Episodes
Shortcuts and Time Savers
Webcomics take so long, and while the perfectionist in our brains might tell us that we MUST do everything the long way, I think we've all pretty quickly learned that the easier you make the journey for yourself, the better. So this is going to be some quick lessons we've learned that changed our process and made life easier.
Sticking With One Idea
Do you have a bunch of ideas, but you can never stay fixated on just one? It can be tricky to stay focused for a project as long as a webcomic, especially when everything else starts to look SO MUCH SHINIER. But there are things you can do to increase your chances of seeing it through to the end and resisting the Plot Bunnies, so today we're going to talk about that!
Drawing from Photo Reference (with AdorkaStock!)
Drawing anatomy and poses can be tricky, but there's some excellent tools out there for referencing poses like the awesome stuff that Sarah makes at adorkastock.com. But how DO we do it in an effective way? Let's talk about it!
Coming Up With Names
Does your webcomic contain characters? Maybe even places? Perhaps it also needs.... a title? If any of these things are true, you've probably had to sit down and face the struggle of deciding names for the things in your comic, as well as for the comic itself. These things are important, giving vital information about tone, genre, details of setting, and all sorts of other cues to the reader... But why's it gotta be so hard? Anyway, today we're gonna talk about it!
Alternate Formats
Webcomics are pretty great in our opinion, but they're not the only way to get a narrative story out into the world. Prose has been an option forever, but today, with so many new technologies, there are so many more options available! You could use anything from video games to podcasts to tell a story. But each option has its own pros and cons depending on what sort of project you're building, and today we're going to talk about them!
Plotting a Webcomic
Coming up with characters and scenarios is one thing, but when you're working in a longform narrative comic, you're going to want to think about a plot. Planning out your plot in a webcomic is a unique challenge compared to some other mediums, so today we're going to talk about it!
Collaborative Projects
Webcomics can be a lonely road to walk if you're only ever sticking to your own story. But collaborative projects with other creators can really be worth your time! Sometimes these take the form of printed or digital releases of books or zines. Sometimes these are centered around a theme or fandom. Or sometimes they're just "your-character-here" style single graphics. Folks have done all kinds of things over the years as collaborations, and for webcomic artists, it can not only be a ton of fun, but also be a way to cross-promote to similar audiences. So let's talk about what you need to think about when starting your own collaborative projects.
3D Models
One tool that webcomic artists can take advantage of, to help save time and sanity, is 3D models. Whether tracing directly or using them for reference, they can help you visualize complex places, objects, or poses from different angles. So let's talk about them!
Blorbology
If you are on any social media platform with artists, you may have heard the terms "OC", which stands for "original character", or "blorbo" which stands for... I don't know, I think Tumblr just made that one up. The terms evolved because creators needed a way to talk about freeform character concepting. Whether they're part of a fanfiction or just the guy you always seem to end up doodling in your sketchbook, it's often the case that in the process of drawing and experimenting with scenes for these characters for fun, they really can develop cool backstories and deep emotional meaning in the creators' minds, and that's what we're calling "Blorbology".
Getting Started (2025 Edition)
Whether it's your first and only webcomic or one of many that you're planning, preparing to launch a new comic can take a lot of thought! You'll be thinking about things like organizational aspects (which is getting your art and story plans ready), technical aspects (which includes hosting that works for the scope of your comic), the timing and how you get the word out once you're finally ready to launch.
Animation and Webcomics
A lot of creators in webcomics, including all of us here, have come from an animation education or a career path. It makes a lot of sense that many of us are drawn to it, because there's so much creativity and energy in the world of animation. And webcomics are very freeform, so if you have your own site or a platform that supports it, videos, GIFs, and CSS animation tricks are all on the table as tools we can integrate into the comic experience. So let's talk about it!
Jam Session! Layers
Layers are a feature of digital art programs like Clip Studio, Photoshop, Paint Tool Sai, just about any art program. If you look around your dashboard or under one of your menus, you’ll probably find them, and understanding how to structure them for sketches, effects, and other things can help save you work, time, and add an extra OOMPH to whatever you’re working on!
RP and Webcomics
Roleplay has been with us since the dawn of the internet, and many of us have created original characters in RPs on forums or chats that later found their way into our comic work. It can be a great way to get the ball rolling on creating a webcomic, so today we’re going to talk about our experiences with it!
Power Levels
This episode of Screen Tones is OVER 9000!!! This episode of Screen Tones is all about controlling your power - your speed and level of detail to make comic pages at the speed you want to make them! Listen along as the gang talks about tips and tricks about preserving your energy for MAXIMUM IMPACT on those knockout pages!
Watercolors and Webcomics!
Today we're going to be talking about using watercolour as a medium, its strengths for comics and illustrations, and our personal recommendations.
The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/