(Special Thanks goes to our own Chris Flick, for his insights on this article!) Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two years, you know that a new Ghostbusters move was released this year. And you also know that the titular team of ghost fighting characters was gender-flipped from male to female. […]
Well, I did it. I conquered a fear. And Ran a Successful Kickstarter! I’m not trying to brag. Well, maybe a little, but that’s not my point here. But in running my first Kickstarter, I came to realize that I was not alone in my fear of failure, especially the PUBLIC failure that is online […]
In the last two installments, I covered brainstorming/writing/scripting and the basic drawing mechanics used in my graphic novel, El Cuervo. This time, I’m going to show you the process of laying out my pages in a traditional book format, as opposed to the webcomic format. “Why did you do two different methods,” you ask? To […]
There is an art to endings. They can make or break a story. Good endings elevate a work and evoke a emotion that lingers for days. Some endings leave you breathless, eager for more. Others fill us with a deep sense of well-being and comfort. Occasionally an ending will rattle us, prompting deep thought and […]
You toil over your comic. You’ve followed the advice. You’ve written it well or drawn and coloured it beautifully. You’ve updated with consistency and you’ve promoted it online with intensity and genuine excitement. Sounds like a recipe for success, right? Not necessarily. If we’re not in the rarified air of webcomics authors who have been […]
We all want to be as efficient as possible so we can crank out large quantities of quality comics. But have you ever been hit with a brilliant idea or a surge of energy, only to have that enthusiasm drop after you’ve booted up your computer, checked your 20 emails, responded to your Facebook messages […]
Layouts with proper composition will capture your reader’s attention and keep them focused on your comic. If this is done poorly, chances are, you’ve given them the opportunity to exit your page instead of leading them through it. Today, I’m going to show you how to improve the composition of your page layout. This should […]
You’ve finally made it – your comic is successful, you have a decent following and you have been picked up by a major publisher or sold your work and have the necessary funds to finally quit your day job and do what you love and make a comfortable amount of money. From the back of […]
Go team RSS go! Some of you know what we’re cheering about – others are sitting there scratching their heads wondering what RSS is all about. Well, I’m going to show you how easy and beneficial RSS is to your comic, and in another post I’ll show you how to effectively set up some tracking […]
Good day folks. I’m not going to beat around the bush in this article – I’m just going to come right out and say it. A lot of comics you see on the Internet = FAIL. It’s not always due to the people in charge, but more likely because they are lacking a key ingredient […]
Burn out. It happens to everyone. For some, the creative fires burn long and motivation seems to flow like a never ending stream. But one day, everything dries up and you’re left scratching your head and wondering where the magic has gone. This painful affliction haunts us all – much like the common cold, everyone […]
“How did you get so good at drawing?” I get asked this question a lot. The answer is simple. I draw ALL the time. Sure there’s some latent talent that I tapped into, but let’s face it – EVERYONE can learn how to draw. It’s imagining WHAT to draw that is the difficult part. I’ll […]
Hey everyone! I did a video look at how I use layers and some of the effects that I employ when I use them. This is a good next step from Dawn Griffin’s Adobe Illustrator 101 videos (part 1 and part 2) Illustrator Tips, Tricks and Techniques: Working With Layers Hello there! My name is […]
Hey guys! I did me a little video which you could piggyback off of Dawn’s great Digital Techniques series. I discuss some of the pros for drawing in Illustrator: clean lines, editability and the vector-based format, in addition to showing you some techniques such as layer effects, masking, shortcuts, and templates. I didn’t get to […]
Hi folks! Over the next few articles, I’m going to show you all the differences between traditional inking and digital inking. They both have their benefits and inconveniences, but being fluent in both methods will make you a more well rounded artist overall. In this first part, I’m going to show you the basics of […]
Hey there Webcomic Alliance folk! Today we’re going to get under the hood of your WACOM Tablet to boost its performance and increase your production! By making adjustments through the calibration options that come with your tablet, you can easily make it conform to your drawing preferences. For those of you just starting out with […]
In part one of this article, we covered the first five tips for building bad@ss banners. Hopefully that gave you a taste of the potential power by building a banner to get the most for your buck(s). Not to mention, this article is free but clearly is a $100 value – and is not available […]
Starting that Project Oh-So-Wonderful campaign? Advertising on a friend’s site by swapping banners? Making an ad for a cool t-shirt design? Excellent! Just to make sure you’ve crossed your eyes and dotted your tees or something of the sort – let’s run down ten tips on making that banner make clickety-clicks for you. They are […]
Ascenders and Descenders, Widows and Orphans and why should you care? Let’s start with the easy part. You use them every day. Or at least anytime you write something. And I mean write – type or handwritten. Same difference. Ascenders and descenders are more common because they are part of letters. Most of us don’t […]
In essence, this article can save your life. Or it could kill you.