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Raaaa! I'm having trouble with this comic thing! I'm trying to listen to everyone's advice and draw every day which I think is going okay.
Anyway, I was thinking about the setting for my comic, Hover, this morning and so far it was normal flat wild west deserts with a little bit of fantasy/steampunk/sci fi (not all at once!) something interesting thrown in in certain places. Like how the main cast can fly without wings, hence the "telekinesis in the old west" part I thought of a couple weeks ago.
Well, my imagination didn't like that setting too much this morning and I doodled this up as an intro of sorts to a more fantastical world that I began constructing in my mind for my characters to live in. It would be a series of desert landscapes high above an ocean with a lot of cliffs/ rock formations. Where experimental aviation was capitalized upon. And where the main source of light at night are varieties of fireflies of different sizes.
I don't want this project to change every time I look at it like some others have in the past for me, but I really like this and where it's going. I'm afraid I'll change it again and never advance with a solid concept then get depressed about my lack of progress and stop all together - also like I have in the past with other projects.
I am however getting better at pushing myself to draw every day, so yay for that.
Progress, not perfection.
Pretty well much every time you critique someone I take away 3 nuggets of art knowledge from it.
Hmmm I think I'm aware of the popularity of the airship, steampunk, and cowboy thing to an extent. Like, I will actively try to not copy my favorite series's characters and plots and fit them into my world. As for my wording, well, mostly all of the characters are going to speak in ya'lls cowboy English anyway. However I think I see what you mean cleaning up the sentences that are up there now. What you said about the voice does make sense and the way I have it on that page above is meant to be a more all knowing or observer from outside that world perspective.
Maybe you could give an example of the first sentence where you said about the watching out for what the internet loves? Did you mean like cliches?
Progress, not perfection.
Cool so you have the all knowing narrator and then your individual characters existing in the world, that works fine.
What I was trying to say here was yeah sort of watch out for cliches. It might be just me, but I feel like the internet has an ongoing love affair with the airships and anachronisms. Not that they are bad in anyway, and they tend to be tied to some great art and some even greater stories - but you just have to make sure that when you go for it you look at it with fresh eyes. Really make it your own. Maybe just through something like the power source used in the world, or the way they chart the skies. Something that gives it it's own flare. (You might have all of these things for all I know though, depending on how you plan your stories!)
I really like the idea of fireflies, and I think you could do some great visual stuff with them.
I also tried to sketch the first panel with actual attempts at detail. Too many lines? Should I just clean it up a bit?
Progress, not perfection.
Photoshop. It's not as easy as sketching it out in pencil, yet. But, as I draw more in Photoshop it's getting a lot closer to how I draw in pencil. And I like that feeling.
I looked at the page I did yesterday and am much more satisfied with how this looks here now. It's with only a few minor changes to it, unlike the drastic ones I've made so far on page ones.
This habit of drawing every day is really paying off, at least in my opinion. I need to really really move on from the start of this story/thing though. So, I'm not going to alter this page in any way. I will take critiques on it and I will note them down, but I'm leaving it as is and going onto page two.
Progress, not perfection.
It's progress! Again I will take crits on this page, but I'm going to only keep them in mind for future updates and not change the current page (2).
Progress, not perfection.
(Sorry for drawing onto your stuff I know that's obnoxious)
Just as a quick way to start to add more depth.
If you want to avoid that and stick more to the very simple layers and the cutout look, then start only using lines where totally necessarily. Letting the color difference draw them for you.
Also You might want to give the text bubbles a color of their own, doesn't need to be bright or anything, something to make them stand out a little.
Well dang, that looks way better with the shadows than without. I think I'll go ahead and go with that for the future pages. Thanks SEW.
Progress, not perfection.
Also, I find the setting kinda neat, but I want to know more about it, and in the 3rd panel where you can't read any of the signs is a downer. If you want people to really get into the setting you're gonna havta sweat the details a lot more. You are world building, so really get in there and give readers a setting to believe in.
I think panels 5 and 6 are the most effective, a few of the other panels seemed clunky, dialog wise. Panel 4 seems awkward and I think it would be more effective if it just read "when you turn 21 you're given a six shooter, no bullets". Simplicity is a good thing, art wise and word wise.
As it is, I think you could do a better job of selling the lightning bugs as a light source thing. They're not really shown as a light-source and I think it isn't immediately obvious. Also, you'll prob wanna reference some real lightning bugs because the insects as they are look more like happy bees.
This is a really good point. When your setting is new and unknown it's many of the little details that really help people come to grips with it and feel at home.
If I may comment about the text. A few lines could be worded more efficiently to add a more refined feel.
"..without any electricity."
"without electricity."
"And a time when a golden age of air travel was just getting started"
"At the (cusp/beginning/start) of the golden age of air travel.
or even what you had in the demo page "And a golden age of air travel." That seemed a lot more mysterious and evocative to me.
Those 2 lines are the only one's I have anything to say about. It's just something to keep in mind in the future
This is a warning that my sig was too tall.
You could have sent me a PM or something.
@ninjai - thanks for the comments! I also agree about the word trimming.
You've given me some great crits so far guys. I think I can update with 3 pages a week like the standard MWF thing since I have large amounts of free time. We'll see!
Progress, not perfection.
EDIT - in the first panel there's supposed to be the gun from page 2 of course
Progress, not perfection.
This is a warning that my sig was too tall.
You could have sent me a PM or something.
Oh goddd this page is taking forever/ why did I decide to do a city cut-a-way scene on page 3. I hope I can get this done by Sunday/Monday. D:
Progress, not perfection.
Oh, I plan to go into some action within the next few pages and not really describe the world heavily like on this page. I know a good story needs more than just a way to pull you into that reality. I just did it on this page because a couple people said I needed more world buildy stuff and I agreed with it. This comic is more of a way to get me to draw more often and a learning experience. I plan to make a lotttt of mistakes and learn from them as I go
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
This is a warning that my sig was too tall.
You could have sent me a PM or something.
Nothing better than some just drawing
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
I haven't been posting because I've been feeling really insecure/depressed about my ideas and art and fear negative criticism. I've also been drawing nearly everyday and studying anatomy some more - so that's positive.
But hey! I should post regardless because feedback is a healthy part of art development right?
Progress, not perfection.
Man, your ideas... I don't even know where you find the inspiration for them, but their sheer strangeness is filled with a lot of potential.
I think it sounds pretty awesome too! Thanks! I get inspired by so many things I'm not sure I can feasibly make a list.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
The inspiration for this character is a classic Greek mythological creature the Chimera. I took off the wings thinking that might be too much detail. I guess Scarlet could have goat legs instead of the lion paws/feet I gave her. The dragon head is meant to be Scales' neck and head and Scarlet's right arm.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
I think you should really push yourself to insert studies into these concepts you are doing, animal anatomy and human anatomy and such. Really pay attention to how you are setting up your drawing and where you are putting down your structure lines. Also, try and be more confident with laying down your lines. A smooth curve can do a lot for weight and volume, and your lines tend to be either oddly geometric, Jagged and rough or lacking any variation in weight. I'd recommend some pen and paper practice to help.
You might also benefit from doing some very mundane shape studies. Like, cube, sphere, cylinder, and render them with light. It sounds dumb, but if you can make a believable box, you are well on your way to being able to draw anything.
Progress, not perfection.