Episode 230: Convention Do's and Don'ts

This week, we recap our creative retreat and discuss focused inking for three pages (3:50), keeping your curiosity through the learning process (13:40), the unspoken language of comics (20:00), drawing versus writing when it comes to thinking (33:00), and things to think about when you thumbnail (40:30), before we revisit talking heads pages (51:40).

This week, we talk about the crucial mid-campaign work for a Kickstarter (6:00), staying locked-in through the pencils stage (15:10), conveying facial emotion (20:20), and commission pieces and the learning curve (28:10), before a discussion on style (44:00).

This week, we talk about separating story from art direction on your pages (7:00), doing your own reference photos (16:00), reflecting on your book when it gets delivered (24:15), working past your minimum output goals (27:30), knowing when to stop for the moment on a story (33:10), and getting completed comic pages back from the artist (40:10) before this week's topic: finishing your first comic (45:30).

This week, we talk about being on the creator side of a Kickstarter launch (6:00), finding those pockets of time in the day be creative (10:30), how to convey story time without burning your story's real estate (17:15), and field notes from Fresno Comic Expo (27:00) before this week's topic: things to consider while drawing (33:15).

This week, we discuss and example of a life experience going directly into a story (5:30), how to address high panel counts for comic pages (14:15), using reference in drawing versus learning structure (25:50), and returning to an aging commission (38:50) before this week's topic: what to think about while writing and scripting (42:30).

It's the five year anniversary! This episode, we review our productivity over the five year duration of the podcast (6:00), the importance of feedback in creative growth (15:45), getting different perspectives (26:20), and so much more on craft and how we as creators evolve. Crack open your favorite beverage and celebrate with us!

This week, we talk about getting to an intimidating page (5:20) and still enjoying it, how experience creates in-writing awareness (11:10), comic script revisions (18:50), turnarounds and a drill for figure drawing (24:00), and this week's topic in the "making your first comic" series - the right amount of work to put in your character before you start scripting (37:30).

This week, we talk about dialing into a feature / detail (3:30), a Kickstarter launch delay and the reasoning (11:15), flatting pages once they're complete (18:05), returning to a daily writing routine (25:40), deciding to go with a pop culture reference (37:30), and getting your first feedback on drawing (41:00) before Part Two of the "Making your First Comic" series: world-building (52:30).

This week, we talk about more of the "office" work you have to do to make books (6:00), making pages off of a partial comic script (15:45), drawing your first page (19:00), reviewing your work to make sure every panel is essential (27:35), planning out future comics and conventions (43:00), then talk about our main topic: the idea and story structure for your first comic (49:15).

This week, we talk about reworking story pages (4:00), keeping a journal and scene scouting (10:20), knowing when the script you left in a drawer needs an update, and making revisions (17:05), figuring out the scene structure for a story (21:10), getting public feedback on cover layouts (29:00), what a professional is (48:00), and finding variant covers in your archives (54:30).