It's All Part of the PROCESS

The PENCILTOWN crew dives into the comic-making process from beginning to end! They tackle idea generation, scripting, visual thumbnails, colours and more, revealing not just HOW they make comics but WHY they do it this way! Is there one tried and true method?

 

Nick kicks it all off by asking what is purported to be the silliest of all questions: "Where do your ideas come from?" But will it prove to be the most important question? As they embark on their discussion, are these gentleman entering an enormous sandbox, or an endless kitty litter box? Is lightning any use without the bottle that captures it? What are the most challenging, fun and important parts of the process?

 

Creators and Works Mentioned: 

Greta Thunberg

 

Carl Jung: Man and His Symbols

 

Jung and Feminism: Liberating Archetypes

 

Death of the Author by Roland Barthes

 

Script Notes Podcast

 

Alan Moore: Writing for Comics

 

Soma FM

 

Atticus Ross (Musician)

 

Bernard Herman (Composer)

 

Trent Reznor

 

Nick discusses his ideal comic-making experience, and you can find the finished comic here: WE FEED ON CRUMBS OF SHADOW

Art Supplies/Tools:

 

Faber-Castell Sepia Pens

 

Clip Studio Paint

 

Procreate

 

Penciltown Spotlight:

 

Nick - Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling

Sho - Invisible Ink

You Are a Storyteller Podcast

Contributor Socials:

Nick Johnson

twitter/instagram: @illustratednick

website: nickj.ca

process blog: nicksoup.com

Jason Mehmel

twitter/instagram: @typewriterjason

website: jasonmehemel.com

Sho Uehara

website: shouehara.com
twitter: @ShoKeepsDrawing
instagram: @shouehara

For comments and episode suggestions, you can contact the pod on twitter: @penciltownpod - or via email: thepenciltownpodcast@gmail.com.

Music and editing for the podcast provided by Nick Johnson

The Penciltown Bump-In: JILLIAN FLECK

On today’s mini-episode, Nick will be “bumping into” JILLIAN FLECK who was kind enough to share some hobbies, obsessions and recommendations, as well as some insight on how to prevent burnout, overcome creative roadblocks, and strategies for maintaining an artist’s mental health. They both share many laughs while admiring the many dogs that roam the PENCILTOWN streets and reveal where to gain inspiration from outside of comics. The fun and inspiring episode ran a little longer than intended, but it is so damn good, we couldn’t imagine trimming anything. Not even the part where Nick talks about burying himself up to his neck! Enjoy!

A multidisciplinary artist and storyteller, JILLIAN FLECK specializes in comics. Their graphic novel Lake Jehovah, an epic tale of love, loss, and hooking up during the apocalypse, was published by Conundrum Press in 2016. Jillian's comics have been included in anthologies such as Dirty Diamonds and Dirty Rotten Comics, featured by the online comic magazine Comics Workbook, and they recently published an academic article in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. Their work can be found online at jillianfleck.com and on Instagram @jillian.fleck

Jillian's Recommendations:

Yoshiharu Tsuge, translated by Ryan Holmberg - THE MAN WITHOUT TALENT

Kai Cheng Thom - FIERCE FEMMES AND NOTORIOUS LIARS

For comments and episode suggestions, you can contact the pod on Twitter @penciltownpod – or via email: the penciltownpodcast@gmail.com. Show notes are available at www.thepenciltownpodcast@blogspot.com.

THEME - Part Two: The Reckoning

In the sequel to their smash first episode on THEME, the Penciltown crew continue their discussion, focusing on how a Theme can be used throughout the creative process to guide us through a story. They explore how it can be used to develop, setting, characters and endings, and Jason takes us down a Hotel Calfornia-esque cul-de-sac to discuss idea factories. And what does this all have to do with an ice-cold fish slap in the face? Tune in to find out!

Penciltown Spotlight:

Nick - THREE SHADOWS by Cyril Pedrosa

Jason - THE MURDERBOT DIARIES by Martha Wells

Sho - OLD SOULS by Brian McDonald and Les McClaine

Other Works and Creators Mentioned:

• Craig Mazin, John August - SCRIPTNOTES podcast
• John Truby - THE ANATOMY OF STORY
• K.M. Weiland
• Brian McDonald
• STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE (Disney) - streaming on DISNEY+
• J.J. Abrams
• WONDER WOMAN (Warner Bros.) - streaming on NETFLIX

Contributor Socials:

Nick Johnson

twitter/instagram: @illustratednick

website: nickj.ca

process blog: nicksoup.com

Jason Mehmel

twitter/instagram: @typewriterjason

website: jasonmehemel.com

Sho Uehara

website: shouehara.com
twitter: @ShoKeepsDrawing
instagram: @shouehara

For comments and episode suggestions, you can contact the pod on twitter: @penciltownpod - or via email: thepenciltownpodcast@gmail.com.

Music and editing for the podcast provided by Nick Johnson

The Penciltown Bump-In: MARIA STOIAN

The Penciltown Bump-In is a mini episode where we will be “bumping into” our fellow storytellers on the busy streets of Penciltown. We’ll take a few minutes to catch up, see what they’re up to, who they’ve been working with, what they’ve been obsessing over and inspired by, and they might just be willing to share some of the exciting narrative discoveries they have made of late. Our first guest is Romanian-Canadian cartoonist Maria Stoian. Her comics have appeared in the New Yorker, The Nib, and print anthologies such as Drawing Power. Her graphic novel Take It As a Compliment is a collection of real-life stories of sexual violence. Maria’s work can be found online on Instagram: @maria_stoian, and much of her comic work can be found at The Nib. Maria's Recommendations: Heather Parry The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Dreamworks), streaming on Netflix Samurai Jack (Cartoon Network, Adult Swim) The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis Sarah Glidden - comics, essays, illustration Hera Lindsay Bird - poet

THEME - Part One: The Awakening

For their first deep-dive into storytelling, the PENCILTOWN crew tackle the subject of THEME. They spend some time chasing its elusive definition in an attempt to determine what theme is and isn't. They debate whether or not it is important for every creator to have a theme when starting their project and when it should be integrated into the process.

The conversation ended up running long enough that we decided to split it into two different episodes, the second of which will explore how we can use theme to structure our story.

Penciltown Spotlight:

Nick - 3 POINT PERSPECTIVE podcast

Jason - THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE - streaming on AMAZON PRIME

Sho – INVISIBLE INK: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO BUILDING STORIES THAT RESONATE

Other Creators Mentioned:

John August - SCRIPTNOTES podcast
John Truby - THE ANATOMY OF STORY
Robert McKee - STORY: Style, Structure Substance, and the principles of Screenwriting

Brian McDonald

Contributor Socials:

Nick Johnson

twitter/instagram: @illustratednick

website: nickj.ca

process blog: nicksoup.com

Jason Mehmel

twitter/instagram: @typewriterjason

website: jasonmehemel.com

Sho Uehara

website: shouehara.com
twitter: @ShoKeepsDrawing
instagram: @shouehara

For comments and episode suggestions, you can contact the pod on twitter: @penciltownpod - or via email: thepenciltownpodcast@gmail.com.

Music and editing for the podcast provided by Nick Johnson.