Mecha

[SweetNymph]

I'm working on a few short comics right now, but in a few months, I'm going to be collabing with a writer on a longer storyline. However, this will require the ability to draw mecha (mainly android parts and whatnot). I would appreciate any suggestions of books I might look through for help and any other advice that could be given. ^^

[rivkah]

The Ultimate Visual Dictionary (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789489481/sr=8-1/qid=1143268085/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9526619-0365744?%5Fencoding=UTF8) has several wonderful sections on automobiles, trains, planes, and other mechanical objects. IMHO, it's a great way to get how things are put together, and what the individual parts look like. I love referencing older machines for a nice, retro look. :)

[KaYoKitten]

Here's the main one I can give you: HAVE DATA SHEETS! I can't stress that enough. You need a basic understanding of how each part of the mecha, whatever it is, works. At the very least. You need to know the parts, the wires, how each panel looks and everything like that. You never know when you'll need to do an open-it-up look at what's inside. You need to know what kind of maintenance the thing needs, and if that can be incorporated into the story. If it's gonna be blown apart or busted, you need to know what that's gonna look like--Like how many wires are gonna be dangling out of that humanoid mecha's arm if it gets scraped off on a cliff?

This goes for a lot of things if you're going to be dealing with it for a long period of the story, especially the duration. Ask your writer (assuming you're not the writer) what the story is going to entail.

For instance: I'm working heavily with a sailboat in the manga I'm entering into the 7th RSoM, and then with a twin engine Lockheed Electra worn by a little under 70 years of being unused. I have both of them worked down to a pat, because the sailboat is going to be busted completely apart and washed partially ashore. The Lockheed is going to be patched and reworked so that two people can sit in the cockpit, and then crash-land. I'm still doing research on the Lockheed, but I'll have them worked out soon enough.

Will you?

[KaYoKitten]

Sorry, make that three people in the Lockheed. (Don't wanna go thru that whole edit process just for it...XP)

[SweetNymph]

*writewrite*

Got it. Thanks. ^^

And no, I'm not the writer. I just get the ideas and do the drawing. I'll make sure I practice a lot with the technical stuff. I'll probably want to add some designs of what it looks like broken or blown away in the character design, too...

Thanks again.

[KaYoKitten]

^_^ You're welcome, cakes. A lot of beginning artists (I know I did up until about two years ago...XP So don't stress about the "beginning") believe that art is all...art. But if you don't have the technical aspects worked out, you're going to flop. Panels and word balloon placement are just as key as what your characters' personalities are like. I've heard a few artists on here talk about being irked by a single typo, and I myself find it irksome when there are several mistakes in artwork that the artist has done correctly elsewhere, to my knowledge. Bottom line? Work hard and love it! :P

[SweetNymph]

...cakes?

[KaYoKitten]

...cakes?

^^; I apologize for my quirk, I tend to call people cakes...it's about the same way that some people call others "sweetie" or "sugar", even if they don't know them. Just a personality quirk. ^^; Sorry for confusion.

[SweetNymph]

^^; I apologize for my quirk, I tend to call people cakes...it's about the same way that some people call others "sweetie" or "sugar", even if they don't know them. Just a personality quirk. ^^; Sorry for confusion.

Oh, I don't mind. I've just never been called somethign that wasn't similar to my screenname before. ^^