The evolution of your comic V2

[Noise Monkey]

kinda like how the lady teaching our child birthing class described the way a woman needs to push in the final stage of labor to taking a dump when it isn't coming easy.

[Rkolter]

kinda like how the lady teaching our child birthing class described the way a woman needs to push in the final stage of labor to taking a dump when it isn't coming easy.

That's... not so beautiful.

[Warren]

kinda like how the lady teaching our child birthing class described the way a woman needs to push in the final stage of labor to taking a dump when it isn't coming easy.

That's... not so beautiful.

But kind of hot.

[Noise Monkey]

kinda like how the lady teaching our child birthing class described the way a woman needs to push in the final stage of labor to taking a dump when it isn't coming easy.

That's... not so beautiful.

I mentioned that in class...

I can already tell that the whole labor thing is going to be difficult for me and that, in turn, will probably make me a bit difficult for my wife (like she'll need something else at that point. I have a tendency to say inappropriate things when I get nervous. I also make a train whistle noise when the lady was demonstrating the build-up breathing for during contractions. My wife was not nearly as amused as the people next to us.

[Hazardswake]

I did this back in August, but it's pretty much the same sort of deal. Instead, it's merely the character's first appearance matched with their most current (at the time).

Now, I caused a bit of a fluff in another thread by complaining about webcomics that start off crap and improve without the artist redrawing the early stuff. Loads of people replied saying 'I wouldn't have the time to redraw', but from what I've seen in this thread, none of those people actually fall into the category of 'starting off crap'. Prismatic Vodka does, hence this summer I redrew some of it.

The problem with you saying that is that it's all subjective and it depends on the ARTIST's viewpoint as to whether or not something gets redrawn. Yes, even artists whom you consider to be good want to redo their early pages. If an artist sees their starting stuff as no good, no matter whether you or other readers think it does not "start off crap", then they'll go ahead and redraw it if they are so inclined. They might be more inclined to do so if they hear people saying "if your beginning stuff is bad, redo it for your readers' sakes".

An artist has a vastly different view of their own art than a reader will ever have, and in the end, an artist is going to go with their own feelings and nobody else's. You are advocating that if someone's first stuff is bad--or more underdeveloped than their current stuff--they are under an obligation to redraw it because of the large quality gap between the old and new. You don't give any criteria, you don't say WHO determines whether it should be redrawn or not, you just say "if it starts off bad, do it over".

Very true. PersonallyI dunno if I'll redraw my old stuff. Yes, it's very poor quality. But my current drawings will almost always look better than what I did any length of time ago, and if I started redrawing stuff, I'd never get anything new done. Hell, I'd sooner just start a new webcomic, probably.

Part of me thinks it's cool to keep things how they were and show one's progress as an artist. But that's just me.

EDIT: On second thought, "redoing it for the readers sake" might be a good idea. It is easier to get new people into the comic if the starting ones look good. I wonder if I should take back my stance on this and maybe perhaps think of redrawing my old comics.

Actually, I think Gort's comment has some merit -- enormous sparkly eyes are kind of a hallmark of crappy manga webcomics. It's like what little talent the artist has is all concentrated in two massive, blinding beams.

No love for people who use some variation of the manga/anime inspired styles? I'm aware that it's been overdone and has gotten unpopular, but it seems unfair to label it crap. Then again, I may just be defensive because my characters eyes are so friggin' big.

[McDuffies]

I see that now you draw larger heads.

[Tinkerbell]

I gots no problem with big eyes. As with most things, it's just about how well-drawn they are. One of my comics (the one I don't draw) has characters with insanely big eyes, but Helen's art is so pretty that I don't care.

If I see another webcomic with line-art-only and big eyes drawn so wonkily that I mistake one for the character's ear, however.... well, let's just say I won't see very much of it.

Tink

[Phinmagic]

I've been doing Phineus for nearly 20 years!

From High School in 1987... http://www.flickr.com/photos/phinmagic/214175568/

To my first finished story in 1991 ... http://phinmagic.comicgenesis.com/d/20060504.html

To a later story in 1997... http://phinmagic.comicgenesis.com/d/20061113.html

To more recent stuff in 2003... http://www.strumhaus.com/phineus/phineus_Miniphin02.htm

To this summer...
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 802&size=m

To the stuff I'm doing now...
http://phinmagic.comicgenesis.com/Haloweenspecial.htm

And so on.....

[Nanda]

kinda like how the lady teaching our child birthing class described the way a woman needs to push in the final stage of labor to taking a dump when it isn't coming easy.

That's... not so beautiful.

Ah, childbirth... *laughs maniacally*

[ChaosBurnFlame]

Well, it was interesting to see exactly how much progress I made.

[Keffria]

Actually, I think Gort's comment has some merit -- enormous sparkly eyes are kind of a hallmark of crappy manga webcomics. It's like what little talent the artist has is all concentrated in two massive, blinding beams.

No love for people who use some variation of the manga/anime inspired styles? I'm aware that it's been overdone and has gotten unpopular, but it seems unfair to label it crap. Then again, I may just be defensive because my characters eyes are so friggin' big.

It's not that I necessarily hate large eyes - it's just that it seems like when people first start drawing comics "manga-style", they go completely overboard on the eyes. If you look at the evolution of quite a number of manga-based styles just within this topic, I think you'll notice a gradual lessening of eye-size and a move toward more realistic-looking eyes in general.

This isn't to say that people can't stick with big eyes, as long as said eyes actually look good, and not like two giant, unexpressive sparkly blobs.

[McDuffies]

Large eyes = cute. And since in manga, cute is the new black, many beginners think that it's more important to draw cute than, you know, good.

Ah, childbirth... *laughs maniacally*

Brag.

[Hazardswake]

Actually, I think Gort's comment has some merit -- enormous sparkly eyes are kind of a hallmark of crappy manga webcomics. It's like what little talent the artist has is all concentrated in two massive, blinding beams.

No love for people who use some variation of the manga/anime inspired styles? I'm aware that it's been overdone and has gotten unpopular, but it seems unfair to label it crap. Then again, I may just be defensive because my characters eyes are so friggin' big.

It's not that I necessarily hate large eyes - it's just that it seems like when people first start drawing comics "manga-style", they go completely overboard on the eyes. If you look at the evolution of quite a number of manga-based styles just within this topic, I think you'll notice a gradual lessening of eye-size and a move toward more realistic-looking eyes in general.

This isn't to say that people can't stick with big eyes, as long as said eyes actually look good, and not like two giant, unexpressive sparkly blobs.

Large eyes = cute. And since in manga, cute is the new black, many beginners think that it's more important to draw cute than, you know, good.

Ah, I see. I misunderstood. And now that I think of it, I can think of a lot of comics that started with larger eyes but went to smaller ones as their art evolved.

...Yeah, I need to work on the head-to-body size. The character's heads are a bit too big for their bodies sometimes... Not good.

[Noise Monkey]

*stuff*

I read that as Pre-Bush at first.

[Nanda]

Ah, childbirth... *laughs maniacally*

Brag.

Bragging? Heh heh heh...No.

[Swikan]

Ah, childbirth... *laughs maniacally*

Brag.

Bragging? Heh heh heh...No.

*Just laughs maniacally..* Therein lies the inexplicably complimentary attributes of cuteness and gritty reality. *brain tries to resolve the oppositeness and short-circuits... which is another reason why parenthood is harmful to the brain*

Getting back to character evolution, It was recently pointed out to me that I have been drawing my main character, Zelda, a bit thinner than usual. (Zelda is a plus-sized character based on myself.) I noted today that it is probably wishful thinking on my part to be thinner, but I am wondering if it is not also a desire to draw more beautifully. I am looking at my preliminary sketches of some of my strips and I start off drawing her as round as she is supposed to be, but I "thin her up" as I go to final. Funny how this thread has made me "aware" of the evolution as it it happening.

[McDuffies]

I somehow find it more difficult to draw less-than-pretty people.
In fact, I'm practiced at drawing the default handsome, thin, 20-something protagonist, (WASP, hah) everything out of that line seems more difficult.

[Swikan]

McD: Now that you mention it, I think it was the fact that I was not concerned with Zelda's beauty (or the artwork) when I started the strip which gave me the freedom/nerve to start comicking in the first place. Now that I have been at it for a while, I find that I am taking both the comic and the art *a bit* more seriously. That may have something to do with my change in attitude about Zelda's looks, too. *ponders*

[Keffria]

I somehow find it more difficult to draw less-than-pretty people.
In fact, I'm practiced at drawing the default handsome, thin, 20-something protagonist, (WASP, hah) everything out of that line seems more difficult.

Yeah. Call me brainwashed, but deep down, I want everyone to conform to that unrealistic standard of attractiveness. I start out with an unappealing character design in mind, and somehow, it almost never ends up that way on paper.

[Noise Monkey]

The bird guy is hardly what you would call the standard of attractiveness, but he's still a really cool design, Keff.