"A gold mine of essential information for every aspiring comics artist. Highly recommended." --Scott McCloud
Drawing Words and Writin... read full description
reviews
Feb 02, 2010
Parka
rated it: 
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is more of a course that a book on drawing comics. The authors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, both comic artists and teachers, have designed the book to follow a 15-week semester. It's easy to follow and each lesson builds on the previous.
The course is comprehensive and covers everything from paneling, storytelling, transitions, lettering, inking, character development, etc. Basically every form of e More...
Jan 20, 2009
ananka
rated it: 
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures can be a guide or a course on how to draw, write, illustrate, create, etc. your own comic book. It is for any kind of comic lover: Superhero, manga, or personal artistic vision—what I call a graphic novel, but I know others don’t agree with that label. The introduction is done as a comic, but also as text, for an alternate way of looking at it. There is also a website that goes along with it where they encourage students to scan in and upload their work to s
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Feb 03, 2009
Troy
rated it: 
This is basically a text book for learning how to draw comics.
And it's a damn fine one.
I've always liked to read 'how to' books, even when I already know how to do something. You can never know everything and a good 'how to' book should always teach you something new. This book is a very good 'how to' book. The practice sessions look sensible and effective (even though I haven't done any of them and only plan on trying out a few). The history and theory of comics is solid More...
And it's a damn fine one.
I've always liked to read 'how to' books, even when I already know how to do something. You can never know everything and a good 'how to' book should always teach you something new. This book is a very good 'how to' book. The practice sessions look sensible and effective (even though I haven't done any of them and only plan on trying out a few). The history and theory of comics is solid More...
Apr 23, 2009
Mark
rated it:
Drawing Words & Writing Pictures is a formal and disciplined textbook for a 15-week college course in creating comics, including homework, and with ample guidelines for DIYers as well. The authors teach cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and this book is clearly the result of many hours in the classroom: DW&WP is the best single-volume pragmatic guide on making comics available and, like Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, it makes an equally engaging and illuminating read for peo
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May 15, 2010
Teen
rated it:
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures can be a guide or a course on how to draw, write, illustrate, create, etc. your own comic book. It is for any kind of comic lover: Superhero, manga, or personal artistic vision—what I call a graphic novel, but I know others don’t agree with that label. The introduction is done as a comic, but also as text, for an alternate way of looking at it. There is also a website that goes along with it where they encourage students to scan in and upload their work to s
More...
Jul 29, 2008
Maré
rated it:
Almost 5 stars.
Definitely worth my time and money. Through some great illustrations, I finally learned how to use my Ames lettering guide, properly save my work, and how to use a Proportional Scale. The authors also stress a lot of ways to take care of your tools and materials, which to some might seem obvious to some, but it was a big help to me.
The book is like a little portable classroom with homework and extra credit at the end of every chapter. Or subchapter. There a More...
Definitely worth my time and money. Through some great illustrations, I finally learned how to use my Ames lettering guide, properly save my work, and how to use a Proportional Scale. The authors also stress a lot of ways to take care of your tools and materials, which to some might seem obvious to some, but it was a big help to me.
The book is like a little portable classroom with homework and extra credit at the end of every chapter. Or subchapter. There a More...
Feb 08, 2011
Anne
rated it:
Wow. This book is so definitive that it's easy to get bogged down. Great resource, but if I relied on just this, I"d lose my mind and stop drawing comics altogether. More of a reference book than a how-to, at least for me.
I guess I do things the easy way -- pack of markers, regular office paper folded up, and a scanner! But it's nice to know all the "real" ways out there, too, and the examples and other tips are helpful.
I guess I do things the easy way -- pack of markers, regular office paper folded up, and a scanner! But it's nice to know all the "real" ways out there, too, and the examples and other tips are helpful.
Aug 08, 2009
Gina
rated it:
An extensive instruction book on the art of making comics. This would be a great textbook for a class, but perfect for the independent learner. Each lesson includes a homework assignment, a bibliography, and practice activities. This is an excellent tool for comic artists.
Mar 08, 2011
Amy Beth
rated it:
Amazing book about how to learn how to draw comics. I used it as a reference for teaching. It doesn't just give examples and step-by-step, it goes through all the principles so you have a real underpinning of what it's about. The exercises in it are also great.
May 23, 2011
GRPLTeens
rated it:
Written as a graphic novel textbook. I will give it the designation of graphic novel bible. They also have a website that supports the book. It's written for classes, groups, and those working alone. Very supportive and you will learn tons!
Jan 04, 2010
Cootie
rated it:
This book can be approached as a full-semester course or as a reference filled with sound advice based on experience. I've been making various types of comics for several years, and I've adopted a few new things just from thumbing through this text. Great companion website, too. I highly recommend it if you are interested in making or teaching comics.
Mar 08, 2011
3/8/11
I'm actually skipping around quite a bit to get a feel for their tutorials and the section on technique and inking is fantastic, the best I've read so far (it feels sacrilegious to say I enjoy it better than Scott McCloud's books, but so far I do).
I'm actually skipping around quite a bit to get a feel for their tutorials and the section on technique and inking is fantastic, the best I've read so far (it feels sacrilegious to say I enjoy it better than Scott McCloud's books, but so far I do).
Jan 10, 2009
Brandon
rated it:
Excellent overview of making comics. Goes into a lot of the details and options on the various options at each step of the process. Would highly recommend it.
Oct 23, 2008
Jordan
rated it:
This would be a wonderful tool if I were a beginning artist and a perfect textbook for the class I always wanted to take. But I am just a lowly writer, and this had little for me. It talked about storytelling from an artistic perspective, as in moving from panel to panel, but made no mention of writing as anything separate from the art and no mention of collaboration between writers and artists.
I didn't exactly read it cover to cover (don't really need to know how to care for brush More...
I didn't exactly read it cover to cover (don't really need to know how to care for brush More...
Feb 15, 2009
Speedtribes
rated it:
This is a must read for comic creators along side Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. As far as I can tell, it's pretty much a massive reference book chock full of useful technical tips, techniques, tool use/missuse, and general comics/manga theory with examples from a host of recent manga and comics creators from all over the industry.
Very useful.
Very useful.
Dec 03, 2011
Debbie
rated it:
Written as a comic textbook. I will give it the designation of graphic novel bible. They also have a website that supports the book. It's written for classes, groups, and those working alone. Very supportive and you will learn tons! Jessica and I would argue over the term graphic novel. I like it; she likes the term "comics."
Sep 11, 2011
Corilla
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Instuctive and informative filled with exercises, assignments, and ideas to really get one into the habit of designing a comic strip. Written in a 15 section lesson plan just like an intro class to graphic novels would be set up like.
Nov 08, 2008
Catherine
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I'm not really interested in making my own comics, but if I was this would be my bible. I was able to take a lot of useful information away from this, though, about brushes and reproducing your work.
Jul 01, 2008
Jessica
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gave a teen book talk on this one for an interview - pretty sweet - acknowledges that people like to work alone, and that people like to work in groups. excellent illustrations, pragmatic information.
Feb 11, 2012
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