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Turn your ideas into graphic novels with this step-by-step guide--including drawing exercises Writing Graphic Novels For Dummies walks you through the process of graphic novel creation step-by-step, guiding you through the process of developing ideas, concepts, and visuals to bring your unique stories to life. Learn how to develop plots, characters, and storylines, create storyboards to organize your work, and how to creative effective visuals to support the narrative. You'll progress from basic drawing skills to more advanced techniques specific to graphic storytelling. Get recommendations for using digital tools, and work through exercises to help jumpstart your creativity and develop your style as a graphic novelist. Plus, an 8-page color insert offers a mini-graphic novel within the book, so you can see all the stages of writing, illustrating, and development of a graphic novel in any genre, from initial concept to completion.
- Learn how to choose materials and drawing supplies to suit your needs
- Understand proportion and scale, and convey different emotions and facial expressions
- Practice your skills with helpful drawing exercises
- Get tips for sharing your creations with the world and promoting your work
This accessible guide is great for aspiring writers, artists, and graphic novel enthusiasts who want to learn how to create their own graphic novels as a hobby or potential career.
List of contents
Introduction 1
Part 1: Graphic Novels 101 7 Chapter 1: Foundations of Drawing 9
Chapter 2: Boot Camp 25
Chapter 3: Inking - Adding Value to your Artwork 39
Part 2: To the Drawing Board 53 Chapter 4: Get Your Head into the Game 55
Chapter 5: Face-Off! 75
Chapter 6: Figuring Things Out: Graphic Novel Body Basics 97
Chapter 7: Customize and Accessorize Your Characters 131
Part 3: The Assembly of the Greats 151 Chapter 8: The Main Protagonists 153
Chapter 9: The Dreaded Villains 165
Chapter 10: Loveable Sidekicks 179
Part 4: Making a Scene 193 Chapter 11: Gaining the Right Perspective 195
Chapter 12: Shape and Light Up Your Composition 215
Chapter 13: Backgrounds 'n Stuff 227
Part 5: The Write Stuff - Coming Up with Your Story and Narrative 239 Chapter 14: Story Development 241
Chapter 15: From Scripts to Thumbnails 249
Chapter 16: Finding Your Voice and Audience 257
Chapter 17: 3-2-1, Write Off! 269
Part 6: One More Thing (Well, Maybe Three) 277 Chapter 18: Dialogue Art - Everyone's Talk'n about It! 279
Chapter 19: Special Effects 293
Part 7: The Part of Tens 301 Chapter 20: Ten (Plus Two) Notable Graphic Novel Artists/Creators 303
Chapter 21: (Roughly) Ten Places to Strut Your Stuff 309
Index 319
About the author
Kensuke Okabayashi is a freelance illustrator and comic book graphic novel artist who has worked for Magic: The Gathering, Amazon, Lego, Airbnb, Takara Tomy, and other companies. He is the author of
Manga For Dummies and
Figure Drawing For Dummies.
