@stevelieber / stevelieber.tumblr.com
A friend just notified me that it is the annual Day of the Seafarer so here's a free comic about crossing the Pacific on an oceanographic research vessel to celebrate! (This voyage was also the source of the most popular thing I've ever put on Tumblr.)
Read the whole comic here.
Just had a chat in the studio that reminded me of this old post by my late colleague Jesse Hamm. Jesse was the finest writer I've ever read on the art of drawing for comics, with a real gift for articulating important intangibles. https://sirspamdalot.livejournal.com/89372.html
So the trade paperback collection of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, published October of 2020, inexplicably just landed in the top 5 of both of the monthly sales charts for graphic novels in comic shops.
I have no idea why.
I mean, I know that it's good, but lots of books are good. They just don't start doing numbers 30 months after their release.
How to publicize online:
•Tell them what it is; don't assume they already know.
•Tell them when it is, where it is, who is it for.
•Put the info in searchable text, not in an image.
•Provide a live, direct link to more info.
•Repeat, because not everyone saw it the 1st time
(Reposted from twitter, where I’d wanted to see if I could get all the basics into a single tweet.)
steve lieber now responsible for TWO marvelfam horror adjacent banger variant covers
like…. Yeah mary is psychological absurdist horror billy is religious/divine horror pack it up!!!!
Color on the Mary cover by the great Nathan Fairbairn
Seeing lots of discussion from students about sour experiences with an unhelpful art teacher, so here's a long, long post about giving critiques.
NB: I have no formal training as a teacher, but I was a student, and I've spent decades giving artists feedback on their work.
When someone brings me a portfolio, I like to establish my limitations & clarify my perspective. My work is firmly rooted in traditional US comics storytelling (i.e., not manga or art-comics.) I can give feedback on other approaches but they should know where I’m coming from.
“We've only got a little time for this, so I'm going to spend that time focusing on things to correct. That doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong, or that there’s nothing good here, but it’ll be more helpful if I identify some problems and show you how to fix them.”
Why? Because for many young artists their entire sense of self worth is wrapped up in being good at what they do. (It was for me!) In school they were probably the best artist in their peer group. But now if they're hoping to turn pro, they’re at the bottom.
Sometimes you know what’s up when you see page 1, but try to keep an open mind. Some build their portfolios by sticking new pages at the back & don’t weed out the old stuff up front, so the work gets better as you go. When it’s like that I ask: “Show me your best 8 pages.”
I ask questions: "What's the goal? Do you want to be hired to work on someone else's project, or to get the story you're showing me here published?"
If 1, I steer towards a portfolio that'll showcase hirable skills. If 2, I look for what tweaks will make that particular story more effective.
"Do you have teachers giving you regular feedback? What are they telling you?" Sometimes a student is getting bad advice. In cases like that, I'll do my best to be extra clear WHY I'm giving them advice that's 180 degrees from what they've been hearing.
“What artists are you looking at? Is there someone you admire or try to emulate?” This often helps me understand choices they're making, and I can sometimes incorporate things those artists do into my suggestions.
I ask myself questions about what I’m seeing. First: Is there a narrative? If not, I make it 100% clear I'm not speaking as any sort of expert. I'm good at critiquing storytelling, but don't have anywhere near as much to offer illustrators or designers.
Can I follow the story? Or am I confused about what's going on? Are the characters and settings drawn consistently? If not, is the artist at least making use of tags (distinctive clothing, hair etc.) to keep the characters recognizable?
Does the artist demonstrate a good command of basic academic drawing? If not, Do I think they need it? Do I focus on "how to draw" or on "what to do when you can't draw?" Is the artist putting the viewer’s eye where it needs to be to tell the story effectively?
(At this point I’m usually doing little doodles to go with my instructions. I scribble out ugly little 5 second diagrams that I hope will clarify what I’m talking about. Or they might make me seem demented. Hard to say!)
Is the artist making choices that are creating more work than necessary? Is there a particular weakness? I once spoke to an artist with a portfolio full of great work when he was drawing animals and monsters, but his humans were amateurish in comparison. I spent that critique talking about drawing people.
A crit can be a grab bag. In addition to big-picture advice, I'll point out tangencies, violations of the 180-degree rule, wonky anatomy, weird perspective, places where the artist neglected to do important research, odd choices in how they spotted black, whatever catches my eye.
I also try to make a point of defining the terms, so that jargon like “tangency,” “180-degree rule,” and “spotting black” don't go over their heads. Find simple, concrete ways to talk about these things, & clarify why it's a problem when they aren't done correctly. Draw diagrams!
Recognize that even a perfectly phrased explanation might not sink in. Some lessons can only be learned when a student is ready, and it might take a year or two of work before they can understand what you were saying. It's good to plant seeds.
Are there other artists who are particularly good at solving the problems the student is trying to solve? I steer them towards that artist's work. And I always recommend life drawing & the use of reference to give work variety and authority.
Despite what I said earlier about focusing on what's wrong, I try at the end to find something encouraging to say. And if I’ve really piled on the criticism, I emphasize that I only spent the time and energy to do so because I take their efforts seriously.
If I've done my job right, they'll leave my table with tools to make their work better. And maybe in a few years they'll be looking at some younger artist's work, surprised to discover just how much you can learn when you're asked to teach.
Huge congrats to my studiomate Jonathan Case. His hand-painted middle-grade graphic novel LITTLE MONARCHS is nominated for an Eisner award! https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards-current-info
Just arrived from Epicenter Comics: Two gorgeous volumes of Alvar Mayor by Carlos Trillo & Enrique Breccia. Hundreds of pages, most of which have never been available in English until now.
Showing movement in comics. Sometimes you just need to find the perfect single gesture. Sometimes you need to use motion lines. And sometimes, when your need is greatest, you reach deep into your bag of tricks and pull out the big gun.
These are all from the team behind Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. SPJO was written by Matt Fraction, drawn by me (@stevelieber) colored by @nathanfairbairn, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. If you want to read it, get it from your local comic shop, or I have a few copies available in my etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/877872677/back-in-stock-supermans-pal-jimmy-olsen
My colleague Stephen Pellnat will be debuting the third volume of his graphic novel series UPSTATE this coming weekend at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, table 2039.
UPSTATE is naturalistic, working class fiction for adults- a wildly underexplored genre- and my studiomates and I are all excited to get our hands on a copy.
I still can't believe I got to do this panel in a Marvel comic.
This was a nice surprise! DC Comics just published a big feature article on the Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen book that Matt Fraction and I did a couple of years ago. https://www.dc.com/blog/2023/04/21/jimmy-olsen-discovers-who-killed-jimmy-olsen-in-supermans-pal-jimmy-olsen-starring-jimmy-olsen
Since the @helioscopepdx youtube channel took off, my studiomates and I have had a ton of questions about how to form a studio like ours. I spoke with Leila del Duca to answer some of those questions. https://youtu.be/DUgavcF1gHM
[image description: A painterly golden oil portrait . A man with dark close-cropped hair, prominent ears, he sports almost impossibly-thick tri-focal glasses which cast fascinating refractions across his a fine-boned tight-lipped face. He wears a bespoke toile suit, white collar and bow-tie. Text reads, “257, Mister T • Small God of Biomechanics”]
• • • • •
All things, living or not, must follow certain physical rules to be considered a part of this physical universe, to be able to interact with the world around them in a meaningful and consistent way. To ignore those rules is to ignore physicality, and to ignore physicality is to be reduced—or elevated—to the level of the theoretical, or the divine.
Mister T is here to make sure no one makes that transition without intention. He has no issue with theory. All gods are, in a sense, beings of pure theory, of the place where physics can do no more good work and biology drops away. Mister T respects the theoretical, but where he thrives is in the biomechanical, in the understanding that biology is a science, after all, and the laws of physics can be applied to the lives of all things. There is kinetic energy in the musculature of a limb, and surface tension in a cell.
Mister T doesn’t control biomechanics. That is a role for a greater god than he. The ways and workings of the physical are outside his grasp. What he does is guide their study, and help people to comprehend themselves and the living world around them, the delicate interplay of gravity and gravidity, friction and flexion. He is an interdisciplinary god who guides a whole discipline, careful and precise, but joyous all the same, because while knowledge may not change anything, knowledge is power, and he wants his faithful to be powerful.
He wants them to believe, as he does, in a better world born from better understanding of all things. And in him, of course. He may be a creature of theory, but belief is the fuel that sustains him, and like all living things, he wants to endure.
There are so many mysteries as yet unsolved.
Still grateful to the teacher at art school who, critiquing my work, showed me what even a small area of specific, accurate vegetation can do for a panel.
This panel is from Matt Fraction's and my story in the The Old Guard: Tales Through Time anthology.
Bio: I’ve been published in The New Yorker, The Nib, and The Stranger. I refuse to work with anyone whose publication doesn’t start with “The.” Unless I ever get an offer to — then I will.
Tools of choice: You have been forewarned, my tools are a bit average, but maybe I can chalk that up as “standard” or “classic”. Yes, let’s go with that.
Okay, so— I live and die by my Palomino Blackwing pencils. I am a member of their cult and there is no coming out of it (help me).
I recently discovered their “matte” pencil and I may have found my pencil soulmate. I am very excited. Wedding invites TBD.
For the past several years I’ve become gleefully addicted to Shorthand notebooks for my sketchbooks.
I’m a sucker for simple, classic designs with lots of color options. They’re like Moleskine, but better in my very biased opinion.
I use digital tools to finish my art pieces. I use an iPad, Apple Pencil, and the Procreate App. It really has been a game-changer ever since I got this tablet combo. It has allowed me to create much more polished art.
The only downside to these tools is that the power of ‘undo’ can really trigger my perfectionism, which can be kind of exhausting.
That’s why I always brainstorm on paper— because it allows me to be messy and weird. It’s a much more enjoyable headspace to be in.
Process sketches for this humor piece:
Link to finished humor piece:
Tool I wish I could use better: I would love to watercolor more of my work. I love water coloring, but I haven’t really been giving myself the space to re-incorporate it back into my process. I kind of love that it’s so difficult, honestly. It forces you to let go of control, which can feel surprisingly meditative once you’ve given up the compulsion to be perfectionistic.
Tool I wish existed: A magic wand of creative focus. I’ve been told I’m highly distractible. I also know for a fact that I am. Honestly, maybe a more realistic tool would be a digital tool (which probably exists?) that blocks me from the internet when I’m working. I am constantly distracting myself with group chats, Slack, and social media.
Tricks: My greatest trick is going to a café to people-watch with nothing but a sketchbook and pencil. I really do think that focus is increasingly difficult for everyone and my greatest tool is allowing myself to sit in stillness and boredom. It’s shockingly difficult, but if you disconnect from the internet and other people, and just sit in a space and let your mind wander, it can be revelatory. If I sit in the stillness long enough, I can even feel like I’m time-traveling back to childhood. It brings a mental clarity that is very hard to find in adulthood. This headspace is a nesting ground for creativity in my experience.
Misc: I wish I had taken my art more seriously, sooner. I didn’t grow up with any examples of professional artists so I grew up thinking my ability to draw was kind of a cheap trick.
I wish I had been taken to art museums or comic conventions growing up. I mean, clearly, I’m fine and everyone feels “behind”, but I say this mostly to inspire anyone who has anyone in their lives who you think may benefit from such trips. Take the kids to the art shows! It can change their lives!
Website, etc.:
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If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!
Here are a few pages of lineart from the story I drew for DC Comics' Superman Red & Blue anthology. Brandon Easton wrote the story, and @rondanchan did remarkable work in the color.
