Dynamic Comic Covers!

CREATE COVERS THAT GRAB ATTENTION AND DRIVE SALES

with Shawn Crystal

starts July 11th! sign up now

How important is the cover?

THEY SAY DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT’S COVER, BUT WE KNOW EVERYONE STILL DOES

The cover to your comic is a crucial part of your comics success. It’s the first thing most people see. A well designed cover will have people grabbing it off the shelf, while a less interesting cover can lead to lower sales. This is even more the case now with more and more readers looking for comics to read using digital platforms.

In this workshop two week workshop, Shawn will teach you how to make the type of dynamic comic cover that commands attention and drives sales. You will learn how to approach composition, design, illustration, and color to execute the perfect cover.

Learn how to make your book stand out on the shelf and on the screen with covers that jump.

starts July 11th! sign up now

Everything You'll Receive

AS PART OF THIS TWO WEEK WORKSHOP YOU’LL RECIVE:

Access to the four online live workshop meetups

Two month’s access to the meet up recordings

Live Q&A to ask any questions

Dynamic Comic Cover Guide PDF

Comic cover homework to help you practice what you are learning

An individual comic cover critique from Shawn (Critiques Packages purchase required)

what you will learn!

  • Understanding Comic Covers: What is a cover and what is its role?

  • Types of Covers: What are the cover archetypes and what defines them

  • Developing A Dynamic Concept: Preparing to create a dynamic cover by learning to gather reference and plan out what emotion of message you are trying to capture with the cover

  • Thumbnailing a cover: Learn to assemble all of the needed elements into an interesting and simple composition.

  • Play with shapes: let each idea show you what you need

  • Composition: What do you want the reader to understand about the book from this cover and how do you communicate that with focal points

  • Design: How do you use value and the color palette to create a more interesting composition.

here’s what you’ll get

LIve Q&A and draw overs

Throughout the workshop we’ll gather for relaxed live sessions where you can ask questions, share what you're working on, and get guidance as your scene takes shape.

Guided Video Lessons

A collection of thoughtfully paced lessons you can return to anytime. We’ll move through the full process together, from thumbnail to color comp.

A Step by step approach

This class is built as a step-by-step system you can use on every illustration. You’ll move through each stage of the process—from the first idea to the final image—learning how to make better design decisions at every step.

A Community of ARtists

You won’t be drawing alone.

Inside the class space you’ll be able to share progress, exchange ideas, and cheer one another on. Often the most magical part of the workshop is seeing what hte other students come up with!

Workshop schedule

July 11th

Morning Session

  • Lecture: Theories and concepts of comic book covers.

Afternoon Session

  • Live Demo: Walking through a cover from concept to finish

    Homework: Create a colored thumbnail of your cover

July 18th

Morning Session

  • Student Critique Session (must purchase critique package to have your work reviewed)

Afternoon Session

  • Finish Student Critiques

  • Final Q&A session

July 16th

Homework Due: Students who purchased the Critique Package must turn in their work by

“This class totally changed everything for me! my process is so much smoother now and the end result is amazing! I’ve never seen this content anywhere else”

— Will Laney, Student 2025

Meet Shawn

Shawn Crystal is an artist and a teacher. His creative passions stem from his love of hip hop, comics, street art, and illustration. His childhood dream was to draw comics for Marvel and DC Comics, a dream that came true on such titles as Batman, Spawn, X-men, Deadpool, Mother Panic, Guardians of the Galaxy and many more! He is also the  Co-Host of The Inkpulp Podcast alongside Eric Canete and Matteo Scalera. Shawn has also created Inkpulp Instruction, an online educational resource that teaches anyone interested to improve their skills as a storyteller and illustrator. He is currently working in Comics and Video games as an illustrator and storyteller.

  • Once purchased you will have access for 2 months to the workshop content

  • The Dynamic Comic Cover Workshop is for both beginner and experienced artists. It's designed to be a resource you can revisit as you build your skills. Advanced artists and professionals can apply the techniques immediately to enhance their work, across many forms of visual art. It is adaptable to whatever kind of work you want to make.

  • The workshop begins on July 11 with two live online sessions. You will then have one week to work on the homework assigned. On July 18 there will be be two final sessions. The morning sessions will start at 7am PT/10am ET and the afternoon sessions will begin at 11am PT/2pm ET.

  • There will be one main homework assignment given on July 11. Students will then have the next week to complete and share their work. Students who have purchased the Critique package will need to submit their homework by 7am PT/10am ET on July 16.

  • No, the Dynamic Comic Covers Workshop and the SVSLearn subscription have very different formats and goals. Dynamic Comic Covers is designed as a focused, 2-week workshop with 4 live sessions. SVSLearn, on the other hand, is geared toward building general illustration skills through self-directed learning.

  • If you're not already a member of SVSLearn, a student account will automatically be created for you upon enrollment. This is where you'll access the class content, livestream details, and private group chat. Please note that the lessons will be released in two batches over the course of the class. You can do the lessons at your own pace, and you'll have the opportunity to join 3 livestreams with the instructor to ask any questions you may have.

  • Only students who purchase the Critique Package will receive individual feedback from Shawn. Students will also be encouraged to post work to the workshop chat and to give each other feedback there.

  • The workshop is structured around 2 days of live sessions with a week between to complete the homework, but you can take as much time as you need to complete the homework (unless you paid for the critique package). You'll have access to the content for 2 months after the class is over, so we encourage you to go at your own speed and focus on creating your best work.


  • 100% refund if canceled by the first day of class.

    50% refund if canceled by the third day of class.

    No refunds after the third day of class.

    But you’ll love it so much you won’t need one!

  • Photoshop, Procreate, or ClipStudio all work great. The techniques also work for traditional media.

Frequently Asked Questions