Realism Does Not Remove Choice

Even if you decide to go for photography, the ultimate "realistic" form of illustration, you still must make choices that determine what the final image will look like. There is no faithful reproduction of reality. All you can do is try to communicate to others how what you saw in your head made you feel. If you want to communicate effectively, you have to really work to make honest, intentional choices.

Reality Is Not Real

As much as you'd like to think so, reality isn't real. It's filtered through your imperfect, limited hardware and wetware. You're 80 milliseconds behind the now, processing a tiny sliver of what is all around you and telling yourself a story to fill in the gaps.

Let's Get Heavy

Where I am going with this: I'm going to discuss, over the next few posts, the fact that no matter how "realistically" (or not) you wish to draw, you must always make interpretive choices. These choices include how much you are abstracting from your own perception of reality. It is your work in making these choices that gives you a framework for developing your own style.

Other Stuff You Might Need

You are going to want to be able to make square corners and straight lines, at least sometimes. You'll want your lettering to be even and straight. You'll want to get rid of eraser dust and prevent pencil smudge lines. That's what all this stuff is for.

Here is a parallel rule (not pictured above): Blick Portable Drafting Board

I bought one for myself. It's big enough for the 11 x 17 paper (kind of) but much better suited for doing half pages on 9 x 12. Perfect for drawing comics on the go, in other words.

Paper Sizes and their Uses

When I am working at home on a normal comic for an anthology, I guess I should say that the 10" x 15" format on 11" x 17" paper is my standard. But that would be a lie. Unless I really need a full-page layout for some reason, I am more likely to draw the 10" x 7.5" half-page for a number of reasons. It's easier to scan, easier to take with me and work on the road (in a cafe, for example) and easier to store. But right now I am working on a graphic novella called Una Ricerca di Pizza about searching for the origins of New Haven pizza... and I'm doing it on 6" x 9" paper... and it's going pretty well if I say so. It looks pretty good.

Also, there are plenty of quick sketch paper sizes not listed here. I discovered I could make a sketchbook in an old checkbook, for example, and blank business cards are an interesting medium. Although the absolute king of drawing stuff on business cards is the Gaping Void guy.