Zwol.org

The topic of digital art preservation and webcomics came up over at the Comixpedia site, and I was wondering if anyone's got any thoughts on it here. Would it make sense to try and make a safe future-proofed "Library of Congress" for existing and future webcomics?

Wait... you're hinting Soylent Green isn't people? I've been paying good money for plankton or something?

The ghost in the machine is Mervyn Peake's. Yes, that film's incredible.

And if you want a complete 3D package there is Blender http://www.blender.org It's rather hard to get your head around, but is apparently quite usable if you do. Thanks. :) That one's quite a program - freeware, but it's high-end stuff going by the work that gets done on it. A bit scary at first lo...

I like it.

Couple of tech things: Today's page isn't working in Firefox for some reason, just showing the text of the page code. It's odd, as it's reading okay in Internet Explorer, and all the archived pages are fine. Also, the Next link on the "Loser" strip's just reloading that strip.

Thanks. I'll have a look at those. :) The trial version of Manga Studio seems a nice package. I particularly like the smoothing function on the pens. The Comic Works trial version isn't working - it seems to be a jury-rigged kludge-up, to be frank, less than 2 megs size and no proper installation, a...

ArtRage2 is a fine thing. But what I would like to know is if there is one that can more help me do PvP style of artwork. Crisp lines. I've put to the side pencil artwork for now. Also, is there a good book out on tablet comic strip artwork? A how-to book. You could try one of the drawing-and-paint...

I just found out about what could be a useful freebie for comic artists, at least for learners like me: SketchUp 3D modelling program There's a pro version for a few hundred dollars too, but the free one looks good for planning and getting different views of architecture and other geometrical object...

Interesting stuff. You could try the TAC Artist Needed and Writer Needed forums too, or Keenspot's general forum. (The Keenspot forum gets about three "artist needed" posts for every one "writer needed", so the market should be in your favour. )

It looks pretty good. I'm still reading through the issues, but so far I like it. :) The only serious drawback I can see is that you're requiring visitors to register, even though it's all free to read. That means burdening people with yet another password to keep track of, on top of all the forum/b...

It's clear enough for me, and I love the style and layout.

James Roberts did a nice Dylan Moran homage in a couple weeks of Albion Fuzz.

Reading about Speakeasy Comics' downfall, I was brought up sharp by some of Steven Grant's comments at Comic Book Resources : Ironically, popular interest in comics may be at its highest since World War II. Last weekend's New York Convention was so great a success it bordered on a disaster, with so ...

Update: James has put an older project online, Albion Fuzz / Bohemials. It's well worth seeing.

That comic of Cat's looks like it was either done originally for print, or done a while ago on a lower resolution monitor than what's commonly used now. Given that it's copyrighted 1998, I'd say it's the second. I've never had any problem reading his newer stuff. Wouldn't working in lower res encou...

The lag's not just with graphics programs - the mouse pointer on the desktop screen behaves the same way when I move it with the pen. There's no lag when I use the regular mouse. So I suppose it's either the hardware (the PC or the Cintiq itself), or else the tablet driver software. I'm using the mo...

Got my Cintiq now. The only awkward thing I've noticed is that the cursor lags a little behind the pen tip. One or two reviewers have mentioned that. Gives a slightly odd feel, but I don't think it'll do any harm. For all I know it's just normal tablet behavior made visible by drawing directly on th...

Thanks, guys. :D I'll certainly give the curvilinear perspective a good look. The "full out" stuff I have in mind is the technical details for getting the perspective mathematically accurate, such as Kevin Hulsey's 2-point instructions .I imagine that's more accuracy than needed most of the time out...

I'm trying to get comfortable with perspective, and I was wondering how other folk handle it. Do you estimate lengths and shapes by eye, going by what looks right, or go the whole way with grids and diagonal vanishing points?

A quick plug for great British webcartoonist James Roberts, who's brought out a new short-run webcomic with episodes each weekday this month:
Soar and Sing

It's probably not news now, but Modern Tales and sister sites have a lot of new openings for comics to run free-to-view, funded by ads. It's "non-exclusive", meaning you'd still be free to have your comic on your own or any other site, archives and all. They've put out the submissions guidelines.

Paint Shop Pro is another option. It's cheaper than the full Photoshop and can do most of the same things; Jeff Darlington uses it for GPF. There's also Photoshop Elements, but I don't know much about that.

You're doing great with them. Me, I can't draw hands <i>or</i> guns. Even with photoreference of a Beretta, my idea of a pistol still looks like a bent candybar.

"Guns suck to draw." Tell me about it.