Here are two very interesting videos from artist Cameron Stewart. In these short clips, he demonstrates his technique of going straight to final inks from blue line roughs on panels from the upcoming Batman and Robin #9. He’s also annotated them with additional information.

Find out more about Cameron Stewart on his blog (cameronstewart.blogspot.com) or follow him on twitter (@cameronmstewart).

Over on Bill Nichols’ new site devoted to creating comics, ComicsMentor.Com, you can find a terrific true story of Christmas inspiration from Ron Fortier.

All of a sudden none of the new proposals I was sending out to various publishers were being accepted. Rejection slips started to mount up on a steady basis and with them my natural frustration. Seven months had gone by since I’d sold anything and I found myself in a truly depressed funk as the holiday season rolled around. Enough so that by Christmas was only a few days away, I made the decision to stop pounding my head against that wall and simply quit…. When I told Valerie my intentions, she gave me one of her patented mystery smiles (you, ala the Mona Lisa) which I’ve never been able to fathom. I had the feeling she didn’t believe me. But I would show her. I was done writing.

There’s a danger of getting so wrapped up in your day-to-day frustrations that you’re tempted to quit, forgetting about the effect you’re having on the people who read your work. Zip over to the whole story and find out who changed the direction of Ron’s comics career.

Certified Photoshop Expert Roger Ridpath presents a tutorial on creating distressed paper effects using custom brushes available from his website. It’s cool stuff that’s potentially very useful for comics artists. You can find out more about this and their other brush sets and font packages at www.photoshopisland.com.

Jeff Smith (creator of the acclaimed series Bone) inks a panel from his series Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil. The man is a wizard with a brush.

Tom Spurgeon has posted a call for updates and corrections to his “Comics by Local Scene” feature. This mind-bogglingly long list groups creators, retailers, publishers, and other comics organizations according to their metropolitan area.

It’s an interesting feature, and can be a big help to younger creators who are looking to make connections with more professionals who live in their area. If you’re networking with the creators, though, remember one simple rule: be polite and professional, not pushy, insulting, or creepy.

I’ve submitted an update on some of the Kansas City crew that Spurgeon was missing, and I’m looking forward to the updates when they’re released.

You can follow The Comics Reporter on Twitter.

Cartoonist Daniel Spottswood has agreed to allow us to share a number of his cartoons here over the next several weeks. His strips often deal with cartooning and comics related subjects. Spottswood’s work has appeared in the Kansas City Star and his self-published Disquietville books. You can check out his work at his website (www.disquietville.com/index.html) and the work blog — Comic Strip Joint — that he shares with J.W. Cotter, Hector Casanova, and Travis Fox.