Review: New Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain Workbook

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Max West

Those of you who have read my tutorial on how to make comics know that you don’t need to be able to draw to create any comics. But then there are those of you out there who want to be able to draw.

Some of you may not know where to begin. Some of you may decide to seek out books from your local library or friendly neighborhood bookstore. But with so many books out there, it can be hard to choose something that will teach you any solid drawing skills. You want to learn to draw so that you can make presentable comics. Which text should you choose?

One I can definitely recommend is the New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook by Betty Edwards (Tarcher/Putnam, 2002).

Dr. Betty Edwards has written a textbook too of the same name as well as an instructional VHS/DVD.  You don’t need those since the New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook can stand on its own.  They can be helpful though – the video is useful and the book talks more about Dr. Edwards’ theories.  Okay, some of you are wondering why you should care about this book.  How good is it?  Continue reading →

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Why You Need A Business Plan

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Max West

Today, I’m going to talk about an important aspect of the business of comics. What is it? It’s the business plan. I plan to discuss why a business plan for cartoonists is important. (On another note, it’s important for any creative individual – be you an illustrator, a graphic designer, a musician, a writer, and so forth.)

So what exactly is a business plan, you ask? In a nutshell, it’s a blueprint for your enterprise – the what, why, where, when, and how. As I’ve been learning from others in the field, the creative spirit of the fine and/or commercial artist doesn’t seem to blend well with that of the entrepeneur. Some of you know firsthand that creating a comic, painting on canvas, writing a novel, etc. may also entail things like keeping track of taxes, buying supplies, and making runs to the post office. Some of you may not even want to bother with a business plan. Why is a business plan for cartoonists necessary?

Getting down to business

There are three reasons and all are tied into the business of comics.   Continue reading →

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Townspeople Sketches

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Max West

Welcome back, friends. Today I’ve got some concept sketches for the townspeople of Sunnyville. Why am I doing this? Sunnyville Stories episode 6 revolves around a play being put on in honor of the town’s birthday. Many from around town will come to view the play. I’m going to have to draw these characters so it’s important to decide what they may look like.

Character design is important to small press comics. In addition to the practicality, you have to think of your small press comics not as being drawings on a page – they have to be a real world. Populate with people, put in buildings that look like they’ve been there for years, and so on. So what will some of the townspeople look like for Sunnyville Stories episode 6?  Continue reading →

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Jason Smith on Making Webcomics

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Max West

I hope everyone had a good Christmas.  This week’s blog post is a fun one.

The Internet has been a big boon to people like me in disseminating their work.  It’s become even more easier thanks to various easy-to-use blogging platforms such as Google Blogger, TypePad, LiveJournal and especially WordPress.

Do you have your own comic that you want to put up on the web?  Well, say no more! Continue reading →

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Episode 6 Costuming Concepts

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Max West

I’ve got some more sketches here from my sketchbooks on the art I’m planning to use for the sixth episode of Sunnyville Stories. At the time of this writing, I have not yet set a definitive schedule for when in 2012, I will start Sunnyville Stories episode 6. In addition to the planned trade paperback I want to put out, I’ll be working on some personal stuff and the plotting of my likely move to New Hampshire.

Speaking of New Hampshire, it was up there that I did these sketches. It happened during my trip to Manchester just after Thanksgiving.   Continue reading →

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Episode 7 Script Excerpt

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Max West

Well, today I have yet another script excerpt.  This time, it’s from the seventh episode of Sunnyville Stories.  The title of it will be “By Any Other Name”.  It will involve much confusion.  How so?  Well…see for yourself.

SUNNYVILLE STORIES

EPISODE 7 – BY ANY OTHER NAME

By Max West

Everyone listened eagerly to Frederick Von Straussen as he showed off the valuable baubles of his mansion.

“This piece is a rare antique,” the finely dressed dog said, “It once belonged to Louis XVI.”

“Oh, secondhand,” Rusty answered.

The other adults looked shocked at his comment.  

Samantha Macgregor, wearing a pink blouse, darker pink skirt, and a scarf, rolled her eyes.  The butter cream cat then gave Rusty a glare.  The silver tabby in a blue shirt and jeans looked around for approval from his joke, but got none.   Continue reading →

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Is Art School Necessary For Comics?

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Max West

If you want to turn professional at comics, you’re definitely going to need some skills. In addition to business and marketing tactics (which I hope to discuss in the coming weeks), you definitely must have some kind of skills in drawing, writing, and storytelling. After all, a person can’t just get some tools and call himself a carpenter out of the blue. He has to have training and practical hands-on experience.

So where can you get this training for comics? Well, there are art schools out there. Yes, there are institutions of learning that can teach you how to draw, how to paint, how to render on the computer, and so on. But can they help you land a job as a professional? Is art school necessary for comics?  Continue reading →

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Making Comics By Jason Brubaker

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Max West

There’s a new blog in town and it talks about making comics.  While I’ve discussed the subject myself frequently, I thought I’d share this new blog.

Jason Brubaker, creator of reMIND, started up this new blog appropriately titled Making Comics.  It’s self-explanatory and no, it is NOT affiliated with the book of the same name by Scott McCloud (which I did review). 

Continue reading →

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Episode 6 Script Excerpt

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Max West

In today’s blog post, I thought I’d share an excerpt from the script to the sixth episode of Sunnyville Stories which is still in development. My goal is to finish the scripts for episodes 6 and 7 by November 4th. I also hope to set up a schedule for putting out the first Sunnyville trade paperback for sometime next year.

I have already written story treatments for both of those stories as well as for episode 8. So how about that sneak preview?   Continue reading →

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Episode 6 Concept Sketches

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Max West

I’m getting ready for Furfright 2011.  At this time, episode 5 of Sunnyville Stories is at the printers and still being processed.  Some of you may be wondering about the next comic I’m going to do.

The sixth episode of Sunnyville Stories will not be entering production until probably towards the end of this year.  The script in fact only consists of a few sentences!  At present, I’m trying to get ready for Furfright plus I want to work on a business plan so I can turn professional.

A few more characters will be introduced in episode 6.  As for the story itself, it will be titled “Squeeze Play”.  The story involves the Sunnyville Junior Theater Club putting on a play in honor of Sunnyville’s anniversary.  The Junior Theater Club consists of none other than…Rusty, Sam, Margaret, and many of the town’s children.  They’ll be putting on a play of the fairy tale Cinderella.  Now…this wouldn’t be much of a story if they put on the play without any strings attached.

Donna MasonThe character you see here is one of the new ones that will be introduced in episode six.  Her name is Donna Mason, but is known by her students as Ms. Mason.  She’s a young squirrel who is a music teacher at the Sunnyville High School.  She is also the head of the aforementioned theater club.  It is she who chooses Cinderella as their play (after a hilarious session of the students reviewing scripts).  The problem is that Ms. Mason’s job will be at stake.  When Rusty and company learn of this, they vow to wow the whole town with a killer performance so that Ms. Mason can keep her job.  Easier said than done…but that’s all I’m going to reveal.   Continue reading →

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