Comic Book Layout & Pencilling with Alvin Lee.

This is a very helpful tool for aspiring comic artists, as Lee shows the very essence of what it takes to be a pro comic artist. First off the DVD could be on mute and just watching his process would be helpful enough as he gets very in depth with settings, layouts, background characters, perspective and a ton of other visual aids. However, as he describes his methods and process the things he draws not only have more meaning but he puts a sense of urgency and a feeling of necessity in every person building and background he draws. This is an invaluable tool to have as an aspiring comic book artist because he not only shows and does the aforementioned things but he has included the working script that is being used in the video on the extras section of the DVD. After watching him complete his layout and page then you have a chance to read the script and create a page with the things you see in the story and make the panels how you see fit. It is something that is well worth the price and something that as an artist, you'll be sure to use over and over again. Definitely well worth the money as you will gain skills I GUARANTEE you didn't have before you started. So don't wait! Get watching and get drawing!

This is a great video for breaking down the start to finish process of penciling a page. I recommend viewing the lecture notes in the main menu before watching the dvd. They contain the script for the two pages and an overview of what Alvin's process is like. It also contains a little information on materials such as how big he draws thumbnails and layouts, and types of lead he uses. The dvd begins with Alvin drawing sveral thumbnails and then moves on to layouts. He explains camera angles and why he chose the ones he did. He also touches on camera axis rules. He then spends only a few seconds discussing and demonstrating the use of lightboxing. I feel this is the only drawback for he doesn't really show the process that much or really describe it. This is a very minor drawback. The only other drawback is that he is a little monotone. After the lightboxing he begins the final drawings and shows how he details them.Overal this is an excellent dvd and a must for anyone interested in drawing comics. Keep in mind this is not a "how to draw figures" dvd but a page layout dvd. Look elsewhere for figure drawing and landscaping or background drawing.