Draw! #23 Summer 2012 (magazine review),
Going back nearly nine years, we have the 23rd edition of ‘Draw!’ where there is some focus on comicbook artist Al Williamson (1931-2010) and the people who worked with him. He was the penciller on Marvel’s first Star Wars’ comicbook series amongst other comics, don’t forget. In his later years, Williamson turned inker after an intense period drawing the ‘Star Wars’ newspaper strip and worked a lot inking Pat Olliffe’s work, amongst others. Editor Mike Manley interviews Olliffe here about Williamson and his own work and how far you should pencil before letting the inker take over.
Bob McLeod’s art lessons are always informative and his test subject this time shows flaws in anatomy, scene construction and over-loading panels. If you ever wondered why some panels only show the characters it’s to centre on what is important to the storytelling, something else he is hammering home on. Although his final note is all neo-comicbook artists tend to learn off their favourite artist, I do think as with writing, you can also pick up their bad habits as well. It is far better to study several or more and work out where their strengths and weaknesses are and learn to do better.
Jamar Nicholas looks at the Manga Studio EX4 as an all-round digital comic page maker. These days, the current version is now called Clip Studio Paint, the Pro version is only if you intend to do animation as well hence its higher price. The fact that it is still going strong 9 years after his article should be reassuring. I’ve played with it a little and found it easy to learn which is a bonus for those who think they can’t master software quickly.
Finally, Jorge Khoury interviews various comicbook artists who shared studio space, time or worked with Al Williamson. It did make me wonder what happened to the original art he collected himself and he often thought of himself in the industry as secondary to that. A good homage and makes this issue an interesting read to get hold of.
GF Willmetts
February 2021
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $ 7.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6882. Direct from them, you can get it for $ 7.95 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com, www.draw-magazine.blogspot.com and www.penciltopencil.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_59&products_id=1028&zenid=09e90200351f0d682edb07402fdf2994
