Making Comics (Lynda Barry's Creativity Series)

I LOVE following the activities in this book. Perfect for anyone who wants to draw but thinks they can’t, great exercises and fun for those creative blocks when you want to be creative but just can’t get it flowing.

I’ve been reading Lynda Barry since the 80s and am currently at work on a graphic novel, that I’m writing and illustrating. I have always believed in learning from the best and Barry has always been a favorite, from the creativity, recall and connections she makes with her work as well as with me (and I assume her other readers as well). This book delves into the connections of words and images, how to conjure and connect, especially with the whole creative vibe. She works with young people and the pipeline to that cerebral communication is appreciated and thought provoking as well, as my work will be geared to a younger audience. This is for anyone who interested in the process of sequential art, creating comics, characters, connecting with creative elements, it’s also a visually stunning book (again, the nerd in me, loved all the cross-references with the visual and other, using calligraphic and other historic, formal art elements along with the more personal character, visual creations and exercises. Thought-provoking and image inducing, indeed!

Ok so far but Rambles a bit in beginning. Cool spontaneous style doodles/drawings. Nice little quick drawing challenges throughout the book.

This book is simply amazing. I have stopped, wondering about comics and begun mastering them. The author is always amazing. I’ve read most of her work and I can hardly highly recommend them. especially her novel Cruddy it was the best!

I have been using Barry's SYLLABUS in my graphic novel workshop but will be switching to MAKING COMICS next semester. MAKING COMICS has much of what I loved about SYLLABUS--great assignments and lots of inspiration--but I like MAKING COMICS a bit better for the classroom because its organization is more like a textbook. Anyone who draws or wants to come back to drawing will find this book a useful resource. Barry has a generous mind, a full heart, and an unshakable belief in the importance of drawing. She sees both the process and the product as something alive. She will awaken in the reader the desire and the confidence to create worlds on paper.

A fun book with lots of inspiration

If you enjoy laughing, having fun with your friends and family, and doing cool stuff, you will love Lynda Barry's Making Comics. This is a thoughtful and complete recap of her live class at the University of Wisconsin, includes much of her substantial thought and philosophy on the role of image making in human evolution, and is full of her (and her students') amazing artwork; but it's also full of excessively FUN drawing exercises that are wonderful for sucky drawers as well as professional artists. We dig this book so bad!!! Best gift I've given myself in a million years!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I had a little bit forgotten how much I! Love! Lynda! Barry!!!!! So if you wish you could go move to Wisconsin and take her class like I do, instead just save the planet the extra greenhouse gases and get this book instead and do the class at your kitchen table with your friends!!! Maybe also order it from your local groovy independent bookstore so you can stick it to the man!!!

Expert Author uses child-like wonder to access dimensions hidden by ration and words, guides readers past fear of failure, and into fun narrative-building exercises. I recommend this to anyone with a moderately open mind and a desire to begin drawing and telling stories, regardless of skill level. However, age appropriateness warning: there are drawings throughout the book that show cigarette smoking and other small references that make this book best for adults. I have always tried to keep my identity as a "drawer" intact, even as I watched peers who drew "better" than I did give up because they "weren't good enough." This book could be a game changer if you are interested in drawing but too hard on yourself and don't know where to start. I actually have independently come up with similar exercises to those in the book, as a way to keep up the drawing habit, and can attest they work! Keep the spark alive, and know that rekindling is an option at any point. Buy now!

I've read this right after "Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor", thinking they'll be more different because promos alluded to it being a "sequel". It's not, in fact "Making Comics" is the instructional book I wanted, while "Syllabus" was an example of an unusual publishing experiment, but less useful. "Making Comics" contains all of the exercises that "Syllabus" does, and more. Many of them are designed for a class environment or practicing with a partner, but most can be adapted for solo practice. The instructions feel complete, unlike "Syllabus" in which part of the information is delivered in the class so book readers are left wondering. I've done many of the exercises and was surprised at how much fun I've had with them, even though my first thought was "how is this going to help me make comics?" I intend to work through the book and we'll see what happens. I like Barry's writing, and I'd be interested in reading more of her work because some of the wisdom she throws in between the lessons are applicable to any creative pursuit. (My review is based so much on the comparison of the two books because I was trying to decide between them, and I wish I'd known there was so much content overlap before I purchased both. I ended up giving "Syllabus" to a friend.)

This is such a fun and informative book! Great instruction and prompts and offers a good materials list of what to buy to doodle happily.

J'adore son style, si simple, mais si percutant, j'adore me plonger dans les pages et tous les exercices proposés pour me perdre dans l'univers de l'autrice !!

I’m looking forward to this course in a book. I’m gathering the supplies I need. I’m already feeling free to draw and I have only read the intro.

Wonderful book