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Headspace Cools
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I used to draw one. We were never successful (our best day had just over 1000 page views).
It was called Accidental Obscurity.
Here's a comic I drew recently based on our old AO stuff:
Thoughts?
(I hate the knees in the 3rd & 4th panels, they look all wrong)
Anyone else have some comics they've drawn?
It was called Accidental Obscurity.
Here's a comic I drew recently based on our old AO stuff:
Thoughts?
(I hate the knees in the 3rd & 4th panels, they look all wrong)
Anyone else have some comics they've drawn?
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WHY I AM SO BALD
Seriously, the whole two-wacky-friends thing is much more blatant when one of them even looks like Tycho. Also, the chestburster gag is old hat. It can work when it's in conjunction with something (say, a character is a bad cook and the result is etc., which still isn't really that good) but you're playing as just what it is. Not funny.
Draw backgrounds. Use color, or at least shading. Practice better anatomy. Develop a more striking sense of character design. Don't rely so much on copy/pasting art. Failing all that, you could probably get a deal with Viacom to develop these characters into an MTV animated sitcom.
Wait, so now this comic is considered a PA ripoff cos it features a bald guy and Jerry Holkins happens to be bald too! Really? Don't you think that's kinda stretching it?
Well... no? It'd be another thing entirely if this comic wasn't being put up for crits on the Penny Arcade forums. I mean, look at it. The only thing it doesn't have to make it a total ripoff of PA is a joke about big XBox controllers. I know there's been backlash against calling every webcomic a PA ripoff, but there's some situations where it's still apt.
as much as I hate to agree there, yeah... You don't see too many people drawing characters with ponytails (pvp) or ties that shoot up (dilbet), but you see a lot of them with big eyebrows, gabe hands, or gabe and tycho facial features on this board. I mean, he OP could have just as easily done a small line from the ear to the top the head, into a little "v", and made it a buzz cut, then moog wouldn't have had to say that.
edit:
Your hands though.... I really like the way you draw hands..... and your poses aren't static at all.. I don't think your anatomy needs a lot of work, I just think your characters need a little bit of a redesign, and the chestburster has been done, as a one time joke and a running gag.
My Website | My "photo-a-day" 2010
But as far as a webcomic goes, it's just another carton of vanilla ice cream to the proverbial Ben & Jerry's that is Penny Arcade.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Actually I'm bald. I've been bald for years. I shave my head because there ain't much on top.
So what you're really saying here is that I - personally and physically - lack character design.
Wow... that's just plain hurtful!
Well, that's no excuse. Take Elmer Fudd - he's bald, and look what people can do with him:
Bonus: glasses, too!
sorry, that just bothered me.
headspace, you have a very clean line art that is enticing to look at. you aren't copy/pasting the same panel all the way through. you seem to have a good grip on dialogue. my suggestions? a bit of colour never hurts. some different camera-views could help you separate yourself from the rest of the herd. and, some better jokes - but that's the hard part! that's why i don't do comics, haha.
would like to see more.
Sorry it bugged you, but what you said isn't really true either. What I was trying to get across in my original crit wasn't really as much about character design as it was about the overall tone of the strip he showed off - the whole 'two funny 20-something contemporary guy freinds mixed with casual violence' strip formula that's been killed to death on the web. The (IMO) non-distinct art style wasn't doing him any favors. But, you know, that's why it's good that everyone's allowed an opinion.
About the whole Tycho thing, the strip was posted to the Penny Arcade forums, so I assume he's a fan of the comic and knows what Jerry actually looks like. I could have just as easily pointed out that the other character has hair that looks almost exactly like Gabe's. I wouldn't be averse to putting a bet on these two characters talking liberally about games over the course of their strip.
Why's it always have to be two guys, anyway? Why can't it be two monkeys? Or three dogs? Or a tale of life among the amoebae?
My Website | My "photo-a-day" 2010
*cough*DrMcNinja*cough*
to the OP: The joke, isn't funny at all. The linework ain't very good. It's all one width and just kinda looks lazy. Try using some line width variation, and loosen up (it all looks really stiff and formulaic).
The panel composition is really boring ... I mean, my first thought upon looking at it was exactly what MT posted. You need to find a way to energize it. Vary the angles, add some background elements, pull back the camera, or zoom in, whatever, just do something. Lame joke aside, a comic about an alien bursting outta someones stomach shouldn't be so boring to look at.
Next, the anatomy is really bad. Especially the hands. I will give you props for not taking the easy way out and hiding them, and I'll give you props for using them to help express the body language. But they still need a lot of work.
This strip at least, isn't really all that bad. But its not good either. Its just, meh... we've all seen and forgotten 100 other strips just like this one. If you're really looking to do something cool, I would avoid the two wild and crazy guys formula all together.
Haha, also, he likes this girl at work but is scared of asking her out. Then he has these really akward dialouges with her that always end up with her thinking he's a weirdo.
so he vanishes in a smoke bomb back to his desk. MT make it so...
I increase the image size (for whatever I'm working on) to about 300% and zoom WAY in... but I have a tiny Wacom tablet (4x5) and since I run dual monitors that area is split.
I've posted on the Wacom forums about somehow formatting my Wacom so it only registers on the single monitor but none of the suggestions have worked. So essentially I am 'inking' on a 4x2.5 inch space, which is being translated to a 19" widescreen monitor.
I need a bigger tablet and I need a way to get it to only work on the primary monitor (disabling the secondary isn't an option for me - I usually have a TV show or movie up on there while I draw.
Oh and for the comment that the other guy in the panel looks like Gabe... that's a buddy of mine. It's very true to life (the hair is exaggerated somewhat but similar nonetheless). He's a bigger guy with messy hair and he wears hoodies all the time. What can I say?
I'm not claiming it's the most original thing in the world, far from it... but it strikes me that people make comparisons to other webcomics and - in essence - accuse me of ripping off a character design when I've modelled the characters after how the people in my life actually look! It just seems like a knee-jerk reaction to me...
If you were inking an actual comic strip on paper the panels would probably be about 5" anyway.
This...
I'm new to taking stuff from a paper medium to digital, but yeah, I mean comic books are drawn on 11X17 inch paper, that's the space they have to work with. If anything going all digital would give you more room to work and have more detail
Also, and I mean this in a polite way, but since it's text, it might not come off like that, but don't get defensive about the gabe/tycho ripoff comments.
It's a comic about two twenty somethings that look like Mike's avatar gabe, and Jerry himself. We know of them, we do not know of your friends, and it's the PA boards, so it's not unreasonable that everytime someone posts a comic here with two twentysomethings that play video games that the forum calls it a pa ripoff.
Look at another poster here that does hiijinks ensue. He sticks with video games and movies and stuff, but has three older guys, who are completely individual in their appearance, and it's becoming a pretty popular comic that he introduced here.
Then again you didn't create these characters in a vacuum. You must be aware on some level of the similarities since you're posting on the PA forum - especially with that one character's hair. Nobody in real life has hair like that (exaggerated or not) unless they're doing cosplay.
You could also argue that Mike doesn't draw Gabe and Tycho to look like caricatures of himself and Jerry - why aren't you compelled to do the same? Don't take this as personal attacks - you asked for thoughts on your work and we're giving them.
Aren't they drawn on large storyboards, then assembled in to a book?
I was going more by the indie stuff I guess, and comic strips more than books. A lot of people have reccomended 11x17, but yeah, you're right too.
No no, fair enough. I did take it a bit personally and I can see why people would've drawn some distinctiongs given the 'environment' I posted this in. I guess I was really looking forward to some people giving their insight on the linework, the proportions, the framing, the structure, etc... and the comment of it looking like a PA (real-life/comic-life bastardization) rip-off just threw me for a loop.
So I checked out the image you linked before, the one you did on your similar Wacom tablet. I'm just wondering if you also use dual monitors? If so, are you also limited to the 4x2.5 inch space or have you found a way to maximize the usage of your tablet to just one monitor?
Because your linked drawing isn't a good example of what you can do with that tablet if you are using the whole tablet vs. me being able to only use half of the same tablet... if that makes any sense.
I guess my point is if it's a technical limitation, decide what resources are more important - being able to draw effectively or watching a movie. Since you're coming here looking for advice on technique, you should first focus on using your resources most effectively rather than blaming problems on the lack of them. Another thing to consider doing is inking on paper then scanning it in. It looks like you could use some practice in traditional drawing/inking anyway (you and others have said you need work on anatomy) so drawing on paper would be good anyway. That way you can listen to music or watch movies still.
If I were in your situation monitor-tablet wise, and I really wanted to get my art done well, I wouldn't hesitate to disconnect that second monitor. At that moment the art is what's more important, rather than creature comforts. Since I actually make part of my living doing freelance illustration, the art is what always takes precedence - likewise if you're hoping to improve your skills, you should make doing the art effectively your primary concern, whatever it takes. In your situation, I wouldn't waste money on a huge new tablet (tempting as it is) rather than just unplug your other monitor for a few hours at a time.
EDIT: TL,DR: Yeah, what Amateurhour said.
I don't make a living off art, freelance or otherwise.
A very simple solution would be to turn that secondary monitor off, you're quite right.
It's not a matter of blaming the tools. I do have a sucky wacom tablet but I wouldn't be putting out works of astronomical beauty with a Cintiq. My stuff may look a little nicer and that's it.
I appreciate the constructive feedback I've received. I think I got what I needed from this thread. I'll post something else I've done in a few days - I have stuff that actually has colour/shading. Thanks for the input guys (especially Multi).
Wacom tablet properties application has a "work area" option in which you should be able to restrict it to one monitor.
Ok, that's what the Wacom people told me but I can't seem to get wacom specific tablet properties. I run Vista and it has a built-in tablet control panel which does not restrict workspace. I no longer have the Wacom tablet driver disc but the drivers and 'software suites' I've downloaded for it don't seem to give me this option.
I'm going to go home and uninstall everything that has to do with tablets and start fresh. Having the full working space would be nice.
Thanks very much!