Everyone Has A Graphic Novel

[+oas+]

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone and their mother on this site always seems to be making some sort of graphic novel, when they don;t have any true skill when it comes ot anatomy or design. It seems like they don't even have the basic understanding of perspective.

I don;t get it.

[TinyBird]

And making a comic obviously isn't good practice for all of those.

[JJacks]

Why don't you go critique some of them so they can get better?

[Dusty]

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone and their mother on this site always seems to be making some sort of graphic novel, when they don;t have any true skill when it comes ot anatomy or design. It seems like they don't even have the basic understanding of perspective.

I don;t get it.

You don't get that all artists have different skill levels? You don't get that regardless of skill level, an artist might still want to express themselves? You don't get that you don't have to look at any art that you don't want to look at? You don't get that artists don't magically become good at comic book art (or any art for that matter) and need to grow with their skills just like anyone else in the world?

How would you propose they got to be worthy of your eyes if they didn't draw the best they could and then get feedback on how to improve?

[Arshes Nei]

Uhh how can you get better at making graphic novels or comics w/o....well making graphic novels or comics.

It's not just about anatomy. It's about storytelling too. You can have all the best anatomy in the world and still not convey proper storytelling.

[tobbA]

You can't make an omelett without breaking a few eggs...

... or was that about something else? ^^'

[Star Eater]

I don't get the point of this thread.

[megaten]

What's wrong with people wanting to make a graphic novel?

It's nice to have a goal.

[Black Spot]

Some of us are shitting out more than that (we have novels, great art, full length feature animations, sculptures etc) just that they're not fully formed or firm enough yet to crack the toilet bowl of life.

[vineris]

I don;t get it.

Maybe you should make some comics. Some things can only be understood through the process of fucking up.

[Elwell]

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone and their mother on this site always seems to be making some sort of graphic novel, when they don;t have any true skill when it comes ot anatomy or design. It seems like they don't even have the basic understanding of perspective.

It's just you.
And semicolon≠apostrophe

[Mossi]

.. Lack of variety makes life boring and monotonus dude..

Last time I checked, the whole point of a comic and/or graphic novel was to tell a story or express humor...

I shall give you a few examples:

Garfield.. Dilbert..
Everything by Johnen Vasquez or Rowan Dirge

Duckman, ren and stimpy..

Everything by Genndy Tartakovsky..

Manga..

Frode Øverli.. Robert Crumb (well.. Under Harvey Pekar)

Mike Mignola..

Picasso..

Do you see where i am going with this?

Don't be a narrow-minded deuchebag.. Learn to enjoy the beauty of distortion.

[OldJake666]

I do not have a graphic novel, nor does my mother.

[dpaint]

I don't have a graphic novel but I played one on TV once. It was the hardest acting job of my career.

[JeffX99]

I don't have one either. I have like, a buttload of them...they aren't worth much and just sit around in boxes.

[JFierce]

The irony is I'm working on a page right now for mine I'm doing for fun. Started 2 because they're great fun and practice (was keeping up with them in my sketchbook but don't like releasing page by page dilutes any attempt at a story with suspense) but basically. Comics are hard. I thought oh yeah I'll just start these then practice anatomy and environments as I go along then I'll be good to go.

Never tried drawing a comic before, then when you do you realize you have to think about things like "logic" and keeping things consistent. If in one panel a character is a few feet from another, then the next he's well over twice the distance it doesn't make sense. You have to throw in a ton of angles you normally wouldn't use. Below, above, from a distance, up close, some weird ones you wouldn't think of. Otherwise it will get dull and it doesn't convey much info. The story, you think Oh I'll just draft out a story. But sitting there spending hours page by page trying to inch along a story but keep true to what you originally planned is hard. Then it forces you to draw things you've never done. Oh well I need to have a forest scene but I've never done one. Welp better practice and learn as you go, never drawn a car? Nows a good time to start because it doesn't make sense why they wouldn't just take the car that should exist. The list goes on and on. Even if you are a master of anatomy or design doesn't mean you can draw a comic.


I rant because I suck at drawing comics too, doesn't keep me from trying to make one for fun.

[JDSart]

I know right? The nerve on them.

But keep it efficient , anytime you see a sb of someone using their time constructively trying their hands on something they dont excel in but try to get better at, contact a moderator right away so they can be quickly banned.

[Ilaekae]

(1) I see, and practice constantly to rigid requirements...therefore I produce absolutely perfect anatomy on every thing I draw that requires perfect anatomy...like an orange riding a bicycle.

(2) I think...therefore I produce a story that requires some sort of art to express, whether it needs absolutely perfect anatomy or not. I probably can do my story with a crayon and only squares, circles and triangles, and not all that well drawn either.

I fall into the second group above because I don't really give a fuck whether my hero's nostrils are exactly where they should be when all he has to do is teach some 12-year-old how to save his world, treat his sister and girlfriend nicely, and not drink Drano mixed with Pepsi.

Sorry about that...though I might be persuaded to change my opinion if someone can explain in one paragraph the absolutely perfect anatomy an orange would need if it wanted to ride a bike.

[blogmatix]

Well, I for one am not making a graphic novel, though I have been considering copying one, frame by frame, the entire thing, in the hope of learning something from the exercise...

[Kamber Parrk]

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone and their mother on this site always seems to be making some sort of graphic novel, when they don;t have any true skill when it comes ot anatomy or design. It seems like they don't even have the basic understanding of perspective.

I don;t get it.

It's just you.

[mozchops]

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone and their mother on this site always seems to be making some sort of graphic novel, when they don;t have any true skill when it comes ot anatomy or design. It seems like they don't even have the basic understanding of perspective.

I don;t get it.

I think a graphic novel is the ultimate expression for illustrators and concept artists, - we find some of our best inspiration from them, and in turn, we want to join their ranks of greatness.

It's also a test of longevity, dedication, stamina and ambition, - there's nothing harder to achieve; I would consider it the ultimate in self achievement.

[Angel Intheuk]

Here I was thinking this was going to be a thread on how everyone has a novel inside them....*shakes head* pity it's just what appears to be a troll rant

[Alice Herring]

Here I was thinking this was going to be a thread on how everyone has a novel inside them....*shakes head* pity it's just what appears to be a troll rant :(

We can totally make it that! Let's hijack the thread! :D

I've actually had an idea that's been percolating for a while - mostly because there's stories I want to see and read that just..aren't out there right now. Or, I just haven't found them yet! :) Granted, at least half of that is nostalgia for old sci-fi.

So! EVERYONE has a story inside them. Or actually, stories. I think what people struggle with sometimes is that they get so wrapped up in what happens (the plot) they forget that characters drive the story. Each choice the protagonist makes should have an affect. That's what makes My Neighbor Totoro such a great film, even though it's not an action film. (Besides the whole fantastical element, which is great) What happens in the story only happens because of the character's decisions.

And of course, we have to care about the character. (And if we don't care about the character, we don't care about what happens.)

Which is of course, easier said that done.. :)

I also think graphic novels are a great way to tell those stories - it's a way for artists to share their ideas in a sequential manner, without the cost or time it takes to make a film. Of course graphic novels have their own specific challenges - page design, inconsistent panel shape (which can be a bonus!) and so on. I imagine the medium leads to certain challenges for pacing, since it's so easy for the eye to skip ahead.

That, and of course, I'd recommend trying to do a graphic novel over more floating in space heads and bodies any day. :)

Hey, a complete tangent - I'd LOVE to see the various thumbnails that people go through to create a piece, or a page layout - and how it changes.

...I really should not post this late in the evening. Morning. whatever. :)

[j.s. sabastian]

there is only the one graphic novel.........kinda like there was one guy who showed up on set who accedentially.... got shot in the back......there was also the the witchblade

[tobbA]

Sorry about that...though I might be persuaded to change my opinion if someone can explain in one paragraph the absolutely perfect anatomy an orange would need if it wanted to ride a bike.

Having legs would help. He'd need eyes to see with. And a mouth (+lungs) so that he could shout at people that were in his way. Arms aren't totally necessary.

[velderia]

Well.

...

Well...

Just thought I should add this: http://www.blather.net/articles/amoore/northampton.html

It's a marketing term. I mean, it was one that I never had any sympathy with. The term "comic" does just as well for me. The term "graphic novel" was something that was thought up in the '80s by marketing people and there was a guy called Bill Spicer who used to do a brilliant fanzine back in the sixties called Graphic Story Magazine. He came up with the term "graphic story". That's got something to recommend it, you know, I can see "graphic story" if you need it to call it something but the thing that happened in the mid-'80s was that there were a couple of things out there that you could just about call a novel. You could just about call Maus a novel, you could probably just about call Watchmen a novel, in terms of density, structure, size, scale, seriousness of theme, stuff like that. The problem is that "graphic novel" just came to mean "expensive comic book" and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel comics - because "graphic novels" were ge tting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel, you know? It was that that I think tended to destroy any progress that comics might have made in the mid-'80s. The companies, the marketing people, who are not terribly bright individuals, they're not terribly creative, they don't really have the hang of - well, I mean, they really haven't got the hang of the 1970s yet, so the 21st century is a long way behind them and they think in very short term measures and consequently they were more or less to blame for destroying whatever kind of momentum the comic book picked up in the '80s by immediately using it predictably to sell a load of Batman, Spiderman shit. But no, the term "graphic novel" is not one that I'm over-fond of. It's nothing that I might carry a big crusade against, it doesn't really matter much what they're called but it's not a term that I'm very comfortable with.

[Vermis]

Your god, Alan Moore

Nope. He only thinks he's God.

It's nothing that I might carry a big crusade against

Bootiful. Wall o' text nonwithstanding?

[velderia]

Nope. He's God.

Fixed.

>_>

[JJacks]

+oast+ where is your art? Show us your awesome anatomy, design, and perspective skills?

[Partisan]

Fixed.

>_>

who is Alan Moore ? ...*starts a game of "poke the bear" *