This is cute. Seems to have gone up about a week ago. I think… Hard to tell with these things.

I like the suggestion that it would make a good dartboard — and that Hollywood should never be allowed to play.

Might be fun to use with Rory’s Story Cubes (maybe for 24-Hour Comics Day!)

[link via Byron Woodson]

This article by Austin Kleon offers some good solid advice. I don’t agree with everything, but it’s an inspiring list he offers, and almost anyone with creative aspirations will find something useful. [link via Cat Garza]

Meanwhile, thanks to writer Matt Cohen for an unexpected shoutout in HuffPost Business earlier this week (and hey, while we’re at it, thanks to another Huffington Post Writer, Kate Kelly, for another shoutout at the beginning of the month). Comics readers are everywhere!

Some of you may have seen the Newsarama report that I helped design the six variant covers for Marvel’s limited series X-Men: First Class adaptation this fall. That was obviously a typo. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I hardly needed help.

And finally, THESE KIDS are clearly ten kinds of wonderful, as are their teacher and her very cool site. Consider swinging by their Kickstarter page and lending your support to make their dream of a printed collection a reality.

Off to Maryland in a couple of days (check out the travel sidebar at right for the updated list of my busy spring schedule). Enjoy the weekend!

The Lay of the Lacrymer by Molly Hayden does a very simple thing that I’m surprised (and a little sad) that more comics don’t do.

It makes me wonder, on nearly every page, what’s going to happen next.

Simple as that. A little thing, really. And yet, in the end, it’s everything.

[Thanks to @geminica]

Having trouble with perspective? Lucky for you, David Chelsea has a great book on the subject (in comics form no less) that explains everything you need to know about drawing 3-D scenes in Flatland.

But if you still feel out of your depth with full western perspective, David points out in a recent blog post, that there’s a simpler alternative — the isometric approach — that can help create the illusion of depth by following a few simple rules.

Part One is here, with more examples in Part Two, including my photo from the CN tower with it’s Sims-like isometric composition.

Damian Niolet recently sent word of a giant infographic he created as a personal cheatsheet showing…

Um…

Well, here’s his (perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek) description from the graphic itself:

“A graphical representation of the process of creating a work of fiction in comic book form and the tools and knowledge necessary to do so, as based on the theories and works of Scott McCloud (with some minor additional concepts from Damian Niolet).”

It’s big, beautiful, and kinda terrifying  (to me at least), and if you want to download a hi-res copy, you can find a link to do so either here or here.

I have a weird job!

The Twitterverse was all abuzz yesterday for this wonderful guide to facial expressions by Lackadaisy creator Tracy J. Butler. More than just a tutorial, the thing is a practically a work of art on its own (and should probably be a poster).

And naturally, if you like the tutorial and haven’t read the comic, now is as good a time as any.

And YES, let’s have fewer “Smarm Brows” out there, okay?

While getting ready for this weekend’s Los Angeles workshop, I came across this elegant rotoscope-based video (via Jim & Misty) that reminded me how beautiful the human form is—and how far I still have to go, after all these years, to capture it on paper.

There are no shortcuts. Yes, comics is about much more than figure drawing, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth your time to practice, practice, practice.

Do the hard work long enough, and maybe, someday, you can make it look easy.

[Edit to add: For those attending this weekend's workshop, though, don't worry! Figure drawing won't be the focus, and even stick figures will be most welcome. We'll be focusing on the art of "writing with pictures," not drawing virtuosity. :-]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Next Weekend (December 11-12) is my Comics: Theory and Practice Two-Day Workshop at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.

Due to a site update glitch, the workshop was listed as “Sold Out” for a week. That’s actually wrong. It’s ALMOST sold out, but if you’d still like to participate, there are just a few seats left. Sorry for the confusion.

In two very full days, it’ll be my pleasure to teach you everything I know about making comics. Now’s your last chance to sign up to join us.

Cartoonists: Do you know that what you put in your panels is potentially far more interesting than how well you draw it?

Haven’t listened again myself yet, so there’s a chance I made a fool of myself, but I enjoyed talking with James Sturm on our Friday Comic-Con panel and I think some interesting points were raised.

Courtesy of TCJ, here’s the audio of the panel (and photo by Kristy Valenti).