Hey there, gang! Here we are again, another Friday, another ramshackle collection of anecdotes and tangents in the guise of comix-related blogging from yours truly! This week we're gonna jump right into another exciting episode of “aw, crap, well lemme think… what have I been up to recently? I ...

Typically I work on my comics and illustration at home in my studio. I know I'll have everything I need on hand, for one. Also I hate and mistrust almost everyone and everything, as working in the service industry for the majority of my adult life has left me ...

Howdy!

I was going to go over the structure of a comedy story, based on the fine book “The Comic Toolbox” by Jason Voorhees.

If you have the interest, I can go into the structure outlined by Jason; he lays out a few different options that you may find useful ...

Ursa Major constellation from Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius

The night sky in southern California has been clear the last couple of nights. When I look up at the sky I see Orion the Hunter and the clear dots that make up the Big Dipper. The night sky shows different constellations ...

image from The Art of Veiling, by yours truly

There have been posts before (I think) about how to go about creating a world, especially when it comes to fantasy settings. You’re supposed, if you want to do it right, to build everything that makes up the world in ...

From the Best of Banes Collection…

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 movie or show. I don't remember which one.
Characters derived from basic shapes can ...

Aight! It's that time again, ain't it? Now we been talking a lot about rules and limitations and discipline and approaches to making your comics and making them better. This week we're gonna step away from all that for a spell and talk about how not making ...

So last week I talked about the basic principles of dialogue, so the recipe to the cake itself. But now I’d also like to talk about that cake’s icing and trimmings- what will make the dialogue we’re writing be fun and distinct and pop in our comic ...

Aight y'all, go ahead and fasten yer proverbial seat belts, on account of we got a lot of ground to cover with this one! Actually come to think of it there ain't really too many proverbs about seat belts; more like I'm stretching out a turn of ...

The Businessman, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I have a certain level of disdain for people who believe that comics and art in general are merely hobbies. When I was much younger and on the receiving end of advice from many well-meaning grown-ups, the word “practical” and the phrase ...