What is a character? A miserable little pile of traits! Except no, there is more to a character than a collection of likes and dislikes. There are varying opinions on the importance of character versus plot, with some authors viewing all characters as a mere tool to drive plot forward ...
Don't Sweat The Details
Amelius at 9:27AM, Feb. 3, 2019Convergent Creation
Amelius at 1:15PM, Dec. 9, 2018
Inspiration strikes! A new idea forms, and you're really excited about it. You want to take your time, however– you want this to be great, and no great thing just springs fully formed from one's brow. For years you toil, tweak, refine, moving ever closer to the point ...
The Double Edged Sword of Stereotyping
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 24, 2018
Stereotypes permeate our every day lives. Whether we like it or not, our brains are wired for making quick estimations and judgments based on patterns and pattern recognition.
This very pattern we're looking for to identify at a glance is what a stereotype is. And it's very useful ...
The Importance of Reading Other Comics
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Sept. 7, 2018
At times, you might find yourself struggling to come up with creating new pages and plot lines for your comics. It might but that the structure of page is not as impactful anymore or it could be that a pose that is proving difficult to land. This was the problem ...
The Sacrificial Lion
Tantz_Aerine at 6:09PM, Aug. 31, 2018
One of the toughest tropes in any kind of narrative work, from novels to comics to movies is the Sacrificial Lion - but not for what might be an obvious reason: having to axe a top tier character. It's because the trope is something that will affect and carry through ...
When Feedback Doesn't Come
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 7, 2018
A couple of days ago Banes gave us a wonderful article on the issue of who to please- yourself or the audience, and how that can go very right or very wrong.
So that got me thinking that we should also talk about the dreaded silence. You update a page ...
Using Smart Graphic Design to Soften the Blow of Rejection in an Intelligent Way
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, March 26, 2018
Earlier this week, I was given the opportunity to write a two-weeks notice/resignation letter for a coworker leaving the same company I work. It was an interesting experience and it allowed me to feel the joys of quitting without actually having to lose my employment, but it did make ...
The Importance of Writing a Character with Flaws
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, March 12, 2018In the latest issue of Game Informer, a magazine produced by GameStop in North America, there was an entire article about a new game being released called “Night in the Woods” featuring anthropomorphic animals that exhibit mental health characteristics such as depression and bipolar disorder. This article struck a chord ...
Time for an Upgrade?
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Oct. 2, 2017
When I first started drawing comics in 2007, I had a desktop computer that was mainly used for essay writing and reading webcomics. I had very little drawing programs installed and MS Paint was the program I used for lettering! There was a problem, if I had too many programs ...
The Power of Comments
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 23, 2017
Feedback from your audience has always been important- from the renaissance palace parlors to enlightenment salons to the modern art galleries, how much the audience is pleased by what the creator procures is central.
But in the age of the internet and webcomics, where comics are updated page by page ...