Roadmap Progress Tracker

1. Core drawing skills

Before diving into advanced concepts, I need to make sure my basics are solid.

I’m going back to the basics to build a solid foundation and develop my skills layer by layer.

Because I believe that by developing the understanding of the topics below, I’ll be capable of designing anything from imagination based on this foundational skills, and not only depending on intuition.

• Line quality & control (weight, rhythm, gesture)
• Perspective (1, 2, 3-point, atmospheric, curvilinear)
• Understanding 3D primitives (cube, sphere, cylinder, cone)
• Structural drawing (breaking down objects into simple 3D forms)
• Proportion & measurement (sight-size, comparative measurement)
• Overlap, foreshortening, depth cues
• Spatial relationships (scale, proportion, and rotation in space)
• Constructive drawing (building complex objects from forms)
• Light logic (light source, form shadows, cast shadows)
• Core shadow, reflected light, halftones, highlights
• Value scales (from light to dark, controlling transitions)
• Rendering basic forms (sphere, cube, cylinder, cone in light)
• Chiaroscuro (high contrast lighting for drama)
• Positive & negative space
• Atmospheric perspective (value shifts with depth)
• Contour drawing (blind contour, cross contour)
• Gesture drawing (capturing movement & flow)

Books

• Framed Drawing Techniques – Marcos Mateu-Mestre 
• Perspective Made Easy – Ernest R. Norling
• Creative Illustration – Andrew Loomis (Part 1: Line; Part 2: Tone)
• How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way – Stan Lee, John Buscema (Chapters 2 and 3)
• Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition: Light, Shape, Color, Perspective, Depth, Composition & Anatomy – 3d Total (Light and Shape, p.8; Perspective and Depth, p.132)
• Framed Perspective Vol. 1: Technical Perspective and Visual Storytelling – Marco Mateu-mestre – READING NOW!
• Framed Perspective Vol. 2: Technical Drawing for Shadows, Volume, and Characters – Marco Mateu-mestre (Chapter 1: Shadows on Objects)
• How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination – Thomas Bertling, Scott Robertson
• Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter – James Gurney (Chapters 1, 2 and 3)
• Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist – James Gurney
• How to Render: The Fundamentals of Light, Shadow and Reflectivity – Thomas Bertling, Scott Robertson
• Art Fundamentals: Theory in practice, How to critique and improve your art for better results – 3dTotal

2. Color Theory

When I’m confident enough with the core drawing skill, I can move onto Color Theory.

This is a big one for me… Color Theory has been my nemesis ever since I started drawing and I’ve never faced it head-on to master it.

So here’s where I’ll dive into everything about color, to finally feel confident enough to use color with purpose, not just intuition.

• Color wheel (primary, secondary, tertiary)
• Color properties (hue, saturation, value)
• Warm/cool colors dynamics
• Color harmonies & schemes (complementary, analogous, triadic, split-complementary)
• Local color vs light/color interaction
• Limited palettes (mastery through restriction)
• Color psychology, symbolism, mood & storytelling through palettes
• Cinematic Lighting & Color – mood-driven palettes, narrative use of light.

Books

• Creative Illustration – Andrew Loomis (Part 3: Color)
• Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter – James Gurney
• Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition: Light, Shape, Color, Perspective, Depth, Composition & Anatomy – 3d Total (Color, p.52; Perspective and Depth, p.132)
• Artists’ Master Series: Color and Light – 3dtotal
• Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist – James Gurney

3. Fabric, Material, Texture and Surface Rendering

Over the past few years, I’ve been focused on developing my art style, and what I like the most is semi-realism.

Even though comics usually lean toward a simplified or stylized “cartoony” look, for my graphic novel I’m thinking of going with a semi-realistic style, maybe with a touch of stylization, but definitely something more rendered.

To do that, I need to get comfortable with rendering. So this stage of my roadmap to creating a graphic novel is dedicated to studying everything I need to know about it.

• Drapery types (pipe, spiral, zig-zag, diaper folds)
• Rendering materials (metal, glass, wood, fabric, skin, stone, fur, hair)
• Texture vs detail (suggestion vs over-rendering)
• Surface reflection, transparency, and subsurface scattering

Books

• Framed Perspective Vol. 2: Technical Drawing for Shadows, Volume, and Characters – Marco Mateu-mestre (Chapter 4: Clothing the characters; Chapter 5: Rendering – Thought, process and execution)
• Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter – James Gurney (Chapter 9: Surfaces and Effects)
• How to Render: The Fundamentals of Light, Shadow and Reflectivity – Thomas Bertling, Scott Robertson

4. Composition for Visual Storytelling

Comics are storytelling through composition, so this stage ties directly into paneling and page flow.

Here, I’ll study the core fundamentals of composition, from basics to more advanced topics.

• Rule of thirds, golden ratio, dynamic symmetry
• Focal points & visual hierarchy
• Rhythm & movement in composition
• Balance (symmetry, asymmetry, radial, tension)
• Negative space as design element
• Shape language (organic vs geometric, symbolic meaning)
• Contrast (value, color, shape, texture)
• Visual storytelling through staging
• Atmospheric & color perspective (how air changes things with distance)
• Scale and depth proportion in space
• Staging & clarity (what the viewer sees first)
• Visual symbols & semiotics
• Cinematic framing & shot language (shot types, camera angles, perspective choice)
• Sequential art basics (panel flow, beats, pacing, rhythm & page composition)
• Storytelling through contrast and continuity

Books

• How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way – Stan Lee, John Buscema (Chapter 9)
• Creative Illustration – Andrew Loomis (Part 4: Telling the Story)
• Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition: Light, Shape, Color, Perspective, Depth, Composition & Anatomy – 3d Total (Composition, p.90)
• Artists’ Master Series: Composition & Narrative – 3dtotal
• Framed Ink Vol.1: Drawing and composition for visual storytellers – Marco Mateu-mestre
• Framed Ink Vol.2: Frame format, Energy and Composition for Visual Storytellers – Marco Mateu-mestre
• Framed Perspective Vol. 2: Technical Drawing for Shadows, Volume, and Characters – Marco Mateu-mestre (Chapter 6: Notes on composition)

5. Worldbuilding and Story development

At this point, I’ll already have a clear understanding of the core drawing skills, color theory, rendering, and composition fundamentals.

So here, it starts to get a lot more exciting, because I’m gonna start shaping the world of my graphic novel, from physical aspects to magic, politics and daily life of the people who lives in it.

I’ll put into advanced practice what I learned in the previous stages, by drawing buildings, landscapes, interiors, natural settings and using them not just as backgrounds but as part of storytelling.

• Worldbuilding basics (physical and historical features, culture, religion…)
• Fantasy map making fundamentals
• Architecture (structural drawing, man-made structures, interiors, props)
• Advanced perspective (multi-point, fish-eye, inclined planes)
• Natural environments (trees, rocks, mountains, water, skies, clouds)
• Interior & exterior design (space composition and lighting)
• Prop Design
• Storytelling in environment
• Style and visual identity development (graphic design principals, personality)
• Story structure and outline

Books

• Framed Environment Design: Spatial design for visual storytellers – Marco Mateu-mestre
• How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination – Thomas Bertling, Scott Robertson
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need.

6. Anatomy and Character Designing

When I get to this point, the world is already built, so it’s time to start populating it.

People now have places to live, and the story finally has settings where everything can unfold. So next, I’ll focus on designing the characters, from their backstories to model sheets and splash art.

Anatomy is the art fundamental I’ve studied the most, I love drawing characters. What I need to work on now are more dynamic poses, gestures, and facial expressions.

I’ve mostly been drawing the standard D&D-style character portraits, the regular standing still or predictable poses. It’s time to break out of that comfort zone.

• Gesture & action lines (flow, weight, rhythm, construction balance)
• Proportion systems (Loomis, head units, classical canon of proportions)
• Skeleton structure and landmarks (bones & joints)
• Major muscle groups, their surface, functions, how they flex and overlap
• Hands, feet, head, facial/body expressions (the hardest essentials)
• Foreshortening & dynamic poses
• Stylization & simplification of anatomy for character design
• Dynamic poses, Character posing & acting (gesture + emotion)
• Character Design Mastery – shape language, appeal, personality through design.
• Character design sheet and presentation
• Character splash art

Books

• How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way – Stan Lee, John Buscema (Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)
• Anatomy for Artists: Drawing Form & Pose: The Ultimate Guide to Drawing Anatomy in Perspective and Pose – Tomfoxdraws
• Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition: Light, Shape, Color, Perspective, Depth, Composition & Anatomy – 3d Total (Anatomy, p.174)
• Framed Perspective Vol. 2: Technical Drawing for Shadows, Volume, and Characters – Marco Mateu-mestre (Chapter 2: Characters in Perspective; Chapter 3: Shadows on Characters)
• The Silver Way: Techniques, Tips, and Tutorials for Effective Character Design – Stephen Silver
• Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist – James Gurney
• Sketching from the Imagination: Characters – 3dTotal (for inspiration and observation)

7. Animal and Creature Design

With the understanding of human anatomy, it’ll be a lot simpler to study animal anatomy, and then I can simplify it into forms to create believable creatures by combining different anatomies.

• Comparative anatomy (quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, insects, fish)
• Simplification into 3D forms
• Creature design (combining anatomies logically)
• Function-driven design (believability through anatomy)

Books*

• Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist – James Gurney

*I don’t have a book on animal anatomy yet, but I’ll add one here as soon as I do.

8. Comic Script

When I get to this stage, I’ll have a world where a story unfolds and characters that are part of it. So it will be time to learn about comic script, and actually write it.

• Fundamentals of script writing for comics

Books

• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art – Scott McCloud
• Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels – Scott McCloud

9. Advanced Integration

This is where the fundamentals finally meet comics directly.

It’s the stage where everything comes together. All the fundamentals merge into personal expression.

This is when I’ll finally feel ready to create my graphic novel, confident that I have both the technical foundation to know what I’m doing and a complete script to bring to life.

10. Meta-Skills

Learning all these art and storytelling fundamentals isn’t enough. Right from the start, I need to keep in mind that I also have to develop the meta-skills.

The thing about these is, they’re not just a topic I’ll study at the end. They’re skills I need to be developing and thinking about the whole way through the roadmap.

These are often-forgotten abilities that we artists must develop, skills that keep an artist moving forward in the long run.

• Master studies (breaking down New and Old Masters’ techniques and problem-solving)
• Visual Memory Training: drawing from memory and imagination (study, recall, correct, and refine)
• Inventing worlds (characters, props, environments)
• Creative synthesis (combining all fundamentals naturally)
• Intentional design choices (everything supports story & emotion)
• Design Thinking: not just “copy reality” but “decide what to show and why”
• Efficiency and Speed: thumbnails, fast ideation, visual shorthand
• Critical Analysis: self-critique and analytical breakdown of art
• Discipline and Workflow: practice systems, project-based learning.
• Creative Problem-Solving: pushing beyond references.
• Iterative design (thumbnailing, variation, experimentation: finding unique solutions)

This is my roadmap to creating a graphic novel from scratch: 10 stages that build on each other, starting with the basics, moving into more advanced concepts, and finally bringing everything together through storytelling.

I hope this roadmap inspires and helps anyone who wants to become a visual storyteller, whether you’re creating stories for yourself or aiming to kickstart a career in comics and graphic novels.

Make sure to check back from time to time for updates. As I mentioned earlier, this roadmap will evolve as I keep learning and progressing.

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to follow along, subscribe to my YouTube channel! I’ll be sharing my art and storytelling studies, the ups and downs of the process, book reviews, and more.

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Changelog

• Dec 30, 2025: added How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way to the list, organized the chapters for Stages 1, 4 and 6, and updated the current reading.
• Jan 4, 2026: finished “Part 1: Line” from Creative Illustration, I’ll come back to Part 2 later when I start studying Values. Updated the current reading.
• Jan 9, 2026: I finished reading the perspective part from Art Fundamentals 2nd Edition, and started reading Framed Perspective Vol. 1.