To become proficient in drawing comic book characters, you have to practice quality and speed.
Comic book artists have to balance two jobs: drawing exciting character art and drawing it fast. Characters have to pop off the frame throughout every issue and fit into a consistent art style across the pages. Comic book characters are active, always moving, fighting and gesturing to advance the story--they can't afford to look flat or out of proportion. Overcoming that hump is the most difficult part of developing character drawing skills, but there is a clear process to achieving success.
Instructions
1. Place tracing paper over pages of your favorite comic books and copy the work panel by panel. Study how the lines are proportioned and come together to create whole characters.
2. Trace again, only this time draw stick figures in the place of the characters. Place a circle within each joint (the hip is one large oval rather than multiple joints) and draw an upside-down triangle within the torso. Mark horizontal lines on the head circle where the eyes, bottom of the nose and mouth are located---you should notice that the eyes are halfway down on the head, the bottom of the nose is half of the way down from the eyes and the mouth is a third of the way down from the nose. Draw your own stick figures on a sketch pad with a light 4H sketch pencil and practice until you can make correctly proportioned stick figures in about 30 seconds.
3. Build the stick figures up with "pipes" that approximate the build of the characters' bodies. Pay close attention to perspective---parts of the body that are up close should appear large and parts that are far should almost appear as if they are shrinking away from the rest of the body.
4. Use a slightly darker 2H sketch pencil to begin developing the body build into its defined features: muscle mass, fat deposits and curves. Carefully study muscle structure in your favorite comic book characters and layer the muscles in their correct places---otherwise they could look like a walking sack of potatoes. Remember that every obvious movement creates a series of related micro-movements. For example, an outstretched arm will also stretch the pectoral chest muscle on that side of the body and contract the upper back muscles.
5. Draw facial expressions and hair with the 2H pencil. Add clothing details with an HB pencil, paying close attention to patterns, fabric and how they interact with the muscles.
6. Rough out shadows on the body with the 2H pencil. Imagine the light is coming from a single source and aiming at the character from a specific direction. Figure out what parts of the character's body and clothing would catch the light and draw shadows behind them.
7. Ink the drawing with a pen, focusing on clothing details, facial expressions and muscle structure as it would be defined by the character's body outline and shadows being cast across the body. Ignore the the original stick and pipe lines. Let the ink dry and rub an eraser across the drawing to remove the pencil lines.
