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Wally Wood's Original 22 Panels: JPG My 22 Panels: Other 22 Panels |
I became aware of Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work about six months ago and immediately printed a copy of the artwork to post on the wall of my office. I hoped it would inspire me and give me ideas while I was thinking of better ways to show my characters on the comic page.
Well it sat there, on my wall, but because I had only the means to print one page on 8 1/2" x 11" paper it was small and easily overlooked. I also knew that the body learns things by doing them. I resolved then and there to make my own version of Wally Wood's cheat sheet so that I might walk a mile in his shoes and, in so doing, have something more substantial to put on my wall, and learn something about making comics in the process.
While I was working on this (and posting the progress on my blog) a few people suggested that this would be a great exercise for anybody. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I felt strongly enough about the benefits of doing this exercise that I challenged all my fellow artist to give it a go-- and here we are!
What are the rules?
Rules? No rules! Well, aside from the suggestion that you take Wally Wood's original 22 panels and draw them yourself using whatever materials you see fit, using whatever characters you wish, and in whatever size you wish.
How did you do it?
I tried to maintain a loose approach to the task and so I drew all my panels in crayon while doodling with my daughters. I drew them on newsprint and when I was done, I cut them out and hung them on the wall. My original artwork is 6" x 9" for each panel.
Is there a time limit?
No rules! Remember? Take as little or as much time as you like. The point of the exercise is to stretch yourself artistically and to learn a little bit about visual storytelling. I completed mine in about 2 1/2 weeks doing 3 panels a day once every few days.
But I'm not a very good artist...
So? Who is? The whole point of this exercise is to get better!
What should I do when I finish?
Show it off! Tell your friends what you've done. If you like, you can send me a link and I'll post the link here on this site so people can see it. Send all submissions to me at:
What does "Ben Day" mean?
A funny as it may seem, when I did this challenge, I didn't know myself. I did, however, learn pretty quick that this is a reference to Benday dots. It's not crucial or even important to use benday dots in this exercise as the reference practically an anachronism to today's technology. Still, people need to know what this refers to.
