the Drawing Words & Writing Pictures project
The Drawing Words & Writing Pictures project is comprised of two textbooks and a website, all by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. In a bit of either brilliance or perversity, we’ve named the project overall Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, the first of two textbooks Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (aka DWWP), and the website ALSO Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (aka dw-wp.com). The second textbook is, thankfully, called Mastering Comics (but it’s also Drawing Words & Writing Pictures continued)…
Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (the textbook)
The textbook Drawing Words & Writing Pictures lays out systematic course teaching the alchemical art of combining words and pictures to make comics. In it, authors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden have laid out a complete, structured syllabus that guides students from creating narrative within a single drawing to orchestrating all the skills involved in creating a multi-page, complex story.
“A goldmine of essential information for every aspiring comics artist. Highly recommended.”
-Scott McCloud
Find out more by going to the Drawing Words & Writing Pictures webpage.
Mastering Comics
Mastering Comics, the companion book to Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, came out in May 2012. Like the first volume, it weaves together a number of inter-related streams. These include:
- creating and developing stories
- coloring, both by hand and using the computer
- expanding your inking palette–incuding digital inking
- perspective basics: both linear perspective and other systems
- reviewing topics and techniques from volume one and taking them deeper
- making and publishing webcomics
- getting your work published, from agents to promotions
You can find out more by going to the Mastering Comics page on dw-wp.com.
The DWWP website is a treasure trove of information for cartoonists, students, educators, and avid readers of comics. Check out the DWWP homepage and blog, or go straight to links curated for you:
- educators (in an art school, high school, museum, library)
- students of comics (enrolled in school or learning on your own time)
- comics readers (long-time fans or curious new readers)
- practicing cartoonists (grizzled vets or wide-eyed webcartoonists)