| How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling | 
 enlarge | Author: Shawn Martinbrough
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.32
You Save: $8.63 (43%)
New (34) Used (8) from $9.34
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 38840
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0823024067
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.51
EAN: 9780823024063
ASIN: 0823024067
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling is an instructional book based on the cinematic, high contrast noir style of acclaimed comic book and graphic novel illustrator, Shawn Martinbrough. Martinbrough’s work has been published by DC Comics, Vertigo and Marvel Comics, illustrating stories ranging from Batman to the X-Men. This is his first book, released through Watson-Guptill Publications and The Nielsen Company. In How to Draw Noir Comics, Martinbrough shows how the expert use of the color black is critical for drawing noir comics. He demonstrates how to set a mood, design characters and locations, stage action and enhance drama, and discusses important topics like page layout, panel design, and cover design. How to Draw Noir Comics includes The Truce, an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Martinbrough which incorporates the many lessons addressed throughout the book, and has an introduction by critically-acclaimed novelist Greg Rucka, author of the graphic novel Whiteout, currently in production as a major motion picture.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Great Stuff November 5, 2008
This is one of the better how to books I've bought. The art is very good, only thing is, is doesn't really get into a step by step on how to draw. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of graphic novels and would like to learn how the process is done.
Great Possiblitites September 2, 2008
If you have been drawing comics for a while, this is a great tutorial, to take your work to the next level. Light and shadow work in the noir style, how to create a storyboard and most important how understand what you are doing and to objectivise your results. Its not a book to teach drawing but its concept in a specific style. The Noir comic Novel.
Brilliant and engaging July 8, 2008
This book is a great instructional. The prose is clear and the author elegantly "illustrates" the points with perfectly chosen imagery. But it is also just a great book in a straightforward visual sense. By that I mean, it works as a coffee table book. And the story at the end is an added bonus for anyone who loves comics.
Valuable insight from a distinctive creative voice March 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a comics writer, not an artist, so I almost started this review by saying that I bought the book just to look at the pictures. And who could blame me? Shawn Martinbrough is one of the most original and distinctive stylists in modern mainstream comics. In a sea of imitators and variations on a house style, his artwork is instantly recognizable. His run on DETECTIVE COMICS with writer Greg Rucka (who writes the introduction to this book) is a landmark to me, in that it was one of the things that brought me back to reading comics after a long absence.
But Martinbrough's strengths lie far beyond his style - he has a true mastery of the *craft* of sequential storytelling, which is what makes this book such a valuable read, for aspiring artists and students of the medium in general. Reading about his process has given me much food for thought in how to evaluate and critique the work of other artists, as well as in how to better compose my scripts for artists to create the maximum impact in the collaboration. In short, HOW TO DRAW NOIR COMICS is a fine read for anyone interested in creating comics, whether one's work is done at the drawing board or at the keyboard.
Oh, and you get to look at the cool pictures, too.
 Lessons from a REAL ARTIST January 14, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is not just another how-to book written by another comic book guy.
Martinbrough is clearly an illustrator who knows his craft well, takes pride in it, and has used a vast library of tools, ideas, and creative resources to create a book that is a must-have for any artist aspiring to make their work more dramatic.
His insight into the creative process and the relationship between artist and writer makes this book a must-have for any comic book (or even screenplay) writer, to give them a sense of what to provide an artist with in a script.
This book reinforced for me the need for shadows in storytelling.
HOW TO DRAW NOIR COMICS is a cut above the rest of its peers, and is for SERIOUS ARTISTS, not pencilers looking to imitate Jim Lee.
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