52 Comics Challenges

[Andy]

There is a really neat website for aspiring cartoonists called Young American Comics. They have a brand new feature called 52 challenges. Each week they will post an "assignment" for you to complete and then post. The first one is to "imagine you have a super power. How did you get it?" You are then to draw the story in a two page comic. I don't if I'll be able to keep up all year, but I've done the first one, which is below. I'm going for what is to me a more minimalist style than I usual use.

If you're interested, the sites are:
http://www.youngamericancomics.com/
http://www.52comicchallenges.com/

[Andy]

The challenge for this week is to create a single comics page with 20 or more panels. Wow, that's tough! Here's my entry. For a closer look, visit
http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com

[morna-san]

go man go!!

[Andy]

Thanks for the cheer, Morna-san.

[Stan Sakai]

Excellent. It is difficult to work with that many panels on a page without it looking too crammed.

[Andy]

Thanks! If you look closely you can see I had to cheat a little.

[Andy]

My son Dan helped me color my origin story. I like it in color!

http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com

[Stan Sakai]

The colors really make your art pop. It gives your story a lot of life.

[Andy]

Thanks, Stan!

[Daniel-san]

Thanks from me too. (Daniel his son)

[Andy]

The art of music often inspired other artistic endeavors. What happens when we mix comics and music? At 52 Comics Challenges our assignment this week was to "Draw a Song". We were to pick a song that has lyrics and a strong visual motif and illustrate a portion of it in a 1-2 page comic.

Phew! I think I bit off more than I can chew with this assignment. Especially with it being the first week back to school! The idea I had made me go to 3 pages. I've always loved the music of Mark Knopfler, former front man for Dire Straits. The lyrics of many of his songs could stand alone as poems. I chose his song "Cannibals". To me it's always been a song about a father and his son's love for each other, and the things we sometimes say to kids just to get them to go to sleep.

If anyone is up to it, could you please leave a comment on my page? I'm getting a lot of hits but no comments.

http://andrewwales.blogspot.com/

[Andy]

This week's challenge was to draw a biography. I got about six pages plotted out on the life of Monet, but only one completed. As I have time, I'm going to add to this, but this is what I have done so far!

http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com

[Andy]

This week's challenges include a bonus from Week #3 (Draw a Song)



and an instructional comic...



http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com

[Andy]

Think about the way you sneeze. For most people, there are three steps: Preparation, Execution and Recovery. Most actions can be shown effectively in these same three steps. Think of a golf swing: the golfer pulling the club gback, the contact of the club and the ball, and the follow through of the club and the ball flying through the air.

This week's challenge at 52 Challenges was to apply the "sneeze theory" to show action in several three panel strips. This exercise can help cartoonists refine their visual storytelling technique and try several different types of action. Paying attention to the sneeze theory will make sure that you are always picking three of the most important parts of the action.

[url]http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com

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[Andy]

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