SECRETTEACHINGSOfACOMICBOOKMASTER

THEARTOFALFREDOALCALA

CopyrightCopyright©2015byDoverPublications,Inc.

Introductioncopyright©1994byElainKaneIntroductioncopyright©1994byRoyThomasConantheBarbarianartcopyright©1994byMarvel™EntertainmentGroup,Inc.Allrightsreserved.

BibliographicalNote

SecretTeachingsofaComicBookMaster:TheArtofAlfredoAlcala,firstpublishedbyDoverPublications,Inc.,in2015,isarepublicationoftheworkpublishedbytheInternationalHumorCouncil,Lompoc,California,in1994.

InternationalStandardBookNumbereISBN-13:978-0-486-80811-6

ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesbyRRDonnelley800415012015www.doverpublications.com

SpecialThanksto:ManuelAuadCherylNavratilSteveHerrington

NinaPaleyJoan&JamesStoffenChris&DavidMeek

ContentsIntroduction

Chapter1:TheArtofObservation

Chapter2:Voltar

Chapter3:Painting

Introduction

ByGilKane

AlfredoAlcalaisoneofthemostdisciplinedandperceptiveartistsinkingincomics.

During his best work, on the early black and white Savage Tales, whichfeaturedConan,AlfredoachievedlevelsoftonalitythatIhaveseenequaledonlybytheengraverswhoworkedoverGustaveDoré.

Whenwebothworked for theRubySpears animation company, I had thepleasure of seeingAlfredo render a presentation I haddrawn into a black andwhitetonepoem,inhisclassicstyle.

The years of distinguished work have earned Alfredo a special place incomicshistory.

“A”isforAlfredoAPersonalReminiscencebyRoyThomas

Whatcanyousayaboutamanwho’shadacomicbooknamedafterhimself,andthewholeschmeer?

Well,foronething,youcansaythathe’sprobablyoneofakind.Andthat,AlfredoAlcaladefinitelyis.MyownrecollectionsofAlfredoandhisart,ofcourse,don’tgobacktothe

halcyondayswhenALFREDOALCALACOMICSwaspublished inhis nativePhilippines.AswithmostAmericans,theybeginwhenheandahandfulofotheramazingFilipinocomicsartistsbegantoappearinthepagesofDC’s“mystery”comics,throughanagencyestablishedbyTonyandMaryDeZuniga.

In the late1960s,allofus in the fieldweresuddenlyknockedout to learnthat therewere somany talented artists, and indeed an entire comics industry,flourishing in that island nation. Tony himself was one of the premierillustrators, as were a few others, which included Nestor Redondo and ErnieChan.

And no onemade a bigger, ormore lasting impression onU.S. comic art

thanAlfredoAlcala.Notonlycouldhedrawexceptionallywell,andtellagoodstory(twothings

manycomicbookartistsinbothcountrieswerelessadequateatthanyoumightimagine-andstillare),butheembellishedhisartwithadetailedandthoughtfulinkingstylewhichnobodyevermistookforanyoneelse’s.

It’snotsimplythattherewerealotoflinesonthepaper.That’seasyenoughtodo, ifyou takeenough time(thoughAlfredowas fast, toboot). It’s that thelinesmade sense. They gave a texture and an integrity to a comics page thatmadeitAlfredo’sown.Oneoftheillustratorshewasmostoftencomparedwith,and not unfavorably, was Gustave Doré, whose visions of Don Quixote, theBible, and other classic subjects are immortal. Alfredo brought much ofthatsamestyleandelegancetotheDCcomics.

So naturally, we were happy to “swipe” him for Marvel when theopportunitycamealong.

Ihonestlycan’trememberwhetherAlfredodidanyworkforMarvelbefore“BlackColossus” in 1974’sSAVAGE SWORDOFCONAN #2; but it doesn’tmuch matter if he did. For it was his teaming with the penciling of JohnBuscemawhichsuddenlyputhimontheAmericancomicsmapinabigway.

Aseditor,I’dbeenlookingforastyleofartforthenewSAVAGESWORDblack-and-whitecomicwhichwouldbeaworthysuccessor to theartnouveau-influenced look of BarryWindsor-Smith (then Barry Smith) inCONAN THEBARBARIAN and SAVAGE SWORD’s Conan-starring predecessor, SAVAGETALES.

Ialreadyhadthepenciler-JohnBuscema.Nobodyincomicseverdrewthehuman form (ormuchof anything else)muchbetter.But since Johnpreferrednot to ink his ownwork, and often did only pencil layouts, I needed an inkerwho could not only draw as well in his own way as John could in his, buthopefullyonewhocouldgivethefinishedartworkthesameprofusionofdetailasBarry’slaterwork,thusgivinganillustrativerealitytothestories.

The moment I saw the splash page of “Black Colossus” with Alfredo’sinkingofJohn’slayouts,IknewIhadwhatIwanted.

Thereadersrespondedimmediatelyaswell,andateamwasbornthatlastedforquiteafewyears.“IronShadowsintheMoon”,“TheCitadelattheCenterofTime”,“ThePeopleoftheBlackCircle”,“TheSlitheringShadow”-almostanypageofanyoftheseConanstorieswouldbeworthprintingbyitselfasaposter.

Along theway, of course,Alfredo has done a considerable body ofwork,eitherasbothpencilerandinker,orasinkerofotherartists’pencils,whichhaslikewisedonehimproud.IntheRobertE.Howardveinalone,he’sdonefullarton beautiful tales of Conan and King Kull, as well as his own hero, Voltar.

Alfredo’slineworkmakesthesceneslooksorealthatyoualmostfeelyoucouldsteprightintothem.

Andifanythingcouldeversurpass,inmyeyes,Alfredo’sworkonHowardmaterial, it would be his exquisite renditions forMarvel of L. Frank Baum’sTHE LAND OF OZ andOZMA OF OZ. (The latter was never published forvariousreasons,butIhaveacopyofmostofits70-pluspages-aswellastheoriginal frontispiece for the former.) I knew, from the moment that MarvelelectedtoadaptsomeofBaum’ssequelstoTHEWIZARDOFOZ,thatAlfredowastheperfectillustratorforthem.Heperformedadifficulttask-capturingthestyleofthemajorOzillustrator,JohnR.Neill,andcombiningitwiththeMGM-influencedlikenessesoftheScarecrow,TinWoodsmanandCowardlyLionthatwewerelegallyrequiredtodo.TherearefewthingsincomicsthatI’mprouderof thanmyassociationwithMarvel’sOzbooks,even if theynever reachedaslargeanaudienceastheydeserved.

Incaseyouhaven’tnoticed,I’mafanofAlfredoAlcala.Ifyouhaveanytasteatall,soareyou.

[RoyThomaswroteandeditedCONANTHEBARBARIANandSAVAGESWORDOFCONANfromtheir1970sbeginningsuntil1981,andhasbeentherecipientoftheShazamandotherfanandprofessionalawardsovertheyears,heiscurrentlythewriterofMarvel’sCONANTHEADVENTURER,SAVAGESWORDOFCONAN,THOR,FANTASTICFOURUNLIMITED,andofToppsComics’CADILLACSANDDINOSAURS.]

OntheRoadwithaRealArtist

byPhilYeh

If you ever get the chance to hang out with a real artist, I guarantee theexperiencewillimproveyourvision.Arealartistissomeonewhoisconstantlyseeing the world in a unique way. A real artist is always observing. It’s likebeingwithamasterdetective,say,SherlockHolmes.Youareconstantlybeingmade aware of every little detail around you. And because you are “seeing”everylittledetail,youareforcingyourselftocommitthemtomemory.Notabadtoolifyourbusinessismakingpicturesandtellingstories.

AlfredoAlcala is a real artist. Iwill try in this introduction todefinewhatmakes someone a real artist. It definitely doesn’t have anything to do withmoney or status or media hype. I will also try to offer a few of the SecretTeachings that Alfredo has passed on to me in the years that we have beenfriends.IhavemarkedtheseSecretTeachingsinboldfacetoallowthereaderachancetocommittheseitemstomemory.

Realartists areavery rare thing in theworld today. Iknow thisbecause Ihavespentquiteabitoftimewithpeoplewhoclaimtobeartists.Theydresslike

artistsandtheytalkaboutartanduselotsofflowerylanguage.Butfewofthesepeopleare trulyartists.Mostof themaresimplycaughtupwith thefashionofpretending tobeanartist.Theydoartbecause it’s their job.Theydon’t reallyput their heart and soul into their work. In essence, they are craftsmen, notartists.The first thing that I learnedfromAlfredomanyyearsagowas thatarthas to come from inside aperson. It’snot about collegedegreesorwhatyourfriendsthink.Youwon’tbeanartistbywearingcoolclothesandhangingoutincoffeeshopsallnight.SecretTeachingNumberOne:Look insideyourself tofindtheartist.

Unfortunately,wehavea lot ofpeoplewhoarenot real artists dominatingtheartsintheUnitedStates.Thisprobablyexplainswhywehavesomanybadmovies, stupid television shows, trite books, boringmusic, and schlock comicbooksonthemarkettoday.We’renowlivinginatimewhenthepeoplewiththebiggestpublicrelationsagencyandthemostmoneybackingthemaredeclaredby themedia as “artists”while the few real artists in theworld are generallystrugglinginobscuritysomewhere.Whenonebigconglomerateownstherecordcompany,thepublishingcompany,theTVandfilmcompanies,thenewspapersandradiostations, it justmakesgoodbusinesssensefor themto“create” theirown “artists”. It alsomakes sense for them to keep the public ignorant aboutwhatartissothattheycan’trecognizethatthey’rebeingsoldabillofgoods.

Alfredoand Ihavehadmanyaspiriteddiscussionabout theway inwhichthemodernworldisturning.WehavealsobothtriedtokeepoursenseofhumorwhenconfronteddailywiththeutterstupidityofmodernlifeintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.

60MinutesrecentlydidastoryaboutaNewYorkGallerysellinggiantwhitecanvasestorichpeopleforhundredsofthousandsofdollars.ThegalleryownerwasonTVexplaining to the reporter that in fact thewhitecanvas representedminimalismatit’sbest.IsometimeswonderifanyoneintheUnitedStateshaseverreadHansChristianAnderson’sTheEmperor’sNewClothes.

That’stheproblemwithourmedia-hypedcountryinthe‘90s.It’sextremelyeasy to pull thewool over the public’s eyeswhen it comes to art in theU.S.becausemostpeoplehaveabsolutelynoideaofwhatARTisinthefirstplace.Thefirstprogramscutfromtheschoolsaretheartandmusicprograms.Artisn’timportantinthiscountry-wevaluemoneyoverallthings.

Wedon’trequireourstudentstotakeartclasses,nordoweencourageitforthemostpart.The resultofa society thatdoesn’tappreciateart isa society indecline.TakealookatourcrimestatisticsandourilliteracyrateintheU.S.andyoucanclearlyseewhathappenswhenasocietyvaluesthedestructiveprocessoverthecreativeprocess.Ihavealwaysbelievedthatifeveryoneinthissociety

playedamusicalinstrumentorpaintedordreworwrotepoetry,wewouldallbebetteroff.Peoplewouldfindbetterwaystoexpresstheirangerandfrustration.Ifoursocietyheldartistsinhigheresteem,everyonewouldbedoingartforfun-thewaythatmostAmericansplaysportsorwatchTVorshopatthemalls.

WhenItalkaboutthesethingswithAlfredo,hegivesmethewisdomofhisyears and experience.He remindsme that he always didwhat he believed inwhenitcametoart.Henevertriedtofollowthecrowd.Hewaslookingatoldmasters and illustrators when his contemporaries were looking at comic bookartists. Later, most of the good artists followed Alfredo’s example. He hasalwaysstressedthathedoesn’tcreateartforpublicity-hecreatesartbecauseheis an artist. Secret Teaching Number Two: Don’t do what’s popular at themoment.Createhonestart.

I grew up in the United States and Alfredo grew up in the Philippines.Although we have very different backgrounds and come from differentgenerations,we also sharemany of the same ideas about theworld. From theveryearliesttimewecouldbothremember,wewantedtodrawpictures.Perhapsthisiswhywehititofffromthestart.ImetAlfredoafewyearsbeforeImademyfirsttripbacktoChinain1979.Itwasaround1976or1977-I’msurethatAlfredocan remember the exactdate - aswell aswhatwehad fordinner andwhatcolorshirtIwaswearing.Ineverhadquitethememoryhedoes.Idoknowthatmeetingandgetting toknowAlfredowas like rediscoveringanold friendfromapreviouslife.Idon’tknowhowtoexplainwhysomepeoplejustseemtofeellikeoldfriendsrightawayandothersdonot.There’snologicinthatarea.

IwasgoingtoChinatomeetmygrandfatherandotherrelativesforthefirsttime.My dad had left his entire family in 1948 andmore than 30 years hadpasseduntilhewasabletogohomeagain.Igrewupwithoutbeingabletoreallyknowanythingaboutmyfather’sfamily.IwastoldthatIwouldprobablyneversee them or visit China in my lifetime. This situation caused me to readeverythingIcouldaboutgeographyandhistoryandworldpoliticsinordertotryandcorrectthisinjusticeinmylife.Italsocausedmetotryandwriteanddrawstories thatwould bring people together. I felt that I had amission to tellmystories.

Iwasn’t that aware ofAlfredo’sworkwhenwe firstmet, nor did I reallyknowanythingabouthim.He’s30yearsolder thanmeandhegrewup in thePhilippines.Perhapsonthesurface,itdidn’tlooklikewewouldbecomethebestoffriends.IdoknowthatIlikedAlfredotheminutehestartedtalking.Hewasoutspokenandhehada theoryabouteverything.Andheknewhishistoryandhismusicandhisart.IknewthatthefirsttimeImetAlfredothathetoofeltthesamewayaboutartasIdid.Itwasn’tamatterofchoice,hehadtodraw.

Alfredo captivated the other artists around himwhen he told his stories. Iknow that many times they were more often laughing at him than with him,sincemanyof theprofessionals inourcomicbookfield thinkhe’sabitcrazy.But ifbeingcrazymeansseeing theworldforwhat it isandnotfor themythsand lies thatpeople inpower shovedownour throats, then I agreewith them.Alfredoisabitcrazy.He’salsoarealartist.IcouldseeinAlfredo’slifemanyofthesameexperiencesthathadshapedme.FewpeoplehaveeverbelievedthatIwoulddoanythingofvalue.Ifyouthinkdifferentlyfromthecrowd,bepreparedfortheirscorn.

Artistsusuallyhave tobelieve in theirvision in spiteof thepeoplearoundthem.WhenAlfredodescribeshis loveofdrawingasachild,youcansee thatthemagicisstillthereallthesemanyyearslater.Helivesandbreathesart.Hedrawsandpaintsallthetime.Heworkslongerandharderthananyotherartistontheplanet.Iamnotexaggeratinghere,either.Heseldomsleepsinabedforeighthours-insteadhesleepsatthedrawingtableoronthefloorforquickcatnaps(literally)withhiscat-it’soneofhistheories.

When ImetAlfredo Iwas inmyearly20s. I had just openedmyownartgallery and Iwaswriting anddrawing a lot of books. Iwas also publishing amonthlynewspapercovering thearts. Iguess that I saw inAlfredoa realherocome to life. A bit of Don Quixote and a bit of Robin Hood. A completelyhonesthumanbeingwhosimplydidandsaidwhathebelieved.Hedressedashewantedwithoutanythoughttostyle.Hesmokedwhenandwherehewantedandhedidwhathewantedforaliving.Alfredoisapersonwhoisnicetoanyonenomattertheircolor,creed,oreconomicstatus.Hedoesn’tprejudgepeople.Ihavewitnessedhisgenerosity to total strangersand to friendsand tomyself inbothwisdomandmoney (when Iwasbroke,healwaysboughtdinner!).But ifyouprovetobeanidiot,oradishonestperson,hehasnouseforyouatall!Bestofall, he taughtme that you had to be true to yourself on this planet. This is alessonthattothisdayIamstillstrugglingtogetright.SecretTeachingNumberThree:Seekknowledgefromanolderpersonwhohasrealwisdom.

We became fast friends after Alfredo moved to Los Angeles from NewYork.Hehadoriginally arrived inNewYorkCity from thePhilippines in themiddle of winter. It was the first time he had ever seen snow. He had left atropicalcountryandarrivedinthemiddleofablizzard!OncehegottoL.A.,wesaweachotherallthetime.Hespentmanydaysandnightsatmygallery-studioinLongBeach and evenmore hours on the telephone. I remember the phonecompanycuttingoffhisphonebecausehisbillwas sohigh the firstmonthhemovedhere!HelovestotalkforhourstohisfamilyinthePhilippines,whichatfirstpanickedthephonecompanypeople-theydidn’tbelievethathecouldpay

thebills!IfyouknowAlfredo,youknowthathealwayspayshisbills.

IrememberthefirsttimeIsawhimpickupapencilandgotowork.Afterlayingoutthepageinpencil,hewouldpickuphisbrushandbegininking.Hedidn’tgetupfromthechair towatchTVoreatasnack.Hesatat thedrawingtableandhedidthework.Andthat’swhyhegetsmoreworkdonethan99%oftheartistsintheworld.SecretTeachingNumberFour:Sitdownandworkandyouwillfinishthejob.

I suppose what makes a good friendship last for many years is thatfundamentally, two people agree on the big issues (and probably a lot of thesmaller ones aswell).This is the casewithAlfredo and I.I havenever had to

explainwhyIamfrustratedaboutthestupidity,theviolence,theracism,andtheinjusticethatdominatesthecultureoftheU.S.Heunderstands.

AlfredoandI talkabout thingsall the time.Hehasbeen theoneperson inmylifewhohasalwaysunderstoodmypassionforlearningandforrealart.Hehasalsobeentheonepersonwhounderstandstherole thatracismplays in theartworld-justasitplaysaroleinallfacetsofAmericanlife.Butwebothagreethata realartistdoesn’tworkforsociety’sapproval.LetmeparaphraseSecretTeachingNumberOne-Realartistscreateforthemselves.Youhavetobetruetoyourself.

Today,Ilive150milesnorthofLosAngelesinthecountry,andAlfredoandIdon’t see eachother inperson asoftenbutwe still haveour sixhourphoneconversations. I stillhaven’t foundanyoneelseon theplanetwhounderstandsmebetterthanAlfredo.IwantedtoputthisbooktogetherbecauseIthinkalotofyoungartistsmightbenefitfromAlfredo’sspecialwisdom.Thisisn’tastorythatyou’ll read in an art history book, or see on a bookstore rack in the “How to

DrawExactlyLike…”section.Thisverydifferentbookhastakenalongtimetocometogether,alotlonger

thananyonethought.Alfredowantedtomakethisreallyspecial,sohepaintedabigbeautifulnewpainting just for thebook’sbackcover. I spenta lotof timegoingoverstacksofhisartwork,writerHeidiMacDonaldtranscribedthemanyhoursofherinterviewswithhim,andoureditorEdmondGauthierspentalotoftimeprocessingallthisinformationandthenourdesignerRCWilliamslaidthisbookoutinhisownuniquestyle.

Whenwebeganthisproject,Alfredowasgoingthroughaperiodofhislifewhenhewasn’tdoingalotofcomicbookwork.Themajorityofthenewbatchofeditorshaveshortmemoriesand little respect forageandwisdom(are theyanydifferentfromtherestofyouth-obsessedAmerica?).Iwantedthisbooktoserveasahistoryofoneoftheworld’srealcomicbookmasters(nomediahype,justthetruth).

This project began as Alfredo was approaching his 68th birthday but hewasn’tslowingdown.Infact,whenItookhimtodinnertocelebratehisbirthdaythispastAugust1993,hetoldmewhenwegottotherestaurantthathehadbeenhavingbirthdaycelebrationswithvariousfriendsatthatsamerestaurantforfourdays in a row! (Itwas a 24 hourChinese restaurant in LA’sChinatown - theperfectplaceforeitheroneofus.Chinesefoodatanyhour,adreamcometrue!)Maybethat’swhyweresuchgoodfriends!Ofcourse,afterhavingalateChinesemeal,Alfredowasn’tgoing tobedearly,hewasspending the restof thenightuntildawnhangingoutwithmanyofthehotFilipinoartists,actors,writers,andfilmmakersinLAinavarietyoftrendycoffeehouses.Mostofthesefolkswere30 to50yearsyounger thanAlfredo,but Iknow thathestillhasmoreenergythanallofthem.

SantaBarbara

I’vetraveledwiththemanandIspeakthetruthwhenIsaythathedoesn’tsleep!Backin1980,wetookatraintripfromLosAngelestoSeattlethatIwillrememberaslongaslive.ItwasajourneyworthyofaKerouacnovel.Itreallydoesseemlikeyesterday.

Wejumpedonthetrainat10:00a.m.inthemiddleofJanuary.WhenIsayjumped,Imeanjumped.ThetrainwasstartingtoleavethestationandAlfredoand I were running down the landing to catch it. And to make it more of achallenge, we were loaded down with luggage and a heavy metal card rack!Alfredo and I were on our way to appear at a Science Fiction Conventionarrangedbyourdearpal JeromePoynton,whowasouragentat the time (andnowasuccessfulwriterandfilmmakerinNewYorkCity).

Ishouldn’tsaythat“we”wereloadeddownwithluggage.Alfredohadhisartsuppliesandaportfolio.Hedidn’thaveanyluggage.Heneverhasanyluggage.Alfredo doesn’t believe in luggage. This is easily another Secret Teaching-NumberFive:Travellightandalwayscarryyourartsupplies.Butno,Ihadtheluggageandthatheavymetalcardrack!

We collapsed in our berth and Alfredo lit a cigarette. I noticed that thewindowsdidn’topenandIwonderedifI’dsurvivethetrip,sinceIdon’tsmoke.Theporter’snamewasSamandheremindedmethathehadmetmeacoupleofweeksearlierwhenI’dtakenthesametraintoSanFrancisco.ItoldSamthatI

hadreallyenjoyedthetripandthatIwantedtoexperiencealongerjourneywithmyfriendAlfredo.

After a few hours, we were north of Santa Barbara in the beautiful oakcoveredhillsthatmakeuptheareaofSanLuisObispo.Itwasareallygreatday.AlfredolitupanothercigaretteandtoldmeaboutridingtrainsinthePhilippinesduringWorldWarIIwhentheJapaneseoccupiedhiscountry.

TherollinghillsofSanLouisObispo

TheFilipinoshadtositontheroofsofthetrains,hetellsme.Iaskifanyoneeverfelloff.“Ofcourse,butthat’slife,”hereplies.Alfredoalwaystakesthingsastheycome,whichisagoodTaoistattitude.HetellsmeaboutgrowingupinthePhilippinesandbeingaspyduringthewarwhenhewasstillayoungman.Hehas toldmethesestoriesmanytimesbutIalwaysfindmyselfseeingsomenewdetailforthefirsttimewhenhedescribeswhathappenedtohimduringthewar.Helearnedtowrite inJapanesescript tocreatefakepassesforhimself.Iftheyhadcaughton theywouldhaveexecutedhim- sohis Japanesehad tobeperfect!HerodearoundonabicycleandmemorizedJapanesegunpositionsandlater mademaps for the underground who got the messages to the Americanbombers.When thebombsfell,Alfredowouldpointand tellhis friendswherethey would land. After all, he was the one who gave them the information!SecretTeachingNumberSix:Learntoobserveeverythingaroundyou-itmaysaveyourlifesomeday.Orwhoknows?Maybealsothelifeofyourcountry.

As the train continues through the California farm lands that make up somuch of this state, Alfredo looks out the window observing everything. He’smakessketchesformynewspaperarticleaboutourtrip.Wedecidetogototheobservation car after eating lunch, since you can see both sides from this carwith it’s glass domed roof. Alfredo and I have both brought along somewatercolor card stock to keep ourselves busy on the trip. Aswe look out thewindow at the beautiful trees and rolling hills, Alfredo starts to sketch somecards and also do more illustrations for the article. He’s drawing everything,fromthenaturallandscapestothefactories.

Theother passengers in theobservation car begin tonoticeus aswepaintanddraw.Soon,we’regettingoffersfromtheotherpassengersforourworkandmakingalittlebitofdinnermoneywhileweenjoyourtrip.Alfredoremindsmethathemademoneywithhisartwhenhewasstill inelementaryschool in theearly1930sbycreatingspecialnotebookcovers forhis fellowstudents. Itwasbetterthanbeingashoeshineboybecausehewastrulydoingwhathewanted.

Alfredo didn’t like school. Actually, he didn’t like a certain teacher inschool.He has never been one to follow rules nor spend his time listening topeoplehethinksarewrong.Manyofuswhohavebecomecartoonistsandartistshavehadbad experiences in school.Some teachersdon’t understand artists oranyonewhodoesn’tfollowthe“normal”crowd.Ifyoulookatthehistorybooks,mostoftheoutstandingpeoplewereusuallyconsideredpoorstudents.I’dliketothink that this has changed today as we getmore enlightened teachers (and Iknow that there are some today) but it wasn’t the case when Alfredo wasgrowingup.Ifyoudidn’tfollowtherules,yougotkickedout.Hehadonerun-intoomanywiththisteacherandwasthrownoutofschoolataveryyoungage.

Even though Alfredo never had a formal education, he is still one of thesmartestpeopleIhaveeverknown(andIhavemeta lotofso-callededucatedpeopleinmylife).Alfredolearnedtheoldfashionedway.HeREADeverythingthathecouldgethishandson.OneoftheadvantagesofbeingaFilipinoisthat

English is the official language of the country. This gives even the poorestFilipinothechancetoreadmagazinesorbooksinEnglishaswellasintheirowndialects.Alfredostillreadseverythinghecantoday.Andherememberswhathehas read. Secret Teaching Number Seven: If you really want to be smart,READonyourown.

Idon’twantyoungpeople reading this toget the idea thatdroppingoutofschool or getting kicked out of school is a good idea. It’s not.Alfredo’s ownchildrenhaveallfinishedschoolandhavestudiedveryhard.Teachingyourselfisalotharderandtakesalotmorediscipline.Iknowthatmanytimes,Alfredofeels like somepeoplewould respecthimmore ifhehad somesortof collegedegree.But Ialsoknowthat throughAlfredo’s readingand lifeexperience,hehas much more knowledge about art (and a lot of other subjects) than anyhundredcollegeprofessors.

ThisisprobablyoneofthereasonsthatAlfredoandIaresuchgoodfriends.Webothhadprettyrockyschoolexperiences(wedidn’tfitintothemold)butweboth love to read and talk about history and theworld.We also share a deeppassion formetaphysicsandphilosophy.AndAlfredo isaneargeniuswhen itcomes to the subject of classical music. I have watched him have wonderfulconversationswithgiftedmusiciansandmusicloversinourtravels(Ihavelittleideaastowhattheyaretalkingabout!).

Alfredo can also name the stunt people in the films that he watched as ayouth. He loved the comedies of Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy and all thefamousadventurefilmsoftheday.Afriendofourswasactuallyworkingonabook of oldHollywood stunt people and I recallAlfredo and himhaving this

animated conversation aboutwho didwhat stunt inwhat film in the ‘30s and‘40s!Watchingmovies helpedAlfredo learn to draw.Hepaid attention to thelittledetails-pitythepoordirectorwhohasn’teditedascenecorrectly-andtothisday,hecantellyouwheretherewasanerrorinanoldfilm.

Theseoldclassicfilmsaregreatplacestostudycostumes,pacingandotherfacets of good story telling so important to a comic book artist.But I have tostressthatyouhavetowatchGREATmoviestoreallylearnanything.ImyselfwasafilmstudentincollegeandIcanattesttoAlfredo’sbeliefthatmostmoviestodayarebasicallyworthless.Alfredostoppedgoingtomoviesbecausehecan’tsmokeinthetheater,sohestayshomeandresortstocableTV.

SecretTeachingNumberEight:Whenreadingorwatchingafilm,learntothinklikethedirectororauthor.Thiswillhelpyouinbreakingdownstoriesforcomicbooks.

Since Alfredo loves to talk about his favorite old movies, he is reallyenjoyingthetrainrideuptoSeattle.Wesellabunchofcardsintheobservationcar and then go back to our berth to get ready for dinner. I start to think thatmaybeIcouldspendtherestofmylifetravelingaroundtheworldintrainswithmypaints.Thesunisstartingtogodown,andhenowtalksabouthischildhoodagain.

Alfredoremindsmethatoneofhisfirstjobswasworkingatawrought-ironshop designing chandeliers, garden furniture, table lamps and even a churchpulpit!Afterwork,hewouldstudyandcopytheillustrationsofHaroldFoster’sPrince Valiant and Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon, often going practically

sleeplessinhisambitiontobecomea“komiks”artist.ABriefHistoryofFilipinoKomiksIshouldtalkabitaboutthekomiks(thisisthewaytheyspellthewordinthePhilippines)togiveyouabetterperspectiveofwhatAlfredoAlcalaaccomplishedinhislifetime.

Most Americans have little knowledge about the vast wealth of comicshistory that is in the island nation of the Philippines. This diverse country ofmanydialects-andevenmoreislands-tracesitsinterestincartooningbacktooneofitsnationalheroes,Dr.JoseRizal.FilipinohistorycreditsRizalin1886fordrawingthefirstcomicstripthatsawpublication.ItwascalledTheMonkeyand The Tortoise and definitely ranks as one the earliest cartoon strips in theworld.Let’sputthisintoperspectiveforAmericans:itwouldbelikesayingthatGeorgeWashingtonorThomasJeffersonwerecartoonists,suchisthehighplaceinFilipinohistorythatRizalholds.

Maybeifourownfoundingfathershadreallybeencartoonists,thiscountrymightholdthecartoonartforminhigheresteemtoday.IamforeverremindingmyfellowAmericansthatPaulReverewasknownasacartoonist(aswellasasilversmith) and that in fact, an engravinghedid of theBostonMassacrewasused by SamuelAdams and other patriots to incite early colonists against theBritish.Sothisengravingwasreallyoneoftheearliesteditorialcartoons!

Filipinoartistswerecreatingonepanelandeditorialtypecartoonssincetheturnof the century. In 1929,LiwaywayMagazine added a regular komik stripfeaturecalledKenkoydrawnbyAntonioS.Velasquez,generallyconsideredthefatherofFilipinoKomiks.DuringthetimeoftheJapaneseoccupation,littleofthelocalmediasurvived,althoughtheJapaneseallowedLiwaywayMagazinetocontinuepublicationwithKenkoyastheonlystriptolastthroughoutthewar.

After thecountrywas liberatedby theAmerican forces, theFilipinoswereexposedtomanyoftheGIs’Americancomicbooksatthattime.Comicbooksas we know them only came about in the 1930s. The post-war era created arenaissance in the art form in the Philippines with the formation of AcePublications and the birth ofPhilipino Komiks in 1947. Tony Velasquez waslateroneoftheoriginatorsofPhilipinoKomiks,aplacewheremanyoftoday’smost famous Filipino artists began their careers. In 1959, theCollege of FineArtsandArchitectureof theUniversityof thePhilippines invitedVelasquez tospeaktothestudentbodyaboutcartooningandthebirthoftheFilipinoKomiksIndustry.Itwouldbeadecadebeforethesamekindofrecognitionwouldbeginto be seen in the U.S. with the efforts of Shel Dorf’s early comic bookconventions (the San Diego Comic Book Convention will celebrate its 25th

anniversaryin1994).Alfredo had tried to draw as much as he could during the war years. He

illustratedtents,hedrewsoldiersandhepracticedhiscraftwiththehelpofanyillustrated book or magazine that he could find. At one time, Americanmagazines such as Colliers, The Saturday Evening Post and Liberty (amongothers)used someof theworld’sbest illustrators tograce theirpages.Prior toWorld War II, American newspapers ran beautifully drawn full page comicstripslikeLittleNemoinSlumberland,TarzanandPrinceValiant.Sadly,thereislittlespaceintoday’snewspapercomicstripsforanydrawingatall.

Alfredofoundinspirationintheworkofthegreatillustrators,suchasDeanCornwell,HowardPyle,N.C.Wyeth,andJ.C.Leyendecker.ButitwastheworkoftheBritishmuralistFrankBrangwynwhoinfluencedhimthemost.OnmyfirstvisittoGreatBritainin1984,AlfredomadeitclearthatIshouldseeoneofBrangwyn’smuralsonpublicdisplay(ittookusafewhourstofindthisplace,butwaswellworththehunt!).

In1949AlfredoworkedonanindependentcomicbookcalledBituin(Star).Finally,hisdreamofbeingaprofessionalillustratorhadcometrue!Withinafewmonths,hewashiredtoworkonthenewPilipinoKomiksforAcePublications,thusbeginningaprofessionalcareerthatwouldmakehisartworkknownaroundtheworld.Alfredoworkedonhisscriptsforthekomikswithoutanyassistance.He did all the penciling, lettering and inking himself. Unlike most Americanartistswhoworkwithanumberofassistants,Alfredolearnedhiscraftbydoingeverysinglepartofithimself.Thisoftenmeantthathewouldgofordayswithhardly any sleep in order tomeet a deadline.Another strange thing about thekomiksinthePhilippinesisthatmanytitlesappearonaweeklybasis,comparedto themonthly andbi-monthly schedules in theU.S. It’s therefore no surprisethatmostof theFilipinoartistsworking in theU.S. aremuch faster than theirAmerican counterparts. Komiks were the major form of entertainment formillions of Filipinos after thewar and they required their stories on aweeklybasis.

Alfredo’s desire to bring the level of his comic bookwork up to the bestillustratorscontinuedthroughthe1950s.Hisworkearnedhimpraisefromeventhemostsevereartcritics.HisepicstoryaboutaNativeAmerican,Ukala,wasevenmadeintoamotionpicture.

He continued to work for Ace Publications until February 1963 when aprinting industry strike closed upmost of the comic book companies.Alfredoandafewotherartistsdecidedtostartuptheirownpublishingcompany,andinApril,AlcalaFightKomikswasborn.That sameyear,Alfredobeganhismostfamouscreation,Voltar.

I’ll quote from noted art historian Orvy Jundis’s article in the WorldEncyclopediaofComics(ChelseaHouse/Avon1976-77)todescribetheimpactofVoltaronthecomicartform.

“In thehistoryof thecomicbookmediumtherehavebeenmanynotablefeaturesthathavebecomeclassicsinthefield.Mostofthesestripshavebeenteam efforts, with several people doing different facets of the production.Certain individuals do the scripting, breakdowns, penciling, inking, letteringandpublishing.Theexceptionstothismethod,ofcourse,aretheundergroundcomixthataregenerallyone-shotaffairsslantedtowardsaspecificaudience.Voltaristrulyuniqueinthatitwasacontinuingseriesgearedtowardsmassreadership. Itwaswritten, laidout,penciled, inked, letteredandpublishedbyoneman,AlfredoP.Alcala.ThebrushusedtoinkmanyoftheVoltarpageswasaspecialfountain-brushinventedbyAlcala,thusmakingtheseriesevenmorenoteworthy.

“Asidefromthebackgroundinformation,whatmakestheseriesstandoutis thework itself. It is an astonishing display of sustained artistic endeavor.Everychaptercontainsaspectacularcenterspread.Eachpanelisembellishedinanetchingstylethatrivalstheworksoftheoldmasters.Inchforinch,itisprobablythemostdetailedartevertoappearincomicbooks”

Alfredo’sreputationinFilipinokomikshistorywassetinstoneinthe1960s.Hewasthepublisherofhisownseriesofcomicbooksandwasresponsibleforintroducingmanyothernew talents to theFilipinoaudience.Hisyearsofhardwork and constant studyhadpaid off. Itwas only amatter of timebefore hisworkwouldbediscoveredbythebiggestpublishersinAmerica.

PassingthroughOakland

WhenDCComics publisher Carmine Infantino went to the Philippines in1972 to recruit new talent, he didn’t have to think twice about hiringAlfredoafterseeinghiswork.Withinafewyears,AlcalawouldcometoliveintheU.S.onapermanentbasis,workingonawide rangeof titles that includedBatman,TheHulk,SwampThingandConantheBarbarian.HisworkonConanisoftencomparedtohisworkonVoltar.ItshouldbepointedoutthatAlfredo’sVoltarpredatestheConancomicbookseries.

Meanwhile, back on track with my train story. It is evening and we areapproaching Oakland. Alfredo and I hear a knock on our compartment door.Samtheporterextendsaninvitationfromtheconductortoustobehisguestsfordinner. It seems that the conductor had heard about us entertaining the otherpassengerswithourpaintingandstorytellingintheobservationcar.Sowedon’tevenneedtoearnourdinnermoneyafterall!

IenjoyaverynicemealwiththeconductorandlistentoAlfredoaskourhostabout the travels and experiences of his railroad life.Alfredo hates to fly andpreferstotravelbytrain,busorcar.Helikestoseethelandscape.Iknowthatthe conductorwas impressedwithAlfredo’s incredible knowledgeof somanydifferent things. Alfredo later makes a portrait of the conductor while weenjoyedourdessert.SecretTeachingNumberNine:Learntodrawandtalkatthesametime.

That night back in our berth, I try to get some sleep. Alfredo is restless.Unfortunately, thepubliccarsdon’tstayopenallnight.Thecigarettesmokeisstartingtogivemeaheadache(thisisthefirsttimewehavetraveledonatraintogether).Iwonderifthewindowscouldsomehowbeforcedopen,butIknowthere’snoway.InthemiddleofthenightAlfredowakesmeuptotellmethat

wehavecrossedtheCaliforniaborderintoOregon.Heisexcited.IlookoutsideandallIseeisthepitchblacknessofthenight.“Yeah,itlookslikeOregon,“Isleepilyreply.

Whenwe get to Seattle, it is freezing - after all, this is January!Our dearfriend and then agent Jerry Poynton takes us to an exclusive cocktail party inhonorof thedirectorRobertWise,actorGeorgeTakaiandusat the topof theSeattleSpaceNeedle.ThisismyfirsttriptoSeattleandIamimpressedthatwedon’t have to pay to ride up the elevator. We’re guests at a science fictionconventionandtheHollywoodfolksareheretopromotethefirstStarTrekfilm.I am introduced to a millionaire businessman who is a big fan of Alfredo’sConanwork.Hepromisestocomeseeusthenextdayattheconventionbutasthingsusuallygo…hedoesn’t.

Alfredo is always telling me that we have to get out and meet people,becauseyouneverknowwhenyoumightmeetthatspecialpatron.IlaughwhenIthinkaboutsomeoftheblatantconartistswehavemetovertheyears.Oneconartist claimed to be film producer who personally knewMarilynMonroe. Heeven had signed photos from her to him on the walls of his seedy littleHollywood office. The only problemwas that the producer hadn’t even beenbornuntilafterMonroehadpassedaway.

AnothertimetwoyoungproducerstriedtoconvinceAlfredoandmetoworkon their greatmovie idea for free. They suggested ameeting in aHollywoodrestaurant, whichwe attended, and then they skipped out on the check.Morerecently,Ihadawomentellmethatshehadhundredsofmillionsofdollarstogivemeforafilm.Thensheaddedthataliensfromouterspacehaddirectedherto seekme out! Hey, don’t sweat the details. Seldom do thesemeetings everamount to anything. The entertainment business loves to take meaninglessmeetings.

IfIhavelearnedanythingfromAlfredoovertheyears,itistoenjoytheride,con artists and all. It’s definitely an interesting life, even if you’re not amillionaire. Secret Teaching Number Ten: Don’t get into the arts for themoney-or,asIalwaysadviseyoungerartists,twowords-marrywell(i.e.findsomeonewithagoodpayingregularjob!).

ThetraintriptoSeattlewouldn’tbeourlasttriptogether.AlfredoandIevenreturnedtotheemeraldcityinarentalcaracoupleofyearslater.Wealsotookatrip toArizonaoneyearwithGroocartoonistSergioAragones foracoupleofbook signings. And there have been a lot of trips to Chinese restaurants andbookstores.Alfredo collects oldbooks and thinksnothingof spending a smallfortune on a book for one illustration or painting that he likes. He is foreversurprising me with some new artist (usually long since dead) that he has

discovered.

SunnySeattle!

Alfredo and Iworked together artistically only once. Itwas in 1980, afterthatSeattletrip,atatimewhenwewerebothappearingatalotofcomicbookandsciencefictionconventions.Idecidedtocreatetheultimatedragondrawing,and Alfredo’s beautiful inks really brought my pencils to life. We had giantprintsmadeonwatercolor stockand Iendeduphandpainting thematvariousshows for the next year. Of course, Alfredo has always contributed to myvarious publishing enterprises, from Uncle Jam (a monthly newspaper inCalifornia)toCobblestone(anartsmagazine).Icouldalwayscountonhimforbrilliantcoversandillustrationsforarticles.

To this day, I don’t understand why more American newspapers don’temploygreatillustratorstogracetheirtiredpages.Ofcourse,Idon’tunderstandwhy they don’t run the comic strips bigger (like they used to) either!Heavenforbidthatitmightactuallyincreasetheircirculationsandtheliteracyrateofthiscountry!

Theyearshavegonebyquickly.AlfredoandIhavespentmanyhoursonthephonetalkingaboutlifeandhisfamilyinthePhilippines.IfinallygotthechancetovisithiswifeLitaandtheirtwochildrenonatriptoManilain1985.1reallyfeltlikeIknewthem,eventhoughitwasthefirsttimewehadevermet.Wealsotalkalotaboutdoingmorepainting.It’ssomethingthatwebothlove.Inthelastfewyears,Alfredohasspentmoreandmoretimepaintingbrilliantpiecesinoil,betweenhiscomicbookassignments.TheseworkshavebeenshowninvariousgalleriesandpublicexhibitionsinCalifornia.

Asthisbookgoestopress(April1994),Alfredoisagainbusyonavarietyofcomicbookprojects, fromConan toSeaQuest toUltraman.Whenever editorsneed someone that is going to get the job done on time and in a consistently

professional manner, they turn to Alfredo’s magic brush. As a result, he isalmostalwaysworking.

Throughtheyears,IhavelistenedtoAlfredotellmehisthoughtsabouttheworld and his dreams. I know that he is frustrated that more people in thiscountrydon’tappreciategoodart.Wetalkaboutitallthetime.Isharethesamefrustrations.Oneof the reasons that Iwanted toput thisbook togetherwas toallowAlfredotohopefullyinspiresomeonereadingthisbooktobringbackgreatarttotheAmericanculture.

Alfredo’sstoryisreallythegreatAmericandream.Ayoungboyfromapoorfamily without any formal education works hard to pull himself up tointernationalfame.Theoldclichéaboutpracticemakesperfectholdstrueinthiscase.

TheArtofObservation

ForAlfredoAlcala,thefirststepinbecomingagoodartistisasimpleone:lookaroundyou.“ThebestadviceIwouldgivetoanartististoobservereality.Lookateverythingaroundyou,people,trees,cars,animals”Learningtodrawisreally nothingmore than the ability to translatewhat you have seen to paper,accordingtoAlcala.

Thekeytobeingabletodrawanythinganytimeisobservation.Alcalausesthetrickofdrawingintheairwithhisfinger,tracingtheoutlineofwhathesees.Thenhegoeshomeandtriestodrawitwithapencil.Alcalahasaphenomenalphotographicmemory,buteveryonecanbenefitfromthistrick.Bycopyingtheshape,youcommitittomemory.It’sthisobservation/memorizationprocessthatleads to knowing the secrets of proportion (whichwe’ll get back to in a laterchapter).

“Trythis.Lookatatableandnoticetheshapeofit.Nowmakeadrawingofit. The drawing might not be accurate. Why? Your memory can’t retain theshape.Now,outlineadrawingintheairwiththehand.Thatwayitregistersinyourhead.Trydrawing it again.Thedrawing shouldbemoreaccurate.Whenyou follow it with your finger you are already drawing the shape. You’vememorizedit.

“It’slikeacartoon,inthatyouseeeverythingwithashape.Don’tjustlookatit.Traceitwithyourfinger.Thendrawitout.”(Infact,Alcalamakessuchahabit ofmid-air doodling that sometimes he covers his handwith a napkin sopeople won’t notice!) The ability to draw frommemory begins with drawingfrom life.Sketchingwhatyousee isperhaps thesinglemost importantpartof

learningtodraw.Byallmeans,takearegularlifedrawingclass,butdon’tstopthere.

Livinginthecity,Alcalapointsout,youdon’toftenseeacamel.However,there’s nothingwrongwithgoing to the zoo—it’s all for art, after all. “If youwant todrawacamel,observeone, try tomemorizetheproportions.Thatwayyoucandrawitanytime.”

Inordertosharpenyoureye,Alcalaadvises,“Alwayslookatlivepeople,thelive, realones.Don’t thinkaboutdrawinganear, lookatsomeone’sear.Afteryou’vedoodledintheair,doodleonpapertoseewhatyou’velearnedbydoingitwithyourfinger.Younoticethatyourdrawingresembleswhatyoulookedat.That’swhenyouknowyou’vegotit.

“That’s only an exercise, though. The main thing is to apply everythingdirectly. If you’re a painter,what you paint is yourself - you only change thefaceorthefigure-youinsertyourselfintothefeelingyou’retryingtoportray.”

Of course, the other secret to good drawing is practice. “You must drawconstantly.Evenifyoumakemistakes, intimeyou’llknowwhatyou’redoingwrong, and be able to correct yourself.Later on you’ll see that your vision isimproving, and so are your ideas. Don’t stop! Draw whenever you get thechance.”

Alcalaiswellawarethattherearemanydistractionsforanartist.“Ifyoucanspendfourhoursadaydrawing,thatwouldbewonderful.Butdon’twastetimewatchingtelevisionorgoofingoff.You’llgohomeandyou’llhaveonlyhalfanhourtodraw.Spendmoretimedrawingthanwatchingtelevision.IprefertojustlistentotheradiowhenI’mworking,becauseI’mnotusingmyvision,Ilistentothemusic.When youwatchTV, you look at the picture, and you forget yourdrawing.”

Onceyouhavebegun to truly see theworld aroundyou,youcanbegin totranslatethatintoastyleofartthatisreallyyourown.

DiscoveringYourStyle“Asyougoonyouwilldiscoverwhatyouliketodraw,”Alcalacontinues.

“Maybe it’s animals, or landscapes, or the human figure. You might likesuperheroes. When you’re just starting out, you’re just playing around,discoveringthesurface.Thenyoumaydiscoverwhatyoulovetodraw.Perhapsyoulovelandscapes.Becauseyouloveit,youmightnotpayasmuchattentiontootherkindsofdrawing,suchasarchitecture.”

Atfirst,youngartistshaveatendencytowanttodoeverything,Alcalasays.“Isay,kid,youlikeeverything.Youseeoneartistandyouwanttobelikehimbutthenyouseesomeoneelseandwanttobelikethat.Youseeacomicbookbysomeoneyouadmireandsay‘Ioughttobelikehim.’You’llseeamagazine,and say ‘Why, I ought to be in amagazine or newspaper!’ In the beginning,young artists always want to do everything, but as you go along, you willdiscoverwhat you love,what you really love. Still, a good artistmay have a

specialty,buthe’sstillatotalartist.“You also learnwhatmediumyou prefer: oil, charcoal, pastel, or pen and

ink.Don’timitateyourfriendtheartist,andsayIwanttobelikehim.Youmaynothaveanaturalaptitude foracertainmedium,while thepersonyouadmiredoes.Sodon’tjusttrytoimitatetheotherartist.

“That’sthefinalstepinbecominganartist.Youcanhaveallthetechniqueintheworld,butwhenat lastyouput it intoyourownvision,whichnooneelsecouldsee,that’stheultimate.”

InAlcala’s own case, he learned that themore photographic, or realistic adrawingwas,thelesshewasinterestedinit.“Butthemoredecorativeitis,themoreIlikeit.Ilikestylizedart.”

“Iliketodrawpeople.Ialsoliketodrawunusualgenres.I’vealwaystriedtogetawayfromthecommonplace,fromwhateverwasfloodingthemarket.WhenI started doing sword and sorcery, only a few peoplewere doing it; later on,manypeopleweredoingit.”

Of course, even though young artists must strive always to develop anindividualstyle,thereisstillagreatdealtobelearnedfromartistsofthepast.Inparticular, Alcala studied the great illustrators, such as J.C. Leyendecker andDeanCornwell.

“Theirthinkingwassowide.Leyendeckerwasverydecorativeandgoodontheeye,butIfeelmoreforCornwell.Hisatmosphere,layoutandactionallhavetremendous movement. Many artists may make the figures in the foregroundlively,butthepeopleinthebackgroundjuststandaround.Cornwelldoesn’tdothat.Everythingmoves!”Cornwellalsoexcelledatplayingwithlightandshade.

“I likeLeyendecker forhisdecorative,unusualart.Hewasverystylized. Ilikethevarietyinhiswork.Cornwellismoreofacolorist.Heplayedwithcolora lot inhiscomposition.Hedidn’tdowhatyouexpectedhim todo.Asimplelandscape,atree,ameadow,everythingbecameinterestingwhenhepaintedit.”

Onceagain,thisiswhatmakesatrueartist:someonewhosevisionsurprisesthe viewer. Even with all his artistic vision, Alcala “cannot imagine whatCornwell imagined. I can’t think the way he did. He twisted everything. Anuninterestingthingbecameinteresting.ButIdon’tknowhowhedidit,howhesawit.Heknewhowtoplaywithcolor,howto takeadeaddo-nothingobjectandmakeitacolorful,livingshape.”

Amongcomicsartists,AlcalamentionsGilKane,JoeKubertandAlexTothas somewhose storytelling and layout stand out. “Kanemaintains proportion,and is an excellent storyteller. His figure drawing is consistent. Hemaintainsquality, that’s themost important thing.He’salsoan intelligentguy.Whenanartistissmart,youcantellitinhisdrawing.”

HealsomentionsthelateLouFine,whodrewcomicsbackinthe40s,andwasamajorinfluenceonmanyofthesuperheroartistsofthe60s.“Hewasverygoodandveryobservant.His anatomywasoutstanding. I heard thatFinewasalways in the gymwatching peopleworking outwith barbells, and so on.Hedidn’trenderforthesakeofrendering,butyoucouldseethecontours.LouFineisoneofmyidols.Oddlyenough,itturnedoutthatmylistofidolsisalmostthesame as Lou Fine’s. I told Nestor Redondo that my idols were Brangwyn,Cornwell and Leyendecker. Later on, I saw a list of Fine’s idols, and it wasidentical.”

The young artist must never forget that learning to draw is an ongoingprocesswhichneverreallyends.Alcalareferstoastoryaboutanotheroneofhisartistic influences Frank Brangwyn. “The great Brangwyn was alwaysobserving.Evenwhenhewasoutwithagirl,hewasn’tjustoutwithagirlinthemoonlight.Hestudied thecolor, theblendingof themoonandherskin.Sohehad a dual purpose: Dating the girl plus studying the color of the skin inmoonlight!WhenIheardthisstoryIsaidtomyself,‘Wow,I’mnotthinkingofthat,butfromnowonI’lllook!’

“Alwaysobserve.Neverstop. I’matanagewhenyouwould thinkIknoweverythingIneedtoknow,butIneverstopbuyingbooks.Ialwayswanttolearnmore. I’mnotagoodartist—yet. I said ‘Yet.’ I stillwish to improve, to learnevenmore.Neverstop.Onceyouthink‘I’magoodartist,’that’stheendofyou.I never callmyself a good artist. I’ve still got to learn.A lot of young artistsdon’tbother toobserve theworld around them; instead they just lookatotherartists. Nobody tells them what to do. They became comic book artists, but

becausetheyhaven’tstudied,theydon’tevenknowthattheirdrawingsareoutofproportion.

“Unfortunately, theystay thatwaybecausenobody tells them that theyareoutofproportion.Eventheeditorsthatworkontheirbooksdon’tknowhowtolookatdrawing.Understandingsomethingisn’tthesameasknowinghowtodoit.Iunderstandjuggling,butIcan’tjuggle.Otherpeopleunderstandswimming,buttheycan’tswim.Mostcomicbookeditorsareusedtodealingwithstory,buttheydon’thaveabackgroundinart.Ibelieveaneditorshouldalsoknowhowtodraw,otherwisetheywon’tbeabletocriticizethedrawingonapage.

“If an editor says, Oh, that’s okay,’ then they spoil the young artist. Theyoungartistsays,Oh,I’mgreat’andtheeditorsays,‘I’mgreat.’Lateronastheartist grows older he or she finds out they can’t do anything but superheroes.Most artistswant to changewhen they growolder, andmove into painting ormuralsorsomethingdifferent.Butiftheyhaven’thadtherighttraining,they’llhaveadifficulttimeofit.”

ToolsWhiledrawing skills are thebasic buildingblocksof the artist’s trade, the

youngartistalsoneedsaworkingknowledgeofthetoolsnecessarytogetthejobdone.Theessentialtoolsoftheartist’stradearethepen,brushandpencil.

The pencil should be the first to bemastered. “Start out drawing carefullywithapencil,untilyouknowhowtodrawwithit.Anartistmustnotjumprightaway into ink.Whenyou’vegotten the feel forapencilandgainedsomeskillwithit,thenyoucanstartinkingontopofthepencil.Thesecretistonotbeinahurrytoinkasketch.First,besureyou’vedonewhatyouwantedinpencil.Apencil sketch is easy to erasewhen something’swrong, but ink is not!So it’sbettertobecertaininthepencils.”

Most readers are probably already familiar with the range of pencilsavailableinanartstore.Theycomeintwokindsofleads:H(hard)andB(soft),andrangefrom6Hto6B.Thehigherthenumber,theharderorsoftertheleadis.AnHBpencilissomewhereinthemiddle,asyoumightexpect.Thesofterthelead,thedarkertheline,butverysoftleadsalsohaveatendencytosmear,soanartistmustgetusedtothevariouslinesthateachkindofpencilcanproduce.

“A#2Bpencilisokay,butifyouwantadarkershade,youcangoupthetothe6B,”Alcalaadvises.

Onceyou’vefinishedadrawinginpencil,thebiggestquestioniswhethertouseabrushorapen.Eachhasitsownadherents,buttobeacompleteartist,youshould be familiar with both. Alcala usually uses a brush. His favorite is aChinesebrush,buthefindsthemhardtolocateinAmerica.“Ifeelit’sbettertouseanAmericanbrush.Ifyouwanttousethemforinking,myrecommendationistheNo.2,3or4fordrawing.Forwatercoloryoucanuseabiggerbrush,butonlyforwatercolor.”

Ofcourse,artistswillgobackandforthonthedifferencebetweenapenandabrush.“Ifyou’reinahurrytodraw,you’lldomorefasterwithapen,becauseapen is more stable. You can have it flex like a brush, but when you do theerasing,you’regoingtoalmostremovetheink.Abrushlineholdsonthepaper.Withapenyoucanstipple.Abrushcanrun,butyouhavetouseaveryfinelineto a stipple. A brush is much harder to learn, because it’s soft and harder tocontrol. At first, just use the brush for applying a heavy shade to darken thebackground,butdon’ttryitonfiguresuntilyou’vereallylearnedtocontrolthebrush.”

Itmaytakesometimetomasterinkingwithabrush.Asalways,practiceisthekey.“Trydifferentstrokes,downwards,sideways,upwards,overandover,untilyougetthefeelofit.Withapenyoudon’tneedasmuchpractice.It’slikeholdingapencil.Butwithabrushit’shardertofeelsecure.Youmust learntoholditgently.Don’tholdthebrushasifyou’reholdingthepencil.”Alcalausesasablebrush.“It’sexpensive,butit’sworthit.”

However,it’simportanttobeversatile.Alcalastressestheimportanceofnotbeing just one typeof artist. “Don’tbe apenartist or abrushartist, use themboth.” This improves not only your artwork, but your ability to do differentkindsofjobs.

Alcalahaslongbeenknownasaninnovator,eventothepointofinventinghisowntools.WhenhestartedworkingonhisfamousbookVoltar,heinventeda kind of fountain brush—he combined the barrel of a fountain penwith hairfromaChinesebrush,tocreatesomethinglikethenylonmarkerswhichyoucanpurchaseinanyartstoretoday.ExceptthatAlcaladiditwaybackin1963!

“Ithadamoreevenflowofinkthanaregularbrush,”herecalls.“Iuseditfor rendering. I didn’t have to dip it,whichwas the advantage over a regularbrush.”

Inadditiontotheactualdrawing,thechoiceofthepaperyoudrawoncanbemore important than you may think. “Don’t use a rough paper when you’reworkingwithabrush.It’sasifyou’reworkingonsandpaperandyou’llwearoutyourbrush. Ifyou’reworkingwithapen,use roughpaper,butona smootherpaperthebrushmovesmoreevenly.Ifyouusearougherpaper,yourlineisnotcontinuous;itjumps.Youcan’tgowiththegrain.Onsmoothpaper,youruntheink,andthelineiscontinuous.”

Unfortunately, the needs of a penciller and inker are often completelydifferent.Pencillersliketousearoughpaper,sincetheroughtexturegivesabiteforthepencil.TheBristolboardcommonlyusedisreallynotgoodforaninker,as the rough surfacemakes pens harder to control, and ink flow uneven. “Aninker canhave ahard timeonBristol board.Sometimes I use a light box andtransferthefinishedarttoadifferentpaper.Puttherougherpencilsonthelightbox,andputasmootherpaperoverit,thentracetheartwithabrush.”

Oneotheressentialtoolthattheyoungartistmaynothavethoughtofisthereference library. “Themore books the better.An artist needs books onmanydifferentsubjects,everythingfromAtoZ.Animals,cars,trucks,airplanes,andanythingtodowiththewater.”Notonlycantheseimagessparktheimagination,buttheyarealsoinvaluableunderworkingconditions.“Beingabletogetproperreference is especially important for comic artists,whonever knowwhat theymaybe calledupon todraw.Youneed referenceonpeople around theworld,differentracesandculturesfromAfricatoChinaandbeyond.

“SupposethestoryisfromAlaskaandyouhavetodrawEskimos.Whatdoyou do if you’re not an Eskimo? Eskimos have their own unique faces, andclothing, andof course, they live in igloos.They’reveryhusky, round, robustpeople,andyouneedtobeabletocapturethat.Theyoungartistneedstoreadandobserve.Remember,whatyou’redoing isvisual—youhave tocapture theworldinadrawing.”

Architecture is another subject that needs to be dealt with, especially insuperhero comics, “For superhero comics, you should learn the skyscrapers ofNewYork,andthebuildingsofLosAngeles.Youneedathoroughknowledgeofeverykindofarchitectural style,becauseyouneverknowwhatyouwillbecalledontodraw.”

Alcala’s personal library includes books on fashions since the 1500s,militaryuniformsthroughouthistory,andmilitaryvehiclesofallkinds.Evenifhe doesn’t have a specific need, hewill still purchase a good reference book,

becauseheneverknowswhenitwillcomeinhandy.“InthePhilippines,Ihadalotofmagazines,andIclippedoutthingsthatImightuse.FromLifemagazinesin the 40s I tore out the artists I liked. Of course,most of themagazinewasabouttheWar,andIwouldsavethephotos.IfIsawagoodtruck,Iwouldcutitout.Ikeptonemagazinetouseasanalbum,pastedinthepictures,andcreatedmyownreferencelibrary.IhadonesectiononUSArmytrucks,oneonJapanesetrucks,andsoon.Whenyoudoawarstory,thevehiclesandweaponsmustbecorrect.”

AnatomyandProportionOnewaytolearnanatomyistogotothegymandsimplywatchpeople.As

they work out, you’ll see the variousmuscles groups in action. Or take yoursketchbooktothebeachanddrawwhatyousee.Onceagain,directobservationisessential.Ifyouwanttolearntodrawanimals,nothingbeatsthezoo.

Asyouwatchpeople,Alcalasays,payspecialattention to thehands.“Thefingers are themost difficult part of the body to draw, because they have somuchexpression.Theycanbeangryorhappy.Ifsomeoneisangry,theymakeafist.Peoplepointor try tograb.Handscanbeasking formoney,orappearingweakandhelpless.Thehandismoredifficultthantheface,becausefacesaren’talwaysmoving. The only things on the face that actually move are the eyes,eyebrows andmouth.The ears, the nose and the hairline don’tmove.But thehandtwistsandturns.”

Luckily,theartisthasatopnotchhandmodelstandingby.“Drawyourownhand. It’s the one that’s always around.”Alcala always recommends using an

affordable but always availablemodel to pose—yourself. “Look around insideyourhouse,drawthefoldsoftheclothes,thedrapery.”

Asyouobserve,payattention tohowpeople reveal theiremotions throughtheirbodyposture.Beingabletoexpressdifferentemotionsthroughanatomyisoneofthemostimportantstorytellingtoolsforanartist.

We’ve talkedagreatdeal aboutobservationandmemorization.Byputtingthemtogetheryoulearnthesenseofproportionthatiscrucialtoproperanatomy.

“ThestandardOlympianstyleissevenheadshigh.Drawafigureofaman,andheshouldbesevenheadshighfromtheverytopoftheheadtothefloor.JoeKubert used amore thanOlympian scale, nineheadshigh, but the standard isseven.”

It is throughobservationthatyoulearntheproportionsof thehumanbody.“Theupperarmislongerthanthelower.Theupperlegislongerthanthelowerleg. On the head, the eye lines up with the ear, and so on. In general, thereshould be thewidth of an eye between the eyes. There are also guidelines ofmovement.Forinstance,youcannotturntheheadhalfwaytotheback.Youcanalmostdoit,butit’snotpossibletoturnithalfway.Theseareallproportionsthattheartistmustlearn.”

Again, the onlyway to learn is by observation and getting a pencil out topractice. “You cannot just memorize everything that you see. You shouldpracticejustsketching.Themoreyoudoodlethemoreyouremember.”

Onceyoulearnthecorrectproportions,youcanapplythemtosituationsthatyouhaven’tdirectlyobserved.Forinstance,takedrawingfromabird’seyeviewor aworm’s eyeview, “It’s likedoingadrawingof ahouse andknowing theproportionofthesidings,plusthewindow.Ifapersonwasstandingonthefloorinside,youcanseepartofhisbodyoverthewindow,soyoucanimaginewheretheflooris.

You’llnotice throughout theartexamples in thisbook thatAlcala tends toshow theentire figure inapanel.Someartistswillcropoutpartof the figure,whichisavalidtechnique,Alcalaacknowledges,aslongasitisn’tusedtohidea problem part of the anatomy! “Some people cheat. Look at Frank Frazetta.Every time he draws a full figure, there’s a rock, some grass, or some otherobjectinfrontofthefeet!”

Theyoungartistshouldworkoneverypartoftheanatomy,notjustthepartthatheorsheisgoodat.“Iknowlotsofartistswhoaregoodatfaces;they’vepracticedhundredsoffacesandtheirexpressions,buttheyneverpracticehandsand feet. That’s thewrongway to go about it. They thought that itwas goodpracticetomemorizeafewthings,butthebestthingistomemorizethewholepicture.Drawhandsatmanyangles,drawthebodyatmanyangles.”

Once again, theonlyway todrawpeople is to look at real people. “Don’tidolize somebody in comics who doesn’t know anatomy. There is one veryfamous artist who drew Tarzan. If Tarzan is just standing there, his chestmuscles are well drawn. But when his arms are raised, the chest area looksexactly thesame. I suspecthehadawoodenmodelwitharms thatmove—butthisdidn’tshowthemusclesstretching,astheydoinreality.”

Ofcourse,artistslookatotherartistsandtheyfallinlovewithsomethingintheiridol’sstyle.“It’salotharderthanitsoundstoavoidsimplyfollowingyouridol. It’sokayto idolizesomeone,butalwaysfollownature.Nature is thebestdesigner.Ifyoufindsomethingyoulike,combineitwithsomethingfromyouridol.Ifyouhavefiveidols,onlypickalittlebitfromeach.Youhavetodevelopyourownstyle.Thatcomeswhenyouexpressthingswithyourownfeelings.Ifyoupick up thewayone artist draws landscapes, and some tricks of anatomyfromanotherartist,afterawhile,thesetraitswilldisappear,andreappearasyou,butonlywhenyouinvolveyourownfeelings.

“Ifyoujustidolizeanartist,andcompletelytracehisworkandmimichim,thenyoucan’tgetawayandyou’vebecomethetailofyoudog—you’realwaysfollowing.PeopletellmeIhavemyownuniquestyle.Theydon’tknowIpickedthingsupfromahundreddifferentartisticinfluences.”

CompositionComposition is probably themost important element of drawing.A strong

compositionmakesevencommonplacematerialfascinating.Weakcompositiondrainssubjectsoflifeandinterest.

“The secret of strong composition is contrast,” says Alcala. “There areseveralbasicideasoncomposition,forinstance,the‘O’,whereyouencirclethe

figureinthecenter,withfoliage,forinstance.AnotherkindofcompositionIuseinpanelsisthe‘L’,amanisstandingwithhisshadowextendingfromhim;onefigureisthemainfigure,theotherissecondary.Thiscreatesacontrast.Acomicbook panel can be laid out in a kind of ‘X’ or ‘T’ or even ‘N’.” Look at thepanelsbelowandseeifyoucanseethesebasiccompositions.

Theseareverybasiccompositions,buttheyprovideasimpleframeworkforadrawing.Avoidboring,symmetricalcompositions.If,forinstance,twopeopleare having an argument in a panel, don’t just show them standing at oppositesidesofthepanel.“It’salwaysboringwhenyouhaveonefigurefacingtheother—twoI’sdon’twork!Butifonefigurehadhishandsonhiships,andtheotherwasgesturing,it’smuchmoreinteresting.

“I call the “two I” composition amateur.Even if thedrawing is absolutelyflawless, it’s amateurish because there’s no contrast. The great artists became

famous, not because they’re good at anatomy, but because theywere good atcomposition.”Compositionprovidesaction,contrast,drama.Itcreatesemotion.

As the above suggests, drawing exciting, dynamic comics is primarily afunctionofcomposition.Alcalahasaverydirectapproachtocapturingactionsandemotionsinhiswork:heputshimselfintheemotionalframeofreferenceofwhateverheisdrawing.

“The most important part of action is experiencing it. The more youexperienceit,themoreyouknowtheaction.I’mnotsayingthatyoushouldbeout fighting, but as you draw, you should be experiencing it in your mind.Involveyourselfinwhatyou’redrawing.”Whenworkingonadrawing,Alcala

doodles,tryingmanyanglestoseewhichhasthemostimpact.Lightandshadeareanotherproblemwhichtendtoperplexbeginningartists.

As always, observation is the key, Alcala stresses. “You can make yourdrawingslifelikeifyouobservehowshadowsreallyfall.Ifthelightisfromtheleft, then the rightshouldbe inshadow.” It isn’tnecessary,however, toworryabouteveryshadowthatwouldoccurinreallife.

“Adrawingisn’t likeaphotograph.Aphotographpicksupeverything.Butinadrawing,youhaveachoice.Insteadofthewholeshadowontheface,youcan only show what you feel you need to. In a photograph, sometimes theshadow hides important features, but in a drawing, you can show what is

necessaryontheface.”As in every aspect of art, there are no short cuts to learning about

composition,lightandshade.“Nevertaketheeasyway.Theyoungartistmustnotshortcutanything.MostyoungartistsaskmewhatkindofbrushIuse.Thentheygooutandbuythesamebrush,or,iftheyhavemoremoney,theybuyanevenbetterbrush.Their tendency is to think that if theyhavebettermaterials,they’rebetterthanme.Buttheydon’trealize,ofcourse,thatit’syou,it’snotthebrush,notthepen,notthepencil.Don’tbebotheredbywhatkindofpenyouuse—justmakesureitworksandyouuseit!”

“Somanypeoplethinkthere’sashortcut.Theysay,‘Iwanttobelikeyou.’IsayI’minmy60s,you’reonlyinyour20s—doyouwanttoadd40moreyearstoyourlife?’Youjusthavetoworkhard.Thereisn’tanysubstitute.”

ThinkingAboutComicsMostof theprecedingcommentsapply toanykindofdrawing,but tobea

goodcomicbookartist requiresmuchmorethangooddraftsmanship.Acomicbook artist is also a storyteller, and must be able to think dramatically andlogically.Thecomicsartistwillalsobecalledontocreatevividcharactersandportray a wide spectrum of emotions. Once again, Alcala has a time-testedapproach.

Thoughasachildhelovedtodrawanything,Alcala’sdreamwastoworkinAmericancomics.Inordertomakethisdreamareality,hestudiedthemarket.“IcollectedAmericancomicbooks,andnoticedwhattheywereputtingout.Overaperiod of time I switched my drawing style from the Filipino style to the

Americanstyle.Ididn’tdoitabruptly,sopeoplemightsay‘Hey,youchangedyourstyle.’

“ItoldmyfriendsthatwithinfiveyearsI’dbedoingsomeworkinAmericancomics. I had just createdVoltar, and everyonewas confused. ‘Hey,Alfredo,whatareyoudoingwithVoltar?Youcannotturnthatintoamovie.’ItoldthemIhadn’t created it for themovies; I had just created the story tomakemyselfhappy. But I said remember, ‘in five years you will see this in Americancomics.’

“They laughed atme. ‘Alfredo, you need some sleep!’ Butmy predictioncametrue.”

Later on, Alcala made another bold claim about applying his Voltar-stylerendering to the American character Conan. The reaction was equallydisbelieving.

“People thought I was dreaming. But five years later, I received a ConansampleofJohnBuscema’stoink.”

Alcala was drawn to the world of comics because of the wide variety ofmaterialhecouldworkon.“I likeeverything: superheroes,adventure, fantasy,fairytales,horror,historical,orwarstories.Iwantedtodrawcomicstoshowtheworld I could do historical material, but I also wanted to draw sword andsorcery.

“Ilikefantasy,butIalsoliketoworkinamorecartoonystyle.”Thekeytocaricature is exaggeration. “You exaggerate the reality. Youmake everythinglarger. Ifyouareportrayingan idiot,youmake theneck longer,andmake theeyesalittleclosertogether.Youcanhavemoreexaggeratedactionincartoonymaterialthanyoucaninrealisticmaterial.”

WhenAlcalagetsascript,hehasaprocedurethathehasdevelopedinordertoapproachthematerial.“IreadthescripttwicebeforeIbegintodrawit.FirstIreaditquicklytogetanoverviewofthematerial.ThenIreaditslowly,withapadandpencilathand.AsIreadit,Imakestickdrawingsonthepad.

“ThenInotethepanels.Forinstance, inpanel3,I’llgetanideaofhowtoshowthecharacters.ForeachsequenceIdoadoodleorabreakdown,gettingtheexpressionorwhatevertheactionis.ButI’vegottenasenseofthestoryfromthefirstquickreading.

“The action is the first thing I thinkof. In comics you should imagine theactionrightaway,especiallythecharacterswhowillbeinaction.Butyoualsomustrememberwhatyoulearnedinaportraitoralifedrawingclass.”

Ashereadsthestory,Alcalaactsitoutinhismind,imagininghimselfinthe

situations.“Ifit’saConanstory,IpretendtobeConan.Ifyou’redoingastoryaboutastand-upcomic,youpretendtobeacomedian.Whetherit’samillionaireoramiser,actitoutinyourmind.Whenyou’reacomicartist,you’retheactorandthedirector.

“Always imagine yourself in the situations you’re drawing. This helps togiveyoutheexpressionsandbodylanguagethatmakevividcomics.Theartistshouldn’tjustbeaviewer—heshouldbeinvolvedintheaction.”

ThenextstageforAlcala iswhat isoftencalled the thumbnailbreakdown.“WhenIlookatmypadit’sfullofdoodles.Ineedtomakeacleardrawingofit,even though it’s still rough. I decidewhichpanels are themost important andwhich need to be bigger or smaller. A thumbnail is a sketch drawing, with acircle foraheadandasquare for thebody.”Manyartists like todo theentirepageinthumbnailform,butAlcalapreferstodoitonepanelatatime.Thisisbecausehehastrainedhimselftothinkofthepageasawhole.Oneofthethingsheiswatchingoutforatthispointisavoidingmonotonyinthepanellayout.

For instance, “you shouldn’t always put the character in the center of thepanel. Sometimes it’s better to put him on one side. Avoid always making adrawinginthecenter,becauseitwillturnouttobemonotonous.”Anotherkindofmonotony comes fromwhen an artistmay change the angle fromwhich afigureisviewedwithoutchangingthesizeofthefigure.

“I call that ‘force of habit.’ Every time the artist roughs in the figure, it’salwaysidenticalinshape.Sowhenhedoesthefinalpencils,they’reallthesamesize.Toavoidthisyoushouldmakesurethatonceinawhileyouvarythesizeoftherough.Makeabigcircle,orsmall,ormakeita3/4angleinsteadofafrontview.”

At this point in the process,Alcala is trying to think of themost dynamicwaytotellthestory.Manyartiststhinkofthecomicspageasbeinganinepanelgrid,butAlcalaprefersthesixpanelgridbecausehefeelstoomanypanelsleadtoconfusiononthepartofthereader.

Healsoplaysaroundwithtellingthestoryfromdifferentangles.“Upshot,downshot,close-up,sideview,backview—keepchanging.You’rethedirector,you’relookinginthecameraandsaying,hereIshoulddoabackview,orhereIwantthecameratobeatadramaticangle.”

Potentialcomicsartists shouldbeaware that thereare twocommonlyusedmethodsofcollaborationbetweenwriterandartist.

In the full scriptmethod, the artist is sent just that, a full script, completewithpaneldescriptionsandall thedialoguethatwillgointoeachpanel.Inthebreakdownmethod,thewriterpreparesasynopsisofthestory,whichtheartistthen lays out as he or she sees fit.Although thismethodwould seem to givegreaterlatitudetotheartist,itisnotwithoutitspitfalls.

“Thebreakdownmethodcanbequiteachallengeforabeginningartist.Youhave to learn how to squash or stretch the story.” By “squashing” and“stretching”Alcalameans theway inwhich the story is paced.Sometimes anartistwillgetcarriedawaywithdrawingbig,excitingpanels,andforgetthatoneimportant storypoint has yet to bedrawn. “Whenyou squashyoumay forgetthatsomething’smissing.Insteadofdoingitinsixpagesyouhavefourandafteryou’vesquasheditalltogether,youoftenfindyouhavesomethingleftout.”

Ingeneral,hepreferstoworkfullscriptforthisveryreason.“Inasynopsisstyle,youhavetoknowhowmanypanelseachactionwillhave.Inascript,youalreadyknowhowmanypanelsyou’llneed.

“A full pagemight be a splash panel and three panels.When you have apanelthat’slessimportant,don’tbeafraidtodoitasaninsetpanel.Sometimesyouput thewhole figure in thebackground,and thenext time inasmall insetpanel. It doesn’t become monotonous. When something is clearly moreimportant,make a bigger panel and instead of cutting it in themiddle, use aninsetpanel.”OtherformsAlcalausestobreakupthestorytellingaresilhouettepanels,andpanelswithspecialaddedborders.

He gives this as an example of monotonous storytelling: “‘First panel:What’syourname?Secondpanel:MynameisPedro.Thirdpanel:Oh,wheredoyoulive?’andonandon.Youcouldhaveputthisallintoonepanel!Don’tdoitinsomanypanels.That’swhereIplaywiththepacing.”

UkalaAlcala’sfirstbighitinthePhilippineswasthestrip,Ukala,whichwaslater

madeintoafilm.Inspiredbyvarioussources,includingLongfellow’sepicpoemHiawatha, and films aboutNativeAmericans,Alcala created an epic saga thatincludedseaadventure,romanceanddaringescapes.

“Ukalawas thefirstcomicstrip in thePhillipinesaboutNativeAmericans,anditwasanimmediatesensation.”Alcalaadoptedanewdrawingstyleforthebook,aswell,amoredecorative,denselyinkedstylewhichsurprisedeveryoneandprovedvery influential.“Artistswereallsurprised tosee thedetails in thebackgrounds,andtherenderingontheanatomy.WhenIstartedIwantedtodosomething influenced more by Brangwyn and Cornwell than other comics

artists.”Forthestory,Alcalawroteaboutthethingsthatinterestedhim.“Iwasvery

interestedinshipsoftheperiod,soIputinajourneyacrosstheAtlantic.Ialsowanted to put in the Sargasso Sea, and a romance between Ukala, a NativeAmerican,andaSpanishgirl.”

AlcalastillconsidersUkalaoneofhisfinestachievements instoryandart.Themovieadaptationwasaspopular as thecomic strip, itwasquite a feat tohaveamoviemadefromhisworkattheageof27.

“TherewereothermoviesmadefromthingsI’dworkedon,buttheyweren’tmycreation,sincemoststories I illustrateare fromotherwriters.ButUkala istheoneIcreatedmyself.”

The artwork on this page typifies the tremendous amount of detail andresearch thatAlcaladevoted to theUkala saga.This particular page illustratesjust howmuch information can be given to the reader in one pleasing layout.Thefullfiguresinthecenterofthepagegivethecompositionasenseofdrama,pulling the reader into the page. Each smaller illustration gives the viewer animmediatesenseoftheaction.Thetextworksintotalharmonywiththeart.

ConanBy the early 70’s,many Filipino artists had startedworking onAmerican

comicsasinkers.AlcalawascalledintoworkoverJohnBuscema’spencilsonConan.BasedonRobertE.Howard’sbarbariansword&sorcerycharacter,thecomicsoongainedadevotedfollowing.

Alcala had already read Conan’s original adventures in pulps from beforeWorldWarII.“IrememberConanduringtheJapanesedays,whenIwasbuyingpulpmagazines.Therewerelotsofadventurepulps-Argosy,DocSavage,andsoon.ThenIhappenedtotalktotheownerofthestand,whogavemesomenewonestoread.Iwenthomethatnighttoreadthisnewstuff,anditturnedouttobeConan.Ithoughtitwasagoodstory.”

Much later, Conanwould be adapted to the comics for the first timewithstoriesbyRoyThomasandartbyBarrySmith.Thefirstissueoftheblackandwhite version of Conan, Savage Sword of Conan, made its way to thePhilippines, where, as previously mentioned, Alcala told his friends thatsomedayhewouldbeworkingonConan.Theyfoundtheideaunlikely.Atthispoint, Alcala was in touch with Marvel about doing some horror material.“Suddenly,RoyThomassentmesomeofJohnBuscema’sConanpages.Wow!ItwasalmostasifI’dhadmentaltelepathy.”

BarrySmith’sConanhadwornashortskirt,whichAlcalafeltwaslessthanswashbuckling. SoAlcala took the liberty of changingBuscema’s pencils andadding the furry garb that hewears to this day.Voltar had beenwearing thissame type of outfit nearly 10 years previously. In fact, Alcala had alreadydevelopedmanyof the conventions of the sword and sorcery genre in comicswithVoltar.Conanhadlargermusclesandasmallernose,butbothVoltarandConanhadatendencytofightmythicalbeastsandfindbeautifulwomen.

Thepagebelowillustrateshowfewwordsareneededtoexpressmoodandactioninacomicbookstory.TheseblackandwhiteConanstoriesgaveAlcalaachancetorecreatethemasterpiecesininkingthathehadperfectedwithVoltarinthePhilippines.

TheGiftIn 1986, Alcala collaborated with poet/actor Henry Gibson on a graphic

novel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.Originally, itwas tobeacorporate-sponsoredbook in fullcolor,butwhen thefunding fell through,BlackthornePublishing agreed to publish it in black andwhite. Alcala points out that he had originally planned the book for color.“You’llnoticethatmydrawingsareverysimple—theskyispurewhiteandsoon.That’sbecausewhenproperlycolored,itwassupposedtobelikeapainting.”

TheGift is an example of a very research-intensive project. The costumesandscenesneededtobeaccurate.

“HenryGibson helped a great dealwith the research.Hewould go to the

library.IwouldtellhimwhatIneeded,andhe’ddoalotofsearching.Wehadanother researcher who went to France and visited the house where AugusteBartholdi [whodesigned theStatueofLiberty] lived. It’s like amuseumnow,verywellpreserved,sohetookpicturesofitforme.

“The more I can do to make something real, the better, but there areproblems with using photos. With Bartholdi’s house, there are no other oldbuildings around, instead there are new hotels nearby. I had one photowherepartoftheroofwascoveredbypartofanewerbuilding,soIhadtocontinuetheroofinthesameold-fashionedstyle.”

AlcalaalsousedactualphotosofBartholdiandhiswife,butonceagain,hehadtoimproviseabit.“Sometimestheshotswereonlyfromthewaistup,soIwouldlookattheskirtfromanotherphoto,andusethat.”

Whendoingahistoricalstory,theartistshouldtrytoprojecthimselfbacktothetime.“Remember,youcan’tmakeitlookmoderninanyway.Let’ssayit’s1890. In 1890 there are no airplanes, no television, no elevators, peopleworetheirhairinacertainstyle.Thisiswherereferencereallyhelps.”

AlcalaoriginallybeganworkingonVoltarinthePhilippinesin1963.Itwashisattempttoshowcaseeverythinghehadlearneduptothatpointinonegrandstory.

“My ideawas to show something thatwas epic. I hadn’t seen this kindofartworkincomicbooks,soIdecidedIwoulddoit.Ialsowantedtoshowoffmyrendering technique. It tookme awhile to think of the title, but I decided on‘Voltar’ because it’s universal. It sounds appropriate in Spanish, German,EnglishorFrench.”

Alcala’sgoalwithVoltarwasanambitiousone.“Iwantedtoshowtheworldthatacomicbookdidn’thavetobedoneinthestylealreadyestablishedintheearly‘20stothelate‘60s.Thosecomicswerealmostidenticalinrendering,eventhoughsomewereincolorandsomewereinblackandwhite.I’dobservedthat

limitationforquitealongtime.That’swhereIsaidtomyself,ifIdoablackandwhiteillustrationforacomicbook,Iwillapplythisothertechniquejusttoshowthe readingpublic that there’s not only one style in comics—that I can put inanotherone.”

TheintenserenderingtechniquethatAlcalausedforthefirsttimegainedthestripagreatdealofattention.“Ihadbeenpracticingthistechniqueinmysparetime.WhenIfinishedwithmyregularcomicbookpages,I’dpracticedrawinglandscapes,walls, rocks, trees. I thought itwouldbe interesting todoawholestoryusingthis.Littlebylittle,Idevelopedacharacter.ThenIdecidedtomakeastoryusingsomeoftheideasI’dpickedupduringmyreading.”

Although today’s readers will see a resemblance to Robert E. Howard’sConan,thatwasnotAlcala’sinspiration.“ForalongtimeIhadwantedtodoastorythatshowedoffthehumanfigure.Iwantedtodrawjunglesandforests.Icouldn’tusetheminordinarycomicsstories.”

“DuringtheJapaneseoccupation,therewerepulpmagazinesforsaleallovertheplace.IreadConanbutIwasconfusedbythestory.IthoughtConanwasthisswordandsorcerycharacter,butlotsoftheplotsinvolvedmagic.Tome,magicalways makes me think of the Arabian Nights, flying carpets and the like.Without the ‘barbarian’ element, however,Conanwasmore like abookaboutKingArthur.SoreadingHoward,Iwasconfusedbytheshapingofthestoryandhow it ended. They always confused me, so I decided not to read them anymore!Ilikemoreofamystery,likethetalesofSherlockHolmesandothers,butalso mysterious enchanted forests, secret caves… I like that sense of magicinvolved,aswell.VoltariswhereIembodiedalloftheseideas.”

Alcalacautionsthereadernottobetoocaughtupintherenderingstyle,asimpressiveasitmaybe.“It’saveryimportantpoint:eventhoughtherenderingis very striking, if you took it all away, you would still see very solidcomposition.”Aswehavementioned throughout thisbook, thecomposition isalwaysthestructuralskeletonbeneaththerendering.

“Asyoulookatthepages,you’llseethatIusedfivetones:solidblack,solidwhite,andthreegrays,heavygray,mediumgrayandlightgray.Iconsiderwhiteasatone.You’llnoticeineverystyleofrendering,Ialwaysusethosefivetones,soIcangiveitmoreofathreedimensionaleffect.Ifyouweretolookatapagefromabitofadistance,youalmostwouldn’tseethelines,you’djustseetones,likeawash.Butupclose,youcanseeitwasn’tawashatall.”

This technique also gives the strip a sense of contrast, mass and soliditywhichhelpstogivethiswildlyfantasticworldofsorceryandadventuresasenseofrealism.

Voltar created a sensation in the Philippines and was Alcala’s greatest

triumphyet.Theartisticstylewasrevolutionary,andAlcalawonthetopprizeintheSocietyofPhilippineArtistsandCartoonistsforsixyearsrunning.

“When IdidVoltar in1963, I influencedeverything incomics,becauseofthesuddenbigchangeinmytechnique.Becauseofitssuccess,thereweresoonlots of people trying to imitate my style. People said the style wasn’tPhilipinized. I said, ‘No, it’s international. I think this will be published inAmerica.’TheythoughtIwascrazyandthatIwasdreaming.Ofcourse,itwasadream,butIhadafeelingthatitwouldcometrue.”

In fact, it did. In 1977, Bud Plant, one of the founding fathers of theindependent comicsmovement, publishedMagicCarpet #1, featuring a brandnew 30 page Voltar story. With a script by Manuel Auad, this was one ofAlcala’sgreatestvisualtourdeforcesever.Eventually,VoltarwaspublishedbyWarrencomics,withscriptsbyBillDuBay.

Today,BudPlantrunsawonderfulmailorderbookcompanyspecializingincomicbooksaswellasfineartbooksonillustratorsandpainters.Pleasewritetothem about any copies of work by Alfredo Alcala and other illustrators. Artstudents, teachers and educational institutions should identify themselves aswell.Write to:BudPlantComicArt,P.O.Box1689,GrassValley,California95945orcall(916)273-2166.

Inthefollowingpages,AlfredoAlcalawilltakeusstepbystepthroughthethoughtprocessbehindthisVoltarstory,unseenfornearly20years.Asyouwillsee, his idea on each and every page is tomake it different fromevery other.This is a monumental challenge to the artist’s imagination, but it is one thatAlcalaismorethanreadytomeet.

Voltar

Theproblemhereistomakethecompositionbalanced,withlightandshade.It’s like a teaser.When you open the cover, you’re introduced to the style ofdrawing,andyoualsoseetheelementsthatwillbeinthestory:thecharacters,themanonthehorse,themanwiththesword,andthedeathofacharacter.

I’mtrying tocapture the imaginationof thereaderwithall the images,butit’s also aproblemof composition anddesign.The letteringmustbebalancedwith thedrawing.Whenyou’redesigning thiskindofpageyouneed tomakesurethatthetextwillfitinthespace,andthatit’slegible.

Themanshotbyarrowscreatesa stronghorizontal elementon thepage. Imadesurethattherearelinesthatcrossagainsthim,soyoucannotseeastraightline like a horizontal. The reader’s eyes go around the page, instead of goingrighttothecenter.Thatway,thereaderfollowstheprogressionofimages.It’s

anotherformofstorytelling.Normally,Iprefertousenomorethansixpanelsonapage,buthereIuseda

12-panelgrid.The small panelsdraw the reader into the story.The first panelsetsthestage,showingthemoonandcastle,andthedrippingleavesonthetreegivethesenseofmysteryforwhatistofollow.Themoon,alreadyestablished,ties in the second panel, and appears darker in the fourth panel, which alsoestablishesthewind.Everypanelbuildsonthepreviousonetoestablishanewfacet of the scene. In the final panel, we see three different sizes of runningfigures.Showingonlythefeetattherightgivesasenseofurgencyandactiontothedrawing.

This is the real event. The size of the drawing throws you right into themiddleoftheaction.Ishowthedrawbridge,thegate,thewalls,andthosepeopleattackingthecastle.It’saverycomplicatedcomposition,butIwasverycarefulnottohaveanybodyinthesameposition.Themanonthelefthalfhashisswordraised at one angle, theman on the right has it held horizontally.You shouldalwaysavoidshowingthesameactionandhavefiguresindifferentpositionstokeep itmoving.Otherwise itwillcomeout likecadetsmarching in formation!Onthisspread,eventhedeadpeoplehavedifferentpositions.Onehashisheadhanging,and theotherhashis legdown.Theonly thing that’s thesame is thewall.

Alwayskeep inmind that theeyegoes to theareaofgreatestcontrast inadrawing.Iputinthreefiresinordertohavewhiteareas,butitisalsopartofthestory.Withthiswhitebackground,especiallytheonethat’salmostinthecenterofthepage,youcanseemoreofthefigureagainstit.Ontherighthalf,youcansee the ax, spear and helmet against the white area. Because it’s nighttime,there’sagreatdealofdarkness,butthatdoesn’tmeanitallhastobedark.Theremustbevisualcontrastatalltimes,whichmeansyoushouldnotbelockedintofollowingtherealityofthingstooclosely.Ofcourse,atnighttimewhenthere’sno moon, everything would really be dark, but you are trying to dramatizethings,andyouhavetothinkdramatically.Imadeitalittledarkerthanordinarytoshowthatit’snight,butIputinawhiteareatobalancethedark.

ThesepageswererenderedwithacombinationofaChinesebrushandapen.Ifit’sastraightline,Iusedapen,butifitdoesn’truninastraightline,thenIusedabrush.Iusedbothbecauseifyoualwaysuseapen,thepicturesbecomestiff.Abrushcanmakeitmoregraceful,butbythesametokenifyoualwaysusethebrush,everythingwillhavethatquality-thewallwillbecomegraceful,oracabinetora table. Itwouldbeappropriate touseastiff line for thesekindsofobjects,butyoumustbecarefulwhereyouuseit.

Thefigureof theoldmanhere isperhapsmyfavoritefigure in thestory.Iwasverypleasedwithhowhisclothes, thefoldsofhisclothes,andtherestofthe composition combined. He looks very old - it’s a bit cartoony, but to acertainextent,themoreyoumakeitcartoony,themoreyougettheexpressionofthecharacter.Iputinseveralthingstomakehimstandout,likethehairstandinguponhishead.Thatmakeshiman“eye-catcher”.He’sinteresting,soIfeelhe’sagoodcharacter.Hedoesn’tlookmodern,oreven300yearsold.Hecouldhavebeendone1000yearsago.

This is a good example of drapery. The trick of drapery is gravity.Remember, gravity is always there and it is always at work. The sleeve ishangingdown,butImadeacontrastlineofthefoldstomakeitmoreexciting.Inreality youwill not always see those, itwill be almost flat, because it’s being

pulledbythegravity,buthereIdidn’tfollowthis tooclosely.Remember,youwanttomakesomethingthatwillcatchsomebody’seye.

Theoldmanisalsoaneye-catcherbecausehe’stheonlycurvedobjectinthepanel.He’salsoanexampleof something I tried todoonall thepages. It’s adecorativefeeling,somethingthat’sstrikingtotheeye.

Thispageisagoodexampleofthefivetones,fromthewhitecloudstotheblackhawk.Thefirstpanelisalandscape,whichIwantedtomakeasinterestingas possible. Since this story is set in a mythical past, it’s important for thelandscape to be realistic, although there is still the decorative style I spoke ofearlier. If you look atmy forest, trees, rocks and so on, it doesn’t look like acommon garden. It has a old, wild look. Nobody planted a tree, nobodylandscapedthemountain,nobodycleanedthearea.

PeoplehaveaskedmeifIwasinfluencedbyprintmakerslikeGustaveDoré.As Ikeep saying,you learnbyobservation, and that includes lookingatotherartists.Inoticedthatthiskindoftechnique,suchasDoréandothersused,givesa three-dimensional effect. But their style is engineered so that everything issmoothandgraceful.That’snotthewayIwent.Iuseaheavyline,afineline,asquare corner or even rough lines. If you look closely, you’ll see it’s notgraceful, it’s rugged andpointed.Even the leaves of the trees are rendered sothatyoucouldbelievetheyexistedlongago.It’sonlymakebelieve.

Turning to the figures, they are back to back, but in completely differentpositions.Thiswasaverydifficultcomposition.Icouldhavehadthemanandthe boy looking the same way, but there would have been no contrast. So Itwisteditsoit’smuchmoreinteresting.Justshowingthebirdflyingandtheboyholding a bow and arrow is simple, but if you indulge in a more interestingcomposition, it turnsout that everything is important—thebirds, the trees, themountain, the cloud, the figures. There’s interest throughout the composition.Sometimes I don’t see the background as “just” background. Rather, thebackground is part of the characters, in away.But it’smuchmore interestingthisway,whenItakethetroubletofullyrenderthetones.

This is the first page where we see the hero—Voltar. You also have thesupportingcharacters,thedogandthewomanstandingbythedoor.Iputtheminaction,notjuststanding.Thecompositionpointstothedog,becauseit’sinthecenter.Iputawhitebackgroundintoshowthewoman’shead.Themanisonadarkerbackground,soIputinmorewhitehighlightsinhishairandmuscles,soyoucanseethecontrast.

The tree is a new texture. I like very old trees. I’ve seen them in thePhilippines. I always loveaunique tree—Idon’twant to lookat justa simpletree, like a pine tree standing straight upwards with the branches hangingstraight.InsteadIwantthebranchestobeleaningmorehorizontal,ortwisting—whatevermakesitmorewildlooking.ButonceinawhileImustinsertasimpletreejusttocontrastthese.

This page is very economical with white space. I wanted it to be moremysterious.Inpanel2,thewoman’slegisawhitearea,butherbodyishiddeningrayshadows.Thebodynext to thehorse iswhite, soyou lookat that. In theclose-up, thewoman’sprofile iswhite,andsomeofVoltar isalsohighlighted.Noticethatit’smorethree-dimensionalthanthetree.Thetreeagainstthewhiteskyismorelikeapapercutout,butthefiguresaremorerounded,becauseIusedthetones.

Imadethelastpanelroundedjusttobreakfromthemonotonyofthesquareright-angledpanels.Inthesecondtolastpanel,itdoesn’tmatterifIshowmoreofthewomanorVoltar.IfIhadmadeitastraightline,itwouldhavebeenjustthesameoldthing;soIputinacurvedline.

Thelastpanelhasanotherexampleofaneye-catcher.There’satree,acabin,andVoltarwavinggood-bye—it’s apanoramicview.Thisviewalsobrokeupthe page so it isn’tmonotonous. Panel 1 is a close-up, standing. Panel 2 is asemi-close-up,mediumshot.Panel3isalmostaclose-up,andnowthelastpanelis a full shot. In a full shot I include a cloud a tree, the dust, the ground, theleaves,thecottageandwhateverelseisthere.There’snorepetitionofviewpointontheentirepage.

EventhoughIdesignonepanelatatime,I’vemadeahabitofnotrepeatingthesamepanelsonapage.Also, Idon’t inkfromleft toright.Onthispage, Iinked the last panel first, because it was so interesting, and bigger. When Ifinished inking the bottompanel, I could get away from just that technique. Iused a white background here, but I didn’t use this technique every time. IalreadyknewthatIuseditthere,soIwon’tuseitelsewhereonthepage.IfIuseawhitebackgroundineverypanel,itbecomesanordinarydrawing,anordinarypage,anordinarycomic.Iwanteverything,everypaneltobeinterestinginsomeway.

Here’sanexampleofapagewithalotofaction,andyoumustchangeyourrendering style accordingly. You must be careful that you don’t destroy theactionwithyourrendering.Tomaketheactionmoredirect,I’lluseamoresolidblackorwhite. Iput inwhitecloudsofdust.Thebodyof thecentaur appearsshiny, with a brilliant look, so that’s where I applied the white. I made thebackground totally white, but I put a lot of trees and leaves in almost as asilhouette.

Obviously, the centaur wasn’t drawn from direct observation!What I didwastogoastepfurthertomakesuchaniconmorebelievable.Noticethelong,ungroomedhair.Thesecreaturesarewild,livingsomewhereoutintheforestorthemountains, so I did the best I could tomake itmore savage and far awayfrom any domesticated environment. That’s why I exaggerated the hair and

muscles.In the second panel, the centaur is lifting his arm upwards when he was

struckbythespear.Fromtheelbow,thearmisveryexaggerated,andthespearispartoftheupperarm.Ididn’tdothistoberealistic.Iexaggeratetogetyourattention. My concern is not to make the drawing like a statue, or a humanmodel.Ahumanshouldbenaturalistic,withoutexaggeration,buthereitworkstomakethecreaturemorefantastic.

Yetanotherkindofpage—this time there’savery leafy, floral look,andadifferentimaginarycreature.Theexaggerationisthereinthefigureofthesatyrinthearm,thebody,hisback,evenhisfingers.Iemphasizehisprofileandhispointedears tomakehimstranger,butIalsoexpandthemusclesandtheboneconstruction,givingitmoredefinition.

Onceagain,Itriedtomakethecreaturestrange,notlikeus,morewildandunshaven.They’rehalf-human,half-animal.Iwantedtomakethenewfigureonthis page more interesting than Voltar, because the leading man is alreadyestablished.OnceI’vealreadyinsertedacharacter,Iwanttoestablishthenewercharacter,beithumanorcreature,inastronganddefiniteway.

Here I use the full moon as a element of the storytelling again. I use themoonasawhiteareainthebackgroundandputthesatyrinsilhouettetomakeitmore interesting. The figure of the satyr ismuch smaller thanVoltar and hishorse,butyounoticeitfirst,becauseofthesilhouette.

Thenextpanelhasawhitebackgroundtoshowhowthebrancheshavecometo life andaremoving. Ididn’twant todoaheavy,ornatebackground in thispanelbecauseyouwouldlosethatsenseofmotion.

Inthethirdpanel,IputVoltarinasilhouettefromabackview,withafewhighlights to show his anatomy, but the satyr, though again a small figure, isnoticedrightawaybecausehe’ssilhouettedagainstthebackground.

Icouldhavestagedthispanelmanyways—Icouldhavereversedtheangle,for instance.The reason I chose this anglewas tomakeVoltar the focus, and

alsohisphysicalsuperiority.Italsoshowsthathehashitthecreature.Inthenextpanel he is down already—the satyr has dropped his flute and the sword isthroughhim.ToVoltar,thisisasolemnmoment,becausesuddenlytherearenomore signs of life. This is also the opposite of panel 2, where everything iscurved,moving.Theheavierbackgroundshowsthatthesatyrismotionless.

Inthelastpanelthedramahaswounddown,sothebest thingistoportraythescenewithlightandshade.

Therearetwodifferentstylesofdrawingonthispage.Thetoppanelisveryrealistic—youseehimapproachingthecastle,soyouseetherocksandtrees,thebackviewofhorseandaman.

The second panel is a flashback, so I used a montage of images. Therenderingisnotasdarkastheoneontop,tokeepthingslookingdifferent.Thispartismorelikeadream.Thepanelontophasamoresolid,realisticfeelinginthe rendering, while the second one ismore impressionistic, withmorewhitespace.

I only show things in outline in the first two panels. I used the silhouettebecausenowyoudon’tneedtoshowVoltar’sfaceandarmor.Youalreadyknowhe’sthehero,soyoucanidentifyhimeveninsilhouette.

Thefocusinthefirstpanelisthecastleinthedistance.Therocksandtreesareofsecondaryinterest. In thenextpanelyouseethecapeflying,andall the

dust,butthetreeistherejusttofillupablankspot,topaintthelandscape.The lastpanel isverydarkandoppressive.Voltar isheading towardseven

greater danger, and the mood is very mysterious. He’s wondering what lurksbehind everything. I tried to get a strange mystic feeling in the rendering. Itdoesn’tlooklikeatypicalwonderfullandscape.Ifyoutakeoutthehorseandtheman,andlookattherockandskyandtherest,youshouldfeelthatyouwouldn’twant to go into this place by yourself! There could be a creature waiting toattackoranambushwithboulders…Iwantedtoshowthetensionandeerienessofthescene.Ifthecomichadasoundtrack,Iwouldwanttoheararollingbassdrum.

Now we have a scene of revelry. Everything in the first panel looks likeregularpartying,butIcuttoaclose-upofthegirllookingsideways,toletyouknowsomethingsinisterisgoingon.

The panel where Voltar gets dizzy and begins to pass out has a differentshape. I gave it a rounder, more feminine shape, if you will, because theantagonist here is awoman. In the backofmyhead Iwas even thinkingof awoman looking in amirror.The curved line also showshowVoltar is gettingdizzy. It looks like the lines are getting dizzy, too. It gives it a I completelydifferentlook.

Hereagain,youshouldbeabletoseehowI’mplayingwithwhiteanddarkspace to interest the viewer. I put a white border around the second panel toshowtheshockoftheoldman’sappearance,tosethimapart,andalsojusttogetawayfromtheusualsquarelook.He’ssilhouettedinthethirdpaneltohighlighthis disappearance. In the final panel, I have the round fireplace, and thehighlightsonVoltar’sbody.

I’malwaysplayingwith thecomposition, trying forcontrast.Although thefirstthingthecasualreadernoticesistherendering,itisalwayssecondarytothecomposition.

This page shows Voltar and his men entering the castle, and it’s a goodexample ofwhat is often called “cinematic storytelling”—a story toldwithoutthe use of captions, or very few captions. Here, I tell the story through the

picturesfor themostpart.WithVoltarI triedtomakeitdifferentfromcomicsthattellthestorythoughcaptions.Youwatchitasifyouwerewatchingamovie—amoviewithoutsounds,true,butyoucanstillfollowtheactionveryclearly.

ThequestionarisesastowhyIbrokedowntheactionintofourpanels.Iwastryingtoprovewiththestorytellingthatwhatyouseeiswhatyoufeel.

Supposeyouwereenteringachamberlikethis.It’sveryquietandspooky.Thebreakdownoftheactionintoseparatepanelsheightensthesuspense.

Acomicislikeamovieinmanyways,butyoumustrememberafilmshowsrealmovementandadrawingdoesnot.Inacomicyoudon’tknowhowavoicesounds, and there isn’t any background music. But the trick is to create themovementinthedrawings.Bywatchingthedrawings,theaudiencefeelsthingsaremoving.

Today’scomicbookstorytellingdiffersfromthepast.Alotofartists thinkthey’re beingmodern in a progressiveway, but they still don’t know how toinvolvethereaderinthestory.Theyhaven’tlearnedhowtoinvolvethemselvesinthestory.Justinvolveyourselfsoyouarereallythere,youarewatchingthesepeople.

Inall thesepanels,Voltar ishighlighted,even though thescene isdark. Inthe last panel there’s an example of how you can sometimes get away with“cheating.”Ifyoulookclosely,you’llseethattheshadowsfromthefireontherightreallywouldn’tfall thatway.ButI illuminatedit thiswaybecauseitwasmoredramatic.Itbalancesthecomposition.It’smoredramaticbecausethey’vecomefromthedarknessintothelight.Pow!theyburstoutintothespotlight.Butthisisonlyalittle“cheating.”Thelightingdoesn’tlookobviouslyfalse.

One of my secrets is never to reveal things too soon. Involve yourself.Beforeyoudothedrawing,youmustimagine:whatifyouwerestandingthere,whatareyouwatching?Howdidtheotherslook?IfIwerethere,I’dbescared,andthat’showI’dact.That’swhatItrytoshow.

This is the big finish, the big confrontation. I tried to contrast Voltar andKan.Onehasacloak,theotherdoesn’t.Thecloakonthefloorhelpstoconnectthetwofiguresinthecomposition.Somepeoplewouldsaymakingthefloorallblackwould bemore spooky, but Iwanted to have the eye go fromVoltar toKan.Alwayskeepinmindhowtheeyeisgoingtotraveloverthecomposition.

Sometimesyou’llseeartistsshowcharactersconfrontingeachother,andjustdrawoneoneithersideofthepanel.That’snotanewidea,andit’ssomewhatamateurish.You’re thecameraman.Ifyoujusthadawhitepanel,putapersoninsideandhavehimstarttalking,it’sboring.

Thetwofiguresare themost importantpartsof thecomposition,butIalsousedtheswordandthestafftocreatecontrast.IhadtheswordbreakinguptheflowofthecloakbecauseIdon’tlikeasolidline.Ifeverythingherewere“just

right”,itwouldgetboring.InthesecondpanelItriedforamorestrikingeffect.Insteadofjustputting

downanoutline,itlookslikethelightwassostrongthatthereisnocontour,andthe contour blends. Only the staff and the face stand out; the hood isn’timportantanymore.Thiswhite,openpanelisabigcontrastfromthetoppanel.Becauseit’sabigchange,youwanttolookatit.It’sashock.

Therealotofsorceryonthispage.EverythingisswirlingaroundVoltar,buthe’sstayingcalm.He’snotscared,he’sjuststeady.Onceagain,it’sacontrast.IputinthatlargewhitespacebehindKansoyoucouldseetheoutline.Ialsotookout the panel border. Voltar is highlighted with a lot of white, while Kan ismostlydark.

Thefirstpanelhasabackground,butthesecondonedoesn’t.Ithinkofitasbeinglikeamusicalbackground.Thefirstpanelhasanorganplaying.Thenallofasudden,inthesecondpanel,there’snosound.

Here’s the final confrontation.Thewhite spot in the center is in the deathblow,soit’safocalpoint.Voltarwasverystillinthepreviouspanels,butallofasudden,zoom!

Insomewaysit’slikeanordinaryfight.Tobehonest,thispanelboresmealittle;mostyoungartistswouldbemoreexcitedbyanactionpanel,but tome,it’s just a standard thing.Books in the styleofTarzan orPrinceValiant havethese kinds of scenes, but I try to avoid them. I try to get away from “the

common”.Icallitcommonbecauseyouseeiteverywhere.ThatwasmyentireobjectivewithVoltartotellthesamestory,buttoshowitinadifferentway.

Thefinalpanelisfairlysimple.It’sfinished,thejobisdone,everythinghaswounddown.Iusedpebbleboardforthis.Howcome?Forthesettingsun,justtomakeitfadeaway,asifthemusicisalsofadingaway,andhe’sridingoffintothesunset.

Painting

PaintingAlthoughadetailedexplorationofpaintingisoutsidethescopeofthisbook,

theeditorsfeltitwouldbeofinteresttodiscussoneofAlfredoAlcala’srecentundertakings, the vibrant painting of a Filipino wood working shop which isreproducedon theback cover.Althoughhewitnessed this scene in the1940s,Alcalapaintedeverythingfrommemory,includingthetools.

Q: Whatmakesyoudecideonsubject?A: Well,withthepaintersinthePhilippines,Ihaven’tseenthiskindofa

paintingwithacrowdinit.Usuallysomeartistwillpaintacarpenter,anditwillbejustonemanswingingahammerorsawingapieceoflumber.Iwantedtoshowmoreofthescene,thetoolsandeverything.ThisiswhatIobservedwhenIwasyoung—Ibecameacarpenter,soIknewhowtohandletools.Thetoolsaredrawncompletelyfrommemory,becausethesetoolsareonlyinthePhilippines.

IrememberthisscenefromwhenIwasyoung.Irememberthetabletheyusedforcarpentry,Irememberthevise,theC-clamp,thebenchwiththeplane,thewood.Inoticedthatwhentheywereworking,thetoolswereallscatteredaround.Theworkerdidn’tarrangetheirtoolsorwasteeffortbysweepingaroundalot,becausethereareconstantlysomanyscrapsandwoodandsawdustaround.Ialsorememberthattherewasahousecatalwaysplayingnearby.Andtheboystandingwiththemother?Maybe,andIonlysaymaybe,Iwasthatboy.ButIplantedhimthere—IwasolderthanheiswhenIwaswatchingthiskindofscene,butjusttomakethecomposition,Iputintheboy.

Thewheelmadeoutofamilkcan—thatwasoneofmytoyswhenIwasyoung.Ibuiltitmyself.Iremembertheoveralls,andIdidn’tlikethestraphangingonmyshoulderbecauseeverytimeImoveditgottootight.Thewifeisbringingthefoodtotheworkers.What’sshe’scarryingiscalleda“pinbrera”.Itcarriesriceinthebottom,souporstewinthecenter,andfriedsausageorporkorfishorinthetop.

Q: Theboyisbringingvinegar?A: UsuallytheFilipinossoaktheirfriedfoodinvinegar.

Q: Thelittlegirlhasbananas.A: That’sdessert.ThelittlegirlistalkingtoherGrandpa,tellinghimshe

broughthisfavoritedessert.

Q: Howdidyouapproachthedrawing?

A: Ididitincomicbookstyle.Ididadoodle,asmalldrawing.WhenIdecidedontheidea,Imadeabiggerdrawing,withlotsoferasuresandchangesinthemovementsofthepeople.IplayedwiththepositioninguntilIfelttheideawascomplete.ThenIjustinkeditinasimpleline,withoutcolorstudies.Rightaway,Idecidedtoscaleitandblowitup,from10inchessquaretofourfeetsquare.

Q: Sofirstyoudrewthegridonthepaper,thenyoudidthedrawing,madeaphotocopy,drewthegridonthecanvas,thenmeasureditdiagonallysoyouknewthecenter,andcopiedit.

A: Right.Ihadjustdonealinedrawing,sothenextproblemwascolor.Incomposingthecolor,redandgreenshouldn’tbeneareachothersoIdecidedthewomanononesidehadaredskirt,andtheremustbenogreenaroundthere.Sothegreenshouldbeoveraroundtheheadnearthewindow.Iwastryingtodecidewhetheritwould“pop”ornot,sinceIdidthesketchwithoutanycolorbreakdowns.

Q: ThisissortofhowIseethecomposition:she’sinred,andthere’sacurveofpeople.Youreyegoesstraighttoher,butthenyoureyeisgoingtobedrawnaround,andthepaintingunfolds.

A: Thegroupingisthebiggestproblem.

Q: Howdidyouworkoutthegroupingofthefigures?A: Well,Iactuallylearnedthatinthecomicfield.UsuallyIdothiskindof

groupinginacomic,whereIavoidthecenteraction.

Q: There’skindofanunusualperspectiveinthepainting.A: TheperspectiveisbecauseIwasonamezzanine[atthefrontofthe

painting].

Q: Wasitdifficulttogetthisperspective?A: Yes,sinceIhadtogetthevanishingpoint.ButthisistheangleIremember.

Q: Howdidyougettheeffectoverthere,wherethetoolsalmostlooklikeapenandinkdrawing,butthey’repainted?

A: Ididthetoolsaccuratelyinshapeandline,thenIrendereditinoilincolorsoitwouldn’tgetlost.Thisisreallyintheoldstyleofpainting.Ididitwith

whatIcallthelinearstyle,becauseasyoucanseethereisalineonthecontouroftheperson.Eventhetoolshavealinearoundthem.ThisisastyleIadmiredbyaEuropeanpainterfromalongtimeago,butit’snotreallyusedmuchanymore.Youdon’treallynoticeitrightawayunlessItellpeoplethatit’sthelinearstyle.

Q: Everythinginthispictureissoalive.A: Yes,Iwantedeverythingmoving.

Q: Everybody’sdoingsomething.A: Thistookplaceinthelate‘30s,afterthetimeoftheJapaneseoccupation.

Q: Whatotherkindofthinkinggoesintoaverycomplexpaintinglikethis?A: Paintingisthehigheststep.Overtheyears,I’vereadbiographiesofmany

oftheoldmasters,andnomatterwhentheylived,indifferenttimesandplacestheyallhadthesameidea.Apaintershouldknowhowtodraw,becauseifyouknowhowtodraw,thenextthingyouwilldoiscolor,whetheryoudoitforathree-dimensionaleffectornot.Butthedrawingmustbethere.Now,Ididn’tunderstandthatbefore.AsI’vematured,however,I’vecometoappreciatetherealisticapproach—it’snotmodern,becausemodernartdoesn’treallyuseproportions.ButtheartistsIadmirehavebeenconservativeartists,andthingsfromthattimehavestayedinmymind:youmustlearnhowtodraw,draw,draw.

Peopleaskmewhydon’tyoupaintmoreandIsaymaybelateron.ButthereasonwhyisthatIneedtododrawings,becausethat’sthefirststage.Whatcanyoudowithapaintingwhenyourdrawingorsketchideaisverybad?

Someartistsdosketchesdirectlyonthecanvas.Icoulddoit,butIprefernotto.Otherswhowanttostickwithpaintingmustbesurethattheirmemoryisreallygood.Makesurethatwhatyou’redoingiscorrect.

Q: Doyourecommendusingamodel?A: Ohyes,butifamodelbecomesexpensive,artistscanuseaphotograph.

Don’tcopythephotograph,butuseitasabase.Ifyou’repaintingawoman’sfaceyoumightlookataphotoofanactress.Don’tcopyher,becauseitwilljustturnouttobeamovieactress.Instead,followthelinesofthenose,theeyes,wheretheshadeislocated.Itwillbebasedonthephoto,butitwillbeyourvision.Whenyoufinishyouwon’trecognizethatthe

modelyouusedisanactress.

Q: IbelievesomeonelikeNormanRockwellwouldhavedonethisparticularpaintingwithalotofmodels.

A: Rockwellusedmodelsaswellasphotographs.Lateronwhenhebecameolder,anoldfriend,toldhim“Norman,youareturningintoabadphotographer”becausehisdrawingbythenwasbasedonphotographsonly.Beforehehadbeenusingthephotosasabaseonly.Tohim,ifheneededamodelforabumwearinganoldhat,hewouldbuyanewhatandexchangeitwithabum.He’dtellthebum“Ilikeyourhat—youcanhavemyhat,it’sbrandnew.”

Q: Cornwell’scompositionisastounding.A: Itdoesn’tlooklikeaphotograph.Rockwellusedamodeloraphotograph

fromthestart,butCornwellusedamodeljusttocheck.

Q: Wasn’tRockwellafanofCornwell?A: Theyweregoodfriends,actually.Ofcourse,Rockwellbecamefamous

doingcoversfortheSaturdayEveningPost.ButCornwellbecameanillustratorandatrueinnovator,becausehehadsomuchtechniqueandstyle.

Q: Wasn’tDeanCornwellinfluencedbyFrankBrangwyn?A: Yes,hechangedhisstyle.HenoticedthattherewasaBritishmuralistwho

wasprettygreat[Brangwyn],sohewenttoEnglandtostudyhowtodomurals.Ifyoucanfindaprintofhisartfromthelate20sandearly30s,you’llnoticethathisstylechangedthen—itbecamemorelinear.

Q: Howdidyoudiscovertheseartists?A: Well,IknewCornwell’sworkfromtheprewardays,andafterthewar,

duringliberation,therewerelotsofLifeandPostmagazines.Cornwelldidalotofadvertisementsaboutwar.

Q: DidCornwellandBrangwynusemodels?A: No,theydiditinreverse.They’dcomposethedrawing,withacomplete

design.They’dblowupthedrawing,andwhenitwasfinished,they’dbringinamodeltocheck!“Foldyourarm,bendyourknee,sitdownthere.”Maybethey’dsay“Oh,there’safoldoradrapehere.Iwaswrong!”They’dcorrectthingsbydoingthis.

Q: Thesemastersdiditfrommemory.A: Whentheywerequestionedbyothersonhowtobecomeagoodartist,

they’dsay,it’ssimple—youshouldhaveagoodmemory.

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