Neat tip about the smudging tool. John Paul Leon was another amazing Toth-influenced artist who did amazing spotting blacks. I saw his “magnum opus” Winter Men, was turned into a limited artists edition. Would love to see that book in person, bet its gorgeous. Great video and cool commission!
Yasssss! This was a super excellent video! I loved it: ) Really great how you got into a technical philosophy re: lines vs. big graphic shapes, and the speed at which they are consumed. It totally makes sense! Lines could almost be like words. Proust vs. Hemingway. These dense thickets of lyrical language vs. spare chunky sentences. Learning how to balance and combine these approaches in your own work to control the pace/intended meaning really is the path to mastery. So much to think about. Outstanding artwork, analysis, and instruction! Many thanks: )
Wow, thank you for that very well articulated feedback! I love the literary comparison you made, that's spot on. Thanks so much for watching and I already can't wait to start making the next one 😊
This video was helpful af! It’s hard to find people talking about this kind of stuff! I’m a new artist and have only been doing pencils so far, I’m definitely going to use this knowledge when I start with inks.
@@Bruhmoment0549 I'm really glad that this is helpful for you! Good luck with your penciling and upcoming inking. I hope to have some more videos soon that might help you with both!
I'm doing my graphic novel in B&W, because a huge part of why I got interested in making comics was B&W underground comics from the 80s, up to and including the original Mirage TMNT comics. Yet after all these years I'm still hesitant to fully commit to giant spot-black areas, so crosshatching/feathering/black-spotting is still used very sparingly in my stuff. I've had people compare my stuff to Moebius and Geof Darrow (the highest compliments I've ever received) but I still want to get bolder with my black spotting. Frankly since I work digitally I have no excuse not to experiment, and this video has given me a bit of a push to try getting bolder with it.
Having large areas of black or white also function as areas of rest when you are taking in a lot of details, but simplifying an image by blacking out large areas speeds up the reading time of an image which is a key component to creating bold and striking images.
The "Black and White" in the title grabbed my attention. While I appreciate the new opportunities afforded by improved printing technology, it is the early print limitations that pushed the founders of comic art to develop clarity and impact in visual storytelling. Similarly, the black and white independent comic boom of the 80's was (I believe) a function of the cheaper, do-it-yourself approach of people like Art Spiegelman, Kevin Eastman and Jeff Smith. No offense to Steve Hamaker, but I still prefer the black and white clarity of Smith's "Bone" series. Tim Sales, because of his colorblindness, relied on strong lines and spotted inks to tell dynamic stories, focusing on visual design rather than color impact. Limitations fuel creativity. Some modern artists who digitally paint rather than thinking in black and white often create artwork that is muddy. In contrast, Alex Ross, steeped in the work of Kirby and the illustration of Rockwell think in value and tone first and color second.
Very well said. I think you're correct in that, no matter if you're working with B&W or color, thinking in value and tone first will ultimately create stronger results 👍
Very helpful. Thank you for this, really gives me a strong retrospect into how comic artists would use darkness, shadow and light to create strong effects for depth and light of their fabric or clothes. I also love Alex Toth, Frank Millers Sin City, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, Yuichi Kumakura’s Jing King Of Bandits manga series And Matt Lesniewski of Faceless And The Family. Also how do I know how much shading to put on their face, I feel it’s good to have some shading but also believe that it becomes to tedious to focus on so much shadowing on their face.
Glad it was helpful! Great list of influences and inspirations there too 👍 Adding shadow to the face is a touchy area, and a concern that I hear about often, understandably. The face is generally how we connect emotionally with people, in drawing and real life. So if it's obstructed too much, it can be confusing and troubling. If that's what you want, for storytelling purposes, definitely use it to your benefit, otherwise, I tend to go slightly lighter on the faces when I'm lighting my figures. It all really depends on the scene/piece.
Man, great video thanks Thomas! I gotta pick up some more Artist Editions, makes so much sense how those books are master classes to study from from artists like Samnee and Toth. Did you see they just released Mazzucchelli's Batman Year One? I broke down and had to get it, can't wait:)
So I've been watching your videos for a while now. I'm sorry about the chaotic way I said all this stuff I hope it makes sense I apologize if it don't lol I don't think you have a video about this topic yet I'm hoping maybe you'll do one in the future or if you can answer the question. I am new to drawing and I am an aspiring artists. my passion is is illustration and comics but when I go and look up how to get to the point where I can start drawing my characters in the comic book style the fundamentals usually change now I did go to school for this winter and fall in the answer I received from not only from the teachers but also from other people on RU-vid that talk about how to get started in art is to draw stuff from observation household items don't draw the things you want to draw you have to wait until you can draw basic stuff. And I find videos that say the opposite you have to get your circles and squares and etc so my question to you is how do I get started in doing comics even if my drawing skills are still newish I've been drawing for like 9 months now and there has been some improvement but I still struggle with certain things. Of you have tips in points in the right direction because sometimes I feel very overwhelmed and lost. And I just want to make comics and I do want to make this my career. Thank you I appreciate it.
I think making comics, whether you want to pursue them as a career or not, is actually a really good way to learn and get better at drawing. Comics calls you to draw all sorts of stuff, like perspective, figures, dynamism, composition, etc. So, although you're new to drawing, practicing while making comics is a great way to improve. Don't rush the process though, focus on getting better.
really helpful video, love it!!! now i guess it’s time to binge watch all of your video catalogue haha. although, it’s just my opinion, but the generous use of sliding cuts in the video with the sound effects can be a little distracting 😅
@mymelo133 Thank you! And binge watch away! 🤣 And thanks for the feedback on the editing. I'm trying out different approaches to see what works and what doesn't, so, moving forward, you'll certainly be seeing some with less and some with the same amount.
I think it's all a matter of how it's applied and the thinking behind it. Adding black just for the sake of it usually results in work that is hard to read and unclear.
@@scottmulder8726 I used a variety of different brush pens. Check out my linktree in my bio and click on the Shop tab for all of the exact supplies I use 👍
