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tonycliff

tonycliff

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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 l...

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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, 2023-03-17 14:02:00 +0000 UTC View Post

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!<...

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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 s...

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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 inki...

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"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 th...

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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 e...

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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....

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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 st...

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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 ...

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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 liste...

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Writing Process, Cover Update, CH3 Inking Begins

Happy New Year!

In this first update of 2023…

Pick a Cover for PRACTICAL DEFENCE!


A simple request:

Vote for the cover which MOST makes you think, "I NEED TO READ THAT...

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SNOW DAY!

This never happens. Sure, statistically, it does happen, and it snowed a whole bunch ...

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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,...

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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 a...

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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 ...

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Book-Size Follow-Up, Patron Cameos, and The Worst Journey

This week:

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 appeali...

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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 th...

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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 ...

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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 yo...

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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 bi...

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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 s...

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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 ...

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"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...

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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 e...

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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...

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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 signi...

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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,...

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