Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers

From the animator and illustrator behind your favorite DreamWorks and Netflix films, this installment of the Framed series will instruct visual artists to set a scene’s emotion.

Learn how to make the audience feel the story while they’re reading the story. Using his experiences from working in the comic book industry, movie studios and teaching, Mateu-Mestre 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, Mateu-Mestre 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. 

Marcos Mateu-Mestre (born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain) is a lead animation designer and graphic novel artist with more than three decades of experience in feature animation. His film credits include Balto, The Prince of Egypt, Asterix and The Vikings, Surf’s Up, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. His work in film, primarily for DreamWorks Animation, Netflix Animation, and Sony Pictures Animation, has focused on environment design as well as the cinematic aspects of frame composition, lighting, and visual continuity. Beyond his film work, Mateu-Mestre has shared his experience in international best sellers Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers, Framed Perspective Vol.1, Framed Perspective Vol. 2, Framed Drawing Techniques, and Framed Ink Vol. 2—all of which have been translated into numerous foreign languages expanding their reach even farther. He has also taught drawing, illustration, and visual storytelling techniques for more than a decade. Mateu-Mestre currently lives in Los Angeles and works at Netflix, credited as production designer on the feature animated movie Ultraman: Rising.