the storytelling.
"Believe in the story."
- Be moved
- Add your emotion and mood into the story
CONSISTENCY
- This does not mean just the art quality
- Shapes, light, rhythm; all play a part in how the pages move
General Tone
- Dramatic? Epic? Humor? Dark? What kind of story is this? Keep to it.
- Serve those concepts, do not fight them,
and do not change them part-ways through.
Do not tell. Feel (and show.)
- Lighting, pacing and color; all play a part
- Atmosphere changes everything, pay attention to it!
- If you have to add an authors note to explain something,
you are doing something wrong!
"Leave the audience wondering about a little something,
wanting to know more. Give answers while raising new questions."
- Be subtle about it, though
Be mindful of shots.
- Camera angle
- Level of closeness
- Shadows
- Rule of thirds
- "The line" (180 degree rule)
- Perspective
- Look direction
- Size of characters in the frame
- Repeating the same shot is boring!

EDIT: Part 2 is here, but unrelated to this book! It's about fonts!

Also, I just updated my journal skin♥ I hope you guys like it!
I might change Laika out for Lear later. :3