Graphic Novels and Comic Book Art Short Course
Course description
Course overview
Graphic Novels and Comic Book Art is an engaging introduction to the process of creating graphic novel-style sequential art. Course topics will include story development, storyboarding, page layout design, inking, lettering and colouring.
You'll explore a range of visual languages, styles and creative techniques; including an introduction to efficient, high-quality digital methods using Adobe Photoshop.
At the end of the course, you'll receive a colour A3 print of your work. Teaching takes the form of class and individual exercises, class critiques and one-on-one discussion with the tutor.
Who this course is for
This course is ideal for anyone who wants to learn about the process of creating comics while developing their creative practice or is looking to build a portfolio of sequential artwork to apply for a longer cartooning course.
The general principles of this course apply to manga as much as a superhero, funny animal or underground comics.
Key information
Topics covered
- Life drawing
- Creative writing
- Storyboarding
- Character design presentation
- Page layout
- Develop your own story
- Sketching story panels
- Inking
- Colouring scanned work digitally
- Adding borders, balloons and lettering digitally
Learning outcomes
- Gain creative skills in scene composition, page design and character creation for comic books
- A finished page strip of comic book art, together with a full set of handouts on all topics discussed. This will provide a firm foundation for application to further illustration courses, self-publishing your own webcomic or developing a portfolio for work in related industries such as video games
- Digital badge and certificate of attendance
Materials
- 2-3 examples of your previous work, which may help to inform your development
- USB stick or access to equivalent cloud storage (1GB+)
Optional
- Notebook and pen
- Please note: we tend to use Wacom devices, but you may wish to bring yor own graphics tablet if you have one
- Procreate installed
- Any preferred sketching materials e.g. charcoal
- If not colouring digitally you may wish to bring coloured pencils, felt tips, watercolours etc.
IMPORTANT - Adobe ID Login for Short Course Students
Students will need to create an account with Adobe (unless you already have one) to access the Adobe suite at the college; instructions are included below. You will need to use a personal email address to create this. If you already have an account with Adobe, please make sure you bring your login details with you on the first day of the course.
Please note:
- Creating an Adobe account is free
- The software will only be accessible when logged into a UAL networked computer
- The same account can be used outside of the University, but software will only be accessible through a personal paid subscription that students will need to set up independently
- You can still create an account on the day but doing this beforehand will save time and avoid delays to the start of the class
- If you already have an Adobe ID/ subscription you can use this on your short course rather than setting up a new account
To create an account students will need to:
- Go to the Adobe Sign in page
- Select 'Create an account'
- Enter your details and select 'Create account'
Tutor
Matt O'Dell
Matt O’Dell has been teaching the Graphic Novel and Comic Book Art short course since 2011. When not teaching at Chelsea, he lectures full time at the University of Chichester, where he teaches the students of the 3D Animation & VFX and Fine Art BAs. He particularly enjoys helping students to develop their stories and themes. He previously taught at the University of Surrey, where he lead the Digital Media Arts BA, and Brunel University, where he taught the asset creation modules of the Games Design BA. He has also worked commercially as a 2D / 3D video games artist and user interface designer.
When not teaching he enjoys designing sci-fi mechanical stuff in 3DCoat and Substance, rendering them in Blender and creating posters in Photoshop.
Matt’s UAL email address: m.odell@chelsea.arts.ac.uk
Take a look at Matt's website.
Book a course
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