Writing Tropes: Copy-Paste Plot
Tropes are storytelling devices. Used well, they enrich a story; used badly, they result in the dreaded cliché. This series of articles takes a closer look at some major tropes relevant to comics and the pitfalls they may present. Copy-Paste Plot This is my own title, as I couldn’t find [...]
- Share this:
- Share
The Flow Of A Page, Part 2
Gutters and Borders: Where The Action Really Happens So, here it is, the second installment in my series on ‘The Flow Of A Page.’ Last time we broke it down with panel layouts, both grid and free-form, and talked about ‘The Big Z,’ that is, bouncing the reader’s eye exactly [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Writing 101: Character Creation
Once you have a pitch (which I talked about here) you more or less know the gist of what you are going to write about. However, before you start to actually write you need to sit down and really figure out WHO you are going to write about. There is [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Doug TenNapel & Ethan Nicolle on Making Comics #9 (Part 2)
PART 2 Doug TenNapel, the creator of Ratfist, 13 graphic novels, Earthworm Jim, tv shows, movies and more joins Ethan Nicolle, the creator of Axe Cop, Bearmageddon and Chumble Spuzz to talk with Jason Brubaker about life in comics. This is part 2 of the conversation. If you missed part one then go here —> Doug and Ethan Part 1 Some of the things [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Doug TenNapel & Ethan Nicolle on Making Comics #8 (Part 1)
Doug TenNapel, the creator of Ratfist, 13 graphic novels, Earthworm Jim, tv shows, movies and more joins Ethan Nicolle, the creator of Axe Cop, Bearmageddon and Chumble Spuzz to talk with Jason Brubaker about life in comics. This is just part 1 of the conversation. Part two is here —> Doug and Ethan Part [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Just Make Comics #1: Get The Project Started
Whenever the topic of how to make comics comes up– for instance, via the Twitter hashtag #makecomics, or when this very site was announced– I always lead with the same answer: “Just Make Comics.” What I mean by that is that the best way to make better comics, do better [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Writing Tropes: Naming Characters
Tropes are storytelling devices. Used well, they enrich a story; used badly, they result in the dreaded cliché. This series of articles takes a closer look at some major tropes relevant to comics and the pitfalls they may present. This isn’t a trope per se, but a collection of thoughts [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Basic Digital Lettering with Adobe Illustrator
Today we are going to go over how to letter using Adobe Illustrator. Before we get started you are going to need the art file, fonts, and the template. So go ahead and snag them from the links below. Adobe Illustrator Template Right click and select “save as” to download [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Hand-Lettering a Digital Comic, Part 3
Once you have your lines of text set out, it’s time to launch into the final stage of lettering a page: composing your text on the page, and this is where I think hand-lettering shows a great advantage over font or mechanical lettering: flexibility. Assembling your text from a single [...]
- Share this:
- Share
Doodle Alley
If you guys haven’t seen Doodle Alley yet then check it out. It’s a blog by Stephen McCranie where he draws comic posts about making comics. Here is the first few pages of a post called Make Your Milestones: Read the rest of this series here: Make Your Milestones. Better yet, [...]
- Share this:
- Share