How to Become a Comic Book Artist

The comic book, graphic novel, manga, and anime industries are some of the fastest-growing areas in all of literature, and the demand for great artists continues to grow with each passing year.

A comic book or graphic novel artist produces work in comic form and may produce the whole strip, or contribute to only a part of the comic.

It’s not uncommon for a team to be involved in the creation of a comic.

One artist may create only the key figures in the comic, while another artist or artists create the backgrounds, and a writer or writers write the script.

It’s also worth noting that these roles can be interchangeable, and an artist that draws a character may be brought in to write a part or the whole script.

Include a good mix of regular people, cities, cars, and trees/plants/landscapes.

Patreon — If an art magazine subscription and a Kickstarter had a baby, they would name it Patreon.

Self-Publish Digitally — Consider Comixology Submit, Gumroad​, Indy Planet​ or Pulp-Free Publishing​ if you’re looking to publish your own comic but not deal with the hassle of maintaining your own shopping cart on your own website.

Sell Swag — On demand platforms such as Redbubble​, Teepublic​ & Threadless​ won’t make you a ton of money if you’re not designing and advertising every day, but they can definitely make you rent if you promote your merch well and upload new art monthly.

Learn the Basics of Comic Book Art.

That’s part of the reason why – realistically – it’s just not feasible for many artists to work without occasional fill-ins or to hit monthly deadlines, or at least for prolonged spans.

Declan Shalvey, the artist of Marvel’s “Moon Knight”, keeps a pretty tight schedule, but still works long days – a page typically takes him around 17 hours – and rarely gets days off.

Between the non-drawing activities and working on the pages themselves, artists see long, hard hours racing against the clock on deadlines.

Given the intensity and length of a comic artist’s day, you’d think that they’d be paid in gold bricks, left on the doorstep of their gated community mansions that are only in the finest of neighborhoods.

It was a moment that not only changed his life, but would also change DC Comics forever.

The comic book, graphic novel, manga, and anime industries are some of the fastest-growing areas in all of literature, and the demand for great artists continues to grow with each passing year.

Although most anyone can become a comic book artist, there are several essential skills you’ll need to make it in this industry.

Creativity, imagination, interpersonal skills, and manual dexterity are also skills every comic book artist should possess.

Artists must also be able to tell a story that takes readers (or viewers) on a journey through sequential panels of artwork.

You may be able to draw fabulous characters and write amazing copy, but if it looks and sounds the same as last year’s comics, your work won’t get a second glance.