Top Ten Articles – July 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and that means that it’s time for me to make my usual list of links to my favourite articles about making art, writing fiction and/or making webcomics that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a couple of honourable mentions too.

Although there were still a fair number of game and/or film reviews posted here this month, there were slightly fewer than during my film review series last month. Still, thanks to the fact that I was making a webcomic and preparing last year’s Halloween stories at the time of writing this month’s articles, there were a fair number of reasonably good articles about writing, comics etc..

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – July 2018:

– “Three Reasons Why Your Short Story Collections Should Include Some Variety”
– “Three Things To Do When You Can’t Make A Horror Story Too Gruesome”
-“Three Basic Tips For Making “Old Future”-Style Sci-Fi Art”
– “Three More Ways To Deal With Failed Paintings (Emotionally)”
– “Three Reasons Why Stories Can Have Alternative Endings”
– “Three Reasons Why Things In The Horror Genre Can Be Scarier Than You Remember”
– “Even More Thoughts About “Obvious” Early Creative Inspirations – A Ramble”
– “Three Ways To Stop Your Readers Feeling “Out Of Their Depth”
– “Why Inspiration Works In “Strange” Ways”
– “Three Basic Ways To Disguise “Lazy” Art”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Four Things I Learnt About Art and Storytelling From Watching Films From The 1990s”
– “Why Creative Works Don’t Always Have To Make Sense – A Ramble”

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Top Ten Articles – June 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and that means that it’s time for me to compile my usual list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, making comics, writing fiction etc… that I’ve posted here during the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a couple of honourable mentions too.

The quality of this month’s art/writing-based articles was slightly variable, mostly because I was also focusing on my “1990s film reviews” series too.

Although the next review in this series won’t appear until the 3rd July at the earliest (since I haven’t written a “Doom II” WAD review in a while and I’m also still sticking to my “don’t post reviews on consecutive days” rule), I am at least learning how to balance reviews and article-writing. Still, when I was getting used to it earlier this month, the quality of my “ordinary” articles dipped slightly.

Anyway, here are the lists. Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – June 2018:

– “Three Reasons Why The Monster Genre Is Brilliant”
– “What To Do When Unenthusiasm Strikes In The Middle Of A Painting”
– “One Surprising Thing FPS Games Can Teach Us About Creativity – A Ramble”
– “Three Basic Tips For Coming Up With Good Settings In The Horror Genre”
– “Three Random Tips For Informal Creative Research”
– “Three Tips For Making Rushed And/Or Uninspired Art Look Better”
– “Two Basic Tips To Avoid Making “Bloated” Creative Works”
– “Five Reasons Why Fictional Villains Are Such Interesting Characters”
– “In Art, Style Matters As Much As (Or More Than) Substance – A Ramble”
– “One Thing That The Romance Genre Does Differently To Most Other Genres”

Honourable mentions:

– “How To Avoid Your “Inspired By..” Creative Works Turning Into Rip-Offs”
– “Art Practice Works! – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – May 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to provide my usual list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, writing fiction and/or making webcomics that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a couple of honourable mentions.

All in all, this month was something of a mixed bag. Although there are some articles that I’m really proud of, there were also times when the quality dropped somewhat. In addition to this, I also ended up writing more reviews than usual this month too (this may end up turning into something of a trend, or it might not. I’m not sure, although I’ll still try to follow my “don’t post two reviews in a row” rule).

Anyway, here are the lists. Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – May 2018:

– “Why Does Current Art Often Look Slightly ‘Old’? – A Ramble”
– “When NOT To Let Your Art Evolve – A Ramble”
– “Four Tips For Adding Some 1990s-Style Silliness To Your Story Or Comic”
– “Five Things That Two Old TV Shows Can Teach Us About 1990s-Style Storytelling”
– “Four Ways To Make Your Audience Feel Like Rebels”
– “Why Creative People Should Be Critics Too – A Ramble”
– “Making Digital Art With Open-Source Software – A Demonstration”
– “Five Reasons Why Artists Should Be Gamers Too”
– “How Artists Work Out Their ‘Process'”
– “Three Cheap Ways To Make Trendy Types Of Art”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Two Basic Ways To Use Reference Images When Making Art”
– “Making Art Based On Daydreams – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – April 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to make a list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, making webcomics, writing fiction etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a few honourable mentions too.

All in all, this month has been a surprisingly good one in terms of articles, even if there was a slight dip in quality near the end of the month (since I’m busy making a webcomic mini series for next month).

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – April 2018:

– “Five Things I’ve Learnt From Running A Blog For Five Years”
– “Three Very Basic Tips For Learning How To Paint Realistic Shadows/Shading”
– “Three Other Things That Heavy Metal Music Can Teach Creative People”
– “Three %@(£#*$ Stupid Ways To Use Profanity In Fiction, Comics etc..”
– “One Constructive Way To Deal With Artistic Jealousy – A Ramble”
– “Don’t Let Uninspiration Win! – A Ramble”
– “Do Artists Have To Have Cool Life Stories? – A Ramble”
– “Three Tips For Adding Your Own “Spin” To A Study Of An Old Painting”
– “Three Tips For Making Original Art”
– “What Can Old Computer Games Teach Us About Painting And Drawing From Imagination? – A Ramble”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Four Awesome Things That Artists And Writers Can Learn From The Modern Games Industry [APRIL FOOL]”
– “Three Reasons Why Physical Media Is Awesome”
– “What “Blade Runner” Can Teach Us About Fictional Violence”

Top Ten Articles – March 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and that means that it’s time for me to collect a list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, making webcomics and/or writing fiction that I’ve posted here this month (plus a few honourable mentions too).

All in all, this has been a reasonably good month in terms of articles, even if I ended up writing more “critic”-style articles than usual (where I talk about a genre or something like that).

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – March 2018

– “Animated Sitcoms And Webcomics Are More Similar Than You Think – A Ramble”
– “Nostalgia Is A Different Source Of Artistic Inspiration For Everyone – A Ramble”
– “Good Horror Shouldn’t Linger – A Ramble”
– “Finding The Right Type Of “Easy” Art To Make When Making Art Feels Difficult”
– “What To Do If You Feel Creatively Inspired By Something You Don’t Like”
– “Another Cool Thing Computer And Video Games Can Teach Artists”
– “Three Quick Ways To Make “Retro” 1980s/90s-Style Art (If You’ve Never Made Retro Art Before)”
– “The One Skill That Writing, Art etc.. Courses Don’t Always Teach Directly – A Ramble”
– “Three Ways To Reduce Or Increase The Emotional Impact Of Fictional Violence”
– “Three Quick Reasons Why Cyberpunk Art Is Easier To Make Than You Think”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Two More Similarities Between Animated Sitcoms And Webcomics”
– “Creativity As Variation – A Ramble”
– “Three Reasons Why Novelty Art Supplies Are Awesome – A Ramble”
– “Why It’s Important For Artists To Be Part Of The Audience Sometimes – A Ramble”

Top Ten Articles – February 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and that means that it’s time for me to compile a list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, making comics and/or writing fiction that I’ve posted here this month (with a couple of honourable mentions too).

All in all, this has been a surprisingly good month in terms of articles. Although I felt a little bit uninspired near the end of the month, I really like how many of this month’s articles turned out 🙂

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂

Top Ten Articles – February 2018:

– “Three Things To Do When You Can’t Think Of An Idea For A Painting (That Feels “Meaningful” Or “Relevant” Enough To Bother With)”
– “Three Tips For Finding Artistic Knowledge (That Can’t Be Found Online)”
– “Why Your Terrible First Attempt At Writing A “Novel” Is Important (Plus, An Extract From Mine)”
– “Why It Is Difficult To Emulate The Past – A Ramble”
– “Three Random Tips For Creating Things Set In (mid-late) 1990s Britain”
– “Three Tips For Making More Interesting Fan Art”
– “One Basic Way To Make Up For The Lack Of Background Music In Art, Comics And Fiction”
– “Unlike Fiction And Comics, Art Is Non-Linear (And What This Means If You’re Making It) – A Ramble”
– “Two Basic Tips For Making Art That Is Distinctly ‘You’.”
– “Three Basic Tips For Storytelling In Wordless Comics”

Honourable Mentions:

– “How To Deal WIth Writer’s Block And Artist’s Block Like A Pro – A Ramble”
– “Letting Your Imagination Assert Itself – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – January 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month. So, as usual, it’s time for me to provide a list of links to my ten favourite articles about making webcomics, making art and/or writing fiction that I’ve posted here over the past month (plus, a couple of honourable mentions too).

All in all, this month was a reasonably good month in terms of articles, although there were slightly more reviews than usual. Not to mention that I had at least a few uninspired days (which led to the occasional repetitive and/or opinionated article)

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – January 2018

– “Three Reasons Why Combining Two Awesome Things Can Sometimes Be Less Awesome”
– “Three Tips For Quick “Formal” Writing”
– “A Perfect Example Of How To Take Inspiration Properly – A Ramble”
– “The Importance Of Having Multiple Inspirations – A Ramble”
– “Are Futuristic Settings An Essential Part Of The Cyberpunk Genre?”
– “Three Basic Things To Do If You Start Running Out Of Inspiration In The Middle Of A Painting”
– “Four Reasons Why We Enjoy Things That Are ‘So Bad That They’re Good’”
– “Five Free Pirate-themed Creative Inspirations (That Don’t Involve Digital Piracy)”
– “Three Tips For Getting To Know An Obscure Genre (If You Want To Make Stuff In It)”
– “Three Tips For Taking Inspiration From Other (Web)Comics, Whilst Keeping Your Webcomic Original”

Honourable mentions:

– “How To Have More Than One Main Inspiration”
– “Why Do Critics Have A Reputation For Being Cynical ? – A Ramble”