Activity Archive Practice Pages

[Raijer]

Hey all. I've been teachin' myself how to do comic book lettering, and found this place. I figured that cyxodus' Activity Archive was a good place to start, as there's lots of good stuff to practice on.

I've done a couple of pages, so I thought I'd post 'em here to see if I could get any feedback.

Thanks in advance for any help, tips, and/or constructive criticism.

Activity #7



Activity #43

[paul brian deberry]

Good stuff.

I'd really like to start another activity. I need some practice.

[Raijer]

Originally Posted by paul brian deberry

Good stuff.

I'd really like to start another activity. I need some practice.

Thanks Paul!

I'm gonna run through the exercises posted here, and hopefully build some chops. Be nice to see if I can find some indie-apprentice work with what I do here.

Another page:

[pandayboss]

Looking good!! Love it ALL!

[Neil Allen]

The second image looks pretty good, although I think I would go with a bit of a smaller font. What size are you using?

Also, putting that balloon that says, "He's more of a father to me than my own," above the text that comes before that part... that's not something I would do, because it can confuse readability, but I guess you can do that. But I wouldn't do something like that unless I absolutely had to. And in the first panel, I don't think I would have the balloons positioned so far away from the speakers. Is there any particular reason why you wanted to have the balloons way up in that ceiling area?

On the third one, I'm personally not a fan of the tails on some of the balloons.

[Raijer]

Originally Posted by pandayboss

Looking good!! Love it ALL!

Huge thanks, pb. Very much appreciated!
I've been a fan for awhile now, so I'm admittedly giddy you'd say that!

If you like my lettering, I'll offer you some free work. Seriously! 10 pages free.

A prestigious start to a portfolio!

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

The second image looks pretty good, although I think I would go with a bit of a smaller font. What size are you using?

It's definitely too big. I tried to eyeball the size, and failed. It's weird, but the wrong size didn't hit me until I posted it here. Prolly a dictionary example of a noobie mistake.

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

Also, putting that balloon that says, "He's more of a father to me than my own," above the text that comes before that part... that's not something I would do, because it can confuse readability, but I guess you can do that. But I wouldn't do something like that unless I absolutely had to.

That whole section of the script was really challenging, but made moreso due to the font size problem. I'm going to have another go at this page.

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

And in the first panel, I don't think I would have the balloons positioned so far away from the speakers. Is there any particular reason why you wanted to have the balloons way up in that ceiling area?

My rational was a design choice. All the other panels were pretty verbose, and as a result, I floated the dialog to the top of each panel to squeeze it all in. Visually, the first panel, since it was not as verbose as the others, looked off, sorta an odd-panel-out visually, with the dialog nestled inside. I chose to take it out to the edge in order to visually match the other panels... it just looked better to my eye, i.e. all the panels looked consistent.

I'm learning is the shorter answer!

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

On the third one, I'm personally not a fan of the tails on some of the balloons.

Fair enough. I really like a lot of the interesting lettering I'm seeing online. The balloons and tails are visually striking to an old guy like me so used to print comics. Admittedly, I'm not successfully reproducing the tail work that I admire (I'd love to get some Illustrator lessons from some of these artists!), but with practice/trial/error I know I can get there. Once I do, maybe then you'll change your tune?

That said, you've made a good point if I want to get work professionally. Maybe I should stick to more traditional balloons/tails if I want to break into the biz.

Thanks a metric sh*t-ton for the constructive criticism Neil. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated. Your post was a great learning moment for me!

P.S. Just checked out your site, and it's super cool! I look forward to reading it from the beginning! Thanks again!

[Neil Allen]

Thanks. I'm happy to help. And speaking of my post, it wasn't very clear. When I first loaded the page, your first image didn't load for me, so I thought your second image was your first. I went back into my post to edit it and I probably made it even worse. When I said:

And in the first panel, I don't think I would have the balloons positioned so far away from the speakers. Is there any particular reason why you wanted to have the balloons way up in that ceiling area?

I meant your third image. The one with those girls.

I know lettering can be deceptively challenging. It usually gets tough when the writer and artist don't take the letterer into account, which looks to have been the case in your second image. I'm guilty of this, too. I write, draw, and letter my own stuff, and I still run into some tight situations. Interestingly, I often change my own text in the lettering phase to better accommodate the lettering, and it often helps the writing in making things more concise. I think the font is too large on the second image, but if it was my project, and I was also the writer, I would have edited the dialogue, too.

It can be hard to tell sometimes when your font is too big. When I first began my comic project, my font was too large and it made the lettering look awkward. I think I started on a size 10 font because I wanted it to be easily readable, but it looked a bit weird. I eventually went to a 9, then an 8.5, then finally to size 8, and I think it looks a lot better now. I still have to go back to some of my pages and change the font size to 8. I didn't settle on that size until I was already about 40 pages in, so some of the pages still have the old size.

Thanks for checking out my site! I haven't been moving the story forward lately, because I've been going back to some of my previous pages and changing and re-doing things, like the lettering, but I'm always working on it! It's been a great learning process. The best way to learn, I think, is to jump in and do it. We'll make mistakes and embarrass ourselves along the way, but that's all part of what you need to put in to get better, I think.

[Raijer]

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

I meant your third image. The one with those girls.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, on that one, I put the dialog up top because that spot had the most free space, i.e. I wouldn't be covering up any artwork - the columns or the statues or any other important details. I try not cover any artwork at all if I can help it. I also think (to a much smaller degree) the added space between the dialog and the characters helps convey the large size of the room, giving it a sort of visual reverb.

That last part may be kinda bullshit though.

Originally Posted by Neil Allen

Thanks for checking out my site!

My pleasure! And I agree 100% on the jumping in. Thanks again!

[Neil Allen]

Originally Posted by Raijer

I also think (to a much smaller degree) the added space between the dialog and the characters helps convey the large size of the room, giving it a sort of visual reverb.

That last part may be kinda bullshit though.

Actually... I think that's a really interesting point, and looking at it again while considering that, I think it works pretty well. It does kind of help emphasize the size of the room.

[Raijer]

Thanks to everyone thus far with the commentary. Three comics in, and I've already learned a metric sh1+!! ton.

One more....

[pandayboss]

Originally Posted by Raijer

Huge thanks, pb. Very much appreciated!
I've been a fan for awhile now, so I'm admittedly giddy you'd say that!

If you like my lettering, I'll offer you some free work. Seriously! 10 pages free.

First, thanks and glad you like my work. Second, YESSS! Definitely I will get you to letter one of my short projects. It would be exciting to see your take on it. I'll keep in touch with you for sure.

The last page looks really good and love the reverse fonts, it gives a good mood to the page!