Comics

Emo Sludge

Griffin Avid said:

This goes in the general category of "small gestures" that EVERY comic book creator seems to think about at some point.

There a few ways that most us to convey these small moments.

a) Put the word <blinks> in the paragraph so it's part of the speech balloon.

"If I gave you a hint

<blinks nervously>

that something was wrong,

you would get it"

b) Use the word blinks as a small sound effect and place in near the face.

c) Have the narrator mention it.

d) Have another character mention it.

e) Use action lines to show the motion of the eye lids or eye lashes

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This also goes for head-nods.

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And then there's also the practice of blending both states together (in this case, eyes open, eyes closed) to show the close transition.

I would argue that you never want to add actions in the dialogue, that's kind of awkward and a bit of a cop out on the part of the cartoonist. Same goes with the narration, the narrator should only really be describing things that can't be shown like thoughts or emotions or sense memories. I think B is probably the best advice if you are really needing to have blinking happen in a single panel, although blinking doesn't really have a sound so it's kind of weird too. In japanese there are all kinds of sound effects and onamonapia for things like blinking or even thinking, so manga artists have it a bit easier in this regard lol.

VIArts

Emo Sludge said:

 

MAJourney said:

How would y9u show eyes blinking? multiple images doesnt seem right

Why would you want to show blinking in a comic? 

If the effect you're trying to go for is a break in the action or slowing down the pace, multiple panels would work fine. You would really only have blinking in a comic if it was an action the reader is meant to focus on. Just make sure your panels showing the blinking are smaller in some way than your average panel, because it's a short action and panel size/length is often used to show the perceived passage of time.

Well, because after this, we'rer in on her eyes in a brighter place. i'd be blinking myself. lol

VIArts

Man, i can't decide if i wanna iput 

 

AAAAIIIIEEEE!

 

at the bottom of that

Griffin Avid

the narrator should only really be 

All of this falls under you own personal preferences. There are no 'rules' only standard practices.

The only point is, do the readers get it?

I, personally, don't make stuff for other-people-who-make-stuff.

There's lots of things and established conventions that readers still don't seem to get.

And the response is usually "read more comics".

Emo Sludge

MAJourney said:

Emo Sludge said:

 

MAJourney said:

How would y9u show eyes blinking? multiple images doesnt seem right

Why would you want to show blinking in a comic? 

If the effect you're trying to go for is a break in the action or slowing down the pace, multiple panels would work fine. You would really only have blinking in a comic if it was an action the reader is meant to focus on. Just make sure your panels showing the blinking are smaller in some way than your average panel, because it's a short action and panel size/length is often used to show the perceived passage of time.

Well, because after this, we'rer in on her eyes in a brighter place. i'd be blinking myself. lol

Personally I would have her squinting if you're saying that she's reacting to a sudden brighter light. That's my suggestion. Sometimes what might feel natural for you to do in real life might not feel as natural in the medium.

 

Griffin Avid said:

the narrator should only really be 

All of this falls under you own personal preferences. There are no 'rules' only standard practices.

The only point is, do the readers get it?

I, personally, don't make stuff for other-people-who-make-stuff.

There's lots of things and established conventions that readers still don't seem to get.

And the response is usually "read more comics".

Fair enough. It's not so much "rules" as it is suggestions on how to make the storytelling flow more smoothly for the average reader. I enjoy finding creative ways to break the rules, so I'd be the last person to say "you must make art this way", but if you don't already have a strong handle on the medium it tends to be easier to get your ideas across by following some basic guidelines until your own personal style and skills grow to a point that you can make something you feel succeeds using unconventional methods. That's not to say you can't just experiment and never learn the rules and invent your own rules from scratch, but in my experience you'll get there faster when you already know how readers are used to experiencing the work that they read.

VIArts

Hey, anyone know how to make shrinking curved speed lines 8in Photoshop?

 

OT: Photoshop Elements users, if you're like me and been pained by the lack of some features like the mighty Pen Tool, check out "Elements+". I now have a pen tool i my PSE14!

3Diva

MAJourney said:

Hey, anyone know how to make shrinking curved speed lines 8in Photoshop?

 

OT: Photoshop Elements users, if you're like me and been pained by the lack of some features like the mighty Pen Tool, check out "Elements+". I now have a pen tool i my PSE14!

Blank Layer >> Make Dots >> Motion Blur >> Transform >> Perspective >> Transform >> Warp.

You can also find tutorials via Google Search. :)

VIArts

I've not found any tuts on gradually thinning lines.

 

think of a swirl. starts thick and grows smaller toward the center

FirstBastion

Rendered with 3Delight and the builtin toon option. Light placement relative to the figure affects the thickness on lines.

DaremoK3

@FirstBastion :

That is stunning  --  Love it  --  I use the 3DL toon rendering all the time, but you achieved a nice, soft, almost hand painted look.

Kind of reminds me of some comic work in an old Heavy Metal magazine I once owned (one of my hundreds of reference materials that were discarded along with my pro drafting table and all equipment when I became homeless many years ago).

 

@MAJourney :

Do you mean like this?  :

Did you ever find a tutorial to achieve what you were after?

How is your comic venture going?

Ghosty12

Here are some examples of covers of comics I have created with Daz, Photoshop and CL3. Well the first one I have yet to finish the others are complete. I have done a lot more but too many to list here among other things.

Richard Haseltine

Ghosty12 said:

Here are some examples of covers of comics I have created with Daz, Photoshop and CL3. Well the first one I have yet to finish the others are complete. I have done a lot more but too many to list here among other things.

Don't delete the attachment, that is what the inline version is drawing on (you will see it as you have a cached copy)

Ghosty12

Richard Haseltine said:

Ghosty12 said:

Here are some examples of covers of comics I have created with Daz, Photoshop and CL3. Well the first one I have yet to finish the others are complete. I have done a lot more but too many to list here among other things.

Don't delete the attachment, that is what the inline version is drawing on (you will see it as you have a cached copy)

Ahh k thank you for letting me know, thought it strange they were still there. Even after I had deleted the original images from another post in the other comic thread, after realizing that they didn't really fit with the theme of the other thread.