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RyanStegman

Ryan Stegman
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Hey folks,

I'll be at New York Comic-Con this week and I wanted to get the info out there on what I plan on doing/where to find me.

First up: I will have a table in Artist Alley, table R9. Here I will be signing, doing sketches, and selling prints. We will actually have a FREE print this year of Ursula from the Little Mermaid, so swing by to get your hands on that.

I will most likely NOT be there on Thursday. I am going to try to get in and get set up, but my flight doesn't land until 5 pm, so it's not looking good. So if you want to get on the sketch list, it is first come first serve starting Friday morning. 

Next up: I will have prints of the covers from Superior Spider-Man 2 and 3 (sold out of 1). And this year, we will be unveiling prints of the covers from issues 17-19. That's right, the covers featuring Spidey 2099! 

PRINTS are 1 for $20, 2 for $30, and 3 for $40.

SKETCHES are $200 for a full sketch, and $80 for a bust sketch. These are done on 9 x12 bristol, fully inked. Or you can bring me blank covers and the same pricing applies.

This year I am going to try something new as well…$40 5-minute sketches. I will be doing these at a specified time during each day of the show. There will be a sign on my table saying when these will take place. Again, it's first-come first-serve and we'll start a queue and I'll do as many as I can in a row. Should be fun.

SIGNING TIMES will be announced on a sign at my table. I will definitely be at the Marvel booth signing on Saturday from 12-1. At my table I will define a time and you can bring me your books. I will generally sign your books in between sketches as long as you don't have more than a couple. If you have a bunch I have to ask you to wait until the signing times though! 

During signing times I will do free Sharpie sketches. I will not be able to do these at any other times besides the signing times, but I wanted to have an option for those of you that can't afford the other options. These sketches I do direct with a Sharpie and they're just head shots. But people seem to like 'em. So if you want one, swing by the table, pick up the free Ursula print and check out the signing times! 

And that about covers it! Hope to see you there. As always, I'm there to talk to you guys, so please don't feel like you're bugging me. I can talk and draw at the same time! I love meeting the fans and hanging out. So chat me up! PLEASE! I'M DESPERATE FOR HUMAN INTERACTION!!!! 

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Hey folks,

So last week I wrote about irrational confidence and how it helps artistsand you all seemed to enjoy it. One of the things that really stood out to me was how many of you went out and bought "Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators" by Mike Mattesi. 

As a person that spends a lot of time trying to get better at drawing, I have read a billion and a half art instruction books. Not all of them are good, and some of them I feel even steer you in the wrong direction. So I'd like to try and distill the information that I've accumulated over the years for you here—which books actually worked for me. I'll provide links as well. What a swell guy, huh? 


**EDIT: THIS IS COPIED FROM MY TUMBLR BLOG SO THE LINKS DON'T WORK. TO USE THE LINKS, GO HERE: ryanstegman.tumblr.com/post/62…

1) I'll start with the best figure drawing book, bar none: "FIGURE DRAWING FOR ALL IT'S WORTH" by Andrew Loomis


This book teaches you how to draw figures with fluidity. It starts out with information on how to "construct" your figure. It gets into anatomy later. It covers it all. Must have.

2) "VILPPU DRAWING MANUAL" by Glenn Vilppu


This book is another must-have. Mr. Vilppu has spent decades teaching animators how to draw with fluidity, and he has tons of neat little explanations for how he thinks about the figure that really help.

While you're at vilppustudo.com, check out his DVDs too. The manual is great, but the DVDs actually show you how to apply the lessons. I really recommend the Drawing Manual Lecture DVDs. 

He has a ton of DVDs on anatomy, but I prefer the more abstract ones mentioned in the previous paragraph. I made the mistake of watching his anatomy DVDs before watching the Drawing Manual Lecture DVDs, and that's like trying to do calculus when all you know is simple addition/subtraction. 

3) "PERSPECTIVE FOR COMIC BOOK ARTISTS" by David Chelsea


This is a one-stop shop for learning and understanding perspective. This is a comic book that teaches you perspective. I spent about 2 weeks really practicing the ideas that he puts forth in this book and I feel I haven't really ever had to look back. He makes it uncomplicated, where a lot of books on perspective bludgeon you with so much info  that you can barely breathe.

4)"DRAWING THE HEAD AND HANDS" by Andrew Loomis


Andrew Loomis aka the G.O.A.T. teaches you how to draw the head and hands. If you don't want this then I don't know what to tell you.

5) "FRAMED INK: DRAWING AND COMPOSITION FOR STORYTELLERS" by Marcos Mateu-Mestre


A great book on, well, drawing and composition. Plus, the author has an uncanny ability to spot black and he has some interesting explanations for the choices he makes. Very, very worthwhile.

6) "CARTOON ANIMATION" by Preston Blair


I had this book as a kid and it really drove home the points of line-of-action and construction to me at a very early age. I actually didn't remember this book until about a year ago when I saw some of it online and realized how much of it I had absorbed and how much it stuck with me. Great, great stuff.

7) "THE ILLUSION OF LIFE" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston


A lot of this book teaches about the history of Disney animation which is interesting enough in its own right, but it also teaches you the principles of animation which can be used in any type of drawing. And it has all kinds of great examples…Just get this book. It's beautiful. Even non-artists should own it.

8) "FORCE: DYNAMIC LIFE DRAWING FOR ANIMATORS" by Mike Mattesi

I already mentioned this last week, obviously. But you guys need to read this. Want to really convey motion and energy and weight in your drawings? Want to make your art BREATHE? Then read this. 

9) "FAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE" by various artists, including Norman freaking Rockwell and many other greats


This one I've provided the best link I could find. It's hard to find this thing in print. I found it as PDFs online by scouring. I'd recommend you do the same because I think it's out of print. The lessons in it are invaluable. The chapters on figure construction and composition especially. Good luck finding it!

10) "BRIDGMAN'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAWING FROM LIFE" by George Bridgman


A great book on figure drawing with simple concepts as well as complex concepts. I mention this one cautiously…I feel that I jumped into it too early and didn't get it. It's only upon re-visiting that I feel that I "get" it. So maybe read the other books mentioned before jumping head-first into this one.


11) "UNDERSTANDING COMICS" by Scott McCloud


An awesome study of how comics work and what the visuals mean. It helps you to think about comics in a new way, a more academic way. You begin to understand that there is much more going on than what you see on the surface. It should help you to become a better storyteller.

12) "COMICS AND SEQUENTIAL ART" by Will Eisner


You don't want to be taught how to tell a story by one of the greatest visual storytellers of all-time do you? I mean, who would want that? But in the off-chance that you DO want that, get this book.

Alright folks, sorry about your wallets! Good luck!

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Folks,

I was doing some studying of construction this morning and it got me to thinking on some stuff that might be helpful to you crazy kids that wanna break into comics as artists.

When I was coming up, I had an irrational confidence. I didn't know it was irrational at the time, but I can now see it upon reflection. I just KNEW that I was gonna be able to do this one day. 

But when I go back and look at old drawings I did, I think, "What the hell was I thinking?" I mean, I was BAD. I definitely could draw, but I was a complete amateur in every way. A hobbyist. I was a guy that had a better jump shot than his friends and somehow I knew that meant I could play in the NBA.

This confidence could have been a hindrance, though, if it was the wrong type of confidence. My confidence wasn't that I was already good enough to draw professionally. My confidence was in that I would look at art and think, "I can figure out how to do that".

I've seen plenty of guys along the way that had the wrong type of irrational confidence. In their eyes, they are already good enough. They were born great and it is just on the world's shoulders to stand up and notice them. These guys hit a certain level of ability and just seemed to stall out. Why? Because their self-assuredness told them that they didn't need to study. They didn't need to read books on illustration or de-construct their favorite artist's work. They were already pleased enough with themselves.

But the irrational confidence that I had, that I would hope that you as an aspiring artist would have, is that you can teach yourself to be better. Because you can ALWAYS get better. 

I would read articles and interviews with my favorite artists and they would mention a certain book and I'd go get it. I specifically remember Jim Lee mentioning George Bridgman's anatomy books. I now own several volumes of his books that they later re-printed in one large volume…Which I also have. 

I was a huge fan of artists that could really portray action and energy in drawings, so I scoured the net to find a book called "Drawing Force" by Mike Mattesi that detailed how to make your figures come to life. I've read Loomis, Hogarth, etc. etc. etc.

I would study my favorite artists, often copying their work just to see how close I could get to what they were doing…Just to know what it felt like to draw great.

But the reason I read so many of these books and did these exercises is because in my mind I thought, "Well, I can't draw the way I want to yet, but I sure as hell can work as hard as anyone to figure it out." 

You need THAT type of confidence. 

Lack of confidence can also be a huge hindrance. "That is too difficult, I could never figure out how to do that so I'll just avoid it forever." You don't get to avoid it forever. Drawing comics means being able to draw anything all the time. And if you can't draw it, you have to have the confidence that working at it will make you capable. 

In conclusion: You probably suck at drawing. Don't worry, we all did at one point. But you CAN fix that by working your ass off. Never believe that you're already there. Even the greatest comic book artist in the world is still probably looking for something to improve upon. And never, ever, ever let yourself believe that you CAN'T do something. You can. You just haveta figure it out!

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C2E2 2013

1 min read
I've posted all of my information Re: C2E2 on my Tumblr. Here's a link! http/ryanstegman.tumblr.com/
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Hey guys,

I have a ton of art posted on my Facebook fan page. On here I generally just post finished pieces. But on the fan page you can see sketches and raw scans of pages and all kindsa good stuff. You can also see more on my Tumblr. Check 'em out.

Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/ArtOfRyanSteg…

Tumblr: ryanstegman.tumblr.com
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Featured

New York Comic-Con info by RyanStegman, journal

Art Instruction Books that I've Found Helpful by RyanStegman, journal

Irrational Confidence and how it Helps the Artist by RyanStegman, journal

C2E2 2013 by RyanStegman, journal

Facebook Fan Page by RyanStegman, journal