The establishing shot sets up the setting of a scene, of course. It could be a wide shot of a city or a house, or a crowded bar, or two characters at a dinner table.
It'll need more detail than other panels; even in a simpler art style, establishing ...
Establishing Shots
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 10, 2022Using pre-made assets
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Sept. 10, 2021
As I was scrolling through Instagram I saw a video from a fellow comic creator. They were demonstrating how they went about drawing shoes. They opened up a sheet and, here’s the kicker, the sheet was full of shoes at different angles. They just copied and pasted the angle ...
Reverse Engineering Conflict Part One
Banes at 12:00AM, July 22, 2021
Reverse-Engineering Conflict in a Story
part one
Conflict is the basic material of a scene, and of a story. I've talked a lot over the years about structure and genre, and how all that stuff can work.
Another way to create a new story, and new characters, is to ...
Comic Prep Work
damehelsing at 12:00AM, July 4, 2021
One of the things I love the most about comics, is the prep work, which may not be obvious by the countless amount of times that I’ve stated that I’m doing absolutely no prep work as of now for Scorned; but when I worked on Scarred Eden, that ...
Balancing speed and detail
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, May 28, 2021
It is a balancing act when it comes to the level of detail we comics artists like to include in each page and the speed at which we can complete said page. Sitting back and seeing a beautifully coloured render of your work may be satisfying, but is the level ...
Bookending your start - The prologue
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, May 7, 2021
If you’re looking to open your comic by establishing the scene, theme and/or tone of the rest of the narrative then you might consider using “the prologue”. Derived from the Greek term, prologos, meaning, “before word”, the prologue serves as a mini story that is set before the ...
Twitter, outrage and the nature of parasocial interactions - A case study
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, April 16, 2021
Buckle up. This is going to be a dense one.
Social media dominates our lives. In the webcomic community, content is generally in the form of comics, however, we have podcasts, YouTube videos, Instagram accounts and of course Twitter. We immerse ourselves in the online world, broadcasting our efforts and ...
Stuff Wot I Had Not Considered
Banes at 12:00AM, April 15, 2021
I saw a smaller youtuber talking about movies and she mentioned her belief that “Hollywood movies” - like, normal movies I guess she meant - are destructive to our psyche. ‘Our’ referring to we the viewing audience and society at large. She didn't elaborate in the video I saw; I'm ...
Building the stakes
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, April 2, 2021
Not long ago, I wrote about utilising cliffhangers. This week it’s all about them stakes. When it comes to creating a comic, it is important to give a reason for the reader to care about it. Stakes are a pivotal part of that. Cutscene University explains what stakes are ...