Le guide du créateur de bande dessinée – How To Create Comics

”Uusi Sarjakuvantekijän oppikirja” (How To Create Comics -book) was published in Finland August 11th 2016.  This is a complete How-to-create-comics book inside one covers. It goes throught the process: from idea and writing to sketching, drawing, inking, coloring, and lettering, including exercises. With traditional tools, also with computers and creative tablets The book also tells how to market and sell your comics to publisher, or to readers, printed or be published in the net. There are lessons about crowdfunding and self-publishing. Focusing also on the practical realities of making/financing/selling comics is not very usual in these kind of books. Normally they focus only in some area of creating process, or explain the process till project is ready. Nothing after that. With my own examples of comics there are 17 other Finnish comics artist showing their techniques and skills in different topics. Many of these artists have already been published outside Finland, including myself. I own all rights to my own material and other artists have promised me I can use their examples in foreign publications.   This book is concentrated to European comics style, which are the most common in Nordic countries. It will attract people who are interested to create it more than manga or superhero comics, which already have several How-to-draw-books in market.   Download Finnish version in screen resolution from here »

The author:
Ilpo Koskela's comics have been published in several Finnish comics fanzines, magazines and newspapers over the past 30 years. There have been more than 20 titles, mostly commission work for professional magazines and newspapers. One of the longest magazine stories was the graphic novel "RAJALINJA" that ran from 2005 to 2009, a story of young football players. At the moment, “Isännöinnin ykköset”, a trade magazine, features “TALOELÄMÄÄ” strip and "Oras Group magazine" features "ORAS VALUES" in five different languages. 

Koskela has made eight graphic novels: “IRLANTILAINEN” 1991, “SARJAKUVAKEITTOKIRJA” with Ari Kutila 1992, “ALEKS REVEL” 1997, “PAHOLAISEN KUISKAUS” 2009, “SANKARITEKOJA AHMAKSELLA” 2013, “RAJALINJA” 2014 and "LUSIA" 2015. "PERÄMEREN JÄHTI", the graphic novel about sailind ships of the 1850s, was published in 2007, and in English "JÄHTI – THE SAILING SHIP OF THE NORTH" in 2008. The book was published under the Berber language title "A?e??abu n ugafa" in Algeria in 2015. This was the first graphic novel ever to be published in Berber language. In 2011 Paholaisen kuiskaus was published in Sweden with the name “DJÄVULENS VISKNING” and 2016 in Algeria with the name ''Astewtew n cci?an''.

His best know novels are stories of  the fictious Estonian adventurer Aleks Revel, the storyline Koskela started already in 1985. During the first seven years the Revel stories happen in the Nordic countries, Spain and France of the 1930s, starring the young Aleks. Later, a more mature Revel in his mid 50s returned in the graphic novel "PAHOLAISEN KUISKAUS" (Finland 2009, Sweden 2011, Algeria 2016). The story happens in Cuba shortly after the Communist Revolution. At the moment Koskela is drawing a new graphic novel about Aleks Revel.

October 2007 Ilpo Koskela's comics artist's guidebook "PIENI OPAS SARJAKUVAN PIIRTÄMISEEN" was released and one year after –  in October 2008 the Sami language version of the same book, "SMÁVVA OAPHIS RAIDÓGOVAID SÁRGUMII" was published. In 2012 it also went to Russia with title “??????? ??????????? ?? ???????? ????????”. In October 2010 the large version of the guidebook project, the fully coloured 156-page “SARJAKUVANTEKIJÄN OPPIKIRJA” was released. This was the first complete “how to draw comics” book to be published in Finland in more than twenty years. A complete new version of guidebook came out in 2016. Including 208 pages, loaded with new and updated information, was named "UUSI SARJAKUVANTEKIJÄN OPPIKIRJA."

Ilpo Koskela's work and originals have been shown in various exhibitions in Finland, Sweden, Russia and Portugal starting from the early 1980s. Outside Finland his comics has been published in eight different languages.

Ilpo Koskela worked as a comics teacher in Oulu Art School for 14 years, and has lectured on writing and drawing comics at many festivals and also at universities. In 1998 Ilpo Koskela was asked to plan the first curriculum for the prospective Comics School provided by Liminka Art School. The Finnish Comics Society granted Ilpo Koskela the title of Counsellor in 2011.

Return to main page »