Emma is sick today so I'm subbing in! My topic is about art: 5 areas to work on that will help you become a better comic artist.

Practice:
The first and most important is practice. The more you do the better you get. Draw every day and try new ...

Reflection Characters

When I was doing a little reading on the “Mentor” character type, I learned about something called “Reflection Characters”. It was an eye opener; I'd never heard of this before, though I could instantly see how it made sense in storytelling, and dozens of examples came to ...

In just three days, 2019 will be in the past!

Often this is the time to make our obligatory “resolutions list” for the year to come, usually from looking back and seeing just what we didn't achieve in the year that is ending.

Making tallies of things we need ...

As another year draws to a close, I'm once again thinking about how much time is flying by, more and more quickly the older I get.

Weeks whiz by like mad these days, and how quickly we've reached the end of the year reminds me that YEARS are ...

Last week I wrote an article about the Siamese Cats from Lady and the Tramp and several commenters brought up the jive-talking birds from Dumbo as something that was once acceptable and is no longer acceptable.

The most recent Tim Burton Dumbo cut out the crows entirely, but then there ...

It's a sad day for Smack Jeeves and independent webcomics comics in general.
In case you haven't heard Smack Jeeves was acquired by a Korean mobile content company NHN. They've proceeded to minimise the community there and hijack the platform to promote a selection of sleek, generic ...

A flashback is when the story is interrupted or placed on hold to present an event that occurred prior to the events of the narrative. They are used to explain a character’s history with another character or explore a particular relationship with a place and/or object. Using a ...

Nowhere to Hyde

Last time we talked about characters who are not what they seem. Folks who are introduced one way but are revealed to have a secret nature, or hidden depths, or a hidden agenda.

Another type of “hidden side” I enjoy is a little less universal, but can ...

Last time we talked about motivation in people, and its relationship to behavior. And I must say you all had great comments I feel deserve to be addressed, so instead of a four-part tour to the world of what makes people tick, I will add a fifth part where I ...

An alternate universe (AU) is, in case anyone isn't aware, a story taking place in a fantastical, alternate historical timeline that usually kicks off from a specific event in actual history that takes a different turn from the one that it did in reality.

Alternate universes are fascinating. From ...