Part of the Prime Vice Studios mission is to share knowledge about the sequential art medium and encourage artists to always develop their talent. With this in mind I’ve established the Seqa Dojo™ (Short for Sequential Art Dojo).

The SEQA DOJO Web series

This web series is a continuation of the Prime Vice Studios tutorials proudly sponsored by plash’s Comic Draw app. Please enjoy, participate, and share. 

Whether you are working directly from a writer’s script or your own notes page layout is all about rhythm and pacing. 

Effective page flow demonstrates your abilities as a good sequential artist. You are going to want to frame the action in a manner that guides the reader in a smooth way.

Comic Page flow is about laying out a sequence of panels to convey a series of moments to  tell a story.

Think about the flow of your panels before drawing them in. Divide your page up in a rhythm that     reflects the flow of the story. Storytelling first, artistry second in sequential art.

The most important & impactful image stands out as the largest.

* After setting up the flow with the panels think about what is happening in each panel.

Consider where the reader’s eyes need to focus in each panel. Think visually first when composing. Show over tell is the best policy.

Look over your page and ask yourself:

* Is the storytelling clear?
* Does the Rhythm of the panels go with the pace of the story?
* Are there elements that need to be included or taken out?

Thank you for checking out this tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful and inspiring. Below you’ll find a downloadable cheat sheet of this tutorial and additional resources that you can purchase.

Prime Vice Studios is available to book for private lessons and workshops.

Peace,

Loso Perez, MFA

@loscomic
@prime_vice

Part of the Prime Vice Studios mission is to share knowledge about the sequential art medium and encourage artists to always develop their talent. With this in mind I’ve established the Seqa Dojo™ (Short for Sequential Art Dojo).

The SEQA DOJO Web series

This web series is a continuation of the Prime Vice Studios tutorials proudly sponsored by Comic Draw. Please enjoy, participate, and share. 

Freestyle drawing is an excellent exercise to get started in the creative process.

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part of making comics. We get caught up with our ideas in our head instead of working through them in tangible forms. Freestyle drawing helps you get started. 

How to get started:

1. Set up an uninterrupted time slot for art time.

2. Set your ritual. Have a place to draw and collect everything that you need and prepare to play. 

3. Have a surface & tool.  You can’t do any drawing without something to do it with and something to do it on. Open up your Comic Draw app or at least have a pencil & pad to scribble on. 

4. Fill the surface. Get your hands going and don’t stop until the page is filled or time runs out.

Some suggestions...

This is a good opportunity for abstract mark making and/or working through an idea.

Look at something or someone and draw it from observation.

Jot down letters, thoughts, ideas, phrases or words.

Sketch out geometric shapes and patterns. This is useful for figuring out rhythms and designs.

Understand and push the limits of your tool.

5. The last and most important step. Have Fun! If you are not having fun you are not doing this activity right.

After you’ve filled a page or two please feel free to share your work with me. I’d like to see what you come up with.

Thank you for checking out this tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful and inspiring. Below you’ll find a downloadable cheat sheet of this tutorial and additional resources that you can purchase.

Prime Vice Studios is available to book for private lessons and workshops.

Peace,

Loso Perez, MFA

@loscomic
@prime_vice

This week’s tutorial goes over how use color to enhance your comic art.

Adding color to your comics adds vibrancy and extra dimension but first you must choreograph your palette. Make sure to choose colors that serve the mood of the scene.

Choreograph you color scheme.

Temperature

According to color theory certain colors create indications of temperature, emotion and movement in space.

Warm colors push forward in space.

Warm colors which includes reds, oranges & yellows are indicative of intensity or anger and moves forward in space.

Cool Colors recede back into space.
​
Cool colors which includes blues, most greens & various grays often indicate calmness & tranquility and receding back into space.

Keep these principles in mind to make the best decisions in coloring your comics.

​Decide on areas of focus.
​
The focus area will be the most saturated and have the most intense color.

​Color details need to enhance the line art.

The line art should inform how you color. 

​Work from dark to light.

Indicate the shady areas and shadows. 

​Shading gives your art more depth.

​Reinforce the light source.

​The brush must serve the line work.

Does the texture of your brush help or hinder the artwork? 

​Model your figures and objects using values.

Simple modeling works best to not muddy the line work.

Enhancing the narrative. 

​These basic principles are helpful when setting up spatial planes, indicating mood or emotion, when framing and establishing focal points.

Always consider the context of the scene.

Color application is useful for adding emotional impact and extra dimension to line art. Apply these principles consciously to enhance aspects of the visual narrative.
​

Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I love to read and follow up on my fellow artists. Additionally, Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process. From conception to creation we are experts at helping  others develop their vision.
​
Download the cheat sheet below for your own reference. Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used.


Peace,
​
Loso


Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw!
follow on us social media!

@Prime_Vice #primevice 

@AnanyaVahal

@Plasq

@ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday

@ComicConnect

This week learn how to utilize the subjective camera technique to create compelling comic sequences. Lets go!

When making comics your primary objective is to stimulate an emotional response in the reader.

What is the Subjective Camera?
​
The Subjective Camera is when you see the action (or much of it) from the character’s point of view.

Why use the Subjective Camera Technique?

Using the Subjective Camera (SJ) technique serves the purpose of stimulating an emotional response from the viewer by placing them in the character’s shoes.

By getting in the character’s head you see what they see & feel how they feel.

The S C Technique follows a 4 part formula. First start with a close-up of the character. The one you want to use to bring the reader into the story.

* A close-up is when the panel is zoomed in close.

Second, show the following shots from the character’s point of view. As if you were seeing through the character’s eyes.This allows us to see what they see. Below I am doing a POV shot from another character to build up anticipation.

Now show the character again but with a different expression. The reader will feel what the character feels.​ Check out how I switched him from looking nervous to more menacing in this shot.

Lastly, add additional panels to show the spatial relationships and passage of time. Make the sequence of events & actions as coherent and clear as possible.

The Subjective Camera Technique is useful for making compelling scenes in your comic. Storytelling can be tricky when it comes to pacing a sequence of events. As a cartoonist you want to be able to keep your reader’s attention engrossed as possible in your story not just demonstrate elaborate talent or boring panels. Make magic happen in your sequences by paying attention to the panel compositions and how they will keep a grip on your readers. Give them a clear & emotionally impactful story. They’ll love you for it.

Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I love to read and follow up from my fellow artists. Additionally, Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process. From conception to creation we are experts at helping others develop their vision.
​
Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used.


Peace,
​
Loso


Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw!
follow on us social media!

@Prime_Vice #primevice 

@AnanyaVahal

@Plasq

@ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday

@ComicConnect

This week’s tutorial focuses on building your storytelling skills using the Rule of Three.

When creating a comic story the primary aim is to show a sequence of events that are entertaining & clear to understand.

The Rule of Three can be understood in multiple ways depending on the medium’s frame of reference. 

In the setup introduce characters that can resonate with others. Pose a challenge for them or create some sort of disruption in their world.

Build anticipation for future events. Give the reader something to look forward to.

Think of the environment as a character as well.

All information in your panels must be pertinent to carrying the story forward.

For the second panel or the Hit pose challenges for your character to overcome. They should be striving for something but some sort of resistance is in the way.
​
The events should be pertinent to their change.

The aftermath should have a sensational ending. The ending needs to resolve something from the beginning.

Cliffhangers are fine to use but give your readers some satisfaction and something to look forward to.

Always aim to give your readers an emotional impact. Make them feel something about the story and characters.

The Rule of 3 is useful for comics as short as three panels, multiple pages and so forth. Utilize it as an extra tool in your kit.

Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I love to read and follow up from my fellow artists. Additionally, Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process. From conception to creation we are experts at helping others develop their vision.
​
Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used.

Peace,
​
Loso


Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw!
follow on us social media!

@Prime_Vice #primevice 

@AnanyaVahal

@Plasq

@ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday

@ComicConnect

Putting life into an essentially lifeless medium is tricky. As a cartoonist you want to give your reader’s the impression of movement and life in your art through the stills that you draw. In this week’s tutorial I go over how you can use action arrows to build your figures up with an inherent sense of directional movement.

1. Draw a quick gesture of your figure.

Start with a stick figure and just think about the action your trying to capture more than accurate anatomy.

2. Draw an action arrow to emphasize the movement. Highlight the movement by drawing an action arrow around the area of your figure.

Highlight the movement by drawing an action arrow around the area of your figure.

3.Build your figure using the action arrow as a guideline. Utilize it as a reference to understand your character’s action. 
​

The direction of the arrow directs the reader’s eye. As you build your figures play with the posture and push the boundaries of your under lying guideline

Final tip: Always have good references handy for your art. I used ArtPose to create this figure reference. It has realistic proportions and the dots help me make good stick figures to build upon. I played around with the legs a bit to see how it would look if the character was moving his legs around.

The underlying line of the action arrow is helpful for visualizing how to give your figures a sense of movement. Use it as a guide to build up your figures with an inherent flow. Even a standing figure has movement. This is just a way to push the boundaries on using the line of action.

Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I love to read and follow up from my fellow artists. Additionally, Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process. From conception to creation we are experts at helping others develop their vision.
​
Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used.

Peace,
​
Loso


Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw!
follow on us social media!

@Prime_Vice #primevice 

@AnanyaVahal

@Plasq

@ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday

@ComicConnect
​

Becoming a familiar with drawing proportions well are a fundamental pillar of figure drawing. Whether you are drawing regular characters, cartoons and even super heroes it all builds from a solid understanding of basic human proportions. In this tutorial I highlight the aspects of generating proper proportions in your characters.

To draw characters we must start with a basic understanding of the human figure and its proportions.

The head is the common unit of measurement for bodies. The average body is usually about 6 & half heads tall for male and female. Superheroes are usually drawing 8 and three quarters to 9 heads tall.

Feel free to push your imagination and experiment. Exaggerating and distorting is encouraged as long as the figure is believable. This comes from basing your manipulation on good anatomy.

Typical shoulders are about two heads lying sideways wide.

The body bends below the pelvis. This is also the halfway point. Useful knowing to make sure the body is balanced when standing up.

Milestone markers are reference points and rules of thumb to remember on the body you can use to measure parts in comparison to each other. You can guess the ones listed below or come up with your own that flow with your drawing style.

If you divide the arm at the elbow would be equal from the shoulder & from the wrist.

The elbows themselves hang just below the waist.

The hands hang from the wrist at the mid-thigh.

When drawing men, a differentiating feature are the shoulders being wide while the waists & hips are narrow.

Comparatively with women the hips are wide & round relative to the shoulders.

Hands are 3/4 the length of the face. Roughly the same length of the chin to the hairline.

Use your own body as a reliable real life reference.

It takes time to master the locations of milestone markers. As you gain a grasp on this concept you will develop your own system to draw proportionate figures with facility.

​This fundamental understanding of the human figure will allow you develop the skills to draw them simply and further be able to build upon your characters with accuracy. Most of all, they will demonstrate believability to your audience.

Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I’d love to help my fellow artists on their comic journeys. Additionally Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process.
​
Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used.

Peace,
​
Loso


Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw!
follow on us social media!

@Prime_Vice #primevice

@AnanyaVahal

@Plasq

@ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday

@ComicConnect
​

Additional shout out to Joumana Medlej for additional reference material.Checkout the link below for more of her stuff:

https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/human-anatomy-fundamentals-basic-body-proportions--vector-18254