Art & Story 119 – The Big Dynamism Art & Story 119 – The Big Dynamism

Inspired by some recent sketches we’ve been working on at the Go! Go! Illustration sketch blog, we tackle the subject of dynamism in comics storytelling. That is to say, how to achieve a sense of movement in our images despite their static nature. We break our discussion into the following realms of concern: Construction Finding the “moments... [Read more]


Art & Story 118 – The Big iPad Art & Story 118 – The Big iPad

We jump off of the excitement over today’s news about the new Apple product to have a discussion about what this new device means for the independent creator/publisher, and what it could mean for publishing in general. For the sake of framing the discussion, we feel obliged to point out that we’re operating on the following premises: Apple... [Read more]


Art & Story 117 – The Big Ka-Blam Art & Story 117 – The Big Ka-Blam

It’s a special live recording this week with Barry Gregory and Thomas Florimonte of Ka-Blam Digital Printing, IndyPlanet, and ComicsMonkey! We start with an overview of their print on demand services, how IndyPlanet works as an online fulfillment service, and what they hope to achieve with their latest endeavor, the ComicsMonkey distribution service. Throughout... [Read more]


Art & Story 116 – The Big UP! Fair Art & Story 116 – The Big UP! Fair

We’re joined by Kevin Cross and Sara Turner to formally announce the first annual UP! Fair to be held in Lexington, Kentucky this November 19-20! We spend an hour or so discussing our vision for the event, the philosophy behind it, and how you can get involved. If you are an independent cartoonist, we think you’ll get something out of this... [Read more]


Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 6 Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 6

We’re back with another installment of the Your Comic From The Ground Up series, and this time it’s all about the inks! As with previous episodes, we begin with a theoretical discussion on this stage of the process, followed by some practical strategies to make your comic a reality. Why use ink at all? Though inking techniques were developed... [Read more]


Art & Story 115 – The Big Resolution Art & Story 115 – The Big Resolution

We close out the year with Sara Turner of Cricket Press and Make Like a Tree Comics for a discussion on what most of us are thinking about this time of year–resolutions. We begin with talking about categorizing our resolutions and “Designing a Narrative” for our projects throughout the year. As we discuss our specific goals for 2010... [Read more]


Art & Story 114 – The Big Xmas Special Art & Story 114 – The Big Xmas Special

It’s true, you know. It’s that special time of year, and Mark has decked the halls for the first annual Art & Story Xmas Special! Our musical numbers are punctuated by a series of visits from some very special guests, ready to spread holiday cheer with some great illustration and cartooning content. Guests include: Sara Turner, who stops... [Read more]


Art & Story 113 – The Big Ego Art & Story 113 – The Big Ego

This week we answer an email from Storrior Ross Hardy: Ego (The Big Ego?) Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of ego in the comics industry (and I suppose in art in general). I’d love to hear your thoughts on egoism in comics in art, your own struggles with ego, etc. Maybe some advice for budding comics artists about avoiding getting sucked... [Read more]


Art & Story Alive! Episode 88 Art & Story Alive! Episode 88

It’s this year’s last episode of Art & Story Alive! We start with an announcement that we’ll be moving the live show to UStream next year. More details to come soon, but you can get a sense of what the show will look like with some of our test streams currently posted there. Our main topic comes by way of Storrior Mark Harmon: I’d... [Read more]


Art & Story 112 – The Big Good Guy Art & Story 112 – The Big Good Guy

We’re following up a discussion started in Art & Story 82 -The Big Bad Guy, with a mammoth discussion on some broad archetypes on the other side of the line! We tried to chart these archetypes on a continuum, but we soon discovered that it was nearly impossible. Unlike villains, even the most simplistically written good guys are difficult... [Read more]


Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 5 Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 5

We’re back with another installment of the Your Comic From The Ground Up series, and this time it’s a full-on discussion on deciding what lettering tools to choose, followed by some talk about penciling. As with previous episodes, we begin with a theoretical discussion on this stage of the process, followed by some practical strategies to... [Read more]


Art & Story 111 – The Big Thankful Art & Story 111 – The Big Thankful

We take the beginning of the holiday season in the USA as a cue for this week’s show topic. We’re joined by Kevin Cross of Big Illustration Party Time and Sara Turner of Cricket Press and the Straight No Chaser podcast for a discussion on what we’re thankful for in regards to our beloved art form. Whether it’s technological improvements... [Read more]


Art & Story 110 – The Big Book Fair Art & Story 110 – The Big Book Fair

Comics are not what comic book conventions say they are. -Dan Mishkin On the weekend of November 13-15 I tabled and led workshops at the Miami Book Fair, as a road crew member of Kids’ Comic Con. As some of you may have already heard on an episode of Art & Story Extreme, I had a pretty good time there, and in almost every respect the show... [Read more]


Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 4 Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 4

It’s another installment of the Your Comic From The Ground Up series, and this time we give an hour and change over to a discussion on editing! Time to put away the Art Mullet and get brutally honest and analytical about what’s working with what you’ve done so far and what is not. As with previous episodes, we begin with a theoretical... [Read more]


Art & Story 109 – The Big Potpourri V Art & Story 109 – The Big Potpourri V

Mark and I take a breather from the Your Comic From The Ground Up series to answer a few Storrior emails and voicemails this week. It’s a bit of a laid-back episode, featuring the return of some tributaries and laughs, but not at the expense of good ol’ Art & Story content. We play a voicemail from Gerimi Burleigh, who gets us going... [Read more]


Art & Story Alive! Episode 87 Art & Story Alive! Episode 87

This week we talk about printing, selling, and marketing, followed by a discussion on cover design. We close out the episode with some thoughts on an article about our “inner whining artist”. From Collin Lenzen: Maybe a little talk about after the comic: Where and how to sell the thing. How to promote it. From Jon David Guerra: What about... [Read more]


Big Art & Story Party Time – Episode 6 Big Art & Story Party Time – Episode 6

It’s another crossover event between Art & Story and Big Illustration Party Time! In this second part of our recap of Mark’s and Kevin’s experience at the 2009 Alternative Press Expo, we do our best to have a discussion about lessons learned from this and past conventions, knitting together a strategy guide for those Storriors... [Read more]


Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 3 Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 3

It’s time for part 3 of our series Your Comic From The Ground Up! This week we focus on finalizing our thumbnails, with a special emphasis on dialogue, acting moments, and moment choices. We’re not concerned with illustrative beauty yet–our main focus is on communicating your story visually. As with previous episodes, we begin with... [Read more]


Art & Story Alive! Episode 86 Art & Story Alive! Episode 86

It’s conventions, drawing for our peers or an intended audience, and lettering talk on this edition of Art & Story Alive! We start with a report on the Alternative Press Expo from friend of the show Javier Hernandez. This spirals out to a bit of a mini-topic on conventions and what it takes to keep one’s spirits up when tabling at a... [Read more]


Big Art & Story Party Time – Episode 4 Big Art & Story Party Time – Episode 4

The second crossover between Art & Story and Big Illustration Party Time continues with this second part of our discussion on, as Mark put it: “Films do it in the can (Cannes), comics do it in the panel”. In other words, what storytelling advantages does comics have over screen media? This section of the discussion focuses mostly on... [Read more]


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