tonycliff posts
Posts: 280
Files: 1213
Splish Splash!
Oh hello, Dear Reader.As you can probably see, I've been working on the first of the two "cover" images. It's a work-in-progress! I'm happy with it right now, but I'll have to take a fresh look at it next week and see how it holds up.The goal is not necessarily to have an act...
Chapter Three Lettering, and The Parthenon Marbles
Lettering for Chapter Three of PRACTICAL DEFENCE is underway, which is exciting: it's the first time the comic really comes together to look like a comic, I think.First, though, this video popped up for me on Youtube the other day, offering a decent introduction to the controversy over the Parth...
Take Cover!
This week's theme is "making do with the technology at hand." Chapter Three inks are all done, so I'm scanning; scanning technology continues to be depressing, and cover work!I've put the same images in the Patreon Image Viewer (above) as in the body of this post. If you want to ...
Chapter Three Inks Complete! (Also: "Always Never")
Join me in Happy Town this week, where we look at… Jordi Lafebre's BD/graphic novel ALWAYS NEVER, and the last few pages of Chapter Three!As ever, I've put the same pages in the image viewer above (if you're reading this on the Patreon site) as well as below (for ease of talking about ...
Chapter Three Inks - Almost Finished!
This week we pick up where we left off two weeks ago, inking the last few pages of Chapter Three then looping around to ink the first pages last! (I get better at drawing and inking as I go, and I want the first pages to be the best.)As ever, I've duplicated the images above in the body below.If...
"How to Write Better Dialogue," said the cartoonist.
Sit down across from me for this week's talkative update, featuring… A Delilah Dirk "soundtrack!" Pirates stole the metric system from the United States? And some thoughts on my favourite topic: how to write dialogue.This is a public post in line with my belief about making ostensibly ...
Back to Boats (Chapter Three Inks Continue)
THIS WEEK: a busy week! I've been throwing "Reels" at Instagram, drawing the ins and outs of boats again (hoo boy), and looking after a toddler who is a foot taller every day, it seems.(As ever, the images above are repeated below, just for ease of reading/viewing, and the inked pages ar...
Now THAT'S what I call RESULTS.
THIS WEEK! The results of some recent patron polls! On the topic of cover design, please read Dan Wagstaff's blog… and a look at some Chapter Three pencils and inks.As ever, I've posted the Chapter Three images above AND below for your viewing convenience. But first…THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKE...
Vote: THE PIRATE FLAG (Also: Hoarding Col-erase Pencils)
I am rapidly approaching inking the end of Chapter Three, wherein we see a pirate flag unfurl, but I still haven't chosen a flag to use.Please help.Some background: real pirate flags, it turns out, were boring. They're cool and spooky in a realistic sort of way, but not very dramatic. And th...
Inks, Links, and Thinks
As ever, the images above are also posted below (with commentary), with a buffer of other fun business inbetween to defend against inadvertent spoilers.This week: Are you having a nice life? Instagram links to make your feed more delightful, The style-shift from DD1 to now: a story of growth and acc...
Chapter Three Inking: Off to a Good Start
This week, Some surprises and triumphs from the first week of inking Chapter Three, Medieval music and middle-eastern sounds, plus some tangential links to good things to listen to, Expert swordfighting.I put the same images in the "image viewer" above as are below, just in case you want to ...
Writing Process, Cover Update, CH3 Inking Begins
Happy New Year!In this first update of 2023… I've started inking Chapter Three! If you haven't done so yet, you can still vote for a cover design. In response to this process video, I received a question from reader Laura DP about navigating from outline to thumbnails. I answer it along wi...
Pick a Cover for PRACTICAL DEFENCE!
A simple request:Vote for the cover which MOST makes you think, "I NEED TO READ THAT."That's the criteria.Here are some bigger images, but honestly? If it's a really good cover, it will work even at small size.… or, bonus alternate version of (F) - leave a comment if you like versi...
SNOW DAY!
This never happens. Sure, statistically, it does happen, and it snowed a whole bunch last year, but still: this never happens!If you are not familiar with the Pacific Northwest of North America, you may not know that in this little corner of Canada, it doesn't snow very often. Our winters are we...
Visual Reference Keeps Giving Gifts
While drawing pages of Chapter Three this week, I had an experience that really emphasized the importance of visual reference. And I already know visual reference is important. Here, then, is a small story about what I think is an interesting discovery about drawing, designing things for comics, and...
Thumbnails, All Growed Up (Chapter Three Pencils)
A few weeks back I posted a video showing—in great detail—the process of thumbnailing a four-page sequence. Here are the "pencils" that I've drawn based on those thumbnails, plus a great compositional trick I learned from a perhaps-unlikely source. I've posted the same images abo...
Easy Ways to Make a Comic Better*
Friends, please let me share some simple checklist ways to help a comic look as good as it can. These items are low-hanging fruit, little quality niblets ready to be snatched up, free points to be scored, and they're all mistakes I've made in the past. I offer them in a spirit of comradeship...
Book-Size Follow-Up, Patron Cameos, and The Worst Journey
This week: Some follow-up on last week's discussion about book-printing sizes. (Thank you so much to everyone who shared their thoughts!) DD was originally designed to be printed at traditional floppy-comic size. Patron cameos! If you like DD, I think you will like this graphic novel that is now...
Book Size Comparisons and Chapter Three Pencils
I've been thinking about what PRACTICAL DEFENCE AGAINST PIRACY will be like as a book-book, so I got out some of my Delilah Dirk editions to see what their sizes would tell me. What is most appealing? Is bigger necessarily better?At the start of PRACTICAL DEFENCE, I felt that if I was going to i...
Thumbnailing a Fight Sequence
In the previous video I looked at the laying-out of four pages of dialogue-heavy character interaction. Here's the companion video, looking at the laying-out of a fight scene.The heart of this video is the idea that if you (and I'm assuming "you" is a comics-making person) are going ...
Finishing Chapter Three and Four Thumbs
This week: Looking at some of the thumbnails for Chapters Three and Four I read some more Asadora! — Some thoughts on pacing and "shot selection."As of this writing, I've made a complete pass through the next chapter plus the one after, all in thumbnail form. I'm going to leave it ...
Ninety Minutes of Thumbnailing (or: A Day at the Aesthetician)
One of the pieces of advice that I've heard given to beginning podcasters is "record three episodes, then throw them away and record your real first episode." This is ostensibly so you can learn your weaknesses and discover your shortcomings, then start fresh with the awareness necessary...
Up to Something (DD4, Chapter 2, pages 83-88)
Notable Jackass, Provveditore Vignelli, offers to host a dinner and a ball to celebrate… well, to celebrate himself, certainly, but also nominally in honour of Alexandra's approaching birthday.Since it's more of an unpleasant announcement than a question or an invitation, Alexandra wonders...
Puff Guts (DD4, Chapter 2, pages 78-82)
The Provveditore has returned to Archipoli, and Alexandra (on a rooftop, conferring with a Winged Wisdom-Keeper) is in the perfect place to overhear his interaction with Nikos. The caped blowhard seems thoroughly perturbed by the presence of a British sailing vessel in his bay.This sequence features...
The Wisdom of Birds (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 73-77)
Last week Alexandra was low enough that she sunk to spending time with the midshipman. This week, she goes to see what the church has to offer her. Plus, she's in the right place at the right time when the governor of the town returns.(As always, to read completed pages, browse the "DD4"...
"Can I be up here?" (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 68a-72)
We've just learned that both Alexandra's mother and Katerina knew what was in store for Alexandra as an English Lady while Alexandra, herself, did not. What's a girl to do except pick up a handful of rocks?Now look, I know it probably seems like I say this about every sequence, but this ...
I'll Show You (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 61-68*)
This week: I sing, you sing, we all sing for Wanted Things.This whole passage may be sung to the tune of… uh… to the tune of… oh, I don't know. Someone call Alan Menken!I'm so excited to finally share this section. This, as much as anything in this book so far, is a product of the poli...
Kite and Owl Are Friends (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 54-58)
After her parents shattered her childhood dreams and—to twist the knife (so to speak)—gave away her beloved practice swords, Alexandra roams Archipoli looking for her friend, whose reassurances will certainly right all the world's wrongs, Alexandra believes.(To read all the Patreon posts wit...
The Mysterious Not-a-Sword (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 49-53*)
In which Alexandra discovers an ornate weapon, which her father assures her is—despite its appearance as a sword—not a sword. This is the second time we have seen it. What is its significance? And what could ever make Alexandra forgive her mother for what she did with her swords?Tying into the t...
An Anchor to Hold (DD4, Chapter Two, pages 45-48)
In which Alexandra vents her frustrations against her mother, who was evidently unaware what sort of effect her plans would have on her daughter.(As always, to read the other finished pages, simply browse the DD4 tag.)- - - - - -Some notes on these pages!Despite the plain-ness of the scene, these pa...
