Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers

by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

The bell and round shapes are basic designs Marcos suggests when designing characters for a graphic novel. The small thumbnails are ways he suggests creating a composition.

In short: I recommend this book for anyone interested in storyboard art and any artist who likes to find inspiration in far out places.

Composition happens sometimes naturally in the same way some cooks can just throw ingredients together and create a fantastic meal...however, it's rare. Composition when worked just right, makes all visual art better.

In Framed Ink Marcos Mateu-Mestre shows the reader why.

Most art practitioners are aware of the golden mean or the golden ratio and Marcos utilizes this theory a lot. It's a sure thing in design, but it's also been overused to the point of predictability. The short hand for the golden mean, without all the complex equations is the rule of thirds.

The bit I found the most useful in Marcos' book is his visual demonstration of how a camera moves through an image. This concept could be applied to any visual idea. It's simply a matter of stepping into a composition in one's sketching and exploring from different angles. Marcos' sketches and diagrams make this idea much simpler than it seems.

Thumbnail sketching is a very useful tool. Marcos' way of creating thumbnail sketches is to break down an idea to the simplest shapes. His play with hard verses soft form is common practice in animation character development however, Marcos also demonstrates why this practice works for storytelling. The angles he comes up with by using this technique are beautiful, interesting and engaging.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in storyboard art and any artist who likes to find inspiration in far out places.