Do You Like my Webcomic's Current Art Style?

Prettysenshi · Post by **Prettysenshi** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:35 am

Now, people. This is just meant to be able to hear constructive critisism from my potential audience. That's it. If you want to insult me, don't post at all. With that said, I just want to know. I can't help but to feel bad about my work, and maybe I'm whining, but I'd like it if I hear some words or something, b/c I almost never do.

Thanks.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:38 am

This belongs on the Techniques and Tricks forum.

Spriteville, USA · Post by **Spriteville, USA** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:42 am

Also could use a link on the post.

You do have it in your profile, but still.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:32 am

so moved.

Alschroeder · Post by **Alschroeder** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 11:49 am

I liked the thinner lines you used earlier as opposed to the thick lines you're using now. Also, some of your proportions seem a little off...I'd work a little on that.----Al

Christwriter · Post by **Christwriter** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:03 pm

I agree with the comment about the too-thick lines. They give the comic an unfinished look. Lines do not exist in nature, so the thinner and less noticeable they are, the better.

http://arcadia.keenspace.com/d/20041122.html

The backgrounds when a character introduces herself, as in the top panel (Madison/Maddy) are not a fantastic idea. They make very little sense and are obviously borrowed from Manga-style comics. It would be better to either draw the backgrounds or to use a screen-tone to fill in the background.

Your perpsective and anatomy needs work. Your character's heads are often akwardly shaped with the hair in the wrong places. You don't know how they are supposed to go, so you just put them there and hoped that would look right. It doesn't.

However, there are some good places. I like the bottom face here:

http://arcadia.keenspace.com/d/20041123.html

I think it's very expressive and nice face.

If you want to improve, I'd suggest investing in an anatomy book. The easiest to understand is (understandably enough) Human Anatomy Made Incredibly Easy by Christopher Hart. It's a fantastic refference tool.

Don't give up. Everybody feels bad about the mistakes they make, and the first few pages of any comic will always suck to the artist who made them. You will always see your mistakes bigger than you will see your sucesses. Do not give up because you don't see it. You will improve. It's a gaurentee.

CW

Levi-chan · Post by **Levi-chan** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:42 pm

Aye, thinner lines. But not too think that they become non-visible - maybe just enough that they show how the contours of the faces go.

I like the way you draw the character's faces though - they're pretty expressive, IMO.

Derenge · Post by **Derenge** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:18 pm

Just my quick two cents about the line thing. Thick lines are your friends. Really, if you want thick lines go for it, I sure like using them in my own work. Having said that I would note that line width variation is a major factor in making those lines look good. When the width of the line is always uniform it makes the drawings look very flat, this effect can be good if that is something you want to work with, but mixing up between thick and thin is usually a good way to go.

So far as lines not existing in nature and all that: art doesn't have to be fully representational and stylizations like thick lines can make for a unique look. Line is an elemental part of art as a whole and there is a great deal more of it in life than some would think, it is just a matter of how you look at things.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:51 pm

Note Derenge's avatar and sig banner as example of using thick lines with a lot of variation. Instead of looking like outlines, they look like shading.

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 9:28 pm

No. The lines are too thick and anatomy is inconsistant.
...the whole comic reminds me of stuff I drew when I was a 4th grader.... which was pretty bad.

Mimo · Post by **Mimo** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:28 pm

KODAMA wrote: ...the whole comic reminds me of stuff I drew when I was a 4th grader.... which was pretty bad.

Was that part really meant to helpful?

Ryuko · Post by **Ryuko** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:23 pm

That was incredibly bitchy and it looked to be intentionally hurtful. Jeez.

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:38 pm

heh, maybe I was too honest.

Nicotine · Post by **Nicotine** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:24 am

Like faub and Derenge stated, thick lines can look good if it's done correctly. If you don't wanna constantly change your brush size when drawing something, you can draw the whole think in a thick brush then kinda "sculpt" the lines with an eraser tool. At least that's what I do.

KODAMA wrote:heh, maybe I was too honest.

no, just mean.

Ida · Post by **Ida** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:42 am

I spoke my mind about this already - and I really hope you're not referring to that when you mention 'insulting'.

I don't think your art is bad at all - I just think that the thin-line pages look distincly better than the thick-line ones. Detail suits your comic, and there's more of it with the thin lines.

Sketch286 · Post by **Sketch286** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:55 am

the grey (gray?, whatever) shades also seem to be working for your comic better than your colors....or that could just be me.

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:56 am

faub wrote:Note Derenge's avatar and sig banner as example of using thick lines with a lot of variation. Instead of looking like outlines, they look like shading.

Question, Faub (or anyone): Is this, in general, the best way to use line thickness? As in, the line should get thicker where there should be a shade?

I've also seen line thickness used to suggest depth (thicker = closer to the viewer) and just to pull out important objects. I was wondering which method is most common.

Sketch286 · Post by **Sketch286** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:00 pm

from what I've seen it depends most on the person's style. stuff like funny farm do the thickness for depth thing where, things like pointless, a thicker lined style looks more like shading.......i think.

Post by **Mercury Hat** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:53 pm

Thick lines can do a lot. Artistically, the common way of showing that something is close to the reader is to use thicker lines and use thin lines for backgrounds. Thick lines can also show shadow as well as highlighting important things or using them to differentiate between characters where they overlap or what-have-you.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:27 pm

I did this for ChaosBurnFlame in his critique thread but it works well enough here. This is just a little demo of what happens when you ink shadows. I thought it turned out well enough. Granted, this is an entirely different style than what is being asked about (an American style rather than Japanese style) but the principles are similar.

American styles use black areas to represent shadow where manga styles will draw the outline then use screen tones for shading. Both have their interesting points. Large amounts of black makes a drawing moody. Using a lot of white areas with screen tones for shading can make a drawing cheery.