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A friend was asking, so you know me, I thought I would share. (includes comics) And some of these ideas work for photography.
Have enough contrast in your work, you should be able to note important (not all) details if you step back from the work at a distance of six feet - or by reducing it to half size and resolution on your computer. An image with delicate greys may work at six inches distance, but if your work blurs to a mass, it won't catch anyone's attention to come up and look at it.
A good tip for portrait drawing is to have the drawing the same size as your reference (either the person sitting in front of you or the photo you are working from, then it is easy to see if you are getting proportions right.
ALWAYS MAKE CERTAIN YOUR PENCIL IS PERFECT BEFORE YOU COLOR. I can't stress this enough, most problems I see are because the artist rushed to finish, because all the beautiful colouring in the world will not save an imagine with errors of proportion or scale, and you've just wasted all that time.
Before you decide your pencil is done, flip it horizontally on your computer or use the tried and true method of looking at the work in a mirror, you will see immediately where your image is out of proportion.
When colouring or creating a detailed black and white, work your way around the image, as if you are bringing a developing photo into focus, don't spend your time doing all the detail in one section (say hair, or clothing) then moving to another - then finding when the work is done, that the viewer's eye is taken away from what should be the main focus of the image - do you want the viewer to say nice detail on the tree and miss the expression on the figure? etc.
When making a work with colour, realize that the eye will go to the lightest part of the image and the darkest part of the image first , so make this work for you. (equally don't mat artwork in bright white or deepest black, for the same reason) If you have any red in the image, the eye will go here first!
Warm colours come forward and cool colours recede, however, just because this is a rule, doesn't mean you can't break it! But if for some reason, if a picture is not working, (you want the sky to look like it is receeding) you can try a cool colour on it.
Objects in the distance are slightly blurred, objects closer to you have more defined edges.
Try to work bits of each colour into all parts of the image, for example, if the only black you have in an image is a figure's hair, make something else in the picture black, work bits of background colour into the foreground, this gives your images some vibrancy, light and colour reflect and it assist's a viewer's eye in moving around the picture.
Try not to put the focus of the image in the center, asymmetry makes an image more dynamic, design your image so that the eye of the viewer moves around and then back up into the main focus -
for example, if you look at the image of the tattooed man in the background of this journal, your eye looks at the face first, goes down either the tattoo or the arm, but works in a circle (the angle of the arm to the paint mat) so your attention goes back to the face. You as the artist, direct the eye of the viewer, it should be a conscious choice on your part. And this is particularly true in comics.
One added note - comics, I see a lot of fun fan comics, a few tips
Don't cram too much dialogue in a balloon.
If characters are speaking, avoid many shots of (you guessed it) talking heads! Think of how dialogue is treated in film, take a few long or medium shots, or extreme closeups (either lips, hands) but something that says something additional to dialogue, a bead of sweat, licked lips, hand through hair. etc.
Think of how the panels work as a page, but also how they work with the following page, and throughout the book.
Hope some of this helps!
Have enough contrast in your work, you should be able to note important (not all) details if you step back from the work at a distance of six feet - or by reducing it to half size and resolution on your computer. An image with delicate greys may work at six inches distance, but if your work blurs to a mass, it won't catch anyone's attention to come up and look at it.
A good tip for portrait drawing is to have the drawing the same size as your reference (either the person sitting in front of you or the photo you are working from, then it is easy to see if you are getting proportions right.
ALWAYS MAKE CERTAIN YOUR PENCIL IS PERFECT BEFORE YOU COLOR. I can't stress this enough, most problems I see are because the artist rushed to finish, because all the beautiful colouring in the world will not save an imagine with errors of proportion or scale, and you've just wasted all that time.
Before you decide your pencil is done, flip it horizontally on your computer or use the tried and true method of looking at the work in a mirror, you will see immediately where your image is out of proportion.
When colouring or creating a detailed black and white, work your way around the image, as if you are bringing a developing photo into focus, don't spend your time doing all the detail in one section (say hair, or clothing) then moving to another - then finding when the work is done, that the viewer's eye is taken away from what should be the main focus of the image - do you want the viewer to say nice detail on the tree and miss the expression on the figure? etc.
When making a work with colour, realize that the eye will go to the lightest part of the image and the darkest part of the image first , so make this work for you. (equally don't mat artwork in bright white or deepest black, for the same reason) If you have any red in the image, the eye will go here first!
Warm colours come forward and cool colours recede, however, just because this is a rule, doesn't mean you can't break it! But if for some reason, if a picture is not working, (you want the sky to look like it is receeding) you can try a cool colour on it.
Objects in the distance are slightly blurred, objects closer to you have more defined edges.
Try to work bits of each colour into all parts of the image, for example, if the only black you have in an image is a figure's hair, make something else in the picture black, work bits of background colour into the foreground, this gives your images some vibrancy, light and colour reflect and it assist's a viewer's eye in moving around the picture.
Try not to put the focus of the image in the center, asymmetry makes an image more dynamic, design your image so that the eye of the viewer moves around and then back up into the main focus -
for example, if you look at the image of the tattooed man in the background of this journal, your eye looks at the face first, goes down either the tattoo or the arm, but works in a circle (the angle of the arm to the paint mat) so your attention goes back to the face. You as the artist, direct the eye of the viewer, it should be a conscious choice on your part. And this is particularly true in comics.
One added note - comics, I see a lot of fun fan comics, a few tips
Don't cram too much dialogue in a balloon.
If characters are speaking, avoid many shots of (you guessed it) talking heads! Think of how dialogue is treated in film, take a few long or medium shots, or extreme closeups (either lips, hands) but something that says something additional to dialogue, a bead of sweat, licked lips, hand through hair. etc.
Think of how the panels work as a page, but also how they work with the following page, and throughout the book.
Hope some of this helps!
