P.O.W.! Resources...

[shannanigan]

Weird.... this thread is "blank". Well not anymore! LOL!

I've got TWO Onomatopoeia sites, very useful when searching for that perfect sound effect! :D

http://www.examples-of-onomatopoeia.com/
http://www.writtensound.com/

[Ilaekae]

I'm beginning to really hate CA's servers today...damn STICKY command ate my intro post...

For the record: This is a thread for posting links and such that might be helpful to anyone interested in doing comics or panels. A lot of people attempting doing a comic for the first time often feel overwhelmed by getting started, so anything you run across that you think might be useful, post it here. Make sure the site you're linking to doesn't say that you AREN'T permitted to link to it.

[Farvus]

OK.

http://www.refreshingcontent.com/library.html - On this website there are bunch of scanned pages from different books that very shortly explain different aspects of drawing cartoons and comics.

http://www.drawfurry.com/?cat=5 - Artkitty (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78513) comic tutorials. They helped me a little.

[shannanigan]

OK.

http://www.refreshingcontent.com/library.html.


Nice one! Through your link I found this guy's Blog: http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/
Lots of good stuff on there!

[Farvus]

Yeah. That blog is great too. I haven't visited it for long time. Thanks for reminding me about it.

By the way. I'd love to see some comic tutorial done by Black frog. I mean general tips and tricks he uses :P.

[Trk800]

Here are a few things that I've found helpful. Now if I could just learn to draw decently...

Tutorial explaining Paneling, Pacing, and Dialogue in comics. It's describing Manga, but the same principles apply.
http://lilrivkah.livejournal.com/168859.html

Here is a short video explaining sequential narration by P. Craig Russell
http://drawn.ca/2009/01/08/p-craig-russell-explains-sequential-narration/\

This website has some good fonts for use in digital comics. You have to pay for some, but you can find plenty of decent free ones.
http://www.blambot.com/

I've found the following books very helpful:

Understanding Comics By: Scott McCloud -this Book is great. It goes through most every aspect of comics, with a particular focus on their philosophy.

Perspective For Comic Book Artists By: David Chelsea -This book walks a person through a nice tutorial on perspective. Examples are everywhere, as the book is written as a comic. I suppose it's not exclusively relevant to sequential art and comics, but I found it useful since I picked it up when I was just learning to draw.

Finally, I can't leave without posting a link to a Bill Watterson Interview. He really believed in comics as an art form, and all his interviews show this philosophy peppered with references to technique. In the following interview he mentions his technique and briefly discusses layout.
http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cintro.html

Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Pending time and art quality (I'm very much a beginner), hopefully I'll be a regular in these competitions from now on.

[Melonby]

This blog has a little about speech balloons:
http://webcomictriage.blogspot.com/

[arttorney]

I thought that "Faceworks" software first found by Farvus should go in here. http://www.looxis.com/en/k75.Downloads_Bits-and-Bytes-to-download.htm

[Mebiusu]

Every comic artist, pro or am should study this critique (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1024328) given by Alex Toth to Steve Rude.
Andrew Loomis Successful Drawing (http://www.scribd.com/doc/10338/Andrew-Loomis-Successful-Drawing)
Photo Ref (http://www.photo-reference-for-comic-artists.com/?gclid=COn_m9HkzZYCFQOcFQodcAzy2A) for comic artists
Famous Artists Cartoon Course (http://comicrazys.com/category/famous-artists-cartoon-course/)
Journalista (http://tcj.com/journalista/)

[Choob]

Nice stuff here guys.

I found the link that Farvus posted very helpful, the one to refreshingcontent.

As a new guys to the P.O.W area, I found this really helpful.

Thanks!

;)

[GHill]

Great stuff in here so far! Here's some stuff sitting around in my favorites:

The Grimace Project (http://grimace-project.net/) Cool Flash app about facial expressions. Looks simple at first glance, but it's a very helpful tool.

Comics interviews/Podcasts
SiDEBAR (http://www.sidebarnation.com/) Tons of great artists have been interviewed here.
Indie Spinner Rack (http://indiespinnerrack.blogspot.com/) Make sure to check out the two-part interview with Jeff Smith. Great stuff.
Inkstuds (http://inkstuds.com/)
Comic Geek Speak (http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes.php) Mostly a podcast about comics in general, but they've got some good interviews scattered throughout the episodes.
Wordballoon (http://wordballoon.blogspot.com/) Good podcasts with mostly mainstream writers, but some artists thrown in here and there.
Character Design (http://characterdesign.blogspot.com/)
Four Color Forum (http://fourcolorforum.kielphegley.com/)

General sites/blogs
Comic Book DB (http://www.comicbookdb.com/) A comic book database.
Lambiek Comiclopedia (http://lambiek.net/artists/index.htm) Database of comic artists from around the world.
Golden Age Comic Book Stories (http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/) The name says it all.
comiXology (http://www.comixology.com/) General comics site with a focus on what's coming out on Wednesday.
Comic Tools (http://comictool.blogspot.com/) Blog mostly about the tools of the trade.
The Comics Reporter (http://www.comicsreporter.com/)
The Beat (http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/)
Robot 6 (http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/)

Books
Echoing what Trk800 said, Understanding Comics (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-Mccloud/dp/006097625X/ref=pd_sim_b_1) is great book. Scott McCloud's Making Comics (http://www.amazon.com/Making-Comics-Storytelling-Secrets-Graphic/dp/0060780940/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245423258&sr=8-2) is also a must read.
Will Eisner's Graphic Storytelling (http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Storytelling-Visual-Narrative-Instructional/dp/039333127X/ref=pd_sim_b_3) and Comics and Sequential Art (http://www.amazon.com/Comics-Sequential-Art-Principles-Instructional/dp/0393331261/ref=pd_sim_b_7) are great too.
Also check out Walt Stanchfield's Drawn to Life Vol 1 (http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245426451&sr=1-1) and Vol 2 (http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240811070/ref=pd_sim_b_7). They're more geared to animation, but everything in those books is so good that it really applies to all drawing.

[Jason Ross]

i guess that this would be a better place to post this. I created a high resolution digital comic template complete with trim marks and guides. Here's a preview. Download the high res version in the attachment below.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b51/jasonrossart/ComicTemplateOriginalLR_Updated.jpg

[skorpi]

Some really interesting analysis about how manga work: http://telophase.livejournal.com/113219.html

[super skoda]

Comic Tools (http://comictool.blogspot.com/) is a pretty good resource for discussion of materials and technique.

[DeuceRok]

Dudes.... this is a great list on creating comics:

http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/04/cartooning-advice-zippy-bill-griffith.html

-Deuce

[Angel Intheuk]

http://innerspace.notonigon.com/?p=8

An informative page of tips for the beginner, good visual aids :)

[donalfall]

There's a cool blog called Hairy Green Eyeball (http://hairygreeneyeball3.blogspot.com/) where the blogger scans in old comic book pages, illustrations from old books etc. Everything there is pretty cool, but this scan from the Roy Crane Sketchbook caught my eye -

1307354

on using blacks in comics/illustrations.

Pretty nice!

[Farvus]

I bought few days ago a simple dice game called "Rory's Story Cubes" that inspires creative thinking when it comes to making a story. I tested it out and it worked surprisingly well. Even if you end up getting some silly results, it's still good way to keep the creative juices flowing even on daily basis. I highly recommend it if you have creative block or just want to practice storytelling. It can be also played with friends.

http://www.storycubes.com