Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get that classic, vintage Captain America comic book look for a while now. I finally decided to sit down and really give it a shot. I’m no professional artist, but I figured, how hard could it be, right? Famous last words, I guess.
Getting Started (And Immediately Hitting a Wall)
First, I gathered my materials. I just grabbed some regular printer paper, a few pencils of different hardness (2H, HB, 2B – no idea what they really mean, but they sounded fancy), and my trusty eraser. I also pulled up a bunch of Captain America comic book covers on my computer for reference. I was feeling pretty good, pretty confident.
I started by lightly sketching the basic pose. I wanted Cap to be in that iconic, heroic stance, you know, shield up, ready to fight. This is where I realized that drawing people, even cartoon-y people, is REALLY hard. My first few attempts looked like…well, let’s just say they weren’t exactly superhero material. More like stick figures that had been through a rough time.
The Inking Nightmare
After, like, a million tries (okay, maybe ten), I finally got a sketch that I didn’t completely hate. Time for inking! I carefully start to drawing with black pens. That classic comic book style uses a lot of thick, bold lines, right? So I tried to do that. Except my lines were all wobbly and uneven. And sometimes the ink would blob up in weird places. It was a mess.
- Attempt 1: Way too shaky. Looked like Cap had been hitting the coffee a little too hard.
- Attempt 2: Tried to go slower. Still shaky, plus now there were random ink splotches.
- Attempt 3: Decided to try a different pen. Nope. Still awful.
Colors and…More Frustration
Okay, so the inking was a disaster. But I figured, maybe the colors would save it! I dug out some colored pencils – the kind I used to use in elementary school. I started to apply the color, that classic, bright red, white, and blue of Cap’s costume. The problem, it looks ameteur.
The colored pencils were all streaky and uneven. And I couldn’t get that nice, smooth, blended look that you see in real comic books. It just looked…childish. Which, I guess, is fitting, since I was basically using kid’s art supplies. But it wasn’t the look I was going for.
Giving Up (For Now)
So, yeah, after several hours of struggling, I’m throwing in the towel. My “Captain America comic book art” looks more like “Captain America drawn by a five-year-old.” It’s definitely not something I’d be proud to hang on my wall.
But, I’m not giving up completely. I learned a few things. I learned that drawing is hard. I learned that inking is even harder. And I learned that I need to either practice A LOT more or maybe invest in some better art supplies. Or maybe both. For now, I’m going to go watch some actual professionals draw Captain America on YouTube and try to figure out where I went so horribly wrong.