STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 045: Your Convention Checklist Comics convention season is almost upon us, and my friends and I are doing what we always do, panicking. There’s so much to do! (If you have a comic you need to finish in time for the con, this column isn’t going to help you.) But you’re […]

STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 044: Some Good Habits for the New Year The holidays are long past. You probably gave gifts to a dozen people. Now it’s time to give something to yourself. January is a great time to start a habit that’ll yield rewards for you in the future. Here are a few suggestions, […]

STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 043: Constraints as a Creative Tool Like many people who work in creative fields, my greatest enemy is the blank white page. Limitless options are a nightmare for me. I need walls to bounce off of, rules to obey or defy, some limitation on what I can do with the project […]

STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 042: Expanding Your Influences Over the course of a career in comics, you’re going to tell a lot of stories. Along the way, you’ll churn through many ideas, and watch them descend from exciting, to welcome, to expected, to tedious. That clever new twist that earned so much praise is now […]

STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 041: Don’t Do That. I just completed a feat of marketing I can’t really recommend to anyone: I exhibited at three comics conventions in three weeks. I wouldn’t have done it at all, except that the first trade paperback of my series at Image, The Fix, comes out this week (September 14), and […]

STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE Dilettante 040: Decorate, Decorate In this space, I’ve frequently made the case for a utilitarian approach to drawing comics. “Tell the story.” “Eliminate frills.” “Let your pictures be a window on the narrative and steer your readers’ attention towards what’s happening to the characters, rather than to how beautifully you can draw.” […]