Tag Archives: lesson

How to Draw Smoke + Clouds + Explosions for Comics

October 18, 2019 RAM

In my latest Youtube video I explain how to draw some of the basic dynamics for smoke, clouds, and explosions. These effects are widely used for comics and other forms of storytelling.

Drawing Smoke Clouds and Explosions for Comics

Check out the video below to see these two effects created!

Hopefully this post + video will help you get a bit better at drawing these elements within your own work. Remember if you don’t get it right the first time there is nothing to worry about. I didn’t either! Let’s jump in and start practicing.

Drawing Smoke

Let’s first start by drawing some basic smoke coming off a smoke stack. This is used in countless scenes in comics and is pretty much my favorite one to draw.

You can have this effect swirling in the background and make any city scene immediately look 10 times cooler. ( In my opinion of course! 😉

Step 1 – Start by drawing the area of influence or the basic flow of the smoke. Don’t be afraid to swirl it around a bit. I like to think about ribbons and scrolls when drawing smoke.

Drawing Smoke - Step 1 — Drawing Smoke – Step 1

Step 2 – Erase back your construction lines or turn the opacity down on your layer. Then draw the smoke again with a bit more clarity. I like to go back and forth from thick to thin forms as the smoke rolls around. This way it looks more organic and dynamic. Use S and C curves for energy.

Drawing Smoke - Step 2 — Drawing Smoke – Step 2

Step 3 – Draw in some of the interior lines. These can swirl around any which way you want. I like to start envisioning how the smoke might look with color at this stage. It helps me to think more dimensionally about the work as I go. You can also add in some line weight at this stage as well.

Drawing Smoke - Step 3 — Drawing Smoke – Step 3

Next just ink and color it and voila! Comic book smoke! Just play with lots of variations and see what you can come up with. There is no right or wrong way with comic book smoke and art in general for that matter. If you’re having fun then your on the right track! 🙂

Watch my this Youtube video on the subject and get more tips and tricks on creating more effects.

I hope you enjoy the tutorials and more on the way soon!

Check out my Gumroad Store here for Video Course Content and Custom Brushes – http://www.gumroad.com/robertmarzullo

Let me know what other topics you would like to see covered on this blog and I will do my best to answer them with a new tutorial. I love doing break downs like this and your ideas help me to focus on what to do next.

Keep Drawing and Keep Having Fun!!

-ROB

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Drawing Amazing Backgrounds with Perspective – Step by Step

February 4, 2019 RAM

Welcome to my next online Course, “Drawing Amazing Backgrounds with Perspective – Step by Step.” This course will teach you how to use 1, 2, and 3 Point Perspective to create interesting and imaginative backgrounds. You will work with me as we draw an illustration for each example. This will allow you to learn not only how to use these powerful techniques but also how to create environments from imagination.

You will learn a variety of techniques to create shapes with dimension through these lessons. Such as cubes, pyramids, archways, and angles. By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of how to draw rooms, buildings, brick walls, windows, furniture, and all with Linear Perspective!

Things we will be Focusing on in this Course

Creative Design Thinking
Expressive Line Making
Depth + Scale within Our Scenes
Mapping Out Space in Perspective
Adding Values for Portfolio or Client Work
Correcting Flaws within the Work

This course is designed to teach you how to draw detailed backgrounds step by step. You will be drawing an alleyway with one-point perspective, an interior room with two point-perspective, and a view looking up at various buildings using three-point perspective. These will each be created with a different style to give you the most versatile experience possible. It is important that you not only learn how to draw with perspective but also how to create a variety of styles with these techniques. I want my students to be able to relate this information to comics, storyboards, and animation. If you learn to be versatile as an illustrator you have a much greater chance of success. This is what I have experienced in my career and I want to share that with you! Drawing background with Linear Perspective is an extremely important asset to have as an artist. So let’s get started right now and put Perspective Art in your toolbox!

Get Lifetime access to this Full 7 Hour Course here for $10 – https://gum.co/KzRWK

I am here if you have any questions and I value your feedback!

-Robert

Blog

Introduction to Digital Painting in Photoshop – Beginner’s Guide

September 30, 2018 RAM

Introduction to Digital Painting in Photoshop – Beginner’s Guide

Hello Digital Artists!

I have just released a new course, “Introduction to Digital Painting in Photoshop!” Very excited to be bringing you this course and I hope you learn a ton of great techniques to add to your skill set. Currently, this course sits at 33 Lectures and a Runtime of 3hrs 55 Minutes. ( You also get the Art Files + over 50 Custom Brushes to work with. )

In this course, you will learn all the basic tools and how I use them to create professional looking digital art in Photoshop. This course is designed to get you up and running with digital painting in Photoshop quickly and effectively. Without all the confusion and complex jargon. Photoshop is a massive program with tons of options and can quickly become a hindrance if it isn’t explained properly. I teach this course is an easy to understand way!

After covering all the basic tools and shortcut commands we jump into a scene creation. You will learn to illustrate this Space Scene from scratch. You will learn how to create this scene with a very simple approach. This way you can focus on being able to paint without learning all the complexities that Photoshop has to offer. This course is designed for the beginner to the intermediate digital artist in mind!

As with any of my courses, if you feel this content needs an additional lecture or two I am happy to help. Just message me and I will improve the course as soon as possible. Also, feel free to leave your honest review of this course so others will know what to expect!

Get this course here on Udemy – https://www.udemy.com/introduction-to-digital-painting-in-photoshop/?couponCode=RAMSTUDIOSCOMICSWEB1

( Lifetime access + 30 Day Money Back Guarantee )

Thank you for everything you do and more lessons are on the way very soon!

Robert A. Marzullo

Ram Studios Comics

Blog

Update on How to Draw Dynamic Superheroes – Start to Finish!

July 30, 2018 RAM

How to Draw Dynamic Superheroes – Start to Finish!

Hello Fellow Comic Artists!

I have been working on some new content to add to my existing Udemy course, How to Draw Dynamic Superheroes – Start to Finish!”

I have just included over 5 Hours of new content in this course. Putting it at over 9 Hours long with 28 NEW lessons. In this section, I show you how to draw, ink, and color a fully detailed comic book scene or cover piece. This helps to implement all of the previous lessons taught throughout the course. Which should help to commit the important parts to your memory!

Here is a breakdown of what the current curriculum looks like :

Section 1 – Basic Proportions of the Superhero Male

Section 2 – The Superhero Female

Section 3 – Drawing the Muscle Bound Brutes

Section 4 – Drawing Dynamic Superhero Poses

Section 5 – Drawing Characters with Perspective and Foreshortening

Section 6 – Creating a Comic Book Scene – Superhero Flying Towards Camera

In this course you will learn how to sketch poses, refine the sketch, measure and adjust proportions, create suit designs, render various materials, create shapes of shadows, draw bodies in perspective, use thumbnails to save time, create dynamic poses, draw a cityscape in perspective, ink the work, apply colors and add final touches!

By the end of this course, I have no doubt you will have a lot better understanding of what it takes to create comic book artwork like the pros! You also get all the art files to study along with.

If you have any questions about this content you are welcome to leave your questions in the Q+A Section. I will answer you back as soon as I can. I am also open to any feedback you have for me to improve the quality of this course for everyone! I will continue to add lessons as needed and you will get all additional updates for free.

Here is my Udemy Discount Code to get the Lowest Price on this course – https://www.udemy.com/how-to-draw-dynamic-comic-book-superheroes-start-to-finish/?couponCode=RAMSTUDIOSCOMICS

Here is the Promo Video for this course –