Digital Hand Studios and YouTube

Digital Hand Studios will posting videos on YouTube Soon 

Digital Hand Studios has been slowly preparing for YouTube for this year by making screen videos of the drawing process of its current titles.  There are page drawing videos of The Legend of Old Cuban Samurai, Foreigner, Rise of Atlantis, and even some sketch covers that will be released soon.  Its been a slow start due to many obstacles that presented themselves for the first half of the year.  But as we start the second part of the year the opportunity have started to appear and have allowed for more video screen capture time and editing than previously.  Live streaming will be following very soon.   

SoFlo Panels is also following the lead to start producing videos for you guys about the local comic scene, artist interviews, and comic con previews.  We hope to release some videos and start some Live stream sessions and Q & As soon so keep posted. 

How to Create a Comic Page

Phil Jimenez is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work as writer/artist on Wonder Woman from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, and his collaborations with writer Grant Morrison on New X-Men and The Invisibles. This is a video of Phil Jimenez sharing his process for creating comic pages. 

The Next Big Super Hero Team

Greek Mythology meets Ancient Alien Technology

In case you haven't been to New Your Comic Con 2017 or Megacon Orlando 2018, This is Earth's newest team of young defenders, Rise of Atlantis.  The group consist of several young demi-gods who use ancient alien technology to get them super powers.  Each of them take on a role of responsibility represented by a Greek god.  Under the organizational leadership and guidance of Dean Papadopoulos, AKA "Pops", the young guardians help defend the world through their secret missions.

The story begins through the journey of the team's newest member, Zack, a young Indian genius who is starting his university studies.  He is recruited by the young gods and given an amazing opportunity to make a real difference in the world.  This is the story of the trials that Zack must face and endure to become the next young demi-god.  

Rise of Atlantis: Young Gods is a full colored graphic novel by Robert Estape and art by Andres R. Prieto, under Digital Hand Studios.  The book is scheduled to be released by the end of the year but is looking into publishing through Image Comics, a large publisher of independent comic books. 

The book is currently in the process of production with many new pages updated weekly through the book's Facebook page.  As it stands, the book is estimated to be 120 to 140 pages at release towards the end of the year. 

Change of Name

 We've recently changed our name to SoFlo Panels Indie Comic Magazine to best reflect our intentions.  South Florida provides a vast amount of beautiful local comic art that we felt needed a voice.  The melting pot of culture that encompasses South Florida brings an exotic take on comics.  This magazine is still part of Digital Hand Studios. 
In the upcoming months we plan to interview local artists and comic book stores and review local comic cons.  As it stands right now we plan to release a small run of ashcan size magazines at local stores as a preview of what the magazine will be like.  A digital version will also be available. 

We've already changed our Facebook page and are changing our Youtube channel as we prepare to upload new videos by next month.

Thanks for following our blog!

Selling your Comic Pages as Indie Artists

 The question is "Does original comic pages sell from indie artists?"  As a well known artist from any of the big publishers I'm sure your page has a strong fandom that will pay hundreds of dollars for a comic page of original art from a famous comic.  But what about indie artists or new comic artists?  Do pages from less known artists sell?

The reason that this question is so important is that it can affect your choice of medium, digital vs traditional.  Jim Lee said there were many new artists missing out on selling their original art work by working digitally.  Granted, if you're a well known and sought after artist as Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Mark Silvestri, or Greg Capullo it would make sense to make more money from originals.  New artists don't get the same recognition.

The trade off is losing your tools, shortcuts, and page rate for the aspiration to sell the original art for extra money.  When you take into account your own notoriety and realistically calculate who would buy your original art you get a better idea of what your sacrificing for a very slim hope of additional cash.

  

Penciling a Page with Jim Lee

This is a video of Jim Lee penciling a Superman page for the comic.  This should give you a sense of how long it takes to pencil sketch a professional page and the process.  Watch as he begins with a very rough concept and builds up the details... and changes them as he works to suit the scene better.  More importantly this video shares the time and dedication necessary as an artist to commit to the creation of a single page of art. 

Upcoming Show: MEGACON Orlando

 

We've been really busy preparing for Megacon Orlando and to prepare our titles for publications.  We haven't had free time to post updates but here it is.  Rise of Atlantis is on its second book for the convention.  Zach is going through his transformation and getting to know the team and his new lifestyle commitment.   

Digital Hand Studios will have the first book and posters available at the show.  Remember these are all limited direct sales.  We'll be posting our booth# soon so keep up with us on Facebook.

After the convention we'll be focusing on our website, distribution, and setting up this indie magazine for circulation.   

Beginner's Guide to Writing Comic Book Stories

If you've been having trouble coming up with your comic story, you came to the right place.  There are many great articles and books out there on how to write novels and comic book scrips.  I know because I own several of them.  Most are long drawn out explanations of the same thing but in different words.  I'm going to put the basic meat and potatoes here with a bonus on how to make it easy and interesting.  Here's my beginner's guide to writing comic book stories.

Plots

Yes, plots.  All good stories have two or more.  But to make it simple, concentrate on a major and minor plot for the back ground.  The plot is defined as the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story...or in this case a comic.  Practically, what's the story about?  The typical main plot is usually your hero trying to defeat the villain or villain's evil plan. The minor background plot can be some new romance or hero overcoming self doubts.

A plot device, or plot mechanism, is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. ... However a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience.

Outline

Make an outline for each plot in your story.  Organize each outline into three parts: the beginning intro, the middle rising action, and finally the resolution.  This is also known as the  story 3 act structure.  Even though stories come in different structures and can have more than 3 acts, we'll be using this type to get yo started.  If you need a bit more information or tips on creating your outline, Writer's Digest is a valuable resource for writers.  Here's an article on Outlines.

Act 1 The Introduction

This is the start of the story; This is where you capture your reader.  In the first act in comics its important to stir up your audience by using a hook.  This is also where you introduce your characters and the world where the story takes place.  


A narrative hook (or just hook) is a literary technique in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that he or she will keep on reading.

Act 2 The Rising Action

Act 2 is basically about the emotional journey of the main character. This is the rising action leading to the climax of the story according to the plot.  Give your characters all sorts of challenges to overcome, because the key in this act is conflict. Without conflict you can’t move the story forward. Conflict does not always mean a literal fight, but it can be all kinds of obstacles that keep the main character from achieving his/her goal/desire. Think about internal and external conflicts. Remember to continually raise the stakes of your main character’s journey. 

Climax is the term used to refer to the part of story or play where the tension or action reaches its highest part. Sometimes, the climax is a "crisis" point in the plot.

Act 3 The Resolution

Act 3 is all about the resolution of the story. This final act should show how the main character is able to succeed or become a better person. Everything that you’ve written in Act 1 and Act 2 leads up to this final act, so make sure you create a lot of interesting tension here as well as tying all the loose ends.  But since comic books are a series and you need the reader to return for the nest story, you will need to end your book with a cliffhanger to introduce your next book and create the tension and curiosity.

The conclusion of a story, often called the resolution or denouement.  This is where you answer all, if not most, of the reader's questions about the plot. 

A cliffhanger, or cliffhanger ending, is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction.

Now that you're armed with this story structure knowledge go forth and brainstorm new ideas and make incredible new comic stories!  

If you found this article helpful and like what you're reading here, subscribe to this blog.  Also check out our Facebook page and YouTube channel. 

 

So We're Back?

We've moved back here again.  The Digital Hand Studios website is still undergoing some major changes to prepare for online digital sales.  So for the meanwhile, as long as that will be, I'll just share articles here.  We're still moving forward as a small magazine for indie comic creators, but our release date is still unannounced.   If you enjoy our articles and find the information helpful, remember to subscribe.

Articles & Topics

For those of you who have been following us, welcome back.  To all the new readers, we're a blog/soon to be a comic magazine for independent comic creators.  This means everybody who doesn't work for the big two, Marvel or DC.  Our articles range from comic art techniques to the writing process for stories.  We look into the publishing and the business side of comics, especially getting the most out of your marketing efforts.

There seems to be a few great comic art magazines out there with amazing articles, but seldom do they really speak to the unique problems that indie creators face constantly.  Most of them focus on the art, lets face it.  What we're creating here is a magazine that goes into all those issues that come along when you create a comic book for independent or self publishing. We'll go beyond just the art and get into writing stories and converting them into comic scripts, marketing campaigns that will get your book sold for a wide range of budgets, and how to register UPCs and ISBNs. Learn what you need to know to run your comic book creation business.

What's Else is New?

Moving forward to offer you guys a better experience we've added a YouTube channel to stream content related to our articles and even some cool places or neat art techniques that we can share.  We're going to have fun and explore the mysteries of creating comics...I mean come on, that's awesome!  So definitely check it out and if you really like it subscribe to it so you won't miss a video.
As it stands for now we'll be posting new articles and videos every other Sunday.  We're still a bit busy working on comic projects at Digital Hand Studios, especially for up coming Megacon in Orlando coming up in May.

Thank you for visiting us!  Remember to subscribe or check every other Sunday for new articles. 

Stay awesome!