Alien League:
Very, very thin font. Interesting for a line, not so great for only a word or a block of text. Looks a bit like a bar code.
Examples: x
Corabael:
Great for a word here and there, definitely not for a lot text. Great y’s and f’s, but it doesn’t have punctuation marks.
Examples: x x xCourier New:
Loos great, but not always easy to use as it gets pixellated very fast and I almost always need a double layer for it to be readable. Not very good for small text, but it can be a fun font.
Examples: x x x xElephant:
Not very special but still a little different than other fonts. Not always very readable. Broadway is also a good alternative for this.
Examples: x xFangtasia:
Very swirly with the t’s, fun to use for a couple of words.
Examples: x xFolks (Bold):
Can be used for a lot of text, but not very interesting to play with size/italics/upper-and lowercase etc in one graphic because it starts to look messy.
Examples: x xFrail:
Bit of a weird font. Not always useable, but it can look cool.
Examples: x xFutura:
Rounder than Futura LT Condensed, but very readable and good for lots of text.
Examples: x x x x x x x xFutura LT Condensed:
FAVORITE. I use it so much :D Especially on gifs. The letters are thin, so you can put a lot of words in one line, it’s vey readable and playing with size, uppercase/lowercase, italics, space between your letters, etc. makes it look very different.
Examples: x x x x x x x x x xGeorgia / Times New Roman (probably on your computer already):
Oldies but goodies. I personally don’t really see much difference between them, to be honest :D But you can use them for a block of text, you can use them in all-capslock, and they’re really great when you want to change up the size of your words. Playing with the space between the letters can give a different look as well.
Examples: x x x x x x x x xKaty Berry:
Cute swirly font. Hearts instead of dots, so not something to put on everything.
Examples: x xPTF Nordic Rnd:
A bit on the boring side, but very readable and useable.
Examples: x xPea Lyndal:
Very cool y’s, t’s and j’s. Not always very readable and takes some fitting when you have more than a couple words, but can look very cool.
Examples: x xPea Mee-Mee:
Fun and swirly, good for a couple words but definitely not for a block of text.
Examples: xPump Demi Bold:
Fun and readable. I really like this one in italic.
Examples: x x xRockwell:
Similar to Courier New, but easier to use as it’s thicker..
Examples: x
If you’re interested in color theory, or you like beautifully-designed little games, or you just feel like being bad at something today (OH MY GOD SLOW DOWN TOO MANY COLORS), try this.
(via Metafilter)
I got a question about the way I add textures to my drawings, so I went a bit overboard and made a quick tutorial!
Almost all of the textures I use are from here. Textures are honestly not that hard to find—Google will easily lead you to plenty of sites where those resources are available for free.
Also keep in mind that this method is mostly just for sprucing up sketches, not for taking a full illustration to finish. I definitely would not recommend relying on a formulaic method like this for coloring everything you draw. It’s just an easy way to make a doodle look more presentable!
I use Photoshop CS5, but I don’t use any super fancy tools in this tutorial, so I’m pretty sure you can still use this process or something very similar to it in older/simpler versions of Photoshop or even entirely different programs like SAI (I haven’t explored SAI much yet, though, so don’t quote me on that).
One last thing: the key to learning Photoshop (or almost any other program) is basically to press all the buttons to see what they do. Look through all the menu options, click all the weird little symbols, just explore and experiment! I’m entirely self-taught in Photoshop, and that’s how I did it. It’s a lot of fun! Good luck and happy arting!
102 Resources for Fiction Writers
Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration.
CHARACTER, POINT OF VIEW, DIALOGUE
The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting)
Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters
Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”
How to Start Writing in the Third Person
Web Resources for Developing Characters
What are the Sixteen Master Archetypes?
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Villains are People, Too, But …
Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue
Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills (character traits)
How to Write a Character Bible
Character Development Exercises
All Your Characters Sounds the Same — And They’re Not a Hivemind!
Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Difference for Successful Fiction
Family Echo (family tree website)
Interviewing Characters: Follow the Energy
100 Character Development Questions for Writers
Lineage Chart Layout Generator
PLOT, CONFLICT, STRUCTURE, OUTLINE
How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method
Effectively Outlining Your Plot
Conflict and Character within Story Structure
Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets
Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
Plunge Right In … Into Your Story, That Is!
Fiction Writing Tips: Story Grid
Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations
The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plotting Tricks
The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps
Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
SETTING, WORLD BUILDING
The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life
Creating the Perfect Setting – Part I
An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
Character and Setting Interactions
Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
IDEAS, INSPIRATION
Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud
Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle
Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips to Engineer a Productive Flow
The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
Story Starters and Idea Generators
REVISION
One-Pass Manuscript Revision: From First Draft to Last in One Cycle
Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
Writing 101: So You Want to Write a Novel Part 3: Revising a Novel
TOOLS and SOFTWARE
My Writing Nook (online text editor; free)
Bubbl.us (online mind map application; free)
Freemind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)
XMind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)
Liquid Story Binder (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $45.95; Windows, portable)
Scrivener (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $39.95; Mac)
SuperNotecard (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)
yWriter (novel organization and writing software; free; Windows, Linux, portable)
JDarkRoom (minimalist text editor; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)
AutoRealm (map creation software; free; Windows, Linux with Wine)
screaming
I think I reblogged this before but just in case, super handy writing references, woo!
Camera Lens Choice!
These are some guides I did specifically for the Green Lantern Animated Series. I learned most of my knowledge of CG camera lenses while working on Clone Wars (with Maya). I could see the rules being different on a live action set.
Also, note that this indicates stylistic choices I wanted on Green Lantern. Tron Uprising, which I think is a beautiful looking show, tends to use a lot more wide angle lenses than we did, which is what gives it that extra “anime” look.
If you work in traditional animation, you probably don’t have to think much about lens choice - unless you work in anime, or Avatar the Last Airbender.
This easily applies to panel composition in comics, too!
I find that, when writing bios, it’s really helpful to look at a list or a chart like the one above. Picking two or three traits from each chart and building a character based around them will give you a really interesting bio, because they will serve as a reminder that characters need depth and dimension.
Independent and clever.
VS.
Independent, clever, pretentious, and stubborn.
The first combination doesn’t come with any flaws, whereas the second will provide a more dynamic character.




