ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

BlueSky is beginning to feel like Twitter did ten years ago! Engagement is up, conversations are genuine, and follower counts...
Read More
Understanding social media

Understanding social media

Social media is among an independent artist's most frustrating elements. We struggle for engagement, wage constant battles with "The Algorithm,"...
Read More
Writing humor

Writing humor

Writing comedy is a challenge that is made even more daunting by the fact that humor itself is completely subjective...
Read More
CMYK vs RGB

CMYK vs RGB

If you're saving your comics in RGB mode, you may be making a potentially expensive mistake. The content you are...
Read More
ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

Cartoonists Dave and Brad share some thoughts with a young humor writer trying to find their Funny. Also: Is BlueSky...
Read More
ISBN — a beginner’s guide

ISBN — a beginner’s guide

An ISBN is a 10- or 13-digit number used to identify a book from a specific publisher. Once your book...
Read More
How to write a Halloween joke

How to write a Halloween joke

On Substack, a cartoonist was struggling with writing a Halloween joke. He was experiencing a common problem. He was stuck...
Read More
Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

when it comes to your audience, size doesn't matter. A small and engaged readership beats a huge, lukewarm audience every...
Read More
ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

Having wrapped up his 16th Kickstarter, cartoonist Dave Kellett shares some insights about setting realistic expectations, avoiding paid advertising, and...
Read More
Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Selling original art is an integral part of the business model of an independent cartoonist who works with traditional media...
Read More

Scanning and coloring lineart

As we discussed last week, preparing your images for CMYK printing is going to factor into your future as you grow your webcomic business. As such, let’s take a detailed look at some of the specific challenges faced when trying to print comics in color.

First, I’m going to assume that you’re scanning black-and-white lineart in for coloring via Photoshop or some other image-manipulation software. If you’re working in Photoshop using a tablet, feel free to skip ahead. If you’re scanning in full-color paintings, you’ve got a level of complexity I’m not sure I’m qualified to comment upon!

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 25, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
18 Comments

Color Primer: CMYK vs RGB

Building on an excellent discussion of color in the Private Forum, I want to take a moment to bring the topic out front and try to drill a little deeper. I’m going to discuss color mode today. Next week, I’ll hit scanning/coloring and image resolution.

First, we’ll start with the age-old conundrum of CMYK vs RGB.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 21, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
37 Comments

Christmas Cards

Last year, I launched a couple of Christmas cards and the response was so overwhelming, I vowed to start earlier next year so I could take advantage of this opportunity better.

Aaaaaaand it’s already late-October, so this post is as much for me as it is for you. People tend to purchase their Christmas cards in late-November, so if you want to maximize your sales, you’d better get into the spirit now.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 20, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
7 Comments

Breaking the Fourth Wall

I think sometime around 2003, the Mayor of the Internet passed a mandate that declared that every new webcomic had to begin with the characters speaking directly to the reader, explaining that they were cartoon characters and the reader was reading a comic.

So, having seen it done so often, I might be a little harsh on the concept of breaking the fourth wall. I think it should be done as seldom as possible.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 19, 2010
Posted In: Writing
24 Comments

Re-subscribing to Webcomics.com

As we near our one-year anniversary in January, I wanted to take a moment to mention a few things about your Webcomics.com subscription.

First of all, THANK YOU. This has been a phenomenal experiment — and a wildly successful one. And a huge part of that success is due to you for your investment, your participation, and your promotion. I’m eagerly looking forward to making this bigger and better in 2011.

Next: A question I’ve gotten from time to time that needs to be cleared up. Your subscription is for twelve months — not the calendar year. So, if you signed up in July, your subscription will be live until next July.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 18, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
 Comment 

Healthy Hands

This piece was kindly submitted by J.R. Faulkner, and is sourced by Katherine Shanta Wehrli, Certified Yogini and Wellness Coach. 

Ages ago there was a string on the forum asking for tips on keeping healthy hands. Not being a fitness professional myself, but knowing quite a few excellent ones, I went to Katherine, (a friend and trainer at my gym) looking for some advice to share. After giving her some generalities about the worst of the artist/writer lifestyle, (long hours of sitting, drawing, typing, excessive caffeine, deadline driven stress, frequent late nights and let’s face it, some pretty unhealthy snacking habits) Katherine put together this terrific little program to help us get a little more activity into our daily lives, reduce our stress, amp our creativity and strengthen our most important tools – our hands!

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 14, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
12 Comments

Humor me, learn some grammar

Writing humor is impossible to teach. Funny is indefinable.

But, as I’ve said before, there are some strategies you can use to help guide your writing towards finding your own Funny.

Here’s some great advice I picked up a long time ago: If you want to write better humor, learn grammar.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on October 13, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
5 Comments