Strokes

The materials necessary for making pen and ink comics

are few. A bottle of India ink, paper that will accept the
ink, a pen, pencil, and an eraser are all that are absolutely
necessary. A common bread-board will serve for a
drawing-board, but if one is not available, a smooth
topped table will suffice. Thumb tacks to hold the paper
on the board are convenient.
Comics are first laid out in lead pencil and then inked
in. When the ink dries, the pencil lines can be removed
with an eraser without injury to the ink lines.
Ability to handle a pen is acquired only by practice.
The exercises on the opposite page are to be practised
until you are able to accomplish the strokes with sureness
and confidence. At first practise the strokes slowly, being
careful that the lines do not run together. When you get
the feel of the pen, increase the speed of your stroke. The
arrows indicate the direction which the pen travels.
When you have mastered the various strokes, make
simple landscapes, like the one on the right of the page,
using different types of lines to get the various tones.
The Hands
In the boxes marked (i) and (2) on the opposite page,
you will notice that the first of each series of three drawings
is a rough circle. In starting to draw the hand, always
make this circle in pencil. It represents the centre of the
hand, either the palm or the back, on to which you attach
the thumb and fingers.
The second drawing in each box shows the thumb and
fingers drawn over the original circle. This is also done in
pencil. When the drawing is inked in, those parts of the
pencil drawing which are not wanted in the finished picture
are left out, as you will see has been done in the third pictures
in the boxes.
Study the hands on the plate and note how the fingers
and thumb are attached to suggest a certain pose. Bear
in mind that in drawing comics you merely suggest, and
do not go into detail, as is done in illustrating.
Using the chart as a guide, practise making hands until
you are able to draw them in any desired position. This
will require patience, but you can do it.
 Study the drawings on the opposite chart, and then
make up a page of shoes from your imagination. It is

necessary to be able to draw a variety of shoes, because

each comic figure demands a type of shoe that fits the
character. A tramp needs tattered footwear a dude re-
;

quires shoes with spats ; a farmer, boots ;and so on down

the line. In making buttoned shoes, be sure the buttons
are on the outside of the foot. This is true, also, of spats.
The Head
Start the simple comic head by making a rough circle

in pencil, as shown on the opposite chart. Next, divide the

circle, as Add the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
shown.
Study the four examples on the page and note how this
first

is done. Notice the relative position of each feature to the

others, and to the dotted lines. The balance of the first line
shows how the head looks in turning.
The second line shows the same head expressing different
emotions surprise, sorrow, fright, scheming, smiling, laugh-
ing, and anger. Study these drawings and you will see that
the expression is changed, mainly, by altering the mouth,
the eyes, and the eyebrows.
The bottom line shows the head tilted into various
positions.
No doubt you will find this lesson more difficult than
those prior to it, but stick to it and you will be surprised
at your improvement.
After you have studied the drawings on the chart, make a
whole page of pencil circles and add the features as you con-
ceive them, to express the various emotions. Then try turning
the heads, and next, try drawing them in tilted positions.
Qharatfer Heads
When you have become proficient at making heads from
simple you are ready to put character into your
circles,
heads. All types of heads cannot be suggested by a single
circle, so we resort to a combination of circles to give us
the framework for, what might be called, compound heads.
Note how the first four heads on the opposite page
were first roughly pencilled out, and then completed. The
completed heads on the chart were constructed originally
on combinations of circles. Use them as examples and
construct a page of heads from your own imagination.
Qomic figures
The comic figure roughed out as a combination
is first

of circles. On you will note that one

the opposite page
circle is drawn to represent the head another, the chest
;

and a third, the buttocks. Notice the relative positions of

these circles, and also, see how the arms, legs, and feet are
attached.
Practisemaking simple standing figures of your own.
But, as figures would appear stiff if they were all drawn
in erect positions, it is necessary to bend and foreshorten
your figures to get action into your drawing. Note how
this is done in the two figures at the bottom of the page.
The circles overlap one another, instead of being one above
the other, as in the erect figure.
Try drawing figures in various attitudes, using the chart
as your guide.
oActiofu
This is continuation of the lesson on comic
really a
figures. The drawings on the opposite page were first
roughed out, as detailed in the previous lesson, but the
circles were arranged to make the figures more animated.
Comics are much more interesting if they seem to be doing
something rather than remaining stationary.
Rough out a page of figures in action, making them
perform as ball players, golfers, divers, and runners. Use
the plate as a guide at first, then make up a page from your
own imagination. You must eventually originate your own
figures, so why not start early ?
Qomic Qharafters
Up to now, all the comic figures have been simple and
builton the same combination of circles. Your work
would look monotonous if every figure was alike, so we
now advance to character comics. Character is achieved
by varying the size of the circles.
Note on the opposite page the various combinations
of circles used to construct the different figures. The
policeman is built by using a couple of large circles for
the body. Next to him, the little fellow has a small chest
and large buttocks. The long-legged character, with the
bundles, is still another combination. Note the large head
and tiny body on the next character. Below these is a
chesty fellow. He was built by using a large upper circle
and a small lower one.
Study these characters, and then make several pages of
your own.
Qhildreru
Children are the comic artist's chief stock-in-trade. There

are two points to particularly note in the drawing of children.

One is, that it is better to use two circles to make the head ;

the upper circle always being the larger. The other point
is, that the head is large in relation to the size of the body.

At the upper left of the opposite page, these points are

brought out graphically.
Study the drawings on this chart and then make several
pages of your own conception of children. Use the know-
ledge that you have gained from the preceding lessons to
make your " action " poses. Draw them running, jumping,
playing marbles, and acting as children do. Children are
seldom still, and if you draw them just standing, they will
not look natural.
oAnimah
Comic animals are constructed with a circle under-
human figures are. Note on the opposite
structure just as
page how the cat, dog, and horse were first roughed out
and then finished. Notice that the cat is walking like a
human being. This doesn't happen in real life, but in
drawing comics you can take many liberties.
Try a few pages of these animals, using the same
characters as are drawn here, but put them in different
positions. Make the dog run instead of walk draw the
;

cat jumping; and make the horse walk as the dog is

walking on the chart.
Qonclmioru
On the opposite chart you will find a variety of comic
animals. Study them, for they are all made from com-
binations of circles. There is no end to what you can
do if you get firmly fixed in your mind the idea of building
comics from the basic circles.
The system of drawing comics, presented in this book,
is the one used by the famous motion picture
cartoonists

in creating their laughter-provoking characters for the screen.

They have made comic art pay big dividends ;
but only
by hard work and practice. Comic art will do the same for
you once you master it. This you can do only by diligent
practice.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE PUBLISHERS BY
MORRISON AND GIliB LTD., LONDON AND EDINBURGH