Framed Ink

Framed Ink #1

by Marcos Mateu-Mestre, Jeffrey Katzenberg (Foreword)

The ultimate guide to visual storytelling! How to make the audience “feel” the story while they are “reading” the story. Using his experiences from working in the comic book industry, movie studios and teaching, Marcos introduces the reader to a step-by-step system that will create the most successful storyboards and graphics for the best visual communication.

After a brief discussion on narrative art, Marcos introduces us to drawing and composing a single image, to composing steady shots to drawing to compose for continuity between all the shots. These lessons are then applied to three diverse story lines – a train accident, a cowboy tale and bikers approaching a mysterious house.

In addition to setting up the shots, he also explains and illustrates visual character development, emotive stances and expressions along with development of the environmental setting to fully develop the visual narrative.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Comics, Design, Reference, Writing

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes a deep look at how to frame scenes for storytelling purposes. The ideas found here would be useful for filmmakers, storyboard artists, and comic artists. After reading this, I found myself thinking a little more deeply about how panels and images are arranged in comics.

[Natik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This needs more reviews since art books are so hit-and-miss:

This book is not a drawing technique or even drawing style reference. It assumes you already know both HOW and WHAT to draw, but are looking for help in arranging the characters and objects in a dynamic way (to help propel your story). It was also good that he made complete sample comic/ storyboard strips so you could see how each panel interacts with the next. I'm also glad the text is very straightforward and not "stereotypically pretentious art professor" at all.

Everything this book sets out to do, it does very well. However, it does totally omit some important concepts.
You get nothing at all on use of color, for example. Everything is black and white. The content of his sample storyboards are also very human character focused. He does not include too much on how to properly show off a cool environment or coordinate a visually appealing spaceship battle :(

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

There are probably no other books around that covers composition with emphasis on storytelling as well as Framed Ink. This is a whole book devoted to the subject, as compared to other books (on storyboards) that usually have only one or two chapters.

Although the illustrated examples are mainly movie composition, the techniques can be applied to animation, movies and even graphic novels. Every technique comes with a concise breakdown. You get to understand how and why shots are framed in a certain way, or how to create compositions to create a certain mood. There are also tips on lighting and continuity.

Over 200 beautifully illustrated examples are included. And they are really good examples. Just by looking at the examples alone, without even reading the commentary, you already get a good idea of what's happening.

Marcos Mateu-Mestre has distilled his 20 years of experience and knowledge into an accessible package you shouldn't miss out on.

This is the essential how-to book for storytellers, or for anyone who needs to put images on screen or on paper.

Highly recommended.

[FillMarc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Framed Ink is an instructional book teaching techniques in storytelling in film-animation or live action, and includes a small section on techniques for comic book pages. It's ideal for those wanting to get into storyboarding in any media. I found the writing to be very clunky and maybe a little too wordy. It's obvious that English is not Marcos Mateu-Mestre first language. The ideas are clear and understandable but maybe could have been stated more simply. Most of the information is fundamental to visual storytelling and I've already gotten them from other resources like Bruce Block's The Visual Story or from classes in Storyboarding. I think the book's best feature is the illustrations. He's definitely got draughtsmanship skills and the ability to compose an image with a lot of detail, visual clarity, and appeal. It might as well be an "Art of" Marcos Mateu-Mestre showcasing his illustrations. Most of the principles I think could be discussed more at a deeper level but maybe that's up to the reader to glean from the images.

[Mahatab Rashid · Rating 5 out of 5]

the more I learn, the more I realize how insignificantly little I actually know.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you’re drawing a sad scene, and your character lays their head on a table to weep. When it’s done, the piece looks really tragic. You show this page to your friend who says, “why’s she sleeping?” You’re immediately mad. Your art doesn’t say what you wanted it to. Now what?

Buy this book. Honestly, I think everyone whose spent time learning to draw will benefit from reading Framed Ink.

Whether you’re drawing for a graphic novel or just drawing a moment in time there’s emotions and subtleties you want to convey. Instead of hoping your audience gets what you’re going for, just read this book. Marcos does a great job giving you the tools to use the language of composition clearly and concisely. Mastering this will leave no room for ambiguity and make sure people get what your art is trying to say.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really sharp and clear setting out of compositional principles for storyboard, animation and comics. The author, in beautiful art, lucidly explains the visual language of the frame and reveals the structure beneath the surface that allows visual storytellers to guide and support the unfolding of drama on the screen and page. If you are an animator, filmmaker, storyboard artist, comic artist or graphic novelist, then there is a wealth of insight and information for you here.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great look at the flow of a comics page and techniques to guide the readers eye. Of course this is also a good advertisement for the artist and his work. I'm curious to read some of the comics he highlighted here. Some amazing work.

[Mackenzie_Tbh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an eye-opening experience to say the absolute least about this book. Marcos Mateu-Mestre shares his exceptional first-hand knowledge of visual story telling in a profound yet concise way that allows the reader, whom I am presuming to be a storyteller be it through art or film, to immediately integrate the mentioned practices into their own work.

If you're an artist aiming to break into the industry scene, already working in the field, or if you're just a hobbyist- I cannot recommend this enough.

[estrawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dis book helped me cook up some nice compositions and helped me understand things more when reading manga/watching movies. I’ve been able to study shots better AND IT JUST OVERALL IS AN AMAZING COMPOSITION BOOK FOR BEGINNERS ESPECIALLY IF UR INTO COMICS BUT ITS USEFUL BEYOND JUST THAT! THANK YOU! 🫵🏻🩷🌸🎀🖋️

[Ailin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful tool for visual storytellers. Seriously this book is recommended to you by any and everyone you’ll ask for advice.

Finally had a full read thru after a decade of owning it and dragging it around with me.
Immensely inspiring and helpful.
Now I have a more conscious idea and plan for my storyboard, thanks!

[Olivia]

Great resource for improving emotional storytelling visually.

[Emma Whear · Rating 5 out of 5]

The effects of light... motion... framing...
Never thought about any of this before.

Wild. Cool.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnifico libro de Mateu-Mestre en donde no solo aprendemos la parte más técnica a la hora de componer una imagen, viñeta o fotograma, sino a como representar las sensaciónes y emociones de nuestras ideas, cómo simplificar y pensar en los elementos importantes que hay que añadir dentro de un fotograma para que se represente de la forma más clara posible la idea de tal manera que cautive y guíe al espectador durante toda la historia. Saber que cada plano es importante, que tiene algo que contar dentro del marco global de la historia.

El libro no es muy largo sin embargo cada página tiene información útil que absorber y el autor lo expresa de una manera clara con ejemplos dibujados.

Los contenidos del libro van desde a entender que es el Storytelling, los diferentes tipos de cámara con sus respectivos usos, la aplicación de la iluminación para transmitir y resaltar las diferentes partes del plano, como componer el fotograma para guiar al espectador dentro de un único plano o una secuencia de planos. La última parte de libro encontraremos información sobre la creación de personajes y el uso de Storytelling para las novelas gráficas.

Conclusión, libro totalmente recomendado!

[нєνєℓ ¢ανα · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable resource of wisdom and performance, like a treasure trove for comic artists and animators. This is indeed a great look at the flow of a comics page and techniques to guide the readers eye in a beautiful performance. A really sharp and keen and clear setting out of compositional principles for storyboard, animation and comics. Of all the art books I own and the classes I've taken, this one, all by itself tops them all. Obviously this is also a good ad for the artist and his work. The author, in beautiful art, insightfully explains in a telling how the visual language of the frame works and it reveals the structure beneath the surface that allows visual storytellers to guide and support the unfolding of drama on the screen and page. If you are a storyboard artist, an animator, a comic artist, a filmmaker, or a graphic novelist, then this is your place to be. There is some sort of richness and insight for any artist to find right here. I wonder what will you think and react as you find here some of the famous comics he highlighted on the spot. Some are indeed an amazing as well as a beautiful work.

[Dominika · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the subject matter is primarily for graphic novels, the aspects of cinematography covered could easily be applied towards photography or film. This was a super quick read for me, but I image the majority of the value of this book would be as a reference material in both the creation and critic of visual storytelling. The explanations are simple but the author does a good job building upon the fundamentals and covers a lot of material. I feel like this book may only scratch the surface, but I've always been interested in cinematography and shot composition for both drawing and photography, so this was a good way to dip my toe in the pool.

[Hesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for solving any number of visual composition problems. It assumes anyone referencing it already has a solid grasp of the fundamentals, but it relays the material so clearly and concisely that artists of all skill levels can benefit.

Dinging off a star for lack of exercises, although those can be easily extrapolated from the included examples. I suspect I'd have been less parsimonious had the book's focus been less oriented toward graphic novels.

[Eric Basir · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable resource. Of all the art books I own and classes I've taken, this one tops them all.

[Michael Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcos Mateu-Mestre’s Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers is a guide to how images work, either stand-alone or, most importantly, in sequence. Overall, an amazing set of examples that leaves the student with the work cut out — it’s a quick read, but hours upon hours of study must follow.

Best-bit: composition for a specific goal.

What I liked:
+ Single image material covers: atmosphere, lighting, negative space / chiaroscuro, lenses, putting all together into a checklist.
+ Material on the still composition with multiple images covers: establishing shots, camera work (looking down, upshots, POV shots, action shots, fixed focal point), use of the negative space (plus concealing and revealing to good effect), order vs. chaos in composition, simple vs. complex features, flow (curve vs. angular), scale (big / medium / small, plus progression), using multiples of a single object, time (day / night), intercutting, icons, plus numerous explained examples.
+ Material on motion covers: camera movement and reasons for it to move, various pans (horizontal or establishing shot, vertical or epic shot), various camera locks, the interaction between camera and landscape.
+ There is much material on continuity.
+ There is a bit of material on graphic novel elements: panels, pages, balloons, onomatopoeia, plus a compressed tour of designing characters.

What I didn’t like:
- This is an excellent reference book, but learning takes much more than what is explained.
- The material is aimed at dramatic, even heroic characters and situations. This fits nicely with Hollywood movies and Marvel comics, but leaves a large gap if your characters or goals are different. (I can’t see Jimmy Corrigan or Ghost World or American Elf being created using this method.)
- The material is uneven.

[krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

as someone who hasn't studied composition very thoroughly (and any great knowledge imparted by art classes years seems to have mostly fled), this is an extremely useful and elucidating volume. loved the many examples, and, for the most part, clear explanations. there were several instances where I foundered in the reading of some visual elements provided as additional delineations of space in examples with multiple scenes, and I feel those were important elements to miss. those broader explanations for camera placement apply as a knitting structure for the rest of the book's concepts. I also would have liked further or continued examples for some of them (perhaps mainly the ones with the unclear spatial direction?).

the bulk of the book, composing shots with a purpose, I found tremendously valuable. clear examples and explanations, along with pure b&w thumbnails of the most basic shapes/light (like, a white background with a black arrow kind of simple).

another note is the representation, which as far as I can tell skews thin and busty or muscular, white, and able-bodied. there is one sequence of panels set forth as taking place in 1940s Shanghai with two people, but aside from that I can think of two Black people among the... 30?+ people.

[Sanket Hota · Rating 5 out of 5]

Framed Ink is an instructional book which mainly focuses on composition. You wont find topics on rendering or mediums. It doesn't have exercises, albeit one could imitate the panels to assimilate the techniques. Mateu presents an assortment of cinematic shots - with detailed breakdowns into shapes, values, lighting, lines of action, and the general holistic affect - that can be handy to anyone interested in visual storytelling viz. photography, animation, sequential art, storyboarding, and cinematography. He shows how we can create an immersive scene, through contrast and continuity. He goes over how varying the camera angles, perspective, and the width of lens can add to the drama.

As I have recently started digital painting, this book has become my vade macum. It has considerably helped me improve my thumbnailing skills. This is the type of book that I wish I had read earlier: it would have bailed me from woolly thinking, whilst drawing, when I was grasping for tools that I didn't know existed.

[Leander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een boek over striptekenen dat ontwikkeld is door iemand die zich voor specialiseert in animatie. En dat merk je. Dit boek richt vooral op het creëren van een sterke compositie, in illustraties die vaak meer weghebben van een storyboard dan van een strip paneel.
Compositie is iets waar de beginner vaak nauwelijks over nadenkt en min of meer op instinct doet maar als je wil dat je panelen echt impact hebben moet je daar eigenlijk vanaf het eerste moment mee bezig zijn. Detail is daarbij nog van geen enkel belang.
Een aanrader, deze, en een extra grote aanrader voor als je comics wilt maken in een noir stijl.

[Ljjr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended everywhere I looked when it comes to learning composition, and I understand why.

Every concept explained in this book is illustrated, which really helps driving the point home. It is mind-blowing how many things can go into the design of a single picture, let alone when you use several ones to tell a story.

It's a great book, but it goes way beyond the scope of what I was reading it for. I will probably need to read it again at a later stage, and maybe it will get 5 stars then.

So, the missing star here may be more because of me that because of the book.

[Mya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is superhelpful but is not a book to be read once and put aside, I'm sure I'll have to reference it often for ideas when I get stuck. There is simply too much to consider when composing an illustration. I wish the author went a little further on what shapes are eyecatching though, like as he said diagonals imply movement and S curves draw the eye, and he did mention triangle constructions but is there all there is? Indeed, the book is quite short.

[styxee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга отлично подойдет для тех, кто занимается комиксами или графическими новеллами, потому что детально на примерах проходится по композиционным моментам, направляющим линиям и персонажам. Главная фишка это рисунок от пятна, на котором сразу выделяются основные точки — думаю за это, ее так и полюбила Нова. Жаль, что она такая короткая. Кажется будто это краткий сборник основных моментов, в то время когда хочется углубиться и прочитать обо всем подробнее.

[Katja Vartiainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great. I truly recommend for all indie filmmakers and comic book/graphic novel creators who are learning it all by themselves. This gives you a condensed class of essentials, and probably pushes you to look for new way to make that shot/panel. Marcos Mateu-Mestre's talent is amazing. It' just a a pleasure to watch this illustrations.He brings up the essentials of storytelling- WHY do you want to tell the story?

[Braddy Buns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang. This book was not what I expected. I read the title and thought I’d be picking up a book on inking techniques, but instead I got a master class in image composition and structure. Easy to read, easy to understand, and brilliant all the way down. Just thinking about why I place objects in an image has already helped my drawing, and awareness of that structure also improves my visual media literacy. Excellent book.

[Vanee Angel Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro muy bueno sobre la introducción a la composición cinematográfica, también toca el tema de composición para comic y también la composición para secuencia de tomas.

Le quito una estrella porque a pesar de que tiene información muy muy buena, es un libro muy corto, que no profundiza en los temas que toca.

Pero si que me ha ayudado a mejorar mi composición al momento de hacer fotografías y de dibujar escenas.

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[Nahuel Alvaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo empecé para aprender composición y acabe aprendiendo a pensar. Te muestra lo que ocurre dentro de la mente del artista, que no ve un seguido de viñetas estáticas sino una película con tomas, escenas, movimientos de cámara y transiciones.

Yo nunca quise dibujar un comic hasta que al leer este libro descubrí que tampoco hay mucha diferencia con la creación de una película, solo necesitas buen trazo y imaginación. Y es un poco chiste ponerlo en leído porque lo voy a estar leyendo toda mi vida