At first I thought this page might seem a bit arrogant-- handing out advice about drawing when I'm just an amateur myself. But people have asked me about drawing in the past. Plus, I really like seeing budding young artists doing their best to become proficient at comic art, and if I can help pass along a few things that I've learned, I'm more than happy to do it.
I've been drawing basically my whole life. I remember being seven years old and spending my Saturdays at the dining room table, drawing my own Superdog comics while I listened to Paul Simon's Graceland. However, it's never too late to pick up a pencil and start working on art of your own. The key is persistence and the observational skill to learn as you work.
The first thing you have to do is become comfortable with drawing. To do that you need two main things: the right tools for your work and a base of knowledge to start on.
For materials, I have a different approach from what a lot of professionals will tell you. Maybe that's why I'm not a professional, but I'll let you be the judge of that. To me, the most important way to choose tools is to find things you're comfortable with and are easily accessible to you. After a few years of trying to force myself to use traditional sharpening pencils, I finally decided they just weren't me and switched back to the cheap, 12-pack Bic mechanical pencils I'm more comfortable with. Find a pencil that's comfortable for you and lets you work the way you want to work.
I work primarily on 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper, the same stuff you find in your printer or a photocopy machine. It's cheap, it's readily available, and it fits on the surface of just about any scanner you want to use. I happen to prefer the surface of the paper compared to sketch book paper. You may prefer a sketch book. Again, choose what's most comfortable to use.
One thing you'll definitely need is an eraser. Maybe a dozen erasers. Too many beginning artists try to get their pictures right the first time. What they don't realize is that professionals screw up just as much as the rest of us. Erasing and redoing is just a part of drawing comic art. So be ready and get some gum erasers in addition to the one on the top of your pencil.
Now for the the base of knowledge I mentioned. There are three books that have really helped me that I think belong in the library of anyone who's serious about imrpoving their drawing skills:
The first book is possibly the biggest wealth of comic book drawing information ever collected into a single volume. Of course, you have to put up with Stan Lee's sense of humor throughout, but as a reward for your patience you will learn secrets and tips that will really let your art excel. The two books by Hamm are companions to one another. Comic book and manga characters are essentially hybrids of realistic human and cartoon-style characters. Hamm's book touches both sides of this combination.
Getting started on your own art means studying the works of the masters. In this case, that means reading lots of comic books. I have a huge collection of comics, but it's more important to have qulity that quantity. Find a few artists you like-- for me, that's John Byrne, Walt Simonson, Akira Toriyama and Naoko Takeuchi-- and buy some of their stuff. As you look at the images, try to figure out what it is that you like about their art. Is it the lines? The viewing angles they choose to employ? Or the stylization of the faces?
I tend to like artists whose art stands apart from all the others. One of the reasons I don't read to many current American comics is that the industry has become one big assembly line of artists that draw exactly the same way. When I look at current issues of the Fantastic Four and see Sue Richards being drawn like Gen13's Fairchild, I get pretty disgusted. Find some artists who are distinctive, and figure out what makes them so. Doing so can help you employ techniques to make your own art look distinctive.
When you're ready to start drawing, I recommend you spend some of your time tracing and copying the works of other artists. Tracing is kind of like subliminal conditioning for your hand. As you do it, you get used to the way it feels to draw and the way your hand moves across the paper when you render certain shapes and figures. Another thing to try is to put a picture next to your blank paper and try to copy the image as best you can. You're slowly picking up artistic techniques as you go.
First, do some practice sketches of the image before you do the final. These should be quick and light with only a few lines. They are not meant in any way to look presentable or even identifiable. Your goal here is to find an image that looks balanced and to come up with a good perspective.
When you move on to your final, start with stick figures and build your way up from there. You must have stick figures that accurately represent the proportion and perspective of your characters if you're going to have a final product that looks good. Trying to draw a character without a stick figure is like trying to build a building without blueprints, or a human body without bones.
Feel free to work as sloppy as you want. That's what your eraser is for. Make lots of lines, and don't worry about the excess ones until you're ready to clean up later. You can erase and rework and erase and rework as many times as you want until you feel your character looks right.
If you're not happy with your drawings, there is a reason why. At the top of this page I mentioned that one of the keys to drawing is to have the observational skills to improve your own work. So when you're not happy with something, figure out why.
This is what makes drawing a long process that requires a lot of practice. If you learn to think about your own work, reflect on what you like and don't like, and make changes accordingly, you will gradually improve. As for other people's opinions, they are worhtwhile, but always take them with a grain of salt. Don't let anyone destroy your confidence. Remember that the most important person to please is yourself when you're drawing. Make the pictures look good to you, and worry about what other people think later.
Earlier I mentioned studying the artists you admire in order to improve your own work. This is important; however, it's also important to remember not to let yourself get too caught up trying to match anyone else's style or meet some level of expectation you have for yourself. You can't mimic anyone else's style perfectly. If you try to hard to imitate without letting your own creativity come out, your art will look second-rate. Be sure that your work is uniquely your own. Use the work of artists you admire as a guide, not a blueprint.
Most important, keep practicing. Your art is not going to look as good as that of seasoned professionals the minute you pick up a pen. It only comes if you have the dedication to stick with it.