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Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Work and Get It Published
 
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Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Work and Get It Published [Paperback]

Daniel Cooney (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 1, 2011 0764146297 978-0764146299 New
Graphic novels are big business nowadays, and creating a well-executed graphic novel can be a big step to a rewarding career. This brand-new book gives detailed instruction in all aspects of graphic novel composition--creating characters and plots, and transforming them into dynamic illustrations that tell an interesting story. The introduction describes uses of tools of the trade, from drawing pencils, inks, and paper to word processing and Adobe Photoshop software. Chapters that follow instruct in--

  • The language of comics and graphic novels
  • Establishing characters and story structure
  • Scripting the story
  • Illustrating the story, from sketches to finished art
  • Selling the finished product
    Instruction includes how-to techniques for creating layouts, panels, captions, dialogue, panel transitions, and angles of view. Exercises demonstrate the essential mechanics of drawing, from figures, backgrounds, and perspectives, to inking, coloring, and digital rendering. The text is supplemented with more than 400 how-to color illustrations.

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    Frequently Bought Together

    Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Work and Get It Published + Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers + How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling
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    • How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling $13.57

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    Editorial Reviews

    From the Inside Flap

    (back cover)
    YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A GREAT ARTIST TO

    CREATE YOUR OWN COMIC BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL. THIS COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL SHOWS YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO TURN THE BEGINNINGS OF A STORY IDEA INTO A FULLY ILLUSTRATED AND VISUALLY COMPELLING COMIC BOOK--AND GET IT PUBLISHED ON THE WEB OR IN PRINT.


  • Shares the secrets of creating characters and plotlines, and shows how to bring drama and suspense to your story.
  • Provides a complete understanding of grids and layouts, panels, captions, speech, lettering, panel transitions, and angles of view.
  • Instructs in the essential mechanics of drawing, from figures, backgrounds, and perspectives, to inking, coloring, and digital rendering.

    DANIEL COONEY is an accomplished comics writer, educator, and illustrator of several graphic novels. He teaches writing and drawing comics at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.



  • About the Author

    Daniel Cooney is the creator and artist of the assassin series Valentine -- currently in development as a feature film. He is the author and illustrator of Writing and Illustrating The Graphic Novel for Barron's Educational books, and currently finishing up a new instructional book, Figure Drawing for the Comic Artist, due out this summer from Barron's books.

    Cooney is adapting the screenplay, Bad Ass Girls created by Christopher Ameruoso and Tom Malloy into a graphic novel for Trick Candle Productions, which is now in pre-production as a feature film.

    This summer will see the launch of the first in a series of Valentine illustrated novels written by Noel Hynd (Ghosts, Conspiracy In Kiev) titled Valentine: Death or Glory. This fall sees the launch of The Atomic Yeti with artist Jeff Himes. Cooney is also writing and illustrating The Tommy Gun Dolls set to debut in 2013.

    In addition to his writing and illustrating projects, Cooney teaches comic writing and graphic novel courses for The Academy of Art University. Cooney has established himself as an illustrator for various book publishers, and licensed properties of comics, television and film. Daniel grew up in Vacaville, CA, went to college in New York City at the School of Visual Arts, where he got a BFA in Illustration and Cartooning, and getting the chance to intern for Marvel Comics his senior year.
    He resides on Martha's Vineyard, MA with his wife, Carolina, their son, Dashiell, and their cat Greenly Beans.

    Product Details

    • Paperback: 160 pages
    • Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; New edition (April 1, 2011)
    • Language: English
    • ISBN-10: 0764146297
    • ISBN-13: 978-0764146299
    • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
    • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
    • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
    • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    More About the Author

    Daniel Cooney is the creator and artist of the crime fiction Valentine series -- currently in development as a feature film. He is the author and illustrator of Writing and Illustrating The Graphic Novel and The Complete Guide to Figure Drawing for Comics and Graphic Novels.

    Cooney is adapting the screenplay, Bad Ass Girls created by Christopher Ameruoso and Tom Malloy into a graphic novel for Trick Candle Productions, which is now in pre-production as a feature film.

    This summer will see the launch of the first in a series of Valentine illustrated novels written by author Noel Hynd (Ghosts, Conspiracy In Kiev) titled Valentine: Death or Glory. This fall sees the launch of The Atomic Yeti with artist Jeff Himes. Cooney is also writing and illustrating The Tommy Gun Dolls set to debut in 2013.

    In addition to his writing and illustrating projects, Cooney teaches comic writing and graphic novel courses for The Academy of Art University. Cooney has established himself as an illustrator for various book publishers, and licensed properties of comics, television and film. Daniel grew up in Vacaville, CA, went to college in New York City at the School of Visual Arts, where he got a BFA in Illustration and Cartooning, and interning for Marvel Comics.
    Daniel resides on Martha's Vineyard, MA with his wife, Carolina, their sons, Dashiell and Dexter, and their cat Greenly Beans.

    Customer Reviews

    Most Helpful Customer Reviews
    18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
    Format:Paperback
    As an artist I have a boundless collection of books that teach everything from basic anatomy to writing. Out of this collection there is really only about five or so that I continually reference on an everyday basis, and "Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel" by Dan Cooney is one of them.
    From the front to back cover, the book is beautifully illustrated, with drawings that surpass almost every other "how-to" book I've ever seen, lending a good amount of credibility to the author, who's been an active creator for years. The book also has many sections titled "what the experts say" where other leading industry professionals lend their guidance to the reader, along with samples of their work that pertain to the lesson, including Chad Hardin, Mark Simmons, Nate Piekos, Walden Wong, John Heebink, and many others. I found this to be refreshing, because all other books I own are made by one person, with only one brain-full of lessons to give. With a litany of artists and writers included in this book, it makes it a collection of life lessons, which would normally cost you the price of ten books, at the very least.
    Another aspect of the book that I found to be impressive is it's sheer range of knowledge. There are things in this book taught in a ten page section focusing on inking that aren't included in an entire 200 page inking book. It covers history, techniques, tools, diagrams, procedures, and practices. Everything you've ever wanted to learn about comics and graphic novels is covered in this book, from the tool to use, to character development (personality and appearance). There are sections teaching you perspective and anatomy, along with expressions and body language. I personally found the chapters involving panel layout and digital coloring especially helpful. There's even a whole section dedicated to just finding good referencing, and how to create your own. And, once you're done with your graphic novel, there's a chapter that instructs you how to break in to the industry.
    This is an attractive, and engrossing book, that covers all aspects of what it takes to create your own comic, taught with the writings of an accomplished teacher, and many special guest instructors. For anyone interested in creating their own graphic novel, whether they be amateurs or veterans, I strongly recommend "Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel" by Dan Cooney.
    Was this review helpful to you?
    11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
    By Min27
    Format:Paperback
    I recently purchased this book from my local store. So far it's been useful as an all-in-one guide to producing a graphic novel, including sections on the pre-production work (developing the story and characters). There's advice from comic professionals contained in the chapters their advice relates to (for example in the inking chapter there's a part where a professional talks about spot blacks).

    The subjects of figure drawing and perspective are very lightly touched upon. Although those sections are informative, I wouldn't rely on this as a how-to-draw book.

    The only problem I found with this book is it's entirely focused on traditional methods. There are sections that tell you how to scan your work in and color it digitally, as well as letter digitally, however those are the only times when digital methods are even mentioned. This book will not give you advice on drawing a comic using a digital tablet or even inking a comic using digital methods. If you're looking for a book that covers those topics, then you should pick up the DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics by Freddie Williams.

    Overall, I believe this is still a very useful book to have and I have learnt some new things from it.
    Comment | 
    Was this review helpful to you?
    6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
    Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
    I'll start out by saying that there is no way you'll make a graphic novel with this book. It's more of a "greatest hits of drawing" than an actual how to book, by this i mean the author will give you a concept such as "storytelling" and then attempt to explain how to do it in 5 pages or less. here's the book in a nutshell.

    part one: create a character, make sure they're good or evil and make a two paragraph psychological profile
    part two: write a script, make sure it has beginning, conflict and ending that you can make into an arc
    part three: how to draw, make backgrounds and draw in perspective in 20 pages LOL
    part four: how to layout a comic book
    part five: how to ink and color. This was total crap and takes up the bulk of the book with big pictures
    part six: how to get published. answer sell your creation and all rights to big corporation like DC and stay poor or try to self publish digitally on the internet and stay poor.

    this book wasn't all bad though, the author does give good advice like how many words to have in a panel, creating depth to your character and how to make a basic script, but for $25 i feel that both my time and money were wasted.
    if your looking for a really good book check out Framed Ink for drawing composition and Save the Cat for Storytelling/scripting.
    Comment | 
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