Penciller

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors and lettering in the book, under the supervision of an editor.

In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form,[1] and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout (positions and vantages on scenes) to showcase steps in the plot.

Tools and materials

A penciller works in

photocopying
.

Most US comic book pages are drawn oversized on large sheets of paper, usually

Photoshop
, more and more artwork is produced digitally, either in part or entirely (see below).

Notable creators and their techniques

Jack Kirby

From 1949 until his retirement, Jack Kirby worked out of a ten-foot-wide basement studio dubbed "The Dungeon" by his family. When starting with a clean piece of Bristol board, he would first draw his panel lines with a T-square.[3]

Arthur Adams

Number 2 pencil. He drew the first three chapters of "Jonni Future" at twice the printed comic size, and also drew the fifth chapter, "The Garden of the Sklin", at a size larger than standard, in order to render more detail than usual in those stories. For a large poster image with a multitude of characters, he will go over the figure outlines with a marker in order to emphasize them. He will use photographic reference when appropriate, as when he draws things that he is not accustomed to.[4][5] Because a significant portion of his income is derived from selling his original artwork, he is reluctant to learn how to produce his work digitally.[6]

Jim Lee

Jim Lee is known to use F lead for his pencil work.[7][8]

J. Scott Campbell

electric eraser. He often sharpens the eraser to a cornered edge in order to render fine detailed work.[10]

Travis Charest

Adam Hughes

The penciling process that artist

white eraser, and to erase large areas, he uses a larger, hand-held white eraser, the Staedtler Mars plastic, which he calls a "thermonuclear eraser", because it "takes care of everything".[15]

Joe Quesada

Artist and former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief

drawing tablet when he desires to do a "tighter" digital layout of an illustration. When sketching figures, he will sometimes use photographic reference, and incorporate the photos directly into his sketches during the process of finalizing a layout. Once he makes a final decision on a layout, he will then print it out at full size, and use a light box to pencil it, sometimes altering elements in the design such as lighting or other details.[18][19]

Bryan Hitch

Bryan Hitch begins with multiple rough sketches employing different camera angles on paper with a blue pencil, which traditionally does not photocopy or scan, and then selects the desired elements from the rough sketch with a graphite pencil. After picking the initial shapes, he will further emphasize his selections with colored pens, continuing to attempt different variations. He will then, depending on how late in the day it is, either redraw the illustration on a sheet of layout paper or use his lightbox to tighten and clean up the drawing, emphasizing that the lightbox should not be a mere exercise in tracing, but an opportunity to refine or change elements in the drawing to make it "clean" enough to be inked.[20]

When Hitch transfers the drawing to the final art board, he does initial layouts with a 2H pencil, which he feels provides the necessary accuracy and detail, and uses an erasable blue pencil to mark panel frames and

craft knife, which he says can produce a variety of marks, and be used for detail, shading and general sketching. Hitch believes the best results combine both the mechanical and the knife-sharpened traditional pencil.[20]

Hitch is particular about his studio workspace, which does not contain a TV or sofa, stating that such things belong in the lounge for relaxation. Despite using a professional drawing board, he emphasizes that any inexpensive board large enough to hold the paper is sufficient, as he mostly uses a piece of roughly cut

Photoshop to modify his artwork digitally.[20]

Simone Bianchi

In contrast to Hitch's work environment, artist Simone Bianchi says that he cannot work unless he is listening to music, which he does via stereo speakers placed above his drawing board, and an extensive music collection in his studio. Bianchi uses extensive photo reference and a lightbox to give his artwork a realistic look. He uses a wooden drawing board that he used to draw on flat, but angled it due to back pain that he began having in 2006.[21]

Marc Silvestri

Another artist who listens to music while working is

down-tempo chill music while working, in contrast to the alternative rock he listens to at other times.[22]

Erik Larsen

On the Biography & Bibliography page of his website, Erik Larsen explains that he uses a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 2H pencil, and a Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser.[23] However, on the site's Frequently Asked Questions page, he states that he uses a standard Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil with HB lead, explaining, "It's mushy as all hell but it doesn't slow me down like a harder pencil would."[24]

Amanda Conner

While reading each page of a script, artist

light-box it onto Bristol board, if she intends to have it inked by her husband and collaborator, Jimmy Palmiotti, but will do the pencils "lighter and looser" if she intends to ink it herself, as she already knows how she wants the artwork rendered.[25] Conner has created her own paper stock and blue line format on her drawing paper, because, she explains, she likes having those configurations pre-printed on the page, and feels that "sometimes the rough is too toothy and the smooth is too slick." The stock she uses is the 10 in × 15 in (250 mm × 380 mm) Strathmore 500 series, but she also orders a custom 8 in × 12 in (200 mm × 300 mm) stock because she sometimes finds those dimensions more comfortable and easier to work on more quickly. She also finds the Strathmore 300 series "pretty good" likes its nice texture and greater affordability, but says that must occasionally content with getting a "bleedy batch". Conner uses mechanical pencils with .03 lead because she found it easier to use than regular pencils that require her to stop and sharpen them frequently.[26]

Gene Ha

Once artist

Jason Shiga

Artist

No. 2 pencil on copy paper, before transferring it with brushed ink via a lightbox.[28]

Jonathan Luna

Artist

Micron pen, he edits his line work on a graphics tablet.[29]

Marcio Takara

Artist

HB 0.5 mechanical pencil, completing two or three penciled pages a day, sometimes even inking all three by the end of the day.[30]

Frank Cho

Frank Cho produces his artwork on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Pad, which has a vellum surface. To pencil his artwork, Cho uses a Pentel mechanical pencil with 0.7mm HB lead. For erasure, he uses both a Vanish eraser and a kneaded eraser.[31]

Chris Samnee

Artist Chris Samnee uses 300 series two-ply Strathmore Bristol board. He does not use non-photo blue pencils or any other equipment purchased at specialty stores for preliminary sketching, but uses .9 mm mechanical pencils that he purchases from Target.[32] He describes his pencils as "just awful", and inks them himself, as he cannot envision giving them to someone else to ink.[33]

Chuck Austen

Writer/artist

Photoshop, completing details that the modeling programs cannot perfect, such as facial expressions, hair, filling in blacks, rendering clothes and wrinkles, etc. To finish the art, he will either print out the "pencils" directly onto Bristol board and finalize them with an HB Tombow pencil and ink them with a #2 nib, or will apply the finishes in Photoshop.[34]

Scott McCloud

greyscale page, if needed.[35]

Fiona Staples

Another artist who does her work almost entirely digitally is

Saga, though her process for that series is different from previous ones, for which she characterizes it as "one intense, ongoing experiment." She begins with thumbnails, roughly drawn on printed paper templates. During this stage Staples does not use reference, but does so later in the inking stage. During the thumbnail stage, she gives copious thought to the layouts and staging, making it, in her words, the most important part of the process. After scanning the thumbnails, she enlarges them and uses them as rudimentary pencils, and "inks" over them in Manga Studio, and later colors the art in Photoshop. One of the advantages Staples sees in working digitally is the ability to dispense with tight pencils in favor of making corrections in an ad hoc manner, as she finds penciling in great detail and drawing such art a second time in ink to be boring.[36]

Workflow and style

A comic book penciller usually works closely with the comic book's editor, who commissions a script from the writer and sends it to the penciller.[37][38][39]

Comic book scripts can take a variety of forms. Some writers, such as

Marvel Method.[40]

Sometimes a writer or another artist (such as an art director) will include basic layouts, called "breakdowns," to assist the penciller in scene composition. If no breakdowns are included, then it falls to the penciller to determine the layout of each page, including the number of panels, their shapes and their positions. Even when these visual details are indicated by a script, a penciller may feel when drawing the scene that there is a different way of composing the scene, and may disregard the script, usually following consultation with the editor and/or writer.[41]

Some artists use a loose pencilling approach, in which the penciller does not take much care to reduce the vagaries of the pencil art, leaving it to the inker to interpret the penciller's intent. In those cases, the penciller is usually credited with "breakdowns" or "layouts" and the inker is credited as the "embellisher" or "finisher".[42][43] According to former Marvel editor Gregory Wright, John Buscema was a noted penciler whose breakdowns included all the structural essentials that enabled inkers to complete the art. Other pencillers prefer to create detailed pages, where every nuance that they expect to see in the inked art is indicated. This is known as tight pencilling.[43]

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Cronin, Brian (January 15, 2009). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #190". Comic Book Resources.
  3. ^ Kirby, Neal. "Growing Up Kirby". Hero Complex (July 2012). Los Angeles Times. pp 22 and 24.
  4. ^ Cooke, Jon B. "The Art of Arthur Adams", Reprinted from Comic Book Artist #17, November 15, 2001
  5. ^ George Khoury and Eric Nolen-Weathington. Modern Masters Volume Six: Arthur Adams, 2006, TwoMorrows Publishing.
  6. ^ Siuntres, John (September 11, 2013). "Word Balloon Podcast Greg Pak, Cincy Comicon Panels with Art Adams and Ethan Van Sciver" Archived 2014-01-03 at the Wayback Machine. Word Balloon Comic Books Podcast. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Interview begins at 1:19:55.
  7. Campbell, J. Scott (2008). "Artist's Comments". DeviantArt
  8. ^ "Reinventing the pencil: 21 artists who changed mainstream comics (for better or worse)". The A.V. Club. July 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  9. ^ Campbell, J. Scott. "Pencils". DeviantArt. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  10. ^ Campbell, J. Scot. "Drawing Supplies Erasers". DeviantArt. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  11. The Official Unofficial Travis Charest Gallery. December 1, 2000. Accessed August 30, 2010
  12. ^ Charest, Travis. FAQ: "Working techniques". The Official Unofficial Travis Charest Gallery. December 1, 2000; Accessed August 30, 2010
  13. ^ Charest, Travis. FAQ: "Do I use any type of references?" The Official Unofficial Travis Charest Gallery. December 1, 2000. Accessed August 30, 2010
  14. ^ Coulson, Steve. "Adam Hughes - Anatomy of a sketch, Pt2 - The Process". YouTube. May 15, 2006. Accessed September 8, 2010
  15. ^ a b c Coulson, Steve. "Adam Hughes - Anatomy of a sketch, Pt3 - The Tools". YouTube. May 15, 2006; Accessed September 8, 2010
  16. ^ a b Coulson, Steve. "Adam Hughes - Anatomy of a sketch, Pt1 - The Idea". YouTube. May 15, 2006. Accessed September 8, 2010
  17. ^ "FAQ". Just Say AH! Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  18. . Comic Book Resources. June 12, 2009
  19. ^ "Cup O' Doodles" Archives, Comic Book Resources, accessed January 10, 2011.
  20. ^
    Hitch, Bryan
    . Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comics Studio, Impact Books, 2010
  21. ^ Weiland, Jonah (January 10, 2007). "Studio Tours: Artist Simone Bianchi". Comic Book Resources.
  22. ^ "The Third Degree: Marc Silvestri". Point of Impact. Image Comics. October 2012. p. 27.
  23. ^ Larsen, Erik. "Erik Larsen - Biography & Bibliography" Archived 2011-05-26 at the Wayback Machine. Savage Dragon.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  24. ^ Larsen, Erik. "Frequently Asked Questions". SavageDragon.com. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  25. ^ a b Salavetz, Judith; Drate, Spencer. Creating Comics!, 2010, Rockport Publishers, pp, 34 and 35
  26. ^ a b Creator-Owned Heroes #5 Image Comics. October 2012.
  27. ^ "Questions" Archived 2013-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. Gene Ha - Comic Book Artist. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  28. ^ Shiga, Jason. Empire State: A Love Story (Or not) Abrams Comicarts; New York: 2011
  29. ^ Interview with the Luna Brothers at Midtown Comics; YouTube; May 13, 2010
  30. BOOM! Studios
    .
  31. Cho, Frank (January 10, 2023). "Drawing Tools". Instagram. Archived
    from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  32. ^ "Chris Samnee: The Devil is in the Details, Part 2". Toucan: The Official Blog. June 7, 2013.
  33. ^ "Chris Samnee: The Devil is in the Details, Part 1". Toucan Blog. May 31, 2013.
  34. ^ Giles, Keith (September 6, 2011). "Austen in the Machine: Chuck Austen Interview". Comic Book Resources.
  35. William Morrow Paperbacks
    . pp 196-197
  36. Saga
    , no. 8, p. 24-25 (December 2012). Image Comics.
  37. ^ O'Keefe, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Making Comics: How writers can foster stronger and healthier relationships with artists". The Beat. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  38. Waid, Mark (February 12, 2009). "THE JOB OF THE COMIC BOOK EDITOR". M<arkWaid.com. Archived from the original
    on April 19, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  39. on July 6, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  40. Harry N. Abrams
    , New York, 2008).
  41. on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  42. ^ "Bullpen Bulletins", Marvel Two-in-One #52 (Marvel Comics, June 1979).
  43. ^ a b Wright, Gregory (July 2, 2020). "True Tales Of Appreciation And Condemnation Of INKERS Behind The Lines Of Marvel Comics". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.