The "KIRBY CRACKLE"

[Bruce Lee]

I prepared this little tutorial for a fellow over on Critical Mass who's had difficulty grasping how to construct the "Kirby crackle" (also known as "Kirby dots"). I think it might be of benefit to some of you here also. I can't recall the subject coming up here before, so here goes--

The "Kirby dots" or "crackles" are tough to do--especially if you haven't tried to do them before, or aren't overly familiar with Jack Kirby's work. A lot of comic artists use the "Kirby dots" when conveying massive amounts of energy, but saddly, only a handful seem to really understand the proper way to do it.

I prepared this quick tutorial for you in hopes it would shead some light on the subject:


The first thing I did was to decide where my blast radius would be. In light pencil (in red here, for your convenience) I doodled in the blast radius around the flying vehicle.

The actual "Kirby dots" should take place around the actual projected rays of the blast (indeed it should frame your blast), so with that in mind, the next thing to do is to start adding in the largest "dots." Here, I've started from at the outer most corners of the panel. Notice that the larger "dots" are generally found at the panel's edge. As I move in towards the center of the blast, I make the "dots" slightly smaller. The smallest "dots" are located near the blast impact.

What makes the "Kirby dots" work is not the dots themselves, but the NEGATIVE SPACE around the dots. Notice how the negative space between the dots should look like lightning or energy. Well, that's the effect that is desired, and it's the entire point of adding in all those "dots". The "dots" make the "crackle" of energy.

One thing to remember when doing the "Kirby crackle" is that you want the effect to look somewhat random and natural--certainly not mechanical--so throw in the occasional large "dot" cluster near the blast radius and have several dots overlapping here and there from time to time.

I hope this sheads some light on how to approach the "Kirby crackle."

Loston
http://www.lostonwallace.com

[Robin Riggs]

Thanks for posting this, Loston. I'm constantly amazed at how many professional pencillers seem to have no idea how to do this effect properly. From studying Kirby's 60's work it's evident that this technique evolved out of the way he drew explosions by rendering the billowing smoke behind rather than the flash itself. As he did more and more "cosmic" stuff it evolved into the crackle around energy. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot of artists who can't grasp the concept of defining a positive shape by rendering the negative and so as they copy the surface rendering on figures without understanding the underlying anatomy they copy the "Kirby dots" without understanding what they are meant to define. It's reached a point where I cringe when I see someone just draw a few black dots floating around something and think this is somehow a shorthand for energy.

[Bruce Lee]

Robin,

You are right about the evolution of the "Kirby crackle", Robin. I'm always amazed by how Kirby's work influenced and altered comics as a medium. It's incredible to me that one guy could do so much for an industry.

Yeah, I unfortunately see a lot of the "new guys" who don't seem to fully understand the "Kirby dots". I recall several of my instructors at the Kubert School commenting about how many modern artists simply didn't grasp many of comics basic concepts, but instead, were only rapped up in surface elements. It's my hope that PJers won't fall into these kinds of traps, and a board like this one is perfect for countering such things.

Loston
http://www.lostonwallace.com

[Inkthinker]

I remember the crackle... I love that effect

Grasping negative space is one of those skills that too many artists bypass, out of what I can only assume is laziness... though why anyone would hesitate to add another technique to their repetoire is beyond me.

[TheFightingFoetus]

Kirby had lots of great shorthand squiggles. I really like his water effects.

[kuje]

Thanks for posting that, Loston. I, honestly, had no idea how to use that effect, and I never even tried. I only remember seeing it in a few comics. Now I'm trying it out a bit in my sketchbook, hoping it'll help make some of my stuff more dynamic. Thanks again!

[Tony Moore]

i think the most overlooked aspect of the kirby bubbles is indeed that those little clusters are most often used to define the negative space around energy of some sort. when employed correctly, i think it's one of the most interesting and powerful shorthand conventions that the comics medium has developed. Use it wisely, or otherwise it makes no sense and just looks like one of those superficial tricks that comic artists pull out when they don't know what else to do.

-T

[Steampunk]

ok, i just saw this dave johnson cover and was reminded of this topic...

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0208/09/mc.jpg

the idea of the dots being negative space around energy makes sense to me...it seems right, and i totally get it when it's in black and white, but what happens when colour is added? they way that johnson (i assume he coloured it too?) did the energy around this sword looks like the dots themselves are the energy...

so despite johnson's godliness (at least on these boards ), does he not understand the crackle? or am i just confused?

[Robin Riggs]

No I'm afraid he really doesn't get it at all. That's one of the worst uses I've ever seen. The yellow outline he's given the dots effectively turns them into a two dimensional object attatched to the side of the sword.

[SenorSwanky]

Yeah, he's a brilliant artist but that's terrible.