Diy Making comics & learning blocks

-Just fyi, I'm going to share art things as it comes up on my personal art journey There will be no apparent direction for any of this stuff, until further down the road and I've rambled a few times about each subject. Then, the reader will be able to find a timeline of sorts I guess.-

Reading the Sunday morning paper comics as a kid are some of my fondest memories. I would stare at that page for hours, observing the ways each artist drew their characters and surroundings. Making mental notes of what I preferred in line weights and style.

Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes became an incredible example for me, on how to bridge fantasy with reality. I spend a lot of my time in my head. I am always building world's and designing things and fighting monsters in my daydreams. The way Bill Watterson paired detailed illustration with Calvin's daydreams, and kept the rest of reality basic, was also something I heavily noted.

Gary Larson's “The Far Side” is how I developed a great sarcasm and a desire to sum up the joke in as few panels /one panel if possible.

These are the two artists that a lot of my comic work is influenced from. If you're looking to start comics and have no place to start…consider your starting point is where your influences lie. Find those comics you adore, note the reasons why you love them.and build your comic idea from that.

Moving along.

I had a Monday of all Mondays, and a fly fell into my tea. What was amusing was how I was trying to kill the fly, pretending to be Unicron. Sometimes life hits us hard, and the need to escape/daydream overrules all. So doing mundane tasks like swatting flies while drinking tea, become funner when imagined as another character.

I felt like making that life experience into a comic. Maybe others might laugh or relate to pretending to be Unicron when killing a fly.

This was my first draft.

It looks alright but it lacked excitement. Unicron's arm isn't raised enough in panel 5. Panel 6 needs a “smash” sound.

I made some visual notes

I also realised I needed to make the layout more dynamic.

Here is my next attempt with the improved layout

But as I was illustrating it, I fucked up by emphasizing the word “smash” too much. I would have to make other panels as dark and dramatic or more, and it would look muddy in the end. I cut my losses quick and started on a fresh sheet.

This is the final version.

If you practise drawing your comics, you will get better. The more you practise, the quicker your potential growth. If you research other styles, you will get better. You need to be inspired to create more. When your personal idea train runs out, that's when you need to seek inspiration the most. It's not always found in other comics or illustrations. If you feel inferior when looking at other illustrations, sometimes inspiration is found in photographs on Pinterest. Sometimes it's found in an oil spill on a driveway after a rainfall. Graffiti, fashion advertisements, nature, big cities, inspiration is out there, just be open to it being anywhere.

I can't wait till I always approach drawing comic layouts with dynamic exciting layouts. I just default to the Sunday comic strip style because it's safest/what I know best.