Foreword
STORYTELLING FOR THE ARTISTICALLY CHALLENGED
by Mat Nastos
Foreword
I have to start by saying that this work is NOT an end-all, be-all guide to drawing comics. What it is meant to be is a guide to the vastly ignored and under-examined area of comicbook art, storytelling.
Before I set out from Honolulu, Hawaii for the wilds of Dover, New Jersey and the Joe Kubert School, I had felt that Will Eisner’s “Comics and Sequential Art” held everything I would ever need to know about drawing comicbooks…and, anything that it didn’t have would be found in Lee and Buscema’s “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.”
Then, after doing two years, hard time, at the Kubert School and taking classes from people like Bart Sears, Bob Wiacek, Tex Blaisdale, and Hy Eisman (to name a few), I was convinced that I knew everything that I could possible need to know to do comics. And, in a sense, I was right. It is possible to do comics with that level of knowledge, and there are hundreds of examples of guys working in comics with a lot less, knowledge-wise. What I didn’t realize, was that there are whole levels to the art form that I had never imagined and never been exposed to. That came a year later, under the guidance of Klaus Janson and Joe Orlando.
Janson and Orlando’s classes woke me up to the fact that there is more to storytelling than putting a bunch of pretty pictures together and calling it a comicbook. While taking there classes, I soon came to the conclusion that most of the guys currently working in comics knew just enough about storytelling to get by (and some, not even that much). I was taught that knowing how to properly draw anatomy and a three-point perspective city scene wasn’t everything. They taught me that the art must work in service to the story. The story is the most important thing in a comic, and if your work doesn’t add to the story then it is working against it.
What I also discovered, in my quest to learn more, was that there is very little in the way of storytelling instruction or how-to books. Most comicbook art books deal with basic drawing seen through the eyes of a comicbook artist. Even the industry’s one main source, Eisner’s book, does not deal in-depth with it.
While not being the most experienced of comic artists, I have put down what I’ve learned, from school, independent reading, and my own work experiences (which includes work on about 100 films, even more television episodes and 30 or so comicbooks). As with all such works, use what I have here as a template for what you do. All rules are meant to be broken, as long as you have a reason for what you are doing.
Well, on with the book, and it is back to the drawing board for me.
Mat Nastos, June 2006
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Found throughout the text of this book are three icons that will help to point out important tidbits of information, examples of well-done comic art and some examples of poorly executed work. Here are the icons and their definitions:
The King: This will be your guide along the path to a well-drawn comic. Pay attention to “The King,” he knows what he’s doing.
The Clown: When you see “The Clown,” then run the other way! He is generally found cavorting around something that is poorly drawn or thought out.
Exclamation Bolt: These are important facts, concepts or hints for you to think about and consider.
Next: Introduction: A Few Observations On Drawing
