Paper Wings is back!
Marvel Animation storyboard artist Justin Copeland joins the team as the newest co-host of the Paper Wings Show.
In this podcast episode, Justin explains the necessary steps to creating a professional storyboard portfolio and responds to some great listener questions.
Lora‘s “Lofty Thought” segment offers a healthier way to compare your work to others and I share some exciting news about the future Paper Wings and ChrisOatley.com…
Listen To The Podcast:
“You are responsible for demonstrating two things: Work ethic, and potential. Work ethic is your willingness to sit there and get the job done – work your tail off. You show potential with your ability to learn…”
-Justin Copeland
Episode Highlights:
- The three most common problems with storyboard portfolios.
- How to add clarity to your storyboards.
- The questions that aspiring storyboard artists should be asking but aren’t…
Questions Answered:
- Does my portfolio scream “student” or “professional?”
- What does a storyboard portfolio even look like?
- How do I become a freelance storyboard artist?
- How much should I prepare for each new set of storyboards I draw?
- How can I practice storyboarding?
- Which comes first, the script or the storyboard?
“In your physical storyboard portfolio, make it easy for the person who’s looking through your portfolio. Make it user-friendly.”
-Justin Copeland
Join The Notification List For ‘Films On Paper’:
Click here and sign up for the email notification list and we’ll let you know whenever Films On Paper opens for auditions.
Episode Resource:
Dive into CineArchive.org for super-geeky film facts and obscure lessons from film history.
…and if you’re looking for some visual storytelling inspiration, be sure to check out Justin’s Pinterest board called ‘For The Love Of Story.’
…aaand if you haven’t checked out our past episodes of the Paper Wings Show, you can find them here until they migrate to ChrisOatley.com!
Other Great Resources:
‘Storyboard Secrets’ with Sherm Cohen
Storyboard Revisionist Portfolio Tips by Sherm Cohen
Story Portfolio Tips from Pixar Story Artist Ted Mathot
Links Mentioned:
Ryan Woodward’s Interview / Part 2
‘Ratatouille’ Dolly Zoom Article
Share Your Thoughts!
How has Justin’s input helped you to in your mission to make the best storyboard portfolio possible?
Post your thoughts and any follow-up questions in the comments below!
Man, I’m so stoked about Paper Wings and ChrisOatley.com merging into one collective location. Being a fan of both subjects, it will be great being able to stop in one location and get all of my artistic inspiration flowing!
Also, I thought this particular podcast was awesome, as I have never known much about storyboards, and now I’m finally getting an idea as to how that whole process develops.
Awesome post, thanks so much for putting everything together. Literally!
Thanks for all your awesome help getting this post together and coordinating our schedules, Trav. It’s great to have you on board!
I already expressed my happiness over the new episode on facebook, but yay! And welcome back to the show, Justin. I think it’s a really great idea that you guys are combining the two sites, by the way.
Thanks for giving the straight-poop on portfolios! I could go on a rant about how much I hate putting together a portfolio, and how much I regret every single portfolio I’ve ever put together. But let’s just say, I’m planning on the next one being better.
I can’t really even express how much I relate to Lora’s “Lofty Thought” at the end of this episode. I’ve been in that downward spiral of disliking my own work for a long time, and it can be really hard to pull yourself out of it and say it’s ok to like your own drawings or paintings sometimes. I think finding a sweet spot between the two schools of thought that she talked about is best, and it can take time know yourself as an artist and figure out what works for you and helps you be productive and grow.
Really looking forward to everyone’s new projects and the next episode :)!
Thank you very much Emily, you made me Lol, literally when you said “straight-poop!” I understand your feelings about your portfolio, and I felt the same way for years. It wasn’t until I got into animation, and have been forced to do hundreds of drawings a day that I got better at the technical aspect of drawing. But what really changed me was that I started to focus on the story aspects more. What is the character feeling, and how can we show that, in a way to move the story forward? If you strive to answer that question, your portfolio will be something that you will be proud of for years to come. Good luck;]
I hope everyone reads this comment. I feel like there’s an entire tutorial in this one idea, Jus.
I think moderation between extremes is often the best approach to most things. This lofty thought comes from experience. It can be very hard to get back in the game once you’ve discredited yourself in your own mind.
Thanks for your replies, guys!
This is awesome! I’m so excited about paperwings and christoatley merging! Now I can come to one place for awesome story inspiration. Thank you!
I’m close to finishing my graphic novel script. I’ve been focusing on that so much that I haven’t been drawing. I mean, I have drawn, but it’s not serious character design, just experimentation so far. It didn’t dawn on me until this podcast that I could actually draw the story out too, while I’m figuring out how to make the story armature strong. In fact, that may help out a lot!
Thanks for the tips, Lora, Justin, and Chris. Can’t wait for more feathers to add to my wings! Or air for lift? I dunno. There’s a pun or metaphor here somewhere.
Hahaha! Maybe it’s a winged air lift! #awesomethings
Great podcast! I only figured out fully Paper Wings a few days ago trying to see how about going scripting for comics and sign up for it without realizing it was on hiatus till today with finding out it is off hiatus. Though, finding out it is now going to be here as well will help me cut down on my links which I need to sort through with hold long my favorite bar has been getting.
However, this was great for me as I am beginning to prep for making two comics. The explanations and such were great and I might use a little story-boarding to help me on my main comic. Though, I understand Justin’s love a writing, which is why my skill builder is combining my passion hobby of writing together with my love of art. Though, my main comic project sprouted a gag-a-day one which I decided to take on as well as I can finish that one’s buffer pretty quickly and use it to figure out how to get a web comic set up and all before loading the main one which will have larger pages. I am at the point of scripting the gag-a-day and finishing the world building and character designs for my bigger one since both have their stories set. I got to set up some things before I can get to scripting and roughing out my main comic(hence a bit more character design and world building) as I figured out how I am doing the artwork for it and need to do some experiments to figure out how to get it from traditional to digital. Hence the gag-a-day will help me get started understanding what I need to know on the online side of things while getting the main one straighten out.
But, I also read the free ebook I got for signing up for the Paper Wings podcast. It was a great help for not just the comics, but also my writing hobby! I am sticking to both as I going to listen to all the podcast from Paper Wings as another one I listened to also helped me establish my stories(both comics and writing) down far better than before.
Great to hear our ebook helped, Mandy! I’m quite proud of it, honestly.
It was super-fun to put together…
Lora often shares this advice to begin with the smaller project first so you can gain a visceral understanding of what the project “costs” in time, emotional energy etc…
Then I guess my gag-a-day comic sprouting is a good thing. Though, I have done some layout for comics before with wanting to do a doujinshi that college stopped me from doing. I found them organizing my sketchbooks to find which ones still had spaces for me to draw in. The drawings were not good, but I am shocked I actually did some good layouts for beginning roughs for not having a script so I might do the really rough layouts at the same time with the scripts for both comics.
Luckily, when it comes to traditional medium, I do have a rough idea of how much cost in time it is for me. I can do drawings, either ink or drawing in various mediums within two to six hours for at least classic Reeves 30″ x 40″ size or large sketchpad if it is mixed media or a tight drawing. It’s thirty minutes to two hours for the size from a medium sketchpad to about the size of my comic strip. Though that’s just for the drawing and inking time and I still need to learn the other costs like doing the frames(which need to be neater than my one stand illustration comics I sometimes do for fun) and setting up the story so that I don’t end up doing what forgetting like I done with my hobby writing of fanfiction. Also, I got to add the time and emotional costs since I am planning for the main comic to use watercolors and possible color ink which takes me more time… Let’s just say I already vowed never to do two Reeve sheets watercolor and ink drawing again unless its a paid commission and I got the boards to kept it all on while working on it… I don’t know why there are so many kleptos in college art departments to the point the art department is fully stocked on boards for large drawings in the beginning of the semester and at the end, there’s not enough boards for both the classes and those working on pieces outside of class in the same room to where the teachers have to take some of the boards to insure the class have boards to work on. Upside, I did not have to add a background to my final because of that for my last drawing class and hence got a chance to relax a little before final critique because of that. Still came out awesome even though driving me up the walls and planning to expand on that type of illustrations, especially for the main comic.
There is really something there when you start to think about how the cinematic framing of the shot lends to the story itself. After listening to this podcast I started paging through some of my own work and starting to notice some of the drawings that do not work as well are haunted by a lack of proper framing.
Dude, once again you guys are rocking my world. I think this stuff is super helpful in taking it to the next level. Being a true winger, creating my own self published content, the industry knowledge you bring helps me in a much more profound way then simply getting a job (not knocking that by the way). But it gives me a good measurement to grow by and evaluate how I can take steps forward in professionalism.
That is to say all of you on the Paperwings team rock!
Thanks, Jonathan! Thank you for the encouragement. So happy the podcasts are “rocking your world!”
Wow, thank you Jonathan! Your comment made my day:] It’s so good to look at your work, and to start to see things as you’re learning. Keep going, you’re going to ascend to that next level before you know it!
This is awesome Chris, thanks a lot for sharing this with us! this was full of things that I didn’t imagine and nobody talks about!
Thanks, Francisco! Every time I hang out with Lora or Justin I can’t help but drill them with questions! Haha… They have so much wisdom to share…
I was so excited to ask Justin the questions I wanted answered, so I know how you feel!
I hope that we can continue to talk about the things that no one else is talking about! Real change comes from learning what you don’t know, right!? :]
Yes!, my favourite podcast about my favourite subject; Storyboards! That again was a great listen. This one is going on repeat a few times, I’m sure! Thank you for sharing all of your insights, and be prepared to take (at least 😉 a week off if you decide to visit the CineArchive, that place is amazing! I was introduced to the blog last November and I’ve been checking, reading and watching it everyday since then… if you’re into story and film, you hit the online jackpot!
Great episode and looking forward to what the future will bring us!
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of CineArchive until now! What an uhMAYzing resource!!! Thanks, Dirk!
Thanks Dirk! Dude, I freaking love your storyboards. Keep doing it well man:]
Thanks for the thumbs up Justin!
+1 on Lora getting on Patreon.
If anyone can do it, it is her. Your stuff rocks Lora, for real.
Thanks for the back-up, Jonathan! 😉
Another great podcast, you guys! I found everything you guys covered to be incredibly useful and a lot of questions were answered that I wouldn’t have thought to ask. I’m HUNGRIER than heck to become a story artist in feature animation and getting there seems so far away both literally (I live in the Midwest) and figuratively. I’m constantly trying to draw new stories and beef up my cinematic vocabulary so it’s great to hear from this podcast that I just need to keep on doing what I’m doing. A little networking wouldn’t hurt either. Anyways, thanks so much for the podcast and if you have a chance, take a look at my story portfolio at bozzdraws.blogspot.com
I’d love to hear your thoughts on my work, no matter how brief.
Thanks!
John Bosley
Hey, John! Thanks so much for the encouraging words.
Unfortunately, portfolio reviews via blog comments would get completely out of control very quickly but if you’re looking for personal mentorship and feedback in the area of storyboarding, I encourage you to apply for Justin’s course!
That does sound like a better way of going about it:) I’ll look into it!
Message received. I nearby declare that I fully intend to launch a Patreon when I come back to The Dreamer….
This was TOO good. I honestly had a tough time listening to it because it made me ACHE to be work alongside other animation professionals again. I have been so tempted to sign up for films on paper, but because of industry response I keep working on animation … thank goodness I have my next book (personal project) to work on in the mornings…it scratches my story itch.
Thanks for your discussion on speed, it has been one of my worries and I’ve been hoping it will just come with time … sounds like it will. For now, I’ll just push my quality.
Love you guys! So great to have PaperWings back. Go Lora, Chris, & Justin!
Thanks, Scott! Yeah, as fun as story is, I think you’re right to keep focusing on strengthening your core strength.
Keep going!
Yeah, but I like to think that even at the CORE of my CORE animation skills there’s a great storyteller just dying to be unleashed. 🙂 I will definitely keep going … it won’t be a lonely journey forever …
Man Scott I hear ya, I think I still have 9000 drawing ahead of me before I get fast 🙂
It makes no sense to master being fast at making bad art.
Yes, speed is a legitimate quality that most professionals need to have. But when you slow down to do something well, you’ve learned something. You don’t leave that new knowledge behind the next time you sit down to work. Instead you get to build on that with your next piece.
And because you’ve learned something, you don’t need to relearn it the next time. Which makes you faster and faster over time naturally.
Thank you, Lora. I should frame your comment above 🙂
I don’t know if you read this but there’s this Storyartist at Pixar who answered frenquently asked questions that I think is relevent to the subject here:
http://currentflavor.tumblr.com/post/70918039874/story-portfolio-questions-and-guidelines
too excited to listen to this!
Fantastic to have Paperwings back, looking forward to the inspiration! So many amazing courses I want to do but not enough time! I’m not wanting to get into story-boarding, but I think everyone can learn more about story, and I need to learn more about structure. Maybe after Painting Drama 2, Justin your course is on my wish list! Right now colour is bobblerling my mind. Looking forward to more Wingers conversations
I think you’re right, Tegan. I think storytelling skills can enhance any artists’ impact and communication!
That was amazing! After listening to all the advice and information, I know i can do this.
Thanx again Chris.
That’s great, Arnie! Stay strong!
Aahh this is so great!! You guys are definitely on the right path! Merging Papwerwings here feels like the perfect Cinderella fit, hahaha! I’m gonna listen to this Podcast on repeat over and over, just like I’ve been doing with the Brian McDonald one about story!! Keep doing the awesome work guys! Justin is another Cinderella fit, that makes me super stoked! Keep on teaching because I definitely want to join the next class!
All that’s left now is a picture of the 3 of you with wings, hahahah that would be awesome and hilarious! Thank you guys for sharing the knowledge!
Hahaha… I joked with Lora about how, for our first CTN-X weekend, we had to wear a set of paper wings at all times.
Thanks so much for doing this podcast! It was so helpful. I’ve been in a rut lately and just not sure what my next project or next step should be, but I’ve got some solid ideas now. I never thought of downloading a movie script and writing storyboards off of that. Great idea! Now I just have to find a movie where I don’t already have the shots memorized…
You’re welcome, Rachel! Good luck with those new boards!!!
Justin Copeland = BEAST!
Thank you guys for the wonderful episode 🙂 you always help me when I need to get into gear.
Great Interview as always Chris
Hello Mr. Chris Oatley!
In an effort to keep this short for you.
Regarding the cinematic discussion in the pod cast,
What do you, and perhaps Justin, have to say about Feng Zu? (http://www.fengzhudesign.com/)
Is he a great artist to study?
I’m interested in studying up on making “dynamic” compositions, and fluid action for my characters. Even though Feng Zu is mostly an environment production artist, could his thinking help with characters?
Could you or have you already created a post that recommends help with composition, and or other artists to look at that help with the above questions and story telling?
I’m quite enamored with full on illustrations made with cinematic feels, to make my characters feel …alive.
Forever learning
-Dymond
Awesome episode, though I am a bit late in watching it (shame on me).One of the things that really hit home were those 10000 hours comments especially that last bit about being up until 2 am drawing then going to sleep then go back at it,(note the time of this post) that is exactly what I am doing now however, I am pretty sure you guys had it in mind what you were practising… as for me im pretty much just trying to be better on a whole = drawing cartoons from people, figure study , Disney emotions reference.But I was wondering if both Lora and Justin could throw in a hint of what to practice for both story boarding and comics…….. I find my self in a rut where I don’t know if it is better to learn while in production or when even to start something
Hey, great podcast!
As someone hoping to enter the storyboard side of animation it’s been quite helpful to hear your advice.
Maybe just a quick question to Justin, do you usually have an under-drawing, like a wire-frame or skeleton, for your storyboards?
I know I tend to use them for my comic work, but if I need to have a faster production rate for storyboards, I’ll have to practice that.
Also, I really related to Chris’ points about comparing our own artwork to others. It took me years to get to the mindset of analyzing someone else’s work and applying it.
Again, great podcast! Happy to see Paper Wings making their return!
Hi, I just wondered if your applying for a job for a show that has a specific style such as The Simpsons, or Adventure Time would it be advised to include a storyboard in that style or to include some designs of characters in that specific style?
Thanks