One evening, during a town gathering centered around a glowing tree of light, a mysterious cloaked stranger shows up and removes all the light from the tree before fleeing. The switch to darkness unleashes grim shadow monsters to chase after the townspeople and sends the blue-skin toned community into distress ...

Say My Name

There are titles that fit perfectly with their subject, titles that could fit multiple subjects/contexts, and titles that don't work at all.
Recently I've seen several titles referenced that made me say “I HAVE to see that/read that!”. I'll share those at ...

LISTEN!

In Quackcast 245 we TRY to talk about my idea that fictional characters, stereotypes, tropes and situations in media have influenced their counterparts in reality, and in a lot of ways helped to create them. Fictional stereotypes and tropes are made out of simplified models of things that happen ...

The absolutely incredible gift art I got from fallopiancrusader last year!

We had our first tiny snowfall today (surprisingly late for us), which means that I am officially allowed to start preparing for Christmas! And it wouldn't be Christmas without DRUNK DUCK SECRET SANTA!

I'm doing Secret Santa ...

image by Banes, influenced by lots of things

When I came up with the characters and stories that became my webcomic here on The Duck, I knew it didn't come from a vacuum. But for the most part, it was only after writing and posting stories for several years ...

Xellous and Mijaebah were weary travelers trying to explore an unfamiliar land when they ran into Ailin in a tavern. Ailin offers his help to the pair and it is a good thing he did because they still have a lot to learn starting with the concept of rain and ...

Apparently the difference between “terror” and “horror” was first expressed by writer Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), who said that Terror is the dread and apprehension about something happening, while Horror is the actual encountering the frightening thing.
Maybe this is what they mean when they talk about “suspense” vs. “horror”. Have ...

Lately I've been receiving very few milestones from people! This is just a quick reminder that you (yes, YOU!) can send your milestones or other comic news to myself or kawaiidaigakusei. Don't be shy, even if you feel as though you've sent us multiple milestones in the ...

Thanks to all the judges who have helped to choose our 2015 winners! The judging portion of the awards is now complete.

From Niccea:
“The ceremony will start October 12th. We are looking for volunteers to be emergency presenters. The presentations right now are due October 3rd, and we need ...

CHARACTER SHAPES
I've never consciously designed characters this way, but I recently remembered hearing about this notion some time ago, on the dvd special features for an animated something-or-other.
Characters derived from basic shapes can give a very strong impression of their basic personality type. This can help the ...