by Christopher Hart | Oct 11, 2014 | Blog old, Ruminations
My report on the New York Comic Con:
Practically everyone came in costume. I’ve never seen so many flabby Spidermen before. Parents brought their little kids, and it was the parents who wore the costumes! I wore a Polo shirt and slacks, and therefore, I stuck out like a sore thumb.
The main floor had fewer interesting booths from publishers and media companies than previous Comic Cons, but the Artist’s Alley work was superb, although the styles were pretty homogenous. There were many artisans selling cool and inventive crafts they created themselves. But the ubiquity of used comic book sellers overwhelmed some of the more interesting aspects of the show. I signed about a million books and my hand fell off, so I had to sign the rest using my teeth. Well, kind of.
They had screenings on the lower level, and lines were not too bad. It was jammed, but once again, the people were extremely polite. The food was…well, let’s just say that I opted for a medium cup of nonfat frozen yogurt, and was charged $9. I almost spent my daughter’s college tuition on lunch.
It was sold out before it even opened, so if you’re planning to go next year, be absolutely sure you buy a ticket EARLY. That’s all from your intrepid reporter!
by Christopher Hart | Aug 31, 2014 | Blog old, Ruminations
Inertia. Sir Isaac Newton first defined it in the 1700s. Most of us think of it as the phenomenon that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. For artists, that means it’s often difficult to start a new project – especially a big project.
But few people remember the other half of the definition: a moving object will remain in motion unless affected by another object or force. Ah ha! Therefore, that means once you start on your project, you tend to keep working on it. The problem is then, elementary, my dear Watson: How to get started writing in the first place.
Most of us think of a project as a big mass of effort. Take a graphic novel, for example. It’s 180 pages of drawings & text. How does anyone start in the face of such a daunting undertaking? However, no one “draws and writes” 180 pages all at once. There are stages to the process, and each one is eminently do-able.
Stage I: Roughing out the character designs
Stage II: Creating the outline
Stage III: Writing the story
Stage IV: Illustrating the pages
Taken one at a time, each stage is fun to do, and limited in duration. Therefore, set smaller goals for yourself. You’ll be more organized, and most important of all – you’ll get started!
Hope that’s been helpful!
by Christopher Hart | Aug 16, 2014 | Blog old, Ruminations
Every artist, sooner or later, has artist’s block. What to do? You could wrap a cord around your head, pull it hard, and hope to squeeze some ideas out of your brain. But that doesn’t work, and often results in a really bad case of “forehead rope burn.” The old adage, to stop working and do something to take your mind off of things, makes things worse. Stopping when the going gets hard is demoralizing. And it makes you hesitant to try again, after you’ve already given up once.
Here’s my suggestion: set narrower goals. For example, suppose you’re having trouble drawing a full figure of a character. But it’s just not working. Narrow your goal down to drawing just the face. Still having trouble? Narrow it down even further. Settle for a rough drawing of the face. Bring the goal down to a size you can work with. The feeling of accomplishing something, even if it falls short of your ultimate objective, is encouraging, and builds confidence, which is important when you’re taking creative chances.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was this: “Try to hit singles instead of home runs.” I hope it helps you, too. Until next time!
by Christopher Hart | Jul 20, 2014 | Blog old, Ruminations
As artists, we’re very good at criticizing ourselves. Sometimes we compare our work unfavorably to the work of others. Or we go through slumps where we get discouraged. What we don’t always do – and the thing that’s most important to our development as artists – is to recognize the strengths that we have – and sometimes you need some drawing inspiration. Your strong points are usually the aspect of drawing that you don’t struggle with. For example, a person who has trouble drawing the hands may overlook the fact that he has an easier time drawing the face. He just takes it for granted. However, the thing that you find easy to draw may be someone else’ sticking point.
Another strength that aspiring cartoonists and manga artists typically overlook is their ability to conceptualize, which is a fancy term for “imagination.” Someone may have a beginner’s or an intermediate’s ability in drawing, and yet have outstanding creative abilities. I often hold drawing contests on my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve given winner’s prizes to people solely based on the idea behind the drawing (or scene), because it’s so impressive. Another aspect of drawing, which artists don’t always recognize in themselves, is the ability to create pleasing color combinations. One last attribute, which I’d like to point out, is something I call “character appeal.” That’s the ability to draw a character – regardless of skill level – that is simply likeable.
Therefore, my friends, if you’re only focusing on the difficulty you’re having in drawing hands, or clothing folds, etc., you’re probably selling yourself short!
by Christopher Hart | Jun 24, 2014 | Ruminations
No doubt about it, “cute” is a favorite attribute of fans of cartoons and manga. It’s very important to be able to draw cute stuff; people love drawing cute characters. So, let’s get serious, for a moment, about cuteness! There are many techniques you can use to characters, such as drawing big eyes, big forehead, small mouths, wide cheeks, small chins, and so on. And I teach many of them in my book, “Cartoon Cute Animals”.
The most important technique is your gut feeling. Let yourself be guided by that part of your instinct that loves a puppy, or that melts when you see an adorable toddler. If your drawing doesn’t give you those warm feelings, try making another adjustment to it.
That’s the tip of the day!
by Christopher Hart | Jun 16, 2014 | Ruminations
I just got to look at the finished, color pages from my book, “Cartoon Faces: How to Draw Faces, Features & Expressions,” which comes out this fall. I was thrilled with what the art director and editor came up with. Anyone who tells you that they don’t need an editor or art director is simply, well, how can I put this gently…? They think a lot of their abilities and too little of others. There is no book that a good editor can’t make better, and likewise for an illustrated book. At the same time, if there are changes requested, and you really believe that changing that part of your work would “de-prove” (the opposite of “improve”) your work, then you have to stand your ground – BUT – you must be willing to discuss your reasoning with your editor, and you must be willing to listen. Sometimes, your opinion won’t be changed. Other times, it may.
Often, if you’re creative, you can find a way to reach both of your goals. For example, your editor may make a good point that there are too many illustrations in a chapter, which are crowding out the text, and therefore, several of your favorite illustrations need to be cut. Rather than argue that those illustrations need to stay in the book, you might suggest that your editor cut pages from a less crucial chapter. This would give the editor new pages to add to the crucial chapter, making it long enough to spread out the illustrations without crowding the text. Win-win.
Inside publishing FYI: Color proofs are referred to as “The Gallies”.
