Hey guys! GUYS! Let me show an example of good criticism. Clearly, some people need an example:
In the center panel, where Tycho goes into that hundred yard stare, that face we all get when we're horrified and shocked? That could have been better emphasized if Gabe had turned his head. His big coif in the middle is blocking the negative space which would have drawn better attention to Tycho's facial expression, were the hair not there. It also would have shown Gabe's relative continued animation, better than the small shift in his smile. It also would have emphasized the broken eye contact, which I believe is what's going on here, given the position of Gabe's eyes.
That took me like, two minutes of brief analysis and maybe five minutes to articulate in the least TLDR way possible. If you love a thing, and you're just giving it shit because you love it, do that in a constructive way. If that's not what you're doing, and you're just whining because you don't like something, you know the saying about if you can't say anything nice? That's because throwing bland insults and vague criticism around only accomplishes hurt feelings, anger, needless squabbling, or worst of all, nothing. It is a complete waste of time. When you have negative commentary, put some thought into it, and don't be a jerk about the delivery.
On the bright side, it was nice to have something to type other than the comment I was going to make. Which was, "Ahh, dark comedy, I love you."
For anyone else, is this the first time you've ever heard of Escape Rooms? I am down the rabbit hole looking them up for the last half hour, and I can't wait to try one out.
Escape rooms are great - if they are done well. I've been in escape rooms where the clues are totally unrelated to the puzzle, like having to do a random crossword to find the combination to a lock.
If the room makers manage to link everything together, they are great fun.
Unrelated to the strip but: how do you respond to another user's post?
0
Options
Caulk Bite 6One of the multitude of Dans infesting this placeRegistered Userregular
edited February 2016
you click on the Forum link at the top, click on "The Penny Arcade Hub" in On-Topic forums, then find the corresponding title. quote functions are in the forum section.
'Not trying to argue' doesn't mean 'keep arguing'.
That's fair. I think I should've said something more along the lines of, "I don't see why it's such an issue that I didn't like the comic."
Your "mistake" wasn't in disliking the comic, it was in making sure everyone knew you disliked it. Much like the comic, your comment is now a public work and other people are going to criticize IT just as freely as you criticized the comic. If you don't like people arguing about your opinions being valid (and yes, opinions can be wrong, like when someone says "In my opinion, black people are generally stupid."), the best thing to do is not to throw them out in a public forum.
you click on the Forum link at the top, click on "The Penny Arcade Hub" in On-Topic forums, then find the corresponding title. quote functions are in the forum section.
Or to do so manually, you can wrap the material you want to quote in quote tags like this [ quote="person's name"]person's words[ /quote]
And just remove that space I put in after the '[' . I did that so the tags would actually show up instead quoting it.
Am I the only one who feels like Mikes art has actually gotten technically weaker in recent years?
I know he endlessly seeks to push it in new directions, which is fine, but right now, the attempts at a looser and more expressive style has really just resulted in something that looks visually unpleasing and creates these exaggerated expressions which don't really fit the moment very well. Especially lately where he makes Tycho's face REALLY close to the audience in the panel, with some manner of bored forlorn stare, and used that trope several times in a row. The faces just don't work.
I also feel like the characters have lost alot of personality and recognizability, which I know is silly (Cuz we obviously know who these guys are) but no less than 2 years ago, it was very apparent who these characters were just through the design choices. With Tycho being gaunt and square, and Gabe being rounded and expressive. I don't know what happened to Tycho's forehead, but Mike insists on putting this enormous bulge near the eyes which just looks deformed.
Compare to this strip: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/10/01/swiper
Much more technically sound, every bit of the coloring and linework was executed with intent and done well. The expressions were appropriate to the characters and the moment, and they both still had what made them memorable. Gabe had his contemporary bucktooth thing, but it hadn't grown to ridiculous overuse yet, and their proportions were pleasing to look at.
I think with the reinvention of style, Mike's lost the technical prowess that came from his previous work's years of development, and right now it's on very shaky ground. Had this been his forte years ago, I'm not sure anyone would have wanted to make a game of it. I think it speaks volumes that all the advertisements around the site use the old art, because this is what we remember them for.
If he is gonna continue to evolve his art, I think he needs to take time and figure out what worked before, and what isn't working.
Am I the only one who feels like Mikes art has actually gotten technically weaker in recent years?
You... don't read the forums much, do you?
I won't tear into you since you at least put a lot of thought into your comment unlike most of the people who post that same keen observation. All I'll say is that it takes YEARS to develop a style. Mike fairly recently decided to shake up his old style because he felt it had gotten stale. It's probably going to take years for him to perfect a new one. And even then, some of the people who liked the old won't like the new. And some of the people who like the new didn't like the old. Such is art.
We're a few years past my personal favorite period of PA art, but Mike obviously wouldn't be drawing the way he is now if he didn't like it or thought he was getting worse.
We're a few years past my personal favorite period of PA art, but Mike obviously wouldn't be drawing the way he is now if he didn't like it or thought he was getting worse.
The last thing I want is Mike drawing art he doesn't like because we want it.
+6
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
We're a few years past my personal favorite period of PA art, but Mike obviously wouldn't be drawing the way he is now if he didn't like it or thought he was getting worse.
The last thing I want is Mike drawing art he doesn't like because we want it.
That's the fastest way to burn out and not want to do something anymore.
you click on the Forum link at the top, click on "The Penny Arcade Hub" in On-Topic forums, then find the corresponding title. quote functions are in the forum section.
This is probably long past the point in replying to this, but I felt like I should get my thoughts out anyhow. @Dennis Thank you for the coherent reply and engaging me in a sound discussion. I'm actually an illustrator/graphic designer myself so I can certainly understand that developing one's self is both a long process of practice and always an ongoing process.
It's good to always push and try to evolve your art, and Mike is one mad-level artist, being able to churn out stuff as swiftly and efficiently as he does at this level of quality.
I'm not saying that he should go back to his old ways at all. What I am saying is that it seems like some of the choices he makes when he designs the expressions, or lays out the panels don't feel as strong as they used too. He could certainly accomplish this via different methods, but right now from my perspective, his artistic tropes feel too unfocused and perhaps that's due to the experimental nature of the comic's art style currently. Just because it's different doesn't automatically mean it's effective. This isn't the same as saying it's bad, either.
I simply hope that he continues to push it and it evolves in direction that takes these things into consideration. And that he stops putting that freakin' bulge in Tycho's forehead.
Posts
In the center panel, where Tycho goes into that hundred yard stare, that face we all get when we're horrified and shocked? That could have been better emphasized if Gabe had turned his head. His big coif in the middle is blocking the negative space which would have drawn better attention to Tycho's facial expression, were the hair not there. It also would have shown Gabe's relative continued animation, better than the small shift in his smile. It also would have emphasized the broken eye contact, which I believe is what's going on here, given the position of Gabe's eyes.
That took me like, two minutes of brief analysis and maybe five minutes to articulate in the least TLDR way possible. If you love a thing, and you're just giving it shit because you love it, do that in a constructive way. If that's not what you're doing, and you're just whining because you don't like something, you know the saying about if you can't say anything nice? That's because throwing bland insults and vague criticism around only accomplishes hurt feelings, anger, needless squabbling, or worst of all, nothing. It is a complete waste of time. When you have negative commentary, put some thought into it, and don't be a jerk about the delivery.
On the bright side, it was nice to have something to type other than the comment I was going to make. Which was, "Ahh, dark comedy, I love you."
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
If the room makers manage to link everything together, they are great fun.
Here is a short cut link to the thread in question.
Is that a thing?
Your "mistake" wasn't in disliking the comic, it was in making sure everyone knew you disliked it. Much like the comic, your comment is now a public work and other people are going to criticize IT just as freely as you criticized the comic. If you don't like people arguing about your opinions being valid (and yes, opinions can be wrong, like when someone says "In my opinion, black people are generally stupid."), the best thing to do is not to throw them out in a public forum.
Or to do so manually, you can wrap the material you want to quote in quote tags like this [ quote="person's name"]person's words[ /quote]
And just remove that space I put in after the '[' . I did that so the tags would actually show up instead quoting it.
I know he endlessly seeks to push it in new directions, which is fine, but right now, the attempts at a looser and more expressive style has really just resulted in something that looks visually unpleasing and creates these exaggerated expressions which don't really fit the moment very well. Especially lately where he makes Tycho's face REALLY close to the audience in the panel, with some manner of bored forlorn stare, and used that trope several times in a row. The faces just don't work.
I also feel like the characters have lost alot of personality and recognizability, which I know is silly (Cuz we obviously know who these guys are) but no less than 2 years ago, it was very apparent who these characters were just through the design choices. With Tycho being gaunt and square, and Gabe being rounded and expressive. I don't know what happened to Tycho's forehead, but Mike insists on putting this enormous bulge near the eyes which just looks deformed.
Compare to this strip:
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/10/01/swiper
Much more technically sound, every bit of the coloring and linework was executed with intent and done well. The expressions were appropriate to the characters and the moment, and they both still had what made them memorable. Gabe had his contemporary bucktooth thing, but it hadn't grown to ridiculous overuse yet, and their proportions were pleasing to look at.
I think with the reinvention of style, Mike's lost the technical prowess that came from his previous work's years of development, and right now it's on very shaky ground. Had this been his forte years ago, I'm not sure anyone would have wanted to make a game of it. I think it speaks volumes that all the advertisements around the site use the old art, because this is what we remember them for.
If he is gonna continue to evolve his art, I think he needs to take time and figure out what worked before, and what isn't working.
You... don't read the forums much, do you?
I won't tear into you since you at least put a lot of thought into your comment unlike most of the people who post that same keen observation. All I'll say is that it takes YEARS to develop a style. Mike fairly recently decided to shake up his old style because he felt it had gotten stale. It's probably going to take years for him to perfect a new one. And even then, some of the people who liked the old won't like the new. And some of the people who like the new didn't like the old. Such is art.
The last thing I want is Mike drawing art he doesn't like because we want it.
That's the fastest way to burn out and not want to do something anymore.
Thanks!
@Dennis Thank you for the coherent reply and engaging me in a sound discussion. I'm actually an illustrator/graphic designer myself so I can certainly understand that developing one's self is both a long process of practice and always an ongoing process.
It's good to always push and try to evolve your art, and Mike is one mad-level artist, being able to churn out stuff as swiftly and efficiently as he does at this level of quality.
I'm not saying that he should go back to his old ways at all. What I am saying is that it seems like some of the choices he makes when he designs the expressions, or lays out the panels don't feel as strong as they used too. He could certainly accomplish this via different methods, but right now from my perspective, his artistic tropes feel too unfocused and perhaps that's due to the experimental nature of the comic's art style currently. Just because it's different doesn't automatically mean it's effective. This isn't the same as saying it's bad, either.
I simply hope that he continues to push it and it evolves in direction that takes these things into consideration. And that he stops putting that freakin' bulge in Tycho's forehead.