Posts Tagged: gutter talk

104: Megan James – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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The last time you heard from us in the Making Comics Gutter Talk headquarters, it was Halloween and we were having a lively discussion with Stephen Bissette. Well, it’s now Earth Day, six months later, and we’re finally putting out another episode. We know, we missed you all, too. But the hope is we’re now back to at least one episode per month and if more time can be unearthed, we’ll bump things back up to two episodes a month. But all in due time, friends. All in due time. We promise.

As for this episode, Adam sits down for a second recording with artist and creator Megan James. She is the mind and skill behind Innsmouth, a magical story that is part Lovecraft, part Book of Mormon, and has fish people. That’s definitely on you if you don’t find that exciting. Adam and Megan actually spoke late last year but life has a funny way of becoming an obstacle to things and the conversation was shelved. However, Adam made sure when he returned to the scene, Megan had to be the first guest and a new conversation was to be had. The topics in this episode range from figuring how to lay out a page for maximum effect, comedy or otherwise, to finding a ton of usefulness in taking a scriptwriting class.

If you’d like to support us and help keep Making Comics Worldwide going and allow us to do cool things like sending out the Daily Challenge, please go to our Patreon page (click HERE) and join our Patreon community. Support good people, people!

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101: Patrick Yurick & Rachel Beck (ComicFuel 5) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”  – Alan Watts

As we walk out into the world we are entering a story. This story defines us and the way that we interact with our beliefs, actions, society, etc. As much as we are always entering into the story that others have defined for us, we are also given the gift of writing our own story in every action we take. This month I sat down with Rachel Beck, founder of Storyforge Productions, and we discussed the nuances of story telling. We looked at our society and how we are working to rectify our long history with marginalizing females – specifically in the comic industry. We also looked at the basic construction of worlds and characters and how those construction create compelling reasons that keep us reading.

Reflecting on the talk I am reminded that complications are what keep us interested in the world around us. As comic artists we create fiction where our character confront and battle those contradictions. Theoretically that gives us the inspiration to fight our own demons. That’s what the #ComicFuel show is all about right? For us to join together to turn away from just consuming art and to bring us into the battle – the battle to create art.

So get out your pens and papers. Sit down. Join us as Rachel and I provide the fuel you are going to need for the coming battle.

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99: Patrick Yurick & Adam Greenfield (ComicFuel 4) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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“…it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” 

Rocky Balboa’s inspirational speech to his son in the 2006 installment into the Rocky franchise is definitely the inspiration for this show. There’re a lot of projects I work on right. Art, design, and educational experiences I am currently slaving away over. I spend a lot of time, and incur a good deal of mental anguish, trying to figure out what the “right” thing to do is as a day job. When Rocky talks about taking hits, in my context that is all about my own personal demons regarding my design process. My own shadow/devil on my shoulder telling me I’m wasting my time.

Last month, I’ll be honest, I almost considered #ComicFuel a waste of my time. Three episodes in and I was ready to give up.

I almost didn’t finish episode 3. Even during the process of doing it, I didn’t want to finish it. I did finish, barely, and then I swore to myself that I wasn’t going to do another episode the same way again (if I did another episode). So I called Adam and asked him to record a quick episode where we powered through a ton of questions. It turned into a longer episode.

As I sat down with Adam Greenfield this week to record the fourth episode of #ComicFuel I was reminded why I do this. Sure, this episode is WAY too long ( cough-2hoursand14minutes-cough ), but who cares? I got to sit down with my friend and answer some student questions and talk about how to practice art. In my ideal retirement scenario I would spend every day doing this.

I was reminded that MakingComics.com is the purely “good” thing that I have in my life. For me this is the one sacred space in this whole universe where everything we do is just good. We aren’t always active, or on time with our products, and they aren’t always produced with the kind of quality I’d like – but at their core they are good. We’ve made decision after decision to not turn this into a project that will go anywhere (i.e we are staying here for good). It isn’t a startup business – it is a public service. That is what makes it “good”. It hasn’t been tainted by the threats of being economically unviable – because it isn’t.

I thought I was done after my 2 hour session with Adam. Then…

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96: Patrick Yurick (ComicFuel 2) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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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)

  • How many pages should a comic issue be to be printed?
  • How long would it take to make a comic by yourself; scripting, storyboarding, art and lettering; and self publish it?
  • How do you keep up momentum on making comics?
  • How long does it take for a comic book artist to make a comic book?
  • What is the step-by-step process I should go through to choose colors that will look good?
  • What kind of colors can i use?
  • Am I just not being patient enough with myself, or am I trying to fit too much, too zoomed out, into one panel?
  • What websites are best for starting to post a webcomic?

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

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95: Patrick Yurick (ComicFuel 1) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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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…?”

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[Special] Daniel Warren Johnson, Royden Lepp, & Jason Brubaker (Coffee Table Comics 2) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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The Making Comics Worldwide headquarters is located in beautiful San Diego. Saying the Making Comics Gutter Talk podcast took a winter break seems somewhat ridiculous, mostly because winter does not really exist in San Diego. Still, that’s exactly what happened and now the podcast is back. Well, sort of.

In this episode, we return to the Coffee Table Comics podcast, the new-ish podcast by artist and creator Jason Brubaker. If you’re not familiar with his work, you really should be. He has put out such work as reMIND and his most current comic Sithrah. This particular episode is the second half of a fantastic conversation between Jason and his guests. On the show is Gutter Talk alumni, Daniel Warren Johnson, the creator of the stupendous comic Space Mullet, and also Royden Lepp, the creator of another amazing comic called Rust.

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88: Ian McGinty – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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As we end Year Two for both Making Comics Worldwide and the Gutter Talk podcast, we’re pretty darn excited and grateful for how far we’ve come and where we’re heading. We have a lot of big plans for the future but before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s deal with where we currently are.

In today’s Gutter Talk episode, Adam sits down with artist and creator, Ian McGinty, to discuss everything from creating music in his teens to creating comics in his twenties and beyond, and also how the two can sometimes require the same process. It’s also pretty cool and inspiring to see and hear how far Ian has come since his high school days when he began to take comics seriously. While he explains how this came at the expense of something else, the moral is that sometimes the sacrifice is worth the reward. Ian’s recent bouts of success are proof of that.

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80: John Mueller – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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Like a story to tell, everyone has a journey to take in life. For some, that journey is quick. For others, it’s a lifelong voyage. And then there are those whose journey is right on time. Never, though, is it what we expect. In today’s Making Comics Gutter Talk episode, Adam sits down with artist, game developer, and journeyman, John Mueller. John is the creator of the dystopian series, OINK, and as of this episode’s release will have six more days to hit stretch goals in the Kickstarter project. That’s right, stretch goals. John’s Kickstarter project has hit its initial goal and now comes all the fun stuff.

Listen in as John and Adam talk about the journey not only his OINK project has been on but the overall journey John has been on as an artist. His path through the gaming world provides a unique insight into storytelling and world building when it comes to the gaming world versus graphic novels. Plus, there’s a drive inside John that is very inspiring, as he is the type of individual that goes out and gets what he wants in life, and does so seemingly in a very laid-back manner. There’s a lot to learn from in this episode.

Please be sure to head over to iTunes and give the Gutter Talk podcast some love, both with stars and with words. We really do appreciate it and it goes a long way in getting not just the Gutter Talk podcast a piece of the spotlight but also Making Comics as a whole.

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78: Rachel Dukes – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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In 1988, a wildly talented musician named Bobby McFerrin released a song titled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” For those of us who remember this song, it was certainly catchy enough to often catch yourself whistling while walking to the bus stop. And yet who knew in the end just how useful those words would be if only we had really taken them to heart? Of course, easier said than done, but it sure would’ve been nice to not worry. That said, we’re artists. Who are we kidding?

And that’s what makes this Gutter Talk episode with Rachel Dukes, artist and creator of Frankie Comics, so great. It’s further confirmation that worrying as a young, budding artist just trying to get their bearing in this ocean of art, let alone in the lake of comics, is actually normal. It’s even proof that yes, you can outgrow the worst of it. Now if only we had time machines….

Download the podcast and listen in as Adam and Rachel discuss why see-through rulers are better than rulers you can’t see through, her Kickstarter project for Frankie Comics, and some of the hurtles she encountered as a kid when opportunities presented themselves.

Also, be sure you are heading over to iTunes to give us a review and a rating. It’ll be the easiest thing you do all day today. We promise. Then tell your friends to give the podcast a review and a rating. Then tell them to tell their friends to- well, you see where we’re going with this.

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59: Jason Brubaker (3 Questions) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

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Three Questions returns and brings with it one of Making Comics Worldwide’s favorites, Jason Brubaker. Listen in as Kevin Cullen, editor-in-chief here at Making Comics Worldwide, visits Jason in his studio in Los Angeles to discuss growth, process, and preference.

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