3 Things to Help You Stay Positive

Here are 3 things that you can do to help stay positive.


1. Take a breath and give thanks!

If you and the family are ok, practice safe social distancing and be thankful.

2. Be connected and show courtesy and empathy!

Social distancing is just physical distancing. A phone call, skype or facetime can make all the difference to someone who may feel or be alone. See how friends an family are doing.  Get what you need from the store but don't horde. Be polite and respectful. We are all in this together. How we treat each other will determine if we can make it through this crisis.

3. Be creative & think outside the box!
 
Use this time constructively to look within. Where do you see yourself moving forward? Where would you like to be? What would you like to do? This may be the perfect time to reinvent yourself or work on your personal development journey. Make a to-do list like this..


- Work on improving on your art skills and transition to using an electronic drawing tablet. Update the art portfolio.

- Get a handle on that piece of software you always wanted to use but had no time to explore. Check out using open source software instead of spending money on the subscriptionware.

- Looking into online classes to bone up on your skill set. Note that if you don't need credits for college, classes can be free.

- Organize your current computer. Update the old desktop / laptop. Set up a space for working remotely. Clear out the clutter of the things you don't need to maximize your space.

- Start writing that story you had on the backburner. Design the comic book idea you never got around to.

-  Analyze your favorite films and try creating your own. Do character designs / storyboards for that film project you always wanted to do.

- Do sound design experimentation with VST synths and effects plugin's

- Listen to some new music to get inspiration. Open up that DAW and create some cool new music.  Record some tracks and post to Soundcloud. Is this the start of an album concept? 


The sky is the limit. Be creative, be safe and remember that this is a new chapter unfolding in your life journey. Stay positive, create and see where it takes you. Best  wishes.


Here are some resources to get you started - 

Drawing and Character Design:

Being a Better Artist ,  Artistic Inspiration Links Part I  &  Part II,

Top 30 Drawing Tutorials,  Clean Line Art Techniques,

Bucci Character Design I,   Bucci Character Design II,
Character Design Drawing Tips,  Our Pinterest Page



Online Courses / Programming:

Students - Studio Code.org,  Khan Academy

Adults - Free Course Listings,   Coursera,   EDX.org


Tech & Business Resources



Storyboard & Storytelling:

Visual Composition & Storyboarding,  Pixar's 22 rules of Storytelling,

Ridley Scott on Storyboarding,  Visual Development Tips From Sony Pictures Animation,

Storytelling and Productivity Mind Hacks



Comic Creation:

Comic Creation Resources Part I,   Part II,   Part III,

Disney's Comic Art Tips



Filmmaking:

85 Movies Filmmakers Need to Know,  Videomaker Short Filmmaking Course (free),

Brad Bird Cinematography Techniques



Software:

Animation, art and film editing software (free)


Music creation / Audio:

Audio Resources,  10 Tips for Writing Better Music

Top Comic Creation Resources Part III

We had so much more info that we had to do a round three on this.

Backgrounds

Thanks to the internet, sites like Google Images and Pinterest, make finding references for backgrounds quite easy. Type what you are looking for and you have it in an instant. The one cool tool you may not have heard of using is Google SketchUp.






Google SketchUp allows you to extrude shapes like walls and also bring in 3d models from their library, which you can then position and view from any angle. You can create an interior or exterior environment and position the POV and use that as your background reference; in essence, you have your own custom virtual background creator! You can do a virtual walkthroughs if you like as well too.





Freddie Williams II explained the SketchUp process in In the book “ The DC Guide to Drawing Comics Digitally”.  A neat tidbit; Google Sketch up has both free and pay versions. Get it here: https://www.sketchup.com/ and give it a try.



Below are some YouTube links that take you through the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3tTAwPKrs
SketchUp for Comics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrCFd3uBwo
Making Comic Book Backgrounds in SketchUp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdEogxg9HI
SketchUp for Comic Set-Up






Character and Pose Reference - Top 5

Character and pose reference can also be found on Google and Pinterest but for some more precise offerings try these go-to sites. Note that these sites feature the nude body for anatomic drawing purposes.

          

https://fineart.sk/ - features photo reference for comic artist,  examples from Andrew Loomis, environmental textures and more.



https://line-of-action.com/ - figure drawing, animals, hand &feet, faces and expressions, scenes and environmentals

http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en - full body, body part, animal, structure and vegetation. You can choose time interval if you want to do drawing drills.

                  




         

https://www.quickposes.com/en - a similar site for timed drills using photo reference or stylistic reference

http://www.characterdesigns.com/ - photo reference nude and non nude, costume and people /event reference.

Speed Comicking

Did not know that this was a thing. Ryan Estrada wrote a great article on speed comicking, and goes through all the phases from writing to finish. His techniques/hacks actually will get you to create much faster and includes suggestions on software.  A definite must see!

https://medium.com/artist-advice/speed-comicking-c4ef2eb4c29b

Digital Inking Tips

Clean Line Art Techniques - The guys from Bam Animation show clean line art techniques. A must see for people using Wacom like drawing tablets.

Perspective Grids

Creating and using Perspective Grids   - YouTube  tutorial on perspective grids and compositional tips from the Bam Animation guys.


Printable Paper. Net - Free printable perspective grids in PDF format

Lettering

Todd Klien’s site -  Covers the basics for hand lettering, logo design, and balloon placement.
Select your topic on the right side.

Lettering do’s and don’ts - This link from ComicCraft shows you the classic do's and don'ts.

Font Creation – Are you brave enough to create your own fonts?  Then tackle this link.

Lettering terminology - This sites covers anything you need to know about lettering terminology.

Legal and Business

The Creators Resources has all kinds of good business info like page rates, copyright , contracts, portfolio tips and more.



Creators Resource Guide to Kickstarter - A how-to on getting a buzz going on Kickstarter.

Ballontales Full Process - Making a comic book from start to finish; the Astro City comic process.

Want more resources? Get a copy
of our book here.

Cartoon Production Resource Guide

200 Top Resources for Artists and Comic Creators

Related Posts:

Top Comic Creation Resources Part II,     Top Comic Creation Resources Part I,

30 Top Drawing Tutorials,     Apps for Artists,  Virtual Manikin - 6 Apps for Artists, 

Character Design Links,   5 Steps to Character Design




What have we missed?

Reply to jon@tripleadude.com.
Enjoy and subscribe for more great posts.


And coming soon: Writing for Entertainment.

Best wishes