{"id":16,"date":"2015-05-03T02:04:43","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T06:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/makingcomics.spiltink.org\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2022-06-05T21:44:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T01:44:44","slug":"makingcomics101","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/salgoodsam.com\/mc\/makingcomics101\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Comics 101"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For 7 years I taught courses at <\/b>Syn Studio art school in downtown Montreal.<\/b><\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pandemic brought many changes, I’m now working full time in Animation as a designer, I might come back to teaching in some form but for now I don’t have the time or energy along side work, so my classes are no longer available and I’m not taking on private students until further notice!  If you want to take a class at Syn, you can check the schools site here for the full listing of their <\/b>courses<\/a> and <\/b>instructors<\/a>. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m leaving this site up for use by past students, random seekers of knowledge online, and future possible students. Where I’ve presented the lessons and ideas of other’s I try to be sure to give credit, let me know if you find errors or omissions! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comics are one of the most interesting complex art forms\/media, particularly that in theory one person can do all on their own! But they don’t have to be intimidating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comics can work as well as deceptively simple funnies, as they do in more overtly complex forms. Whatever kind of comics you want to make, by the end of this course you will have had the opportunity to pick up or refine all the key tools you need to make your comics tick, turn pages, and kickass.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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This course teaches the universal basics of Comics\/BD\/Manga storytelling. You will learn some of the formal visual language of comics, ways to approach character development, dramatic story structure, dialogue, pleasing to read sequential artwork, the fundamentals of inking, lettering, & enhancing story through colour. We’ll also overview the business side of comics so you have some idea of what to expect in the very competitive world of professional comics art and cartooning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class focuses much more on story and process than drawing skills, for that we have the sister program Intro to Cartooning<\/a>. The courses are designed to be complimentary, I recommend taking them both if you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do a great deal of the teaching in this course for, and on paper, with ink and pencils. But students reasonably proficient with digital drawing are welcomed to work that way, nearly all the things we cover translate at least in part to digital drawing and painting. Indeed, even if you like to draw old school on paper like the teacher, It’s a big advantage to be able to use both traditional and digital media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Materials List is HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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COURSE OUTLINE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our 10+ week Making Comics 101 course, will teach you about all aspects of creating of comics, from idea to publication.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 1<\/strong> – Learn the basic elements, mechanics and terminology of comics, and what defines the medium of sequential art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we start a regular comics practice by beginning a daily journal sketch comic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first weeks they will be in the form of three panel Haikus. Comics are language, a form of writing, and the only way we get good at it is by doing it as often as we can! The constraints give us focus, and fewer decisions to make. And they can be fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 2<\/strong> \u2013 We’ll start by checking in on how the first weeks daily journal sketch comics are going,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then discuss the basics of how to build a story arc, have an introduction to plotting and scripting conventions for comics, tools for honing in on what is important in a story and how to use process to build a story, and keep moving forward when faced with creative blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll also talk about page flow, design & thumbnailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 3<\/strong> \u2013 We’ll start by checking in on how the weeks daily journal sketch comics are going,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our weekly comics practice expands to 5 panels after this, and switches for two weeks to the Tanka Constraint. Part of the change will be to explore in greater detail the process of designing comics pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll have demo of inking with a brush, pigment pens and different styles of finishing your art. Talk a bit about cartooning, drawing styles and character design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And explore choosing the moment with a group exercise in class called ‘The Wrong Astronaut’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 4<\/strong> – We’ll start by checking in on how the first week of Tanka based journal sketch comics are going, Have any themes to your stories started to show up? If not consider thinking about finding one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuation of process study, focusing on digital tools for lettering, colouring, and processing your art. From how to scan pages, making \u201cBlue lines\u201d for inking and preparing art for colouring & print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to letter your comics digitally, or analog, while ensuring your text is readable. Balloon placement, working that into the page flow, and more. How to prep them when you’re done for printing or the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to be able to use a computer to make comics, but like most things, it helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 5<\/strong> – We’ll start by checking in on how the second week of Tanka based journal sketch comics are going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next week’s comics, we’ll switch to using the Sonnet<\/span> as our writing constraint – one for the week or one per day if students like. And take on a drawing constraint suggested by a fellow student as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the class will have an introduction to some advance analog processes and techniques, for those who rather not use a computer. How to use light tables and photocopiers to size up your work and do iterations for inking, revisions and repetition [callbacks].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hand lettering, paste up and panel replacement. White paints best for corrections, and maintaining aspect ratios for print or the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 6<\/strong> \u2013 We’ll start by checking in on how the second week of Sonnet based journal sketch comics are going! Can they be sung? We’ll talk a bit about the challenges of public reading too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll look at Comic Jams, collaboration and teamwork in the comics community. You can make comics on your own, but it helps to team up for big projects, and community will be your greatest resource. But even if you rather work alone, social drawing events are great gateways to new ideas and networking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 7<\/strong> \u2013 We’ll start by checking in on how the second week of Sonnet based journal sketch comics are going! This week we’ll also pick a new constraint for the remaining Journal comics based on the work so far and some other constraints options such as Oubapo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the class will have an overview of the current state of the Art in self-publishing, the business of comics, financing, social networking and building a brand. It’s a big topic but we’ll cover the things you need to know starting out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 8<\/strong> \u2013 Again we’ll look at each others journal comics, check out and share thoughts on the constraints we choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercises in Style workshop 1. We’ll take a simple narrative sequence, and explore several different constraint based ways to depict the same events during the Exercises in Style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 9 <\/strong>– Exercises in Style workshop 2. We’ll take a simple narrative sequence, and explore several different constraint based ways to depict the same events during the Exercises in Style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the constraints for this class will be to work in a different drawing style, of an author chosen the week before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 10<\/strong> – At the start of the class we’ll have our final group critique of each others journal comics, and along with other comics exercises we’ve done in the course we’ll collect them for the Anthology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is the 3rd Exercises in Style workshop. Againe one last time, we’ll take a simple narrative sequence, and explore different constraint based ways to depict them. This time. the class will be directed by Constraints suggested by your fellow students!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Week 11 – Post course studio visit<\/strong> – The week after the course is complete any students interested will be invited to visit the teachers studio to look through his work and discuss things covered in the course and beyond. “Mentorship is a broken but long standing tradition in comics, it helped me a lot when I started out and I hope to pass that on.” – Salgood Sam<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sorry, d\u00e9sol\u00e9, version fran\u00e7aise ici est \u00e0 jour, en travaillant sur la mise en traduire\/\/the French copy here is out of date, working on getting it translated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—————– French Version! —————–<\/del><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce cours enseigne les bases de la narration dans les comics, les bandes dessin\u00e9es ou encore les Mangas. Vous apprendrez \u00e0 d\u00e9velopper vos personnages, les structure narratives, les dialogues et l\u2019art s\u00e9quentiel. Vous apprendrez \u00e9galement \u00e0 encrer votre travail de mani\u00e8re attrayante, \u00e0 lettrer et \u00e0 utiliser la couleur pour am\u00e9liorer votre histoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La bande dessin\u00e9e est une forme d\u2019art parmi les plus complexes mais qui peut \u00eatre enti\u00e8rement produite par une seule personne. Aucune raison d\u2019\u00eatre intimid\u00e9! A la fin de ce cours, vous aurez la possibilit\u00e9 de revoir ou de peaufiner tous les outils essentiels pour que votre bande dessin\u00e9e frappe un grand coup et donne envie au lecteur de tourner ses pages!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce cours est tr\u00e8s bien adapt\u00e9 aux grands d\u00e9butants ou aux novices qui ont un peu d\u2019exp\u00e9rience dans la cr\u00e9ation de bande dessin\u00e9e. Il n\u2019y a aucune pr\u00e9f\u00e9rence quant au genre et tous les styles sont les bienvenus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

**Notez que ce cours est offert seulement en anglais.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

———————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLAN DE COURS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notre cours \u201cMaking Comics 101\u201d de dix semaines vous apprendra les bases de la cr\u00e9ation d\u2019une bande dessin\u00e9e, de l\u2019id\u00e9e jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la publication, en vous aidant \u00e0 d\u00e9velopper votre propre histoire de trois pages encadr\u00e9s par les conseils d\u2019un dessinateur professionnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 1 – Apprendre les bases, les m\u00e9canismes et la terminologie en mati\u00e8re de bande dessin\u00e9e : en quoi consiste l\u2019art s\u00e9quentiel, ce qui fait un bon concept de personnage, comment agencer une page et les outils!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 2 – Comprendre les bases de la construction d\u2019une histoire, initiation \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9criture de script, la mise en page et les miniatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 3 – Apprendre les techniques essentielles pour planifier et dessiner les pages de votre bande dessin\u00e9e au crayon \u00e0 papier. D\u00e9couverte des outils pour encrer ainsi que diff\u00e9rents styles visuels pour terminer vos dessins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 4 – Apprendre \u00e0 num\u00e9riser les pages, \u00e0 faire un \u201cblueprint\u201d pour l\u2019encrage et \u00e0 lettrer vos bandes dessin\u00e9es \u00e0 la main tout en s\u2019assurant que le texte reste lisible. Acqu\u00e9rir des m\u00e9thodes pour placer vos bulles de texte de mani\u00e8re \u00e0 cr\u00e9er un bon confort de lecture. Apprendre des m\u00e9thodes avanc\u00e9es d\u2019encrage, et plus encore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 5 – Apprendre \u00e0 utiliser les outils digitaux pour le texte, la couleur et le rendement final de vos pages. Il n\u2019est pas n\u00e9cessaire de savoir utiliser un ordinateur pour faire des bandes dessin\u00e9es, mais cela peut \u00eatre d\u2019une grande aide et donner un coup de pouce \u00e0 votre cr\u00e9ativit\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 6 – \u201cComics Jam\u201d! Initiation \u00e0 l\u2019improvisation en collaboration avec des membres de la communaut\u00e9 de la bande dessin\u00e9e. Il est possible de faire des bandes dessin\u00e9es seul, mais faire \u00e9quipe est une bonne chose pour les projets plus importants et quoi de mieux que des gens faisant partie de la communaut\u00e9?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 7 – Conna\u00eetre l\u2019industrie : vue d\u2019ensemble de l\u2019\u00e9tat actuel de l\u2019industrie de l\u2019art, notamment pour ce qui est des publications \u00e0 compte d\u2019auteur, de la cr\u00e9ation de r\u00e9seau et le d\u00e9veloppement de sa propre marque. Vous travaillerez en parall\u00e8le sur votre bande dessin\u00e9e tout en recevant des critiques personnalis\u00e9es d\u2019un instructeur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaine 8 – Initiation \u00e0 la mise en couleur digitale et le r\u00f4le des couleurs dans la narration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semaines 9 – 10 – Apprendre \u00e0 ajouter les touches finales et terminer le projet de bande dessin\u00e9e toujours avec les conseils de l\u2019instructeur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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