This One's a Beauty

Hi,

it’s Clayton here, bearing a gift for you in the form of a brand new drawing tutorial. How to Draw Female Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits, is fresh, hot and just published. It’s there for the taking, so hit the link below and check it out!

http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/#!how-to-draw-heads-chapter-3-0/c8ty

 

This one kinda had me biting off a little more than I could chew.

It’s becoming a problem too. Not just because of my high caffeine levels and off the chart sleeping patterns either. You see fellow artisans; I seem to have a problem one upping every new tutorial that’s published!

If they get any longer this site is going to end up more like the How to Draw Comic’s Encyclopaedia… Wait a second… That would be awesome!

In any case, one can never do with too much information so I’ve done my best to pack as much into this tutorial as possible.

I’ve received a load of feedback from you guys on how I can make these walk-throughs the best they can be. Thank you! Since the main benefactor of these tutorials is YOU, your feedback is highly valuable.

A majority of the suggestions focused on two things; a more in depth look at drawing hair and the process behind detailing (rendering and lighting).

You will be pleased to know, I’ve heard your cries for help.

Although these topics will ultimately be expanded into individual tutorials, I’ve made a point of explaining them on an even deeper level in the new How to Draw Female Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits tutorial… And I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

So what is this exciting new addition to How to Draw Comics .NET all bout anyway?  Well as you’ve probably already guessed this time around you’ll learn how to draw the head of a female comic book character.

Funnily enough, the basic construction is all very similar to the How to Draw Male Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits so at least that part will be easy peasy for you guys.

BUT, the purpose of this tutorial is not to teach you what you already know…

You see as an artist, you very quickly realize that drawing women is kind of A LOT MORE DIFFICULT then drawing men.
Here’s why…

Men have bone structures and facial muscles that are more pronounced then women. This allows us to use distinctive lines with stronger shadows to describe the prominent, sharper features of the male head in order to achieve that masculine resemblance. In short we’ve got more building blocks to play with.

When it comes to women though, it’s not so easy! There are less bread crumbs laid to help us out along the way. Their faces are smoother, softer, and subtler.  This gives us fewer lines to use, less obvious forms to draw, and ultimately results in a considerably constrained approach to drawing. 

Lucky for you guys, ‘How to Draw Female Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits’ has been specifically designed not only to address these issues and how to deal with them, but it will also explain ‘why’ the physical differences between men and women exist.

If you let me take you by the hand and follow my lead, I’ll have you drawing your own super, sexy, powerful heroines in no time!

Here’s a list of gems you can expect to glean from How to Draw Female Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits

• Learn the illusive elements that define womanly beautyDiscover what to draw, and WHAT NOT TO DRAW to create a youthful, feminine appearance for your comic book heroines. 
• How to draw, style, and render hair using the ‘BANG’ method.
• Find out ‘why’ less is MORE when it comes to detailing women. 
• Learn to draw alluring eyes, lips and other facial features that exude femininity.   
• Take an in depth look into the process behind lighting and rendering.

Lastly, I’d like to personally thank everyone who entered the How to Draw Male Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits competition. You all did brilliantly, and being able to physically see the results you ended up with by following these tutorials is incredibly rewarding, not just for you but for me aswell.
The winners have been announced and you can check out their entries over at the new Winners gallery. http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/#!how-to-draw-contest-winners/c1d0o

If you missed the comp last time around you’ll be pleased to know that another one has just been launched for the new How to Draw Female Heads - Picture Perfect Portraits tutorial. For more information be sure to hit the link below.

http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/#!how-to-draw-comics-competition/c3tw

As always, it’s your feedback and suggestions that help make How to Draw Comics .NET the best possible drawing resource out there. So if you’ve got any suggestions, constructive crit, or input for the site, you’re more than welcome to e-mail me at claytonbarton@howtodrawcomics.net . Of course, if you’d just like some good old fashioned one on one help with your drawing, I’d also love to hear from you.

Until next time Comic Artisans,

Keep learning, keep drawing, and keep the dream ALIVE,
-Clayton

How to Draw Male Heads - Picture Perfect Profiles

Hey everybody. 

How are you? I hope you’ve had a pleasant week thus far.

And if not… Here’s a treat that’ll make it better regardless.

http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/#!how-to-draw-heads-chapter-2-0/c14yy

That is the link to the newest addition in the How to Draw Heads series over at http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/. I’m not quite sure, but I think I’ve managed to pack even more into this one then the first. 

This time you’ll learn a step by step process that can be used to draw the classical Male Head from the side. 

If you managed to fly through the first tutorial without a problem, you’ll absolutely ace this one. In fact, it turns out that the Side of the Head uses the same proportions as the Front. 

Which means you can take what you learned in the first tutorial and apply it here too! 

It’s not always sunshine and roses though. Because although the proportions of the head remain the same… The way the features are drawn is completely different. Not just from the side either, but from every angle! It’s a bit of an obstacle for us artisans to overcome, but this tutorial has been especially design to give you the tools needed to tackle it head on.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s covered in the tutorial: 

-          Creating a base blueprint that’ll make drawing head profiles a piece of cake.  

-          Laying out proportional guidelines to ensure your heads looks correct each and every time.

-          Drawing facial features from the side. You’ll be surprised how easy this one is!

-          An in depth look at layering hair using ‘the bang technique’.  

-          An overview on how to use shadow and rendering to refine form and create 3D depth.

If you liked the first tutorial, I’m confident you are going to get just as much out of this one. Please enjoy, and good luck!

-Clayton

P.S.

Got some feedback or suggestions on how these tutorials could be made even better? Maybe you’ve got some questions about the site or upcoming content? Whatever it is, I’d be more than happy to hear from you!! So send your e-mails to claytonbarton@howtodrawcomics.net, and I’ll personally reply to all of your questions and suggestions.

P.S.S

And one more thing! Turns out a lot of people missed out on the competition I ran on howtodrawcomics.net last week for the Picture Perfect Portraits tutorial. And it’s my fault for hiding it on the very last page… 

So I’ll be leaving it open until next week. Here is the more… exposed link for more information on the comp and what you can win.  http://www.howtodrawcomics.net/#!how-to-draw-comics-competition/c3tw

How to Draw Comics . NET Nears Early Publication

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2014 will be an extra exciting year for all of us I'm sure. Personally, I cannot wait to jump into it and start making things happen! 

I wanted to give you all a quick update and let you in on what’s been happening. I'll also explain a little more in detail what the site is all about.

How to draw comics . NET is the ultimate resource for the aspiring comic book artist, harboring a learning library full of FREE video tutorials, articles and content to get you creating your very own legendary super heroes, sexy heroines, and vicious villains! 

It’s not just up and coming comic book artists who will reap the benefits, but also concept artists, illustrators, designers, basically anyone who wants to learn to dynamically draw purely from their imagination.

Here’s what the site with teach you – 

• Heroic male and female anatomy, anatomical proportions and action poses
• The step by step construction of the classic head, facial features and hair  
• Planes of the head, facial muscle structure, eyes, ears mouth and nose.
• Anatomy of the hands and an easy to remember method for drawing them      
• The power of 1 point, 2 point, 3 point, 4 point and 5 point perspective!    
• Extreme foreshortening, how to create volume and depth with perspective
• Outfit and costume design, folds and clothing
• Character design that shows you how to Invent strong but sexy heroines and fantastic foes
• Discovering your personal style
• Composing scenes, comic book panels and page layout design.
• Creating a comic book stories and scripts

The good news is that the site is well underway and will be up along with brand new tutorials in the next week or two. New content will be released on a regular basis there on after. 

The official launch for the site will happen later this year, but an early announcement will be broadcasted EXCLUSIVELY on this page and to all subscribers long beforehand to inform you when the site actually goes live. The only reason for the wait on the publically announced official launch is because I want to hold off until the library of free content is completed.

Lastly, I need to say that I’m certainly not the best artist out there, and for sure there are others who far surpass me. But I’ve been on this journey too long not to have picked up a decent volume of knowledge and skill. And it would be selfish of me to keep it all to myself when so many others could benefit from what I have learnt. 

I know how hard drawing can be, how much frustration and hopelessness comes with it, especially when there is nothing really out there to take you by the hand and show you exactly what to do; to have so many unanswered questions.

I recall that feeling of just wanting to give up vividly. And that is a heart wrenching feeling that pulls at the very core because  

THIS IS WHO WE ARE. 

We are artists who’s purpose is to bring our creativity and imagination to life. Without our ability to draw, that can’t happen. 

So I hope that the moment How to Draw Comics .NET is published, it will not only benefit anyone out there who wants to cultivate their drawing abilities to ever greater heights, but that it will also give them the hope and encouragement needed to keep on making their dreams come true.

Cheers everybody, I wish you the very best for 2014. 

Be sure to head on over to the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/howtodrawcomics?fref=ts and hit the like button if you haven’t already. That way you’ll be the first informed on what’s to come!

-Clayton

How to Draw Comics

Hello everyone.

Welcome to my Blog, How to Draw Comics. My name is Clayton Barton. Before I talk anymore about what you can expect to find here, I'd like to tell you a little more about myself.

I am at the very core of my being an artist. Being able to manifest and create purely from imagination has always been something I have considered to be one of my greatest gifts. From the moment I could hold a pencil I began sending my creativity out into the world. It was a bulging creativity, that didn't need a lot to set it off into an inspirational frenzy, and drawing was all I knew to do in order to release it.

I often wonder, what I might have become if not an artist. In what other way could have I expressed myself? Maybe as a film director, a rock or movie star? From that early age I continued to draw, and didn't look back. It fulfilled me. And it soon became crystal clear that this was the passion I wanted to pursue in life.There was no other option or alternative, to create was something I'd been blessed with and I wasn't going to let it slip away. To do so would be to neglect a great part of who I was becoming.

I caught the comic bug early on thanks to the comic book legends we all know and love, Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo, Mark Silvestri, David Finch and Jim Lee just to name a few. It was these artists and their journey's to greatness that gave me the boundless energy which kept me up every night, working well into the early hours of the morning as I studied consistently to develop and refine my own artistic skill. Opening the shoe boxes I'd filled with drawing after drawing, I could literally see the distance I'd come in my work, and it was undeniably obvious that those hours of practice and study had paid off.

Eventually, this journey lead to me becoming a digital painter and I landed myself a dream job in the games industry as a character and environment designer. Being able to see my ideas brought to life in a simulated, interactive world was one of the most rewarding things to experience as a visual creator, and I was incredibly thankful for the opportunities my hard work had afforded me.

In 2009 I began teaching at Victoria University in the same field, where I helped build the artistic abilities of my students from the ground up year after year. This was when I realized how much I valued passing the knowledge I'd worked so hard to get for myself onto other people. To see them progress at such a rapid rate over the course of a few months was incredibly rewarding and I soon found that I had become just as passionate about teaching the art as the art itself. What I had to offer others was incredibly valuable and the effect it had on the evolution of these aspiring artists made my own efforts in learning all the more worth while.

Despite the joy I found working in the video games industry as a concept artist, my passion for comics still lingered, firmly planting itself in the back of my mind. In fact it haunted me. 

Which brings me to the purpose of this Blog and what I hope to share with you. My journey as an artist has been an epic adventure with many obstacles along the path that I had to learn my way through. That's how I know I can relate to the rest of my fellow aspiring comic artists out there, truly understanding the difficulties they face and will face in this continued pursuit to ever greater heights. Taking the knowledge I have garnered over the years through my own self taught learning, this Blog is going to serve as the go to place for those eager to learn, not only how to draw comics, but super heroes, heroins, and villains. I'm going to cover the basics such as anatomy, perspective, composition and color theory. In fact I want to take you step by step through the entire process, from the first initial sketch all the way through to your own completed, inked and colored piece of shiny new comic book art. I will present to you my personal techniques and philosophies on how to first develop and then project your creative ideas out onto paper.

And the best part about this for you guys is I'm going to provide most, if not all of this information completely free. Because in all honesty there's not a lot of comic book artist resources out there for those who want to learn. Sure there's a few gems scattered across the net and in book stores, but they are few and far between in terms of real knowledge that not only teaches you the technical aspects, but also the nuts and bolts behind your own personal creativity.

This blog will be consistently updated with new content every few weeks. So weather you simply want to learn how to gain a more creative imagination, or you want to start, maybe even advance your journey as an artist this blog is going to be a valuable resource for you. But for those out there who are also haunted by the unrelenting urge to become a comic book legend like the industry gods we admire, this blog is going to be something special that I am confident you will treasure for a long time to come.

Be sure to click the follow button so that you stay up to date on all the latest posts and updates.