If you’re reading the Geekend blog, chances are you’re also interested in many of the more visual aspects of geek culture–namely, comics, illustration, and sequential art. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at how you can create some of these works for yourself–with a twist of the technical.

We’ll first examine simple figure drawing, pencilling, inking, and coloring and effects using basic analog tools (that is, pencils and pens or brushes) and some more advanced apparatus (software and peripherals).

In the next installment, we’ll take that to the next level: sequential art and comic strips. Later, stay tuned for tips on subject matter, storytelling, pencilling, and computer-aided enhancements such as coloring, lettering, and using Photoshop for something other than visually erasing your ex from last year’s holiday party. After that we’ll tackle using your desktop tools to finish it and post it online for all the world to see.

I’m not promising this mini-course will turn you into a Van Gogh or Picasso if you can barely draw a straight line to begin with, but instead maybe help you develop a spirit more along the lines of a Stan Lee or Brian Michael Bendis–the imagination behind something that’s maybe a little bit great but mostly a lot of fun.