Saturday, February 21, 2015

When Looking For Comic Art Classes Pennsylvania Can Help

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By Katina Brady


With comic books and their characters now firmly entrenched in the mainstream entertainment culture, interest in this type of storytelling is higher than ever before. Many would-be artists both young and old have a desire to break into the industry and perhaps create the next popular series of books or graphic novels to thrill and delight their fans. For anyone seeking out the top comic art classes Pennsylvania has many options available.

In the early days of the industry, aspiring artists had only a couple of pathways to achieving their goals in comics. They could hone their skills alone, studying from books created by the masters of the craft, or they could basically become understudies to the professionals who were actively working in the comics field. That choice was the same one available to most artists for centuries.

Several decades ago, artists like the renowned Joe Kubert decided that they could offer aspiring illustrators the benefit of their insight in a formalized setting. They created schools that soon produced a new crop of artists whose graduation filled the comics industry with dynamic storytellers. Schools, workshops, and other venues soon sprang up in Pennsylvania and other areas.

These educational forums now provide students with the foundation they need to create comics of a professional quality. They learn all the basic skills associated with quality drawing, as well as more advanced techniques for telling stories with pictures, and useful production skills. The process of learning all of these critical skill sets requires a diverse range of class work.

Obviously, some skills are common to those taught in other schools for artists. Human anatomy is one such course, and a great deal of time is spent in its study. Comics tend to be stories about people, so artists need to know how to draw them. That requires learning both the natural proportions of the human body, and the so-called heroic proportions often used in these tales.

Students also learn how to use various tools, techniques, and artwork mediums. Pencil drawing is a must, since that serves as the backbone of almost all sequential art. In addition, students must learn to use India ink, using various brushes and pens to create varying line thicknesses and different moods using shadows. Mediums such as watercolor and software usage may also be explored.

Of course, no class on comics would be complete without looking at sequential storytelling. The craft of telling a story with pictures is a highly specialized one. As a result, it requires knowledge in a variety of different areas, including things like story pace, panel composition, scene perspective, and how to translate a writer's script into the paneled scenes needed to tell the story.

As Hollywood continues to produce one blockbuster after another based on the most popular of these comics, the need for talented artists will only continue to grow. For aspiring students who desire to learn this craft, an area school that teaches the fundamentals of producing comics can be the perfect way to achieve that goal.




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