good style?

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:00 am

Hi, im about to start drawing the first panels of my soon-to-be webcomic, but im not sure if the style is apealing, i would really like some "constructive criticism" about it

K-Dawg · Post by **K-Dawg** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:33 am

It's fine. But seriously don't worry about the style; do the comic in whatever style you want. You can't please everyone so you might as well please yourself.

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:48 am

good point, i guess i should be worrying more about my own criticism

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:18 am

Hmm... what are these lines that go along his hands? (and shirt,pants and neck)
I'd say these are the division lines- separating the part in shadow from the part in light... which would be cool, except they don't really make sence that way, unless the lightning conditions are really weird... which part would be in shadow and which would be in light?

Or course, maybe I just get it all wrong...

Hiye · Post by **Hiye** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:21 am

I like it. For some reason it reminds me vaguely of Megatokyo, but I'm probably way off.

Apatheticus · Post by **Apatheticus** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:28 am

I saw a bit of Megatokyo in there, too, but that's probably a result of the pencil style.

My question is whether this is a finished page (or panel), or whether you plan on inking it or shading it further than this. I'm not sure I can give much critique without knowing that.

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:36 am

Hiye said

I like it. For some reason it reminds me vaguely of Megatokyo, but I'm probably way off.

true, i started a couple of years ago trying to develop my comic and i lets say, fell in love with megatokyo's sketchiness, i have tried to get away from it but every time i get back to the unfinished look of megatokyo.

YarpsDat said

Hmm... what are these lines that go along his hands?

yeah, they are a little weird now that i look at them, light is supposedly comming from behind him, and there is also the tree, trees always make funny light and shadow patters, but yeah, it still needs some work.

thanks both for your comments

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:41 am

yes apatheticus, it is the finished look of the panel, of course, the dialogue is missing. im kinda looking at people's reaction to it, just to make sure im not gonna be stabed or killed for crimes against art.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:05 am

This looks like an uncolored version. You have the lines in there for cell shading so it doesn't look finished. Why don't you finish the panel and give us a look? It looks a bit like you stopped halfway through.

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:21 am

Well, I think the division lines are legitimate way of suggesting the shading...
But in this case I think it would benefit from filling in the shadows, either with gray, or with black, or with lines going at 45 degrees, or with circles (screen tones)
At least it would make clear what is what, and it would also make possible conflicts easier to spot for the artist.

mrdata_the_wizard wrote: YarpsDat said
Hmm... what are these lines that go along his hands?
yeah, they are a little weird now that i look at them, light is supposedly comming from behind him, and there is also the tree, trees always make funny light and shadow patters, but yeah, it still needs some work.

thanks both for your comments

Well, it seems inconsistent... no possible light source placement could produce that pattern:

see here (it's not perfect though)

Upper left would be the default- light from above.
Lower left was the closest match I could find to be in accordance with your lines- light from character's left, our right. But the face is off. And the marked area is the shadow cast by the left hand on the body, and it would end where the hand ends.

On the right there is shadow from lightsource behind, from above, and from below.

Just be careful with these things, human brain is set to try to see 2d pictures as 3d objects, and the light/shadow is a very important factor here, if you send mixed signals the readers get uneasy. "There is something wrong about this..."

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:36 am

thanks YarpsDat, you even took the time to make the pattern. well, i guess this means back to the drawing board, hopefully by the end of the day i will bring something that has been corrected...
confussing the readers is not something i want for my first panel

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:57 am

The pattern was 30 seconds work.
create new picture, ie. 100*100 pixels.
Then put in the pattern (ie, a circle in the middle, or, in my case line at the 45degrees angle), and then in PSP- hold left mouse button on the selected colour, and a menu pops up, where you can select gradient or pattern instead of colour. Select pattern, and then you can use the other picture as the pattern, you can scale and rotate it too.

I'm not sure how to make it in Photoshop, but I figure it would be something similar. (perhaps right click instead of hold LMB)

Nothingspecial · Post by **Nothingspecial** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:15 am

I like it. It seems like you have a good sense of proportion and anatomy. The real test, though, will be to see how much your style varies from panel to panel. It's tough to base a full reaction on just one snapshot. Looks good so far though.

Apatheticus · Post by **Apatheticus** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:22 am

If that's the finished look of the panel, I'd suggest adding a little more to the shading on the figure than just the lines. It'd add a little more value structure and probably wouldn't take long if you did the same kind of thing to the body that you did with his hair.

The fact that the hair is the only thing darkened also makes it look a little out of place. Nice stuff, though, seriously.

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:56 am

actually i hadnt consider doing the shading with the scren tones, it could work too

Apatheticus · Post by **Apatheticus** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:35 pm

Well, I hear there's a man you might learn something from if you're looking into the screentoning business.

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 1:02 am

Not a big fan of anime...

...but lots of people are and you've obviously got some drawing talent, so don't listen to me.

Mrdata_the_wizard · Post by **Mrdata_the_wizard** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:56 am

why not, im not just looking for opinions based on anime fans, but also non-anime fans

Anotherday · Post by **Anotherday** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 1:22 pm

I personally really like your style, it reminds me a lot of megatokyo. the only really thing I would say to add constructive criticism would be the sketchiness (sp?), but if you're happy with it, that's fine. It doesn't bother me that much. Nice job.

Meaningless Mantra · Post by **Meaningless Mantra** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 4:11 pm

I love your style, and everything seems to be in place ^_^

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good style?

good style?

my own

both right

it is :D

Re: both right

yup, its wrong

halftone

??