Hi Tweeps! Thanks for joining in on an afternoon #webcomicschat. I’m teaching a foundation drawing course right now so I’ve had sketching on the brain. Speaking of my class, it’s an evening class on Wednesdays so for the next few weeks I’ll need to have an afternoon #webcomicschat. Also, next week being San Diego – I’ll be holding a special #webcomicschat live from the show floor. It would be fun to link up in person with any tweeps at preview night. Now, back to the drawing board as it were…

This week we talked a bit about drawing and sketching techniques. I admitted that my favorite original art is sketches and that I love collecting artist’s sketchbooks. For myself though, I find it very hard to keep a regular sketchbook. Many of my illustrator friends are very good about filling sketchbooks with beautiful and detailed art even to the point of painting and coloring their pages. I on the other hand like @RealityAmuck tend to fill up legal pads. I don’t know what it is about lined, yellow paper but it seems to make sketching easier for me. Maybe it’s because of the grid that I can use for construction lines, or maybe it’s that fact that it’s not permanently bound in a book. Whatever the reason my sketching usually lives in a filing cabinet.

@remdog1138 and @RealityAmuck went on further to discuss the use of ink pens, nibs, and Koh-I-Noor — oh my~! With that and other traditional techniques we also talked about some digital variations. I started a new technique this week that I’m really excited about. I do a light sketch and digital watercolor wash in Painter. When that’s finished I print a bunch of them on bristol or watercolor paper and embellish the prints with colored pencils and micron pens. Doing this has many benefits it allows me to sell quickly rendered original art and experiment with many color and sketching variations. With that, feel free to share your sketching ideas here as well.

It’s that time of year again and San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner. I’m looking forward to meeting you all at my table in Small Press P-02. I have lots of new items for sale and I’m excited to debut the latest collection of the Super Siblings Webcomic “Clark Wars.” Also, don’t miss the latest comic book adventure “Super Science” where our duo faces off at the Bay City Elementary Science Fair. New for this year I’m adding collector sketch cards featuring your favorite comic book heroes drawn in the Super Siblings style and lastly I’ve got a new batch of t-shirts including “For the Horde” and “Who’s Scruffy Looking?.” There’s something for everyone to enjoy and don’t just take my word for it—Tiny Titans and Billy Batson creators Art and Franco say “Aw Yeah Super Siblings!”

On this week’s #webcomicschat we discussed humor in our comic strips (or the lack there of). Personally I’m fascinated by comedy and as you can probably tell from my comic strip I have absolutely no training in writing humor. With that in mind I put out the call to ask others to share their tips and tricks. I’ve collected a few here. @RealityAmuck— “I keep a small notebook with me at all times to jot down any stray ideas or funny things I see.” @ben3PO— “I have none [writing tips], just trying to figure that stuff out myself. But, I guess write what amuses you.” @blaquesaber— “I usually find out my stuff is funny after I write it.” @RealityAmuck— “When I write I like to just dump everything I’m thinking of on paper. Later, review and edit after it’s had time to rest.” @supersiblings— “My favorite comedy strips have an unusual turn & written very concise i.e. Far Side, Calvin, etc.” @supersiblings— “I love humor strips when cartoonists have only one word or no words in the final panel… not sure why but I do.” @adreanaline— “When I write humor, I think of unusual situations. Take what I know and throw a wrench in the works.” @supersiblings— “For me I usually get an idea for a punchline… so I’m usually writing backwards from there.” @MaskedManor— “It also helps to write yourself into a corner occasionally. Then the fun begins when you force yourself to dig out of it.”

This kind of discussion always leads to the question: “Is humor an innate talent or is it a learned skill?” My answer is that it’s a bit of both. You need a sense of humor to get started. You need to be able to look around you and find funny things in life that inspire you. Once you have the idea you need the skills to craft it into something truly memorable. There’s no easy way to do it but the payoff is worth it.