MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

Always remember: You are unique… just like everyone else. Ok, but seriously. There really is something to be said about originality, and Adam and his terrific guest, Gerhard Ka’aihue, have a lot to say about being original in this Making Comics Gutter Talk episode. Sure, fan art is great, and even better when its purpose is to help you, the artist, hone in on your skills and voice. Still, should that be marketed as your own? Is it your intellectual property to do what you wish with it? To Gerhard, it can be a very fine line to walk.

Yet when it comes to Gerhard’s work, it’s all original, all the time. From his recent comic “Stella Noir” to his graphic illustrations that are eye-popping and brilliantly composed, Gerhard walks his own line between stunning art and simply being productive for productive sake. And isn’t that what being an artist is about? The ABC of art? Yes, always be creating. Sure, he may have a day job and family responsibilities but Gerhard is quite satisfied with that arrangement. In fact, it’s what he wants. His job as a marketing director still taps into that creative part of the brain so the juices are constantly on flow.

And while you’re listening to this stellar Gutter Talk episode, feel free to take a break from your own work and head over to our Patreon page and support us. But not if you’re driving. Please, if you are behind the wheel at the moment, keep your eyes on the road. Heck, if you’re driving, why are you even reading this?!

Gerhard’s Links:

Gerhard’s site (@kaaihue)

Instagram

Our Links:

Intro & Outro Song:

“RetroFuture Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Outro Song Behind Vocals:

“Backed Vibes (clean)” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Transitions:

InceptionBrassHitMedium.wav: Herbert Boland / www.freesound.org

Old Fashion Radio Jingle 2.wav: club sound / www.freesound.org

There is not a place we can turn where current events are not effecting our every day lives. I feel incredibly honored to unveil the first episode of comic fuel to feature Ulises Fariñas and Lucy Bellwood as cohosts. Ulises and I jump right into the questions and geek out on what is important to think about when inking – both digital and traditional. We then go into great depth discussing “style” and how it is actually an incidental occurrence in your art as opposed to a measured goal. Lucy hops in during question three to talk about how to think about drawing background art in your panels.

Ulises and I cap the entire episode off with a very important discussion regarding how race and equity is reflected in the comic industry. In fact, in writing the show notes for that segment, I was delighted to find several amazing articles that dealt specifically with how the comic industry is connecting to these important topics.

This episode also includes some amazing borrow audio clips from Jason Brubaker, Ven. Robina Courtin, and art educator John Spencer. Such an amazing third episode. Easily the hardest I’ve worked on yet. Hopefully I can keep it up!

[Tweet “ComicFuel Episode 3 was awesome!”]

(jump-to specific question times listed below)

Holy MOLY, what a whirlwind of amazingness it has been in the time between the release of episode 1 of Comic Fuel and Episode 2! We have had a thousand people download and listen to the episode and I have enough questions that I have to wait for another four episodes before I can put out another call for questions. Wow.

In this episode, episode 2, we’ll discuss project management, the comic creation process, coloring comics, penciling comics, and hosting comics online. The questions came from places like Ireland, India, Brazil, California, and Indiana. For legit #comicfuel we’ll hear about why we do art from Stephen McCranie, transitioning into fame and what is at the core of what artistry is really about from “How I Met Your Mother” actor Josh Radnor, and we’ll also hear about the art of really listening by famed audio producer Chris Watson.

Questions answered in this episode (jump-to specific question times listed below)

Another big announcement is that I spent a lot of time this month creating the Comic Fuel Podcast Wiki (http://comicfuel.wikidot.com/) which will serve as a repository for all questions, notes, and links that are mentioned in the show. Check it out. It took me FOREVER to make, but I’m really proud of it.

The show notes for Episode 2 are at: http://comicfuel.wikidot.com/wiki:episode-2

Question 1 from Kevin in Eire: How do you keep up momentum on making comics? I make a lot of progress when i take a class or a mooc, but when it’s over I feel a bit like OK where to next?

Question 2 from Anjali in Bangalore, India: How long would it take to make a comic by yourself; scripting, storyboarding, art and lettering; and self publish it?

Question 5 from Alan: If I have an uncolored comic page, what is the step-by-step process I should go through to choose colors that will look good?

Kiana, Indiana: So, I adore sketching pretty much everything, It’s what I spend the majority of my time doing! Although, when I attempted to begin penciling my comic, I found it to be tedious and frustrating? It seems that whatever I try to draw ends up too small to look nice or have any detail. Am I just not being patient enough with myself, or am I trying to fit too much, too zoomed out, into one panel?

Question 8 from Julia in California: What websites are best for starting to post a webcomic?

Intro & Outro Songs:

#ComicFuel Segment #1

#ComicFuel Segment #2

Patreon Info Segment:

#ComicFuel Segment #2

I was staring angrily at my computer screen. My final in my advanced composition class was due, and I was hours later in the process than I thought I would be at the time. My phone rang. On the other end was the excited voice of my younger sister who had just graduated from high school and was making her way slowly through her freshman year. I was starting my second year as a graphic design major and was struggling to take care of myself.

“Patrick! You’ll never guess what I discovered today!” I was annoyed at the sound of her voice. Mostly I was agitated at being behind on my assignment and was only thinking about how quickly I could get off of the phone with her.

“Yeah, what exactly did you discover?” I grumbled into my bulky Nokia cell phone (it was 2004).

“I’m an artist! I just took an elective art class and I absolutely loved it! I’m an artist like you!” I choked at the sound of this. How could she think that she was an artist after taking just one class? I had been trying to become an artist since I was ten and here was my 19 year old sister claiming that she was an artist after only one day.

“Well, that’s great sis. You know though, you aren’t a real artist.”

“W-what…?”

“You might be able to come to be one someday, but right now you are just thinking about becoming one. It takes years to become a real artist.” There was a silence on the other end of the phone.

“Well, I think that I’m a real artist…” Her voice quivered on the other end of the line.

“That’s insulting. I’ve been working to become an artist for over a decade. It is insulting to me that you feel like you could just be like me after one day…” More silence.

“W-why are you so mean?!” She yelled into the phone crying.

“Look, it’s just insulting for me to think of you as an arti-” Before I could finish I heard a ‘click’ of a dead phone line as the phone went dead. For several minutes I stared, angrily, at my computer screen. I felt righteous and annoyed simultaneously. How could she think she was an artist? I sat there for another 15 minutes, then  I bowed my head in shame. By telling my sister she wasn’t an artist I had become all of the people that had told me I wasn’t an artist as I was forming my perception of myself. I tried to call her back but she wouldn’t pick up the phone.

It’s ok, we get along now. Mostly 🙂

As I became filled with shame, I equally became filled with resolve. I wasn’t ever going to tell someone that they weren’t an artist ever again. I had to break the cycle. I was a person that had to fight against that judgemental cruelty from other “artists” ever since I decided I wanted to become one, and now I had become one of those cruel, arrogant, artists. I vowed then and there to not only never again tell someone that they weren’t an artist, I vowed to go one step further and go out of my way to encourage artistry in others.

…

That happened to me about 11 years ago. In a lot of ways that story is exactly where the “How To Make A Comic Book” MOOC came from. When I received the $10k from Coursera to design the course there was a lot of suggestion that the course was to be more technical. I knew though that, especially when working with new artists, the emphasis has to be on encouragement and safety to pursue trying new things. This podcast, the #comicfuel podcast, is all about embracing the sentiment of encouraging artists to think about the important things in their practice (happiness, harmony, and balance). Each month I will be answering questions submitted to me by the students in the “How To Make A Comic Book” MOOC.

This is the first #ComicFuel podcast. I’d like to dedicate it to my sister.

Patreon Info Segment:

Intro & Outro Songs:

#ComicFuel Segment #1

#ComicFuel Segment #2

Daily-Challenge Segment:

If you haven’t figured it out already, we here at Making Comics Worldwide love spreading knowledge to comic artists of all ages and levels. We enjoy it so much that recently we teamed up with Coursera and High Tech High to create a free (yes, free!) Massive Open Online Course (aka MOOC) about how to make comics. It is designed by our CEO Patrick Yurick to be a six week course to guide you through everything from scripting to thumbnailing to penciling and inking. To really push it over the top, we had discussions with amazing minds and talents in the comics industry, such as Mark Waid, Eric Shanower, and Caleb Cleveland.

In this Gutter Talk episode, we are releasing the audio from the first three weeks of the How to Make a Comic Book MOOC. The course itself is video based so when you sign up to take the course, you’ll be able to visually take in the knowledge. However, we thought it would be a great idea to publish the audio for you, the podcast listener, so you can also benefit from the information found in the course. We definitely urge you to take the course online because a lot can be gained from video tutorials, as well. Plus, the amount of love put in to this course by Patrick and others is inspiring to see as well as hear.

However, before we play those audio clips, Adam and Patrick sit down to discuss the cool things they have going on in their lives, from audio projects to moving to working at MIT in Boston. This is followed up with some of our awesome Patreon pledgelings (totally made up word) calling in to answer questions and be in the spotlight. These are just some of the cool Patreon perks and rewards of helping us at Making Comics continue to spread the good word on comics. And fair warning, things get a little silly sometimes, as is wont to do whenever Adam and Patrick get together.

Our Links:

Intro & Outro Song:

“RetroFuture Clean” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Transition Song:

Prelude No. 20 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

More Links:

Patreon

How to Make a Comic MOOC