HOW ABOUT A DUEL FOR SHORTEST??

5 ft flat over here bitches

WHAT!!! A TIM HORTONS IN KOREA BUT NOT A SINGLE ONE IN THE STATES!?!??!

NOT FAIIIIRRRRR not fair

I love you jj <3 I wasn't sure if I was so legible though T__T

I also thought of another thing in the car. This is where Marvel and DC got it wrong when it came to grabbing the movie audience and translating it into sales for their books.

Okay Joe and Jane Shmoo just saw X-men, and they're fucking stoked, so want to read more. They drop into their local comic shop thinking OMG I HAVE TO READ MORE. So they're in the comic shop and they're searching for X-men titles. Well they start getting confused because they see that theres an amazing X-men, an astonishing X-men, an XTREME X-men (dead fucking serious), X-men Unlimited, NYX and the list doesn't end. There was also the beginning of the revamped version of X-men (and other marvel genras) which was marvel's attempt at restarting the series. I forget what they're called for the moment, but there are ones for every Marvel book. THE ULTIMATE XMEN THATS IT!!! God damn Ultimates.

Now what do you think Joe and June are gonna do? Walk right out of the store and rent a movie (hopefully predator). Two potential readers are lost never to return. Two readers who could have started reading comics, and turned their friends and family into readers.

THAT SUCKS, and do you guys know why they can't slim down the amount of X-men books? BECAUSE IF THEY CHANGE THE COSTUME ON ONE CHARACTER THERE WILL BE TOO MANY COMPLAINTS! They wanted to use the revamped costumes for the X-men, but the old readers bitched so much that they just made another series of books. What marvel forgot though is that the readers can take the abuse. They can live with a costume change. They might whine and bitch and cite their X-men blue teams, but they will BEAR WITH IT, since they are also the same people who will make excuses for the company when they hire a shitty artist "Well they're marvel they know what they're doing." FUCK!!! This corporate mentality of pleasing every customer actually COST THEM NEW READERS, and vast amount of them. Just so they could keep the same old ever dwindling group of bad blood readers pleased. SPOILED READERS. 

Larsen is the CEO and we work for image. Our friend is the artist of Elephantman. We know personally that its branching out, but its still the number four publisher which publishes less than 5% of the comic market. DC and Marvel, the top two publishers which cover around 60% of the market are still regurgitating the same shit. Don't bring up vertigo either. I will show you the sales figures for vertigo... their impact is on level with tokyopop's american line T__T

Brian Michael Bendis is loosing his writing flair. He's doing too many books, and they all read the same. The fact that you are forgetting you're reading a comic isn't a good thing either. Its visual storytelling. If you want to read a good story then pick up some Hemingway.

Honestly I have faith in very few writers in the comic industry. Two I love are Rick Spears (teenagers from mars, pirates of coney island) and Warren Ellis (fell, transmetropolitan), but even if Ellis is writing a superhero book that doesn't necessarily mean its the most fantastic work. You can tell its just garbage to him. The only person I see who has pure enthusiasm for his superhero comics right now is Grant Morrison. Honestly though... there are some good writers, but the majority are over rated. 

Artist writers haven't had the chance to explore their writing side because they've lost interest in writing. They just want to pencil jockey. I personally STRONGLY believe that the best comics ever made were written and drawn by one artist. Whether its Otomo writing Akira or Paul Pope with Heavy Liquid. Artist need to branch out again and have more faith in their ability to create. You don't HAVE to have a writer.

HELL YES! Benny "the jet" Urquidez is the man and I know this isnt classified as book or tutorial but it totally gets me pumped when i have to draw a fight scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to8NlexV138 Jackie Chan vs Bennie the Jet, so bloody epic. Clips from Dragons Forever and Meals on Wheels (SAMMO HUNG IS IN IT ALSO YOU GUYS NEED TO WATCH THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY) =P

Both movies should be watched in their own right... this is just a pump up clip hehe

One last thing, If Larry the bartender is so unimportant then why did you even mention him?

beeeecause its FUNNY!

this is damn good anyway though. The only thing I think you are having trouble with is judging the size of some of the objects. Like that sign near the light pole would be about 5 ft tall =P

When you're having trouble judging the size of objects in your drawing think of what size a human would be in relation to everything else in the picture. Its always good when doing a big perspective drawing like this to draw in a little human to give you height references to other objects. Draw in your little human somewhere in the picture then draw lines from the vanishing point right over the top of his head and the bottom of his feet. You will be able to tell what size the little person would be from any point in the drawing. Its super useful for reference to objects like TVs and Living room furniture etc etc

Really awesome job!! keep em coming =P

What the heck is this?
Well, thousands of years ago VOID had several threads where the more experienced artists would give out assignments for the purpose of the participants' growth and learning as artists. It stopped a loooong time ago, but I thought it was worth trying again with this newer generation of VOID. I left the old threads in place, locked, if you would like to go back and re-read the past.

What's different now?
With this new VCU, the concept almost the same, but with a less condescending tone. We're all drawing together, and learning together, it's not a teacher and student kind of situation, at least not directly. We should all be learning from each other. Ideally, I won't be the only one giving out "assignments", but for now I'm going to at least try to start this up again.

Do I have to do this?
Absolutely not, but I encourage you to at least give it a shot. It's designed to challenge you, and improve your skills. I understand that not everyone is always going to have the time for something like this.

How does it work?
It's basically a timed art jam. An "assignment" will be given, along with a time limit to submit. To submit, simply post what you have done in the thread for critique and discussion.
Even though the VCU topics have a "deadline", this is just a rough goal. People tend to get things done with a deadline, so that's what it's there for. If you pass the deadline, please feel free to keep posting even if weeks or months have passed.

These are just challenges to push yourself to do things you wouldn't normally do, with the goal of improving your skills.



Vintage VCU explanation for mucho nostalgia:

VCU is an area where certain members create indepth tutorials about a different aspect of comics. It will also provide some exercises that artists may want to try at home.

The point here is not to discourage and give heavy handed critiques. It is here to encourage, and to give artists the chance to learn and practice things they may not have thought about beforehand. It may also be a nice warmup for more experienced artists.

I hope you guys like the tutorials and try out some of the practices!!! Any person who participates in any of the practices in VCU will get a karma point from me each time they participate (i might have to wait a day to catch up, but nonetheless) This may not seem like much incentive, but in the long run using these exercises will help to improve your work, which is priceless =P 

I really like that this moves into the dining room. Good details too, the flyswatter on the floor, Veggie rug, and the toaster on top of the fridge hehe, butterfly magnets, and I think thats a cat bowl next to the oven. Thats a skillet on the burner too right?

Looks like this place is relatively tidy! who does it belong to =P

That sounds awesome! Go ahead and post your progress ziggy

This tutorial isn't really about the correctness of the perspective its just about using your imagination, so dont worry about it.

nice one stplmstr kitchen owner looks to be a tidy person =P Whats the thing with the funnel on top? orangejuice press?

heyzoos I'm really happy you're throwing down for this! Some suggestions I would say, since he's a messy cluttered guy. He might have more stuff on that counterspace to the right. More cans, empty plates and bottles. Mix it up with some things that wouldn't really belong in a kitchen. Like maybe he left his tv remote in the kitchen or something. Some medicine like pepto bismol and tylenol or something. I really like the shark on the wall hehehee

AWESOME YOU GUYS lets keep em coming =P

OK here's mine =P



James and Ayumis kitchen. Obviously Ayumi has control of it because there aren't cigarette butts everywhere, and the sponge is in its clean area. Theres a little plant too. Bunch of crap blah blah

PS - I consider this to be clean pencils hahahahha

Perspective Tutorial

TIME TO MAKE YOUR EYES BLEED GUYS!!!!


L0cke drew this (so i dont get in trouble)

This is going to be a drawing exercise which will help those who are having a little trouble with understanding basic perspective, and a good exercise for those who are already experienced with drawing in perspective.

First I'm going to be covering the basics of one points and two point perspective. Then I'm going to give a brief explanation on three point perspective. Then I'll give you some exercises.



One-point perspective

In one-point perspective, the forms are seen face on and are drawn to a single vanishing point.



This is a basic example of one point perspective. The horizontal line is called a horizon line, and it represents well... the horizon =P . The X labelled "VP" is the vanishing point, since all objects vanish from your vision at that point. The lines coming from the vanishing point are your orthogonal lines. They are the lines that put objects into perspective. They create the illusion of depth

One point perspective can be as simple as this


Or as complicated as this


When starting your perspective drawing you're going to want to first start out with a horizon line. In a panel where do you want your reader to view the scene from. The higher you raise your horizon line the further up your viewer is. The lower you place your horizon line the further down your viewer is. Its up to you.

So first draw your horizon line.



Second you're going to want to place your vanishing point onto the horizon line. Think about where you want your objects to vanish.



Next step would be drawing the front of whatever object you wish to place into perspective



From front of what you've drawn, use lines to connect this object to the vanishing point



Lastly draw a vertical and horizontal line where  you want the object to end



There is your most basic of basics for one point perspective. Try stacking objects and placing them into perspective. Add more objects!

Two-Point Perspective



Two-point perspective is useful to show an angle rather than just face-on. It requires and additional vanishing point, and the vanishing points are often located off the page, and a good distance apart.

The same rules apply to the horizon line. The further you raise the line the further up your viewers with be. The further down the horizon line goes the lower your viewers will be.

First, draw your horizon line across the page. Mark two vanishing points. I'm gonna explain the rest through these handy images =P



Keep in mind that this vertical line can be place anywhere between the two points. Up down left right





You draw the verticle lines at the back edges of your object



If the object is floating above your horizon like you still connect to opposite corners the same way



AND THATS IT. Now keep in mind that you want the two vanishing points to be a good distance apart. If you draw them too close your object becomes skewed like the object in the demonstration (see how sharp the bottom angle is... thats skewed). The vanishing points are close for the purpose of explanation, but technically that object is no bueno.

Another trick is drawing very SMALL when you have points this close, but I know how you guys love details =P

THREEEE POINT PERSPECTIVE



This is the tragic one guys. I'm going to be very brief on this one because frankly its a bitch.

In three point perspective you have three vanishing points. This type of perspective usually applies when you're viewing an object from either bird's eye view (super high up) or worm's eye view (super low)

Draw your horizon line, and place your vanishing points like you do in two point perspective. Now you're going to place your third point. The lower you place your point the higher the viewer is. The higher the point the lower the viewer is.

You're not going to just be drawing a vertical line to place your object. Instead you're going to be drawing a nifty little line from the brand new vanishing point. You can draw this line at any angle (even vertical) but its has to stem from the third vanishing point. Then you will draw additional lines, stemming from the new vanishing point, on either side of your first line to define the shape of the object.

From there, like in two point perspective, you draw lines from your two vanishing points on the horizon to define the top and bottom edges of the object you're drawing. Then connect that lines opposite at the back.



This guide is probably way more helpful than everything I just said up there =P

Alright thats the conclusion of my tutorial. Perspective isn't something you're going to master immediately. It requires a lot of practice, and a lot of coffee... maybe some cigarettes, but I can't even begin to explain the benefits of mastering perspective. So keep at it!!

PRACTICE

I want everyone to do 5 drawings total. Two in one point perspective, and another two in two point perspective. The last one is your own choice of perspective =P

NO TREES IN bare FIELDS. hehehe I want the subject matter to be based around man-made structures with sharp angles and fun little details. Buildings, houses, powerplants etc

Again make sure your lines are either clean pencils or inks.

PS!!!!

Unless you are a total novice at perspective, I don't expect to see the horizon line (unless its part of your drawing) or the lines connecting to the vanishing point (technically called orthogonal lines but i never remember that and I don't expect anybody else to) in your drawings for the practice =P