Author Archives: Editor

75 Ways to Draw More: Advice for People Who Don’t Draw

by Editor

Michael Nobbs has posted a little booklet on Flickr that has a list of 75 ways to draw more.  Interesting concept.  But of course it should go without saying that if you need to read a list of 75 ways to find more time to draw, you probably should be doing something else anyway.

I think the main information to take away from an illustrated list like this is from the illustrations that show you how to print the list out.  What they show you is that you can just look at an object and start drawing lines on a piece of paper.  Something will emerge.  It might be messy.  It might be neat.  That will be your drawing.  I call this little piece of advice ‘1 way to draw less.’

Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics

by Editor | 2 Comments

51zx8reqkal_sl160_pisitb-sticker-arrow-bigtopright35-73_ou01_
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics: Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond

This is a book by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden that leads the reader through a full tutorial in writing and drawing comics. It includes many examples and information about what materials to use for your comics. There are 15 lessons in all which cover everything from writing your story, to laying out your panels, to lettering for dialog.

Travels of Thelonious: Graphic Novel for Young Readers

by Editor | 1 Comment

thelonious2Travels of Thelonious (Fog Mound)

This is a beautiful graphic novel written by Susan Schade and illustrated by Jon Buller for readers 9 – 12 years old. It’s about a post-apocalyptic world in which humans are gone and only exist in legends and in the artifacts of their once-great civilizations. After being swept away by a flood, Thelonious finds himself in a city filled with criminal animals. As he tries to find his way home again he discovers clues about what happened to all the humans.

The Hunt for Gollum: Lord of the Rings Fan Film

by Editor | 1 Comment

The Hunt for Gollum is a 40-minute fan-made film that will be available for free downloading on May 3, 2009.  The film was made through open collaboration of enthusiastic fans working under the leadership of director Chris Bouchard.  The all-volunteer production looks so much like a Peter Jackson LOTR movie that it’s almost scary.  One wonders why all the big budget money was spent if the films could have been produced by this crew of hard-working talented volunteers!  This film looks like it’s going to be a serious lot of fun and will be a great addition to the LOTR world for its fans.

Podcast of Henry David Thoreau on Poetry and Writing

by Editor

486px-henry_david_thoreau

DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO

In 1839, Henry David Thoreau and his brother made a river voyage in a boat that they built themselves. This voyage became the subject of Thoreau’s first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, published in 1849 at his own expense. In this thirty-three minute excerpt, Thoreau finds himself describing the incredible beauty and serenity of the natural scene around him. But his mind wanders into a profound examination of poetry and the requirements of good writing. His call to man for a life of poetry and his demand that writers create simply from an impulse to action are powerful and true. I don’t think there is a better piece of advice that exists for writers and readers alike.

Thoreau frequently quotes from Homer’s Iliad and other sources in this piece. I have tried to separate his quotes with pauses and a change in reading tone. You might want to glance at the actual words as you listen for clarification.

Here is the text of the reading:

What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which
would be in harmony with the scenery,–for if men read aright,
methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor
philosophy can supply their place.

Continue reading …