It had been years since I donned my black cocktail dress to spend an evening listening to one of my favorite writers, and that is exactly what I did on Saturday night. The scene was set in Long Beach at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center and I was excitedly waiting ...

Inking: Literally the worst?
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Oct. 9, 2015
This is building a bit on ozoneocean's previous newspost on developing a sketch! For most comic artists, after having perfected a sketch (or at least getting it to an acceptable point) the next step is inking. I don't think I'm alone in saying this is one of ...
Exploring new comic book stores
HippieVan at 12:00AM, July 17, 2015
Recently I had the pleasure of spending a few day's in my country's capital city, Ottawa. Among museum trips, walks along the canal, and an awesome sound and light show at our parliament building, I managed to coerce my best friend into visiting a couple of comic book ...
Guest Post by KimLuster - Mind March
HippieVan at 12:00AM, April 10, 2015
(The following perspective piece may be more representative of a deranged mind than of a model that will actual work – attempt to replicate at your own risk)
A while back there was a discussion here on the Duck about what gives us renewed inspiration for our art, about the sorts ...
Avoiding the Mary Sue (+ a contest!)
HippieVan at 12:00AM, March 6, 2015
This newspost was inspired by this week's Quackcast on testing your writing and knowing your characters. In the comments, KimLuster posted a Mary Sue test and discussed her annoyance in finding that one of her characters scored highly.
So what is a Mary Sue? Everyone sort of knows one ...
Comics for Anti-Comic People
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Feb. 20, 2015
I'm a bit of a comic book proselytizer. When people tell me they don't like comics, I usually take that as a personal challenge. (I have the same reaction when people tell me they don't like cats, but that's another story for another time.) Generally I ...
Love Triangles
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Feb. 13, 2015
I hope that all you lovely DDers are celebrating this Valentine's Day in happy, stable relationships - or happy, stable singledom! As for me, I love a good (fictional) love triangle. What's the point of a love story if it's not unnecessarily complicated, right? Here are some of ...
Traditional Art in Webcomics
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Feb. 6, 2015
We've talked a few times in newsposts and Quackcasts about how tablets have made digital art more convenient than ever. But as much as I enjoy the clean lines and bright colours of digital drawing, when inspiration strikes I still often find myself reaching for my sketchbook and ProMarkers ...
The Importance of a Muse
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Jan. 19, 2015
In Ancient Greece, the Muses were goddesses responsible for the formation of knowledge, namely creativity in the arts, literature, and poetry. They are shown depicted on the side of red-figure pottery and high-relief sculptures. Overtime, the muses have been shown more discretely through various forms of media such as a ...
QUACKCAST 200 - DD community 2014 year in revue
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Jan. 6, 2015 LISTEN!
Content:
OMG this is our 200th Quackcast! It's also the very first Quackcast of 2015! In this DD webcomics community podcast we invited people to tell us about some of the awesome, terrible and interesting things that happened to them in 2014, and tell us they did! Some ...