"iam looking for a nice man"

[Rkolter]

More proof we're siblings. We're both Evil

You never know who will end up being a member of the Kolter Family. We sprawl more than a major city.

no no, CJ's not a kolter, i'm adopted kolter, CJ is my long lost sister.

She's a Kolter now. *stamps CJ's hand* You get free explosives and the right to be utterly insane without being stopped by the local police. You also get sandwiches on Thursdays. Welcome aboard!

(the ink rubs right off if you don't want to be a Kolter. We're cool like that)

[SergeXIII]

I'm sorry rkolter, but i just can't see that. I mean, we're reffering to the stick figure here.
I used to draw like that (no offence) when I was in elementry school, just like that infact, with sticks for apendages and simple rectangles for bodies, although I usualy drew hats instead of hair.
That was around 15 years ago, and I didn't need to jump into the future to read OOTS to think something so simple up.

I'm on Legendary's side here. That sounded to me like another blatant attack on style based on prestige that happens so often here.

[Linkara]

Eh, after checking out OOTS, they do look the same, even in the size of the black lines. Still, I don't have a huge problem with it.

*Considers starting his own Linkara family... then remembers he's an idiot and no one would want to join forces with him and returns to his mercenary work*

[Rkolter]

I'm sorry rkolter, but i just can't see that. I mean, we're reffering to the stick figure here.
I used to draw like that (no offence) when I was in elementry school, just like that infact, with sticks for apendages and simple rectangles for bodies, although I usualy drew hats instead of hair.
That was around 15 years ago, and I didn't need to jump into the future to read OOTS to think something so simple up.

I'm on Legendary's side here. That sounded to me like another blatant attack on style based on prestige that happens so often here.

Serge, you really need to go and read a few dozen OOTS strips and note the style, then go read Legendary's strips. It's not similar - it's identical, down to the way he curves the fingers of the hands of the characters.

This isn't a prestige thing. And I'm a regular reader of Legendary's. The style is absolutely, fundamentally and down to the smallest detail, identical to that of OOTS, which is itself a unique style not generally used elsewhere.

[Mercury Hat]

No, but if you take an Order of the Stick character and put it next to one of Legendary's characters, I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two. The problem with mimicking someone else's stick-figures is that there's not a whole lot of variation you can do.

In this case: The three-fingered hand, the pitch-fork shape of the hand, the long flat lines for feet, the shape of the mouth (which is quite distinct in OOTS), the shape of the head, the shapes of the eyes, the block for a body, the shapes of the shoes when they're present, etc. Even the line width looks the same. There's more in common with these two comics than separate.

They're so very much the same, you can paste one character into the other's comic and it wouldn't look out of place.

OOTS is stick figure, but it's STYLIZED. Legendary's comic uses that STYLIZATION instead of doing a stick figure his own way. Tile uses a type of stick figure, too, but that artist has done it her own way.

So... yeah, it is like Megaman sprite comics or artists who copy Sailor Moon.

[SergeXIII]

Hmm... you sure its not a coincidence, they both are rather simple forms of art afterall. For instance the three finger thing could just be one drawing a line for an arm and then adding a U to add fingers.

Although I will say that I now see the grounds of the argument that wasn't present in the previous insult.

and I don't see how line width can be just a coincidence.

[Rkolter]

Hmm... you sure its not a coincidence, they both are rather simple forms of art afterall. For instance the three finger thing could just be one drawing a line for an arm and then adding a U to add fingers.

Although I will say that I now see the grounds of the argument that wasn't present in the previous insult.

I don't honestly see where Legendary got insulted, anywhere. He asked how what he was doing was different than someone doing manga or sprite comics.

The original thing - the changed image with him on it, if anything, is kind of a cool compliment. Someone bothered to make something for him. Yeah, it poked fun, but in a funny, lighthearted way. That's the kind of exchange we encourage.

There's a difference, subtle but real, between being insulted outright, and being gently chided.

[SergeXIII]

I didn't see it as a compliment at all but perhaps I just missed the point.
The important thing is if Legendary took it that way...

[CJBurgandy]

You never know who will end up being a member of the Kolter Family. We sprawl more than a major city.

no no, CJ's not a kolter, i'm adopted kolter, CJ is my long lost sister.

She's a Kolter now. *stamps CJ's hand* You get free explosives and the right to be utterly insane without being stopped by the local police. You also get sandwiches on Thursdays. Welcome aboard!

(the ink rubs right off if you don't want to be a Kolter. We're cool like that)[/quote
*washes hands* Sorry Kolter, but I'm already a Dawg through and through.

[Rkolter]

*washes hands* Sorry Kolter, but I'm already a Dawg through and through.

That's ok, although this does provide the missing link between Dawg's family and the Kolter family. I always figured someday this'd happen.

[Dr Legostar]

*washes hands* Sorry Kolter, but I'm already a Dawg through and through.

That's ok, although this does provide the missing link between Dawg's family and the Kolter family. I always figured someday this'd happen.

told ya.

[Kisai]

An example of "Am I ripping off someone elses style" could be summarized this way:

If I open of their image with the paintbucket tool and change the colors to my characters, does it look the same?

This is by primary beef with sprite comics, because recoloring doesn't make it original. If someone sees someone ELSES work in your work, then your work is not as unique as it can be.

For the record though, some peoples art styles are similiar because they use the same tools/filters in photoshop. Take Penny Arcade and virtually every other flat-color comic out there. Look at similiar cartoons on TV (PPG, Dexters Lab, etc) the coloring style and angular characters and "thick outer lines with thin inner lines" is in common with most of the american styles. The anime styles do the same thing, a lot of anime or stuff that appears to "rip off" anime tend to do the same thing.

There is this tv cartoon I saw the other day called "Kappa Mikey", all the characters are drawn in an anime style except "Mikey" who is drawn in an american style. I was like "WTF, is this making fun of Anime, or making fun of Americans in Japan?" But the anime style itself used is a really cruddy style which reminds me more of DBZ than sailor moon.

Anyway, if the first thing someone says is your comic is ripping off someone elses style, then that might be a cue to differentiate it some more.

[Legendary]

Well, OOTS has a very specific style.

You can easily point at something and say "Oh that's just Manga." But not point out the specific person's work that's being ripped off, because it's such a common style. Ditto sprites really - and for the record, they're almost universally shunned, excepting the few that actually maintain the style, but use their own characters (8-bit theater, Spriteville, etcetera).

I for one, like your comic Legendary. But it's clear you have completely borrowed the style from OOTS. OOTS is not a common style - it's very unique to OOTS and so, is more like ripping off a specific comic, than simply buying into a style.

But again, I like your comic - I find the idea of a cleric refusing to heal his friend so he can attack an undead monster with heal spells remarkably funny.

Yeah, let me set the record straight. I'm used to being compared to OotS, for good or for bad, so I'm not too offended, and I see it less as ripping off his style, because on the GiantITP boards, practically everyone has an OotS-style avatar, and Burlew pretty much encourages this. (At least, he's encouraged it in the past, he's a lot less active on the boards now.) I'm not the only one who draws in that style, I'm not even the only one that has a comic in that style, I'm just the most vocal about it.

And there are pretty subtle differences, like the proportion of the head to the body, the size. It's not easy to notice, but if you did stick one of my figures in his comic, you'd be able to tell right off the bat.

And really, the only reason I do it this way is because I've tried and failed at hand-drawing and have plenty of experience doing this from the OotS forums.

[LibertyCabbage]

You might as well just stop being defensive about it. People are going to view your comic as being derivative, but it's your choice to do your comic this way so you should either change the comic or accept the criticism.

And, I don't see "failing at drawing" as much of an excuse, as I think everyone's capable of learning to draw, it just takes lots of practice and patience. Not everyone has the capability to become a great artist, but you shouldn't feel like you're forced into a minimalistic style.

[Dr Legostar]

as much as i want to berate you for using that style, it's not like i can fault you for trying to draw, failing and then going with something else that is much easier and people tend to get a hard time over.

[MixedMyth]

...is anyone else reminded of Flowers for Algernon?

[SergeXIII]

at least you've given yourself a means to practise. It might be wise to try subtle changes until you've created a unique style.

[Black Sparrow]

...I think everyone's capable of learning to draw, it just takes lots of practice and patience. Not everyone has the capability to become a great artist, but you shouldn't feel like you're forced into a minimalistic style.

Hear, hear.

I tend to advocate learning to draw the old-fashioned way on the side. There's something very satisfying about drawing with a pencil and eraser (in the back of a Criminal Justice lecture, in my case). None of us were great to start. Heck, my first drawings were poorly done Sailor Moon characters in typical anime-freak style. But time and practice develops your eye, and every little improvement becomes highly rewardling.

I like to think I had a part in pushing Vorticus to try his hand at hand-drawing, even while he was doing the pseudo-sprite comic "Nob the Blob." Maybe you could talk to him (and Lego!) about beginning drawing alongside a webcomic.

[McDuffies]

Geez people.
I don't think CJ would care less if you were ripping Leonardo da Vinci. I don't think she'd care if you were ripping on her comic. She simply hit you where it hurt the most. Cause you've already ranted about how your comic is "not the ripoff of Order of stick" before.
People will do that kind of thing when they want to provoke someone. On page before that, you said "Please don't kill me". So you had it coming.

[Dr Legostar]

and around here if we can take the opportunity to rip on someone, we will, CJ just go there first