Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

To anyone who dables in comic art...

I have for the last two issues of my comic basically been relearning how to draw. It's this stupid 11 and half by 17 standard everyone in my group kept nattering on about, there's definetely more space, and it's easier to show detail for sure. Thing is, I was totally used to 8 and a half by 11, it seems to me that you have a sort of "God Box" going on with the smaller size, because everything is right there.

Originally, we all started using the larger template because a couple of industry guys from Marvel and Image told us that the bigger size revolutionized there work, and it seems like everyone else did in fact benefit from it, but I'm still struggling.

Do you Mr. Sakai, or anyone else on here who's a comic artist still go with a smaller size sheet of paper, or do you also use the 11 and a half by 17?
I'm getting better at it slowly, but my sketchbooks always look a little better than my current issue. Any suggestions? Just stick with it, toughen up, or go back to the stone age? what do you say?

I use an image area of 10x15 on an 11x17 inch board, which, I think, is pretty much industry standard. Pages were actually much larger before. I have a Ditko Spidey page that with an image area of 12.5x18.5.

However, size does not matter as long as you retain the proportions. Linda Medley uses a much smaller size, just a little larger than a printed comic book page.

I did "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Tournament" on a smaller size. I did it smaller because it was originally slated to appear fully painted in the Trilogy 2 book, which never happened. The smaller size certainly speeded up my work--I finished it in half the time as normal--but I could not get as much detail in the work as I wanted.

Hey Mr. Horrible,

Like Stan, I used (still use) 2 ply bristol with a 10 x 15 inch drawing surface with a 2 to 3 inch border.

Back when I was drawing SpaceWolf, I would have a larger drawing surface if I was drawing a big action scene, or wanted to add a lot of detail, but I would keep it proportional to the 10 x 15 size.

Click on the link to my Deviant Art site, below. The SpaceWolf piece on the main page was drawn in a 10 x 15 panel.

Hope this helps.

Dan Flahive

I drew a comic series ages ago and always preferred 8.5x11...11x17 was too big and it took a lot longer to cover that large an area. I did use larger pages a few times but it was mainly 8.5x11.

I think Steve Gallacci drew his Erma pages on smaller-than-standard size paper. It may have been 8.5x11 or even smaller. Though I could be mistaken because it's been a long time since I've seen his original art.

Dear Readers,
"I think Steve Gallacci drew his Erma pages on smaller-than-standard size paper."
The Albedo pages I have are 6 5/8 by 9 5/8 inches.
Best wishes to all!
go

Thanks for confirming that Go. Smaller dimensions than a printed comic book page!

Dan Dan! Your still around? I haven't heard from you in years. Loved Space Wolf, wish it would have gone on.

Hope your doing well!

Dusty

Well...

sonamagun, Mr. Rhodes; talk about a voice from the past. How the hell iz ya?

Yeah, I'm still around, although I've been keeping a low profile ever since the freak element took over anthro-fandom.

However, you can find me over on Deviantart, just follow the "WWW" link below.

Good to hear from you.

As a side note Kirby used boards that were twice the size of standard pages- Bryan Hitch uses them currently on FF. I saw some of them (the Hitch ones) at SDCC, I don't know how he fills them- they are just massive

It's really a matter of personal style and choice. If you use a brush or a thicker line, then bigger pages usually do a better job handling it. Also, the bigger pages tend to be more forgiving to the mistakes and goof-ups we're all prone to making.

Conversely, some folks draw really small. If you've seen Kaz Stryzepek's Mourning Star, which is about 6"x6", you might be surprised to learn that he draws pretty much at size. The art is great, but he has such fine linework that he's able to get away with working so small.

Drew Weing's Set to Sea (http://www.drewweing.com/settosea/?date=00010101) is also done really small - they're actually drawn smaller than they appear on screen.

So while the bigger pages are standard, there's no "set rule." Draw on what makes you feel most comfortable, and what gives you the best results.

I should introduce Chris Schweizer to the Dojo Board. His wonderful graphic novel, Crogan's Vengeance, will be published by Oni Press in October. Pick it up. I really enjoyed it.

This story has to do with pirates in the Caribbean, though other members of the Crogan family tree will have adventures in other locales.

ooohhhh great !!!! nice to met tou Chris im sure i will like to pick Crogans Vengeance to be honestly i have never read a comic or a book about pirates so it would be cool to check it out!!

Abayo,
Marchino