tl;dr: go and make comics.
The point is, making comics isn't only about drawing. I'm not the best one to talk about this but let's try to list some things:
For drawing itself, there are some fundamentals:
- Perspective
- Solids
- Light & Shadow
- Poses
- Anatomy
Andrew Loomis says that, in order to draw a human figure correctly, you need to know anatomy (and draw poses well). To draw good anatomy, you need to master light & shadow, and for this you need to understand solids well. In the end, to draw solids, you need to know perspective, for no solid is drawn out of perspective. Loomis' books are excelent to learn the fundamentals, so here goes a list for you:
-
Successful Drawing (where you'll learn about all the fundamentals listed above)
-
Figure Drawing for All it's Worth (for drawing the human figure)
-
Drawing the Heads and Hands (yep, he has a book only for heads and hands, and believe me, it's great)
And we don't stop here. For comics, there's the application of those fundamentals along with other fundamentals:
- Composition
- Diagramation
- Storytelling
- and probably more
I think it's safe to consider Composition one of the fundamentals of drawing, for drawing good images requires not only those fundamentals listed in the beginning, but also a good notion of how to present the subject well. This is also very important in comics because it helps tell the story, directing the reader's eye to what s/he must see. A highly recommended book about this, applied to comics (if I'm not mistaken) is:
- Marcos Mateu-Mestre's Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers
Diagramation is also necessary, since the size, form and place of the panels interfere on how the readers perceive the story that's being told. Usually big panels show things that are more important, while small panels, althought important, are meant to be quickly readed. Not only this, but panels of the same size, side by side (and usually being 3 or more) end up having a staccato effect and being readed in a regular rythm. There's more, as well, more that I don't know, for sure, and that's why Scott McCould's books are very recommended, as Anna Landin wrote. He has 3 books and all are recommended:
- Understanding Comics
- Reinventing Comics
- Making Comics
In the end (of that list, at least), there's Storytelling. Now everyone knows how to tell a story. I don't. And that's why study is necessary. I the beginning I thought that books on this matter we like that write your first best seller in a month kind of think and I always despised this (still do), but I learned that are some excellent books on the field that really teach the fundamentals of storytelling, not a magic formula for success. Still, writing novels and movie scripts are different than writing comics, but the core knowledge you'll get will work for all fields. In case you're interested, here's my suggestion list, based on what I read and on what many great authors recommend:
- Stephen King's On Writing
- Brian McDonald's Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories That Resonate
- Robert McKee's Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
From this list I've read the first 2 and I'm currently reading the third one. I also recommend following this list in this order.
Also, keep in mind that different writers have different opinions. Stephen King doesn't like defining a plot, but McDonald and McKee say it's necessary (and imo, for screenwriting and comic writing, it is indeed necessary). McKee say's it's necessary to define a genre, while McDonald says that no matter the genre, drama (the effect, not the genre itself) is more important. So make your own judgement and go on.
So, see...
... waiting until one gets better is something not very recommended, because only by drawing, and by drawing comics, you'll practice all those things I could list above. Without making comics you won't practice storytelling, diagramation, composition... And without drawing complete scenes, finalized images, you won't practice the basic fundamentals, that's why people's recommendation for drawing comics now is very important.
I had this same idea when I was decided to write my first comic, Badger Badger. I wanted it to be the best thing out there, the masterpiece of my life. People would want to interview me and ask my how I was capable of creating such genious work. I'd receive emails and letters of people saying how much that comic changed their lives and that'd be very satisfying. But... when I started drawing, I realized how difficult it was to do some things. To compose good pages, to draw anatomy well... I saw how much effort correct perspective would take to be drawn and how difficult it was to gather subscribers. Also, I could feel the dificulty of conciliating that with college (and now that I have an internship, then I really have no conditions of working on the second chapter).
Some time after finishing the first chapter, I asked a friend (that works on the comics industry in another country) to provide me a ctitique of Badger Badger, and only then I could see the mistakes I made and what could get better. Also wanting to write novels, I sat down to study storytelling (still studying it) and in the meantime, I rewrote the second chapter. Now I feel it's 500% better than the original, thanks to that critique, thanks to the study, thanks to the simple fact that I made a first chapter.
After reading cases in this forum so much, I'm decided not to rewrite my first chapter, or I'll pass the rest of my life doing it. Instead, I wrote a better second chapter, and in the future I'll write an even better third, fourth, fifith chapters and how many are necessary to finish this story. I also have other projects in mind, one being a novel and the other being another comic. I'll then keep writing and drawing Badger Badger so I can make the mistakes necessary for learning, and when i sit to draw the other comic I have in mind, I'll be able to make something that's at least acceptable by the market (I hope so).
Why am I telling you this
This is the kind of thing we only learn when we try, and I'm not telling you this to discourage you, but for you to understand that, when you feel something is difficult, you'll be able to remember that it's difficult for everyone. It's not only you, we all suffer with one thing or another, and that's OK; that's normal.
If your eyes haven't abandoned your body yet after reading this wall of text, then check this list of references for you to study.
References
Illustration
-
Proko (very good for anatomy and figure drawing)
- Sycra
-
Ctrl+Paint.com (the best free video tutorials out there on the fundamentals and digital painting)
For studying poses and figure drawing (after watching some of Poko's videos)
- QuickPoses.com
But before this (and at least along with Proko's videos, if you want to), read Andrew Loomis' books (the first two I listed, at least).
For now, this is the necessary for you. As you grow as an artist and as you make networking, you'll have recommendations for more advanced materials.
Be resilient on your journey and keep going on =)