The PENCILTOWN Podcast

Welcome to the conclusion of our 2-part Penciltown special on how to build better scenes!

Last week we discussed strategies on how to build a scene from scratch, from initial concept to visual story. Now that we have taken a first crack at creating scenes that tell a confident story, we will focus on techniques that can help us to juice up our scenes for maximum impact: how to add interest, immerse the reader, heighten the emotion, and have the story unfold in a way that is unique to you.

We are once again joined by special guest host Jillian Fleck in what is easily our best episode yet. Perhaps because of our fancy new "carousel" format? Or maybe because we've been warmed up by Part 1? Or perhaps it's because of our passionate DS9 discussion?

Tune in and see, dear listener! And then get back to making some comics!

While we chip away at the second season of PENCILTOWN, we thought it would be fun to wrap up our first season by rifling through our mailbag, sharing a few storytelling lessons we learned over the past year, and most importantly, by opening up the floor to hear from fellow artists in the comic community, in an episode segment we like to call Pencil-TOWN HALL!

Tune in to hear sage wisdom on comic storytelling, the production process, and ways to relieve the pressure we sometimes place on ourselves when making work. We put a call out to some of our favourite creators in the indie comic scene in Alberta and the enthusiastic response had us brimming with gratitude. There's so much here to teach and inspire and we thank our contributors oh-so-much for making this such a special episode!

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? 

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

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!

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

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

Our conversation runs so long that we ended up splitting it into two episodes, the second of which will explore how we can use theme to structure our story. As usual, we wrap things up with the PENCILTOWN Spotlight, recommending three inspirational works to get the creative blood pumping.

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

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the PENCILTOWN podcast! In this introductory episode we will be exploring the PENCILTOWN mission statement, the very purpose behind the pod's existence, who it is designed for, the format of future episodes, as well as upcoming topics.

Hosts Nick Johnson, Jason Mehmel and Sho Uehara reveal their secret origins, highlighting the moments that developed their love of story and brought them to this point in their practice as storytellers. 

We wrap things up with our first PENCILTOWN SPOTLIGHT wherein we recommend some creative works that have been a huge inspiration to us, and serve as great examples of how to tell a story right.

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