The Aristotle vs League of Legends Showdown!
Screenwriting Tips from Ancient Greece, Making Webtoons, & More!
Hello, Unknown Explorers!!!
Another month, another newsletter! I have moved to a monthly schedule for now, but I’ve got plenty to share this time—especially for any aspiring writers out there!
@Viktorfarro, the artist on my sci-fi comic, The Encounter Before, has finished the first round of page thumbnails and has moved on to character design. It’s looking like we will be adding a couple pages to the original eight page script about a Navy F-18’s encounter with a UFO. Look out for a digital release of this one later this fall!
I am in the process of writing new short stories for my personal comics anthology, title TBD. Lots of bizarre ideas in the mix right now as I am narrowing down a list that includes haunted woods, mer-folk, and a story about the origins of the legendary paranormal cryptid, the Skinwalker! Like the F-18 story, you will eventually be able to read some of these in digital releases before we compile them into a printed edition.
My twenty page story, The Airship, is still in production.
The Panelsmith sci-fi comics anthology, Cosmic Journeys, is set to release its first digital volume near the end of August. I am contributing art and writing to this one, but my stories will not come until a later edition.
Creators! I took time to add links to the list of creative resources I have recommended in the past on my substack home page. These include some of my favorite comics making schools, art tutorials, and writing vlogs. You can check them out here!
Finally, for any writers out there, check out the first half of my deep dive below that breaks down the scriptwriting in Arcane: League of Legends using Aristotle’s Poetics! If you want to understand what makes good tragic writing tick, Arcane is an excellent example of Aristotle’s philosophies in action.
That’s all for now. Stay curious and keep creating!
Sterling
Sterling’s Deep Dives:
Arcane vs Aristotle: Parts I & II
Some of the most useful lessons I ever learned on how to write strong character motivations vs weak ones came from an article I read in college in a screenwriting magazine. The article used Aristotle’s Poetics to demonstrate how to write great screenplays. I lost the article, but I continued to use broken memories of what it taught me for years to come.
I always intended to go back and do my own deep dive into Aristotle to try to recreate what lessons I had lost. Time passes, however, and I never found a good excuse to put the time needed into that research. That is, until last year when sat down to watch Arcane: League of Legends on Netflix.
Needless to say, my mind was BLOWN on so many levels—art, animation, acting, music, but especially by the writing. I had finally found my excuse to pull out that flimsy old copy of Poetics I bought in college and do my best to break down why that show works to near perfection as a piece of tragic writing.
This Deep Dive is a long one, so if it’s the sort of thing floats your boat, get a cup of coffee, put on your dramaturgy pants, and settle in because you are my kind of nerd, friend!
Secret Arts & Forbidden Knowledge:
Transferring Art from a Traditional Comic Page Into a Webtoon Format
I watched this webinar the other day about creating a Webtoon comic in Clip Studio, but it turned out to be informative on so many different levels. The artist leading the webinar essentially went through her entire creative process from concept to layouts to lettering and coloring, and she had useful tips at all levels.
What I found most interesting was how she starts her Webtoon comics as traditional comics pages (the size you see in a comics shop), and converts that to the digital format used in Webtoons. For those who are unfamiliar, Webtoons is a platform for digital comics you read by scrolling on a phone or tablet. These comics have to be formatted to make the art and lettering readable on small devices. At the end, she also gives some great insights into her digital coloring style.
5 Common Mistakes When Drawing Anatomy
Here’s a short video from Marco Brunet for any artists trying to sort out why their anatomy looks weird even though everything seems right…? This guy’s delivery tests my nerves a little, but he actually has some useful tips. This one is great for new artists!
BONUS:
An Unknown Japan Short Take!
I’m not doing a full review of any anime here, but this trailer for the latest Makoto Shinkai film, Suzumi no Tojimari, is too beautiful not to share. A few months back I did a review of his movie, Your Name. So for anyone who enjoyed that movie and the art style, I’m pretty sure you will be just as enthralled by this trailer as I am. I recommend you watch this one on a large, hi-definition screen if possible. Enjoy!
Sterling Martin is an artist and designer living in Chicago, IL. His background includes drawing, writing, theatre, teaching, improv & sketch comedy, and whatever else he can get his hands on to be creative. You can find him on the internet at:
Instagram: @sterfest.art
Website: sterlingmartin.design
Twitter: Maybe someday?
Linkedin: I’m pretty sure I have one of those
Facebook: Ugh, do I have to?