How To Become A Comic Artist

How To Become A Comic Artist

By Bronwyn Leigh

 

Some of the literary areas growing very fast are comic books, manga, graphic novels, and anime industries. With the exponential growth in these industries, the demand for great comic artists continues to increase year in and year out. If you love reading and writing comics, choosing a career as a comic book artist may be the best for you!

Without further ado, here are some tips to help you become a great comic artist!

1. Learn the Basics

The comic book market is hot and is witnessing an all-time high. All these can be attributed to the rise in movies based on comic books over the past decade. Such movies include Ant-Man, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, and lots more.

A graphic novel or comic book artist is someone that produces work in comic form. As a comic book artist, you may either contribute to a comic or produce the whole strip. It is common for a team to be involved in creating a comic. Teamwork is important because of specialization.

Because the comic field is highly competitive, it takes talent and hard work to succeed. So, your first job while starting may not be as a comic artist but something related.

 

2. Learn the Required Skills & Techniques

To become a comic artist, you must have some essential skills to make it in the industry. The most important skill will be to have an artistic ability and a natural drawing talent. From there on, you must be able to visualize, imagine, conceptualize, and create.

Besides, you should possess some manual dexterity and master graphic software such as Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator. You can start by scribbling on pieces of paper. So, getting an arsenal of pencils will do you much good.

While you may want to dazzle your viewers, you must be able to draw the human body accurately. Unless the comic calls got it, making your characters look believable is essential in this field. You may not be the best writer in the world yet, but make sure you have your story in your mind – from start to finish. Creative writing services can help with words at any moment.

Also, earning a degree could help you in the comic book industry. Not that earning a degree is important, but a degree will help you receive some training levels and advance quickly in the field.

 

3. Create a Strong Portfolio

To become a comic book artist, one of the things you need is a strong portfolio and website. It is not compulsory to have a portfolio identical to that of others. But make sure your portfolio serves its purpose. It should be available, whether printed or online. Your portfolio speaks for you. It will show the world that you can draw very well and use a variety of styles consistently.

It would help if you also have a personal brand. Developing a personal brand may take months or even years. This is very important if you freelance. Many comic artists are successful freelancers. Post samples of your works on freelancing sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, etc., and gain proficiency.

You may start out earning very little money. But with time, you can make as high as $200 per page or more!

 

Conclusion

Becoming a comic artist will require consistency, talent, and hard work!