Our 7th podcast of the Sequential Artists’ Pub was a smashing success. We had a record number of folks show up to participate and discuss comics with special guest Steve Hamaker. We discussed how Steve got into the business, what it’s like working with Jeff Smith (Creator of BONE), and gleaned some insight into his coloring techniques. We also discussed the subject of backgrounds within comics. One book, Perspective! How to Achieve a Professional Look in your Artwork, came highly recommended.

Our roundtable panel was a diverse lot, comprised of the following folks:

• JT Shea
• Garrett Williams
• Wes Molebash
• Tom Trusczkowski
• HaikuBirdie
• Mark Rudolph
• DungeonWarden
• Ttallan
• Frumph
• Ryan Dow
• Peter Timony
• Comics_Grrl
• Javier Hernandez
• Jerzy Drozd
• Kevin Cross
• Audra

…and many, many more. (If you were at the show, and I omitted your link – hit me up and I’ll add it to the list.) As always, comments, feedback, and mailbag questions are encouraged and appreciated. Who should we try to bring on for an upcoming episode?

-Krishna

This month’s album art is courtesy of DungeonWarden. Bring your favorite beverage and see you this evening at 10PM EST on Talkshoe.com.

Here are some of the topics of interest we’ll be talking about in our 8th episode:

• Our Favorite Tools / Tips / Tricks (aka What’s in YOUR arsenal?)
• Starting a strip ( should one start with random gags and progress towards story arcs? i.e. what’s the best approach? )
• The Artist / Writer Balance (does excelling in one detract from the other?)
• Marketing

Should be a lot of fun – our turnout gets larger with each installment. Spread the word and see you tonight!

-Krishna

I’m a little late in getting the show notes up. Our 8th show had a stellar turnout with cartoonists of all walks. We discussed several topics, including the perennial writing vs. art debate, Scott McCloud, how to pronounce Jeph Jacques, and shared a whole host of tips and book recommendations for cartoonists.

Here are some brief links that came out of the discussion:

Wally Woods 22 Panels that Work

Google Sketchup (for drawing backgrounds / props)

BPelt Plugins – a great Photoshop plugin for quickly flatting colors

Jeph Jacques tutorial (in creating his webcomic, Questionable Content)

The book Drawing Words and Writing Pictures by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden

Scott McCloud interview by Kreg Steppe

Preston Blair’s drawing for animation

The Animation Archive (for folks who like the older drawing styles of yore)

Expressive Anatomy – a text covering comic narrative principles

and much, much more…

Participating on the call and in the chat were the following:

Danny Burleson
Tom Truszkowski
Ryan Dow
Scott Gallatin
Liz Walsh
JT Shea
kfunque
DungeonWarden
CapesnBabes
Keith Quinn
Denise Guinn
Ttallan
Comics Grrl
Phil “Frumph” Hofer
Jerzy Drozd

You can listen to the show and drop us some feedback in the comments or within the ‘Pub’s very own forum. If I’ve left you off the guest-list, please let me know in the comments.

-Krishna

I’m pretty late with the updates, just because I wanted to take some time off this weekend. Our 8th Sequential Artists’ Pub show focused on Print on Demand, handling interviews with the media (and how to score an interview with the media), the do’s and don’ts of setting up a webcomic website, followed by more top picks from our roundtable of cartoonists. Folks on the call and in the chat included:

• Wes Molebash
• Garrett Williams
• Tom Trusczkowski
• DungeonWarden
• Guest 19
• Ryan Dow
• Comics_Grrl
• Javier Hernandez
• Audra
• Tim Fischer
• Mark Mekkes
• Jeremiah
• LizardBeth
• HaikuBirdie
• Danny Burleson

If I’ve missed you on the role call, shoot me a note in the comments and I’ll add you in.
As always, comments and feedback on the show are welcomed. If you’ve got questions for our roundtable, please post ‘em in the SAP! forums.

-Krishna

On Friday, another episode of the Sequential Artists’ Pub took place. The start of the hour focused on social networks and marketing techniques, followed by a critique of the Garrett William’s webcomic Kenny Chronicles, and of course, the weekly Artists’ Picks.

On the call and in the participating in the chat were:

StealThisComic
DungeonWarden
Ryan Dow
Comics_Grrl
Javier Hernandez
Audra
Jerzy Drozd
JT Shea
madscott
Frumph
Liz Walsh
Kaiki
KSekelsky
Jinxville
poinko
Denise Guinn

and friends. If I’ve left out a URL, please let me know in the comments below. Take a listen to our show and let me know your thoughts. As always, the ‘Pub’s forum is open 24/7.

-Krishna

This past Friday’s episode of the Sequential Artists’ Pub is now available for consumption. Our featured guest was artist Brandon McKinney who shared some good insight into his career in sequential arts and storyboarding.

As usual, a slew of cartoonists and notable guests were in the chat room and on the call, including:

Kaiki
Mike Prokop
Rick Yaeger
Javier Hernandez
Philip “Frumph” Hofer
Litazia
Carlisle
JInxville
John Coswell
Matt Munn

…and many, many more. It was a great time, as usual – and especially so for me, as I have the privilege of knowing Brandon as a fellow instructor at the school we both teach at.

Good times!

Let me know your thoughts on our latest show, and as usual – keep those comic making questions coming!

-Krishna

A brand new UN3 comic hits the virtual stands today, as does a new robot in the robot factory.

Last Friday’s SAP included a calvacade of artists discussing the heady topic of “How Success can Kill Your Webcomic?”. We also discussed useful plugins that every Wordpress / Comicpress cartoonist should install, including WP Database Backup, WP Database Manager (to optimize your DB), and Comicpress Manager. Back-up solutions for cartoonists was also discussed, including Mozy. Participants of the show included:

Liz Walsh – who also happened to get a name check and plug on E! Online
KSekelsky
DungeonWarden
Vertigo X
Frumph
Carlisle
JT Shea
Deano_Inabiskit
Ryan Dow
Tedd
ComicsGrrl
Scott Story

You can listen to the latest show by clicking the SAP! button on the right sidebar. Even better, you can subscribe to the show via iTunes (just search for Sequential Artists’ Pub).

Thanks again to all who participated!

-Krishna

Tonight on the Javiland podcast at 6PM PST (9PM EST), show host Javier Hernandez will be talking with Jerzy Drozd, Mark Rudolph (ART & STORY podcast) Kevin Cross (MINI-COMICS DUMP TRUCK) and myself (SEQUENTIAL ARTISTS PUB) to discuss the topic of podcasts on the craft of sequential arts.

It should be a really good show, and I’m honored to be a part of the “summit”. I hope that some of you will be able to stop by and participate.

-Krishna

We had a fairly good turnout for tonight’s show. Topics included: the writing process, figure drawings tips for newbies (with links), and resources for cartoonists. Participating on the show this week:

RyanDow
Frumph @frumph
DungeonWarden @DungeonWarden
Liz Walsh @litazia
AxoniteV3 @Axonite
Comics Grrl @comics_grrl
MarkCalifornia @markCalifornia
KSekelsky
Scott Story @sstory
JT Shea
Carlisle
Argonsassistant
Javier Hernandez @JavierHernadez
Argylegargoyle

Notable links discussed in the show included:

an online version of Preston Blair’s Cartoon Animation for studying character construction and line of action.

Sheldon’s Art Academy: An excellent series of Youtube videos that focus on drawing, painting, and design.

Temple of the Seven Golden Camels: an online repository for storyboarding, filmmaking, drawing, and animation.

Tom’s MAD blog: Tutorials and tips from the famous MAD magazine illustrator.

Learn to Draw the Human Figure – everything you wanted to know about drawing anatomy (with instructional DVDs.)

ComicCrazys: fantastic comic samples to further inspire the sequential artist.

So there ya go. If I missed you on the show notes, please drop me a line. One big announcement, I’m planning to switch the show dates to Saturdays instead of Fridays. So, mark your calendars for Saturday, December 27th for Show #15.

Please note that the SAP forums have moved. Sign up for the new SAP forum – post your questions and get some discussion going there today!

-Krishna

I’m a little late in posting the show notes up for last Saturday’s Sequential Artists’ Pub podcast. Once again we had an excellent
turn-out – the topic of discussion was marketing and branding your webcomic. Discussion ranged from creating effective banner ads to using social networks as a method to bring in more readers.

Participating on the call were:

• Scott Story
• Carlisle
• Jaime
• Lizardbeth
• HaikuBirdie
• Liz Walsh
• Ryan Dow
• Phil “Frumph” Hofer
• Mark California
• Kevin Cross
• Money
• Garrett Williams
• CVguru
• Daniel Rossi
• Javier Hernandez

….and many, many more. The last 10 minutes or so of the show was plagued by some weird audio echo that I couldn’t
suppress. Perhaps it was the ghost of Charles Schulz?

-Krishna