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♦♦[ART] Character Design That Works: Abstraction, Proportion, and Story in the Right Sequence
Character design isn’t about drawing better costumes. It’s about making the right decisions in the right order—so your story actually makes it off the…
4 hrs ago
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Charles Merritt Houghton
1
♦♦[ART] What Will Your Viewer Forgive? More Than You Think — and Less
As an artist, your job isn’t to follow rules. It’s to integrate your choices, turning your canvas into a sermon your viewers can't resist.
Oct 2
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦[STORY] Stop Writing Boring Scenes: Small Dramatic Moments Build Great Stories
Most scenes fail for one reason: nothing changes. Characters walk in, characters walk out. Readers yawn, checking out. That’s not a scene, it’s a coffee…
Oct 1
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦♦♦[STORY] Scenes Need Emotional Movement to Move a Story Forward
Scenes must transport from one state to another. McKee calls it a value shift. Flat = Dead. The cure? Force a change in emotional state. Great stories…
Oct 1
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Charles Merritt Houghton
September 2025
♦♦[ART] Inking: Thinking in Tones, Drawing in Black
Most artists avoid pure ink. Too unforgiving. No gray, no gradients? Why such limits? For maximum effect and flexibility. We trick the viewer's eye into…
Sep 30
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Charles Merritt Houghton
1
♦♦[ART] Inking Terms: Hatching, What it is and What it isn't
If you’ve ever been told to “hatch the shadow,” you might have wondered: what exactly counts as hatching? Does any set of lines qualify? Let's dig…
Sep 29
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦[ART] Lettering: Plan the Balloons, Save the Page
If you treat lettering as an afterthought, you’ll ruin your comic. It’s that simple. Plan for balloons early, or risk having your art and readers…
Sep 28
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦♦[ART] Inkers: The Greats Don’t Think While They Ink
The secret isn’t speed or talent. The trick? Make decisions before ink hits the paper. A five-minute value study transforms guesswork into confidence…
Sep 27
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦[BIZ] Teaching Art Must Change. It's a Core Skill... and It's Deeply Neglected.
For a century, reading research got billion-dollar budgets. Visual literacy? A million here and there, a staggering imbalance—and indefensible. We Live…
Sep 26
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Charles Merritt Houghton
1
♦[ART] Essential Books on Perspective for Visual Storytellers
I've previously posted about my perspective books. This reminds readers of the books I learned from and depend on when teaching perspective. Each artist…
Sep 26
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Charles Merritt Houghton
♦♦[BIZ] The Unicorn's Secret? Letting Go of Ego.
The Hidden Layer?
Sep 23
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Charles Merritt Houghton
1
♦[ART] Narrative Real Estate: Why Comics Are Literally Page Architecture
When you start making your own comics, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the blank page. You’ve got infinite choices, right? Nope. Real Estate is…
Sep 22
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Charles Merritt Houghton
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