Lessons - Back to school

Well, back to the Kubert correspondence course, anyway. I found the Heroes and Superheroes coursebook while straightening the studio up Wednesday. I really need to finish this so I can decide what to do next. I've discovered that I have a hard time focusing on a direction of study without a course to guide me. Unfortunately, this one ended up not being the anatomy class that I was hoping for which, is why I keep stalling on it.

Anyway, the first section of lesson two is the idea that superheroes come in all shapes and sizes. Tips from the book...

However, in order to maintain a consistency in drawing a series of superhero illustrations, the artist must acquire a thorough understanding of the human figure. Hence, despite distortions and exaggerations, the superhero figure will still look valid and believable.

Your superhero's physical, mental, and emotional attitudes will give you, the artist, an insight on his looks and how he should perform. Individual characteristics will also enable your superhero to be easily recognized and identified. When an audience thinks, "Oh yeah... I know someone just like him," your superhero becomes more credible. And the story in which your superhero is involved becomes more believable.

Remember the idea in bold up above. It applies to more than just superheroes. Anytime you can make a character live in a reader's head, so that they think about that character even when they're not currently reading your work, you win. That's good characterization - both written and visual.

Sketches from images in the coursebook.


Some images from the coursebook, others just made up.


Big gladiator-type magic guy. Because I can.



The next section in this lesson is Individuality, which looks like more creating wacky looking characters. One's even an ice cube man floating in a drink!


"And now for something completely different..."
-- John Cleese