I used to freelance for Marvel in the mid to late 90s, finally being one of the last let go when after they announced their bankruptcy. I can honestly say, I loved it and the people I worked with. I can remember most of the Fed-Ex account number I used to mail my boards to them. This was back before most people even had computers in their homes, then AOHell hit it big and most of us were all over that place.
I remember hitting a brick wall with my submissions, and being depressed. I kept drawing, and had dozens of figure study sketch books all over my house. That is the most important thing, never stop drawing the pictures in your head. Put them down on paper and then refine them. I finally was given the opportunity to connect with Stan Lee, my hero, and he told me to keep it up and to use a male name when I submitted. I did that I was accepted. I worked for years doing a few pages here and there and TONS of anthologies. Even though they found out I was a woman, I was never published under my name and I never really cared. I just loved drawing those figures. I had a strong background in art and a degree in biology, so I know my way around anatomy. That helped a lot. When you know what the muscles look like and what they’re supposed to do and how they articulate, you can put things together. I also have mad appreciation for the superhero form. They need to look powerful and majestic. If you can’t pull that off, stop now and work at it.
I drew until I injured my hand in a bizarre filing accident and could no longer reliably hold a pencil and I was crushed. It made me a little bit bitter. However, I soon channeled my imagination into writing down descriptions of the pictures in my head and I have a nice living now writing books, again, not under my given name.
Draw as often as you can. I was doing it on breaks, lunch hours, I had kids so I’d wait until they went to be to draw. They loved the pictures and would hang them in their rooms. I drew as much as I write now. You have to practice your craft, know your line weights and learn the terms the pros use like breakdowns, etc.,. Make yourself smarter, work harder because it’s a lot of work. I never turned in an assignment late, even during hurricanes and tropical storms. I was reliable.
Also, and this is huge, practice different styles. In the mid-90s when I had the most work I could handle, it was because I could imitate anyone style and you’d never see the difference between what a slow artist had done and what I had done. It was why they kept me as long as they did. Know your pencils and what they can do. Use referents if you have to. Oh, most important, light and shading are incredibly important. If you don’t know how to use them properly your work will always look stilted and unnatural if not entirely out of proportion.
Just work at it and it will all become second nature when you have a pencil in your hand. I lost most of my sketchbooks during a movie but I had a file of some of my old splash page practices and I will sit and look through them today, see all of the mistakes I made and know that I did later as I improved. You can do this if you have the talent and you practice at it. Nothing comes for free.
.
