Hey! I'm in need of some nice people to look at my artwork and tell me what's wrong with it. When I say "nice," I mean people who are nice enough to take the time to do this for me--I DON'T mean people who are going to give me nice reviews. I want the exact opposite of that!!
Since my style has been evolving for quite some time, I now have trouble being able to spot serious problems with it. (For example, it took me about a month and a half to realize I had developed a problem with major asymmetry in faces. I'm still working to correct that.) So I'm requesting, asking, BEGGING anyone to take a look at my webcomic and tell me what sucks about it.
It's at http://slightlyschizophrenic.keenspace.com
I would be so ultimately grateful for any feedback!!! I really want to make my comic look less "whee-I-drew-this-during-English" and more "I-look-like-I-actually-belong-on-keenspace."
Katherine
P.S. - Oh! Before anyone says anything about the frames, I've started using a ruler, so starting with Saturday's comic, they won't look so obviously hand-drawn.
I'm in need of helpness/reviews
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
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- Location: Chaucer's grave
I'm in need of helpness/reviews
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
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Lamby5789
- Regular Poster
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- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 4:19 pm
- Location: the land of doom!!!
- Contact:
wow
WOW!!!!! your art is wonderfull..bettah than me *looks away so no one will notice the jealousy* there are no problems..i enjoyed it..hehe...aliens. i wanna draw like you. you can't see any of mine b/c my comic is empty! MWAHHAHAHA! no one will know you are bettah than me *whacks upside the head by my lil voice* owwy..i bettah shut up before i scare you..eheh ^_^;;
i do not fail..i just find 1001 ways not to do it rite
---
the one and only lamb! =3 that's nice to know
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the one and only lamb! =3 that's nice to know
ok, well I dont think what Lamby had to say was what you were looking for...
I will offer my services. First up, the frames... are they drawn by hand or something? You should definately draw these on the computer, you using photoshop?
Secondly, dont draw your dialogue in... use speech balloons and proper computer text. If you want to know how to do this, go to http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/TutWordB.html
And the art is good. Tell me, how large do you draw your art before you scan it in?
I will offer my services. First up, the frames... are they drawn by hand or something? You should definately draw these on the computer, you using photoshop?
Secondly, dont draw your dialogue in... use speech balloons and proper computer text. If you want to know how to do this, go to http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/TutWordB.html
And the art is good. Tell me, how large do you draw your art before you scan it in?
Alex
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
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- Location: Chaucer's grave
Thank you!!
I can't remember which program I'm using...it's like, the one that nobody else in the WORLD uses. But it came with my scanner. It's not Adobe Photoshop... it's Adobe PhotoDeluxe... -_- Meh. It gets the job done.
As for frames, I've started drawing them with a ruler (::snort:: I shoulda been doing that all along...), and I've considered doing them on the computer, but I doubt I could make that switch. Plus, not all of my frames have straight lines, and some are all wonky on purpose... So I guess if I got a program that could do that, then I'd do 'em on the computer.
And text...yes, I've given up. I'm going to quit hand lettering. Even though I really like hand lettering, I figure that if you're going to do it, you better actually be good at it or at least let it show that you put some serious effort into making all the letters be the same size and not crooked and such... which I don't do. -_-; I've downloaded a buncha happy fonts from Blambot.com now, and probably Saturday's comic will have computer lettering.
But the actual balloons...I figured I'd have to keep on drawing them by hand, since Adobe PhotoDeluxe doesn't have circle tool or anything, and if I *were* going to draw them on the computer, I'd want them to look the same way as they do now... Which I know is dumb and stubborn of me... perhaps I'll get the guts to make the switch later. For now, I'll definitely check out the tutorial you gave me a link to! ^^
As for the size of my artwork, I draw on ordinary pieces of 8.5"x11" computer paper. ^_^;; Whee, aren't I sophisticated! Then when I scan it in, I scan it at 200 dpi or something, and then I fix the contrast and brightness and sharpness, and then I make it 72 dpi and change the picture width to 650. (Don't ask me why I need to scan it at such a high resolution if all I'm going to do it smash it down again. I don't know. It makes me happy.)
::bows:: Thank you so very much for your help!!! I'll try to correct those problems in the future.
Katherine
As for frames, I've started drawing them with a ruler (::snort:: I shoulda been doing that all along...), and I've considered doing them on the computer, but I doubt I could make that switch. Plus, not all of my frames have straight lines, and some are all wonky on purpose... So I guess if I got a program that could do that, then I'd do 'em on the computer.
And text...yes, I've given up. I'm going to quit hand lettering. Even though I really like hand lettering, I figure that if you're going to do it, you better actually be good at it or at least let it show that you put some serious effort into making all the letters be the same size and not crooked and such... which I don't do. -_-; I've downloaded a buncha happy fonts from Blambot.com now, and probably Saturday's comic will have computer lettering.
But the actual balloons...I figured I'd have to keep on drawing them by hand, since Adobe PhotoDeluxe doesn't have circle tool or anything, and if I *were* going to draw them on the computer, I'd want them to look the same way as they do now... Which I know is dumb and stubborn of me... perhaps I'll get the guts to make the switch later. For now, I'll definitely check out the tutorial you gave me a link to! ^^
As for the size of my artwork, I draw on ordinary pieces of 8.5"x11" computer paper. ^_^;; Whee, aren't I sophisticated! Then when I scan it in, I scan it at 200 dpi or something, and then I fix the contrast and brightness and sharpness, and then I make it 72 dpi and change the picture width to 650. (Don't ask me why I need to scan it at such a high resolution if all I'm going to do it smash it down again. I don't know. It makes me happy.)
::bows:: Thank you so very much for your help!!! I'll try to correct those problems in the future.
Katherine
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
- Regular Poster
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- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 12:27 pm
- Location: Chaucer's grave
I shouldn't have responded so soon
Wait a minute, I take it back. Though the tutorial was for Photoshop, it helped me figured out how to do stuff in PhotoDeluxe. Okay, maybe I'll start doing my speech balloons on the computer too.
Katherine
mmm chicken! That a happy banner ^^
Katherine
mmm chicken! That a happy banner ^^
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
hmmm... Adobe Photodeluxe... ah yes! I remember... One of my friends had that program. I kept on sayin Photoshop is WAY better and such... but he only used it to mess around with photos and drawing on peoples' faces 
Well, Photodeluxe is similar to Photoshop. It's like a dumbed down (no offence) version of photoshop and yes it does get the job done. As I dont use that program, it should be able to do all the things in the tutorials even if it does take a bit of "searching for that tool" stuff...
While I'm here, want to swap links?
Well, Photodeluxe is similar to Photoshop. It's like a dumbed down (no offence) version of photoshop and yes it does get the job done. As I dont use that program, it should be able to do all the things in the tutorials even if it does take a bit of "searching for that tool" stuff...
While I'm here, want to swap links?
Alex
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
- Regular Poster
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- Location: Chaucer's grave
^_^
Yes, I agree, PhotoDeluxe *is* a dumbed down version. Basically everything is slightly more annoying and slightly less nice in PhotoDeluxe. lol!
Ooh, link swappage! ^_^ Sure!! Do you want me to use the two banners you had on your first post? You can use a text link for mine if you want...or, that first banner on my page above the title (the "hello") banner is actually there for linkage purposes.
Katherine
Ooh, link swappage! ^_^ Sure!! Do you want me to use the two banners you had on your first post? You can use a text link for mine if you want...or, that first banner on my page above the title (the "hello") banner is actually there for linkage purposes.
Katherine
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
well, as for the links, I think you might prefer the smaller link buttons that you can find... if you want, by all means use the banners (larger and more attractive) but here are alternatives
oh and PLEASE visit this link
viewtopic.php?p=366078#366078
oh and PLEASE visit this link
viewtopic.php?p=366078#366078
Alex
two more things (provided you've checked the link I put up)
I feel a list coming...
ah, here it is...
1) once you scanned and sized the comic, you can make frames by cutting out the area of the comic, then pasting it back in place. Then use the "stroke" function. This should put a line around the box area, thus creating a frame box. Or, create a lower layer and create a white (or no fill) box with a black outline. I normally use the first method, but now (with http://code.keenspace.com ) I have a comic template which makes it all a lot easier... but not so good if you're using a manga layout (like http://oddity.keenspace.com )
2) did you draw that little female character in the kimono at the top next to the keenspace advert? If you did, I could turn it into a link button for you, just like my little link buttons. Then you would have a link button for people to link you with, looks nice too!!
I feel a list coming...
ah, here it is...
1) once you scanned and sized the comic, you can make frames by cutting out the area of the comic, then pasting it back in place. Then use the "stroke" function. This should put a line around the box area, thus creating a frame box. Or, create a lower layer and create a white (or no fill) box with a black outline. I normally use the first method, but now (with http://code.keenspace.com ) I have a comic template which makes it all a lot easier... but not so good if you're using a manga layout (like http://oddity.keenspace.com )
2) did you draw that little female character in the kimono at the top next to the keenspace advert? If you did, I could turn it into a link button for you, just like my little link buttons. Then you would have a link button for people to link you with, looks nice too!!
Alex
Hey,
Nice artwork. I don't know if you are still looking for advise, but I was just curious if you gave any concideration to inking your artwork. From the looks of it, you just scan in your pencils and put it up on the site. Inking might help make the line work a little clearer and help define the foreground, middleground, and background in your work.
Professional inkers use brushes and pen nibs with india ink. This is probably much more than you are interested in doing, and not extremely neccasary for a web comic. I use the Micron Pigma series marker/pens. They are a little expensive, you can get a good set of 5 (sizes .5,1,3,5,8 ) for around $12.00 and have everything you need for your work. For a more professional look, most cartoonists use bristol board, another product found at your local art store. I use a 300 series Bristol, 100lb heavy weight, smooth surface. Of course this is optional and regular paper will most likely work fine.
If you have any questions feel free to post em, I'll check back every so often. Hope this is what you were looking for.
Patrick
http://targetpractice.keenspace.com
Nice artwork. I don't know if you are still looking for advise, but I was just curious if you gave any concideration to inking your artwork. From the looks of it, you just scan in your pencils and put it up on the site. Inking might help make the line work a little clearer and help define the foreground, middleground, and background in your work.
Professional inkers use brushes and pen nibs with india ink. This is probably much more than you are interested in doing, and not extremely neccasary for a web comic. I use the Micron Pigma series marker/pens. They are a little expensive, you can get a good set of 5 (sizes .5,1,3,5,8 ) for around $12.00 and have everything you need for your work. For a more professional look, most cartoonists use bristol board, another product found at your local art store. I use a 300 series Bristol, 100lb heavy weight, smooth surface. Of course this is optional and regular paper will most likely work fine.
If you have any questions feel free to post em, I'll check back every so often. Hope this is what you were looking for.
Patrick
http://targetpractice.keenspace.com
Hey, I was actually posting this for the artist who started the post originally, since it seemed that strip was done only in pencil. I went over to your Code comic and checked out the Evil_Scriptwriter character and left a rather longwinded reply in your forum if you care to read it.
Hopefully CorruptDictatorNumber2 gets around to reading the reply because the message was intended for him/her.
Anyway, ajcg51, check out your forum, and if you have any more questions post them there and I come around and check em out. Hopefully some of what I posted helped.
Catch you on the flip side.
Hopefully CorruptDictatorNumber2 gets around to reading the reply because the message was intended for him/her.
Anyway, ajcg51, check out your forum, and if you have any more questions post them there and I come around and check em out. Hopefully some of what I posted helped.
Catch you on the flip side.
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BunELovecraft
- Regular Poster
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- Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2002 4:00 pm
- Location: Steel City: Pittsburgh
- Contact:
what?
You a bad artist?! Pshaw! No mon amie; you est tres tres chic! Verah nice! My only suggestions:
1.) Ink it baby! You can't go wrong with ink! And it doesn't have to take that long or be that expensive! Just get some fine point and thick point sharpies and some uni rollerballs! Thas all you need. It'll really clean up those pencils and give you a finished look.
2.) You have mightah nice hand writing but computer lettering always works too. Maybe you could darken in the speech bubble outline, that could help...
3.) Backgrounds. Never underestimate the power o' them. course when you have spiffy aliens, backrounds is optional ;p
Geli: YAY! Another comic about insane alien people! Oo oo oo! Must link exchange must link exchance! ::jump jump jump CRASH:: owwie.
Yup, must link exchange, I'll link you up as one o' my allies when I get back to my home lair. Currently I'm lombasting and pillaging in Motown until the 23...bleh.
Keep up the good work!
1.) Ink it baby! You can't go wrong with ink! And it doesn't have to take that long or be that expensive! Just get some fine point and thick point sharpies and some uni rollerballs! Thas all you need. It'll really clean up those pencils and give you a finished look.
2.) You have mightah nice hand writing but computer lettering always works too. Maybe you could darken in the speech bubble outline, that could help...
3.) Backgrounds. Never underestimate the power o' them. course when you have spiffy aliens, backrounds is optional ;p
Geli: YAY! Another comic about insane alien people! Oo oo oo! Must link exchange must link exchance! ::jump jump jump CRASH:: owwie.
Yup, must link exchange, I'll link you up as one o' my allies when I get back to my home lair. Currently I'm lombasting and pillaging in Motown until the 23...bleh.
Keep up the good work!
http://www.onehouraxis.com
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
- Regular Poster
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- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 12:27 pm
- Location: Chaucer's grave
Whoa!
::cries because she just lost the long, beautiful post she's spent twenty minutes writing and then Internet Explorer ATE IT!!!::
WAH! Oh goodness...this is what I get for not looking at the forums for two days while I worked on my online course! Thank you sooo much to everyone who replied!
Both of you who said I need to ink... yes, I agree. The only thing is, I *know* that if I start inking, it'll take me a week to do each page. Blah. Is Megatokyo inked? Because that's where I sort of stole me shading style-ness from... It doesn't look inked. I like it. ::shrug:: Dunno!
Ajc: I'm going to go check out that link as soon as I finish this post (for the SECOND TIME!) Which means I'll probably be posting again in a few minutes. LOL And yes, I drew the UFO catcher kimono-girl. A button? Ooh, that sounds SPIFFY!!
Patrick: Oooooooh, only twelve bucks? AWESOME! Right now, I use a rapidograph (which is rather old so when I try to change the tip it falls apart, so I've just decided to be happy with the tip that's in there right now; I use India ink in that), two random pens from Dick Blick, a mostly dried-up brush pen, sharpies galore, black prismacolor markers, and a crayola marker. Whoo... I have a menagerie of not-very-high-quality pens. LOL. And Bristol board...that sounds fancy. Is it expensive? Do you have to use special techniques when you use it? What does it feel like? ^^ Hehe, sorry... not meaning to bombard you with questions. You just sound so professional!!
BunE: Yeah, I'm switching to computer lettering. Saturday's comic was supposed to be the first non-hand-lettered one, but then I was too busy with my coursework ^_^;; So now Tuesday's will be. I've been trying really hard to add in more backgrounds, since I used to draw no backgrounds whatsoever. Are my backgrounds lousy, or are there just not enough of them? Or both? OoOohh, more link swappage!! ::dances around:: Wahoo! But I must have the URL to yours too! I'm so happy someone else likes insane alien people... my comic will end up having quite a plethora of them...
Again, thank you all soooo much for taking the time to help me out!! ^_^ I'm sorry, this post is a lot shorter than the first time...then again, maybe that's a good thing... heh heh!
Katherine
WAH! Oh goodness...this is what I get for not looking at the forums for two days while I worked on my online course! Thank you sooo much to everyone who replied!
Both of you who said I need to ink... yes, I agree. The only thing is, I *know* that if I start inking, it'll take me a week to do each page. Blah. Is Megatokyo inked? Because that's where I sort of stole me shading style-ness from... It doesn't look inked. I like it. ::shrug:: Dunno!
Ajc: I'm going to go check out that link as soon as I finish this post (for the SECOND TIME!) Which means I'll probably be posting again in a few minutes. LOL And yes, I drew the UFO catcher kimono-girl. A button? Ooh, that sounds SPIFFY!!
Patrick: Oooooooh, only twelve bucks? AWESOME! Right now, I use a rapidograph (which is rather old so when I try to change the tip it falls apart, so I've just decided to be happy with the tip that's in there right now; I use India ink in that), two random pens from Dick Blick, a mostly dried-up brush pen, sharpies galore, black prismacolor markers, and a crayola marker. Whoo... I have a menagerie of not-very-high-quality pens. LOL. And Bristol board...that sounds fancy. Is it expensive? Do you have to use special techniques when you use it? What does it feel like? ^^ Hehe, sorry... not meaning to bombard you with questions. You just sound so professional!!
BunE: Yeah, I'm switching to computer lettering. Saturday's comic was supposed to be the first non-hand-lettered one, but then I was too busy with my coursework ^_^;; So now Tuesday's will be. I've been trying really hard to add in more backgrounds, since I used to draw no backgrounds whatsoever. Are my backgrounds lousy, or are there just not enough of them? Or both? OoOohh, more link swappage!! ::dances around:: Wahoo! But I must have the URL to yours too! I'm so happy someone else likes insane alien people... my comic will end up having quite a plethora of them...
Again, thank you all soooo much for taking the time to help me out!! ^_^ I'm sorry, this post is a lot shorter than the first time...then again, maybe that's a good thing... heh heh!
Katherine
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
yo yo yo y'all!
Ok, I'm gonna make you a link button with that UFO Catcher girl. And if you are inking, which it seems you are, I think you need to adjust you "levels", whether I have said this already or not, I'm had to say it again. And I have NO idea where in PhotoDeluxe it has this feature...
Ok, I'm gonna make you a link button with that UFO Catcher girl. And if you are inking, which it seems you are, I think you need to adjust you "levels", whether I have said this already or not, I'm had to say it again. And I have NO idea where in PhotoDeluxe it has this feature...
Alex
Katherine,
well I'm a far cry from a professional. I am heading into my third year at a Art College here in Detroit, so I guess for all the money I spent, I should probably be able to sound like I know what Im talking about.
Bristol board is kind of expensive. I use it for my strips, but they are smaller and I can get away with two strips to a page of 9"X12". For a pad of 20 sheets it generally runs around $5.00. The advantages of Bristol is that it is a much thicker paper than regular computer paper. I wont wrinkle, It holds ink exceedinly well and doesnt bleed nearly as much, it erases better and I find it scans a little better too. This is obviously not a neccasity for your work, but it does make it more professional looking, and is easier store without bending or folding.
I thought your style reminding me of something. As for Mega Tokyo, I don't believe he inks it. Im not sure, but he is very good at creating smooth, dark dividing lines between his characters and objects, which seems to give the drawing more clarity.
One other suggestion that you can feel free to ignore if you like, but it generally tends to help in Black and White drawings. Try to include more pure black in your drawing. It really helps to make the image pop, and bring anything lighter into the forefront. One illustrator who does this really well Is Frank Cho, artist behind Liberty Meadows. Here is an example.
http://www.libertymeadows.com/gallery/LM28.jpg
Now I understand that this isn't the style you are going for, but see how the black background and shadows really help distinguish the main characters in the piece.
Sorry for another long winded post. Hopefully I answered your questions.
well I'm a far cry from a professional. I am heading into my third year at a Art College here in Detroit, so I guess for all the money I spent, I should probably be able to sound like I know what Im talking about.
Bristol board is kind of expensive. I use it for my strips, but they are smaller and I can get away with two strips to a page of 9"X12". For a pad of 20 sheets it generally runs around $5.00. The advantages of Bristol is that it is a much thicker paper than regular computer paper. I wont wrinkle, It holds ink exceedinly well and doesnt bleed nearly as much, it erases better and I find it scans a little better too. This is obviously not a neccasity for your work, but it does make it more professional looking, and is easier store without bending or folding.
I thought your style reminding me of something. As for Mega Tokyo, I don't believe he inks it. Im not sure, but he is very good at creating smooth, dark dividing lines between his characters and objects, which seems to give the drawing more clarity.
One other suggestion that you can feel free to ignore if you like, but it generally tends to help in Black and White drawings. Try to include more pure black in your drawing. It really helps to make the image pop, and bring anything lighter into the forefront. One illustrator who does this really well Is Frank Cho, artist behind Liberty Meadows. Here is an example.
http://www.libertymeadows.com/gallery/LM28.jpg
Now I understand that this isn't the style you are going for, but see how the black background and shadows really help distinguish the main characters in the piece.
Sorry for another long winded post. Hopefully I answered your questions.
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CorruptDictatorNumber2
- Regular Poster
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- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 12:27 pm
- Location: Chaucer's grave
whoo
More black, eh? That's interesting! I never really thought about that. It's kind of hard for me to get pure black since I'm doing pencil shading, but I'm going to look into that now.
Thank you again!
Katherine
Thank you again!
Katherine
haaaave you heard the news that you're dead
oh... your website I think, needs tweaking...
I think you probably copied your indextemplate and edited it to make the other webpages such as "links" (nice joke picture by the way).
Because of this, at the moment, the title of the links page is Slightly Schizophrenic - Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Not sure whether you actually want to call your links page this but just pointing out. Thanks for the links on your site. Loving the comic, and the computer lettering and speech balloons are cool.
I think you probably copied your indextemplate and edited it to make the other webpages such as "links" (nice joke picture by the way).
Because of this, at the moment, the title of the links page is Slightly Schizophrenic - Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Not sure whether you actually want to call your links page this but just pointing out. Thanks for the links on your site. Loving the comic, and the computer lettering and speech balloons are cool.
Alex
drawings look pretty good. nice faces.
My biggest criticism is that youve got, at least on the page i'm looking at (today's), some really wimpy pencil lines-- Most outlines are nice and dark, but everything else is done super-light and very messy. shade more smoothly or do it some other way, and outlines with a thin pen or sharp dark pencil would be better than light pencil outlines, especially scribbly ones. There's a nice tree on this page, that has no need to be so light, and somebody looking evil with glowy stuff around them, which would be really cool if you added tone either by pen dark pencil, or computer shading. overall, i would recommend either clean up your pencil technique or switch to pen.
My biggest criticism is that youve got, at least on the page i'm looking at (today's), some really wimpy pencil lines-- Most outlines are nice and dark, but everything else is done super-light and very messy. shade more smoothly or do it some other way, and outlines with a thin pen or sharp dark pencil would be better than light pencil outlines, especially scribbly ones. There's a nice tree on this page, that has no need to be so light, and somebody looking evil with glowy stuff around them, which would be really cool if you added tone either by pen dark pencil, or computer shading. overall, i would recommend either clean up your pencil technique or switch to pen.
~Noel Dwyer
http://halflight.keenspace.com
http://halflight.keenspace.com