Making Comics

Twittering for creators: using Tweetdeck to build your career

PS I did a find/replace on the page so every instance of the T-word was replaced with Mastodon. Nothing in the screenshots exists in the Fediverse, and eventually I will update this for Mastodon. I’ve been on Mastodon for 13 years, or so Mastodon informed me recently. I’m surprised it’s still here; there were so many attempts at social media that came & went in the early days. Anyone remember FriendFeed or Twibes? All they were was just dust in the wind, dude. Note: feel free to skip ahead to the headlined sections. Today I’m not focused on copywriting and I’m … Continue reading

The 100 Days of Character Design Challenge

My character design sucks – so I decided to do something about it: a 100 Days of Character Design Challenge. I’ve been pondering my self-doubt & self-criticism and a lot of it stems from my character design – or lack thereof. I’m unhappy with my figures, expressions, clothing, you name it. And the lack of character design is holding up the graphic novel pitch packet for my OGN. I know that if I drew one character a day for 100 days that I will automatically be better at the end – thus the challenge. This wouldn’t be my first 100 … Continue reading

Working on a graphic novel pitch packet

This past summer, I had a goal of creating a pitch packet for my spooky middle grade graphic novel. Somehow I managed to lose sight of this goal, likely due to some fear-based procrastination. I’ve noticed throughout my life that when I’m just about to take the next step in a creative endeavor, I just avoid it and shut down. Last week during Thanksgiving I decided that I had to get it finished by January 1. It wasn’t a huge project, and it’s one that I want to get published traditionally. I figure that an agent can help me iron out the kinks, or perhaps … Continue reading

How to Pitch a Graphic Novel

You ever wonder how to pitch a graphic novel? Lately I’ve been in thinking about how to make the change from thinking about completing a project to actually completing it. Big projects like a graphic novel are daunting; I’ve found it helpful to break a big project into smaller tasks. If you work steadily and simply focus on the task at hand, you can get the project done, rather than flailing about haphazardly. I have many story ideas. Some are destined for this site as a webcomic, and others are ones that I’d like to see published traditionally or kickstarted. … Continue reading

A peak at my ever-evolving #comics #webcomics #process…

I was unhappy with the thumbnails (aka the rough sketch of a complete page). So I opened up the thumbnails in Clip Paint Studio (the app formerly known as Manga Studio) and Mischief.Mischief has a neat Window Opacity feature where you can use it while seeing everything that’s beneath it. I saw all of the elements in the page I wanted to fix without having to flip back & forth between two programs – cool! Mischief is quickly becoming my go to app for sketching & ideation. The infinite canvas, near infinite zooming & being able to navigate everything using … Continue reading

Predicting the future

I’m a member of the Webcomic Underdogs group on Facebook and the last Sunday of every month is Self Promo Sunday. We get to link to our webcomic and answer a few questions – this is my prediction for the near future 🙂 Read the rest of the response and find some cool webcomics at Making Comics!

Comic writing advice from Lilah Sturges

In 2011, I went to my first comic-con- Wizard World in Austin. It was fun and something I took my older kids (then 9 & 6) for half a day too. I didn’t go to very many panels but one has stayed with me: Wizard Writing School with Lilah Sturges & Nathan Edmonson. I’ll admit that I had no clue who either was and I only went to the panel out of mild interest. But it sparked something in me. I don’t remember anything they said; what stayed with me is Hey – I can do that too. So recently I’ve been reading … Continue reading

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Welcome!

I realized I needed an artist site because my webcomic Fried Cheese Balls is so topical that posting about anything not related to India or Indian culture just seems off-topic. That site needs to have a tight focus – and I needed a place where I could get on my soapbox & shout to my heart’s content. Plus I don’t want to perturb older Indian folk who might be genuinely offended by shits & fucks (see what I did there Rocco?). I can imagine them now, all saying I have a foul mouth, all the while shaking their fist or making gestures … Continue reading