Improvement? Maybe?

[amae]

Haven't done this in a while. Put comic pages, starting from er..2007 (ish?) to now next to each other in a feeble attempt to see if I've improved in the past few years.










So I can definitely say that I've improved since doing Elliot/Variations on a Theme (the first picture), but it kind of gets hard to say if I've stagnated or not past that point, haha. I guess things have stopped looking as Ribon-esque shoujo as they were for the second page, but that's not saying that much. More blacks, which I think is a good thing, and more backgrounds, which is also a good thing (though I admit that I still need to get better at that...especially how to continually include backgrounds without things looking boring). Anatomy has improved slightly, but that also needs a lot of work. Drawing guidelines for characters' bodies has been a good start and I'm definitely continuing that.

I really need to stop...avoiding drawing things that make me anxious (it's a bad habit that applies not only to drawing, but to just things that make me stressed in general). I want to draw a comic that is mainly told through characters' hands as practice, but the thought is honestly so terrifying I've been putting it off, lol. Maybe I should start a bit slower...

Doing Overland has helped with my mindset when doing comics, and it's become a lot less stressful than it was before but I think I'm ready to push myself a bit more. As soon as I finish writing up stuff for Chapter 2, that's exactly what I plan to do. :)

What do you think?

Comments

[maiteoida.livejournal.com]

No, please! TL;DR more, I do love it so :D

So I've never actually taken a figure drawing class, but we have some sessions at my college that I haven't been able to take advantage of yet because of timing conflicts, but I'm going to see what I can do during my last few months here, s-sob :( I know that the few times I went I liked it, but I need to do it more. In the meantime, I try to go to posemaniacs (have you heard of that site?) and work off of the 3d models there...not quite as good as real people, but practice nonetheless.

And I think that might help me with the biggest roadblock to me even trying...I just never can even THINK of a good, interesting pose to go with so I always end up doing generic ones which is okay...but it's really not helping anything. So hopefully I can practice and build upon my knowledge so I can depend on it more often. Or something.

And thanks about what you said about my pacing...I was wondering about that! My friend gave me a tip, actually, to take a notebook out and draw my thumbnails on each page so I can see how they look next to each other instead of working page-by-page...this might actually help with the way I pace things. As soon as I write up the summary for Chapter 2 of Overland I'm going to try this technique out, and I'll see how it works.

Haha, we all have a lot to learn. I need to be reminded of that every now and then, but it's not like it's a bad thing. :P

By the way...uh...do you know that you placed in the Overland contest? C-cause I meant to...uh, let you know. :D;; Let me know if you want a character to cameo in it!

[charmwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh! We use posemaniacs all the time in one of my classes because live models are so expensive for two classes. Is there a community college nearby or not? I'm taking them at a local college because... I really want to see if I want to go into art or not you know? I think it's a great site to use to help, though. The real issue here is that YOU want to learn and take the initiative to improve. That's really the biggest obstacle.

You can't think of good poses because you're afraid of drawing different things! I've become bolder and more inspired now that I'm trying different stuff. Don't hold yourself back, you'll find it's actually really fun to do wacky things!

As for the thumbnailing thing, that's usually what most artists do. You CAN'T go with the first draft of a comic most of the time. It just won't flow right. You'll want to change things around and make it better, that's the purpose of thumbnailing! Why work on a large image and then realize you don't like how it's going!??! -o-

I think your art is really pretty, but it needs foundation. It needs roots to grow. It needs structure to hold on. :>

ALSO I saw that I placed!! I didn't mention anything because I thought only the first two places got cameos or images or whatnot. I didn't want to sound greedy or anything. :>!

[maiteoida.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've always thumbnailed (I used to do the "first draft is my final draft!" think, but that really ended badly so now i tend to edit my drafts a lot, though it's usually for layout) but I've never really put thumbnails next to each other, if that makes sense. So rather than looking at the entire chapter as a whole unit, I do it piece by piece which is okay but doesn't give me a good idea about pacing. :/ Which is dumb, because that's what comics are all about lol. You'd think I would have noticed something so simple sooner, but there you go.

But yeah, I think you've hit the nail on the head about the pose thing. Also, I tend to get really frustrated when I can't get things right, which makes me even more reluctant to even start. It might be a good idea to return to doing some more standalone pictures to get over this complex...with comics it's easy to get into the habit of telling yourself that it's okay to tone down interesting poses as long as you get the main point of the page across, you know?

It's been a slow process though, it's taken me this long to get even to this point, where I even DO thumbnails or (try) to outline the body. But I'll get better, definitely.

I'm glad you saw, I was afraid that you didn't...D: But yes! 3rd place gets a cameo too, so if you want one of your characters to appear (or want to create one just especially for this), please let me know :D ♥

[pinkchan.livejournal.com]

So rather than looking at the entire chapter as a whole unit, I do it piece by piece which is okay but doesn't give me a good idea about pacing.

WHAT.

GO READ BAKUMAN AND EDUCATE YO'SELF!!
The "name" (thumbnails of an entire chapter!!) is probably the MOST IMPORTANT PART of comicking! I forbid you from doing an entire chapter page by page ever again! MAN, no wonder the pacing of chapter 1 was so weird!

Construction (drawing the body) is the most important part of drawing, too!! I forbid you from not doing that for the next chapter, too!!

Do the next chapter of Overland with the script AND name (TWO DRAFTS AT LEAST) done before you even do the pencils! And when you do the pencils I demand you draw the body out and look up poses you don't know instead of changing the poses to those you're familiar with!

N-not trying to be harsh or discourage you here, but if you really want to improve, man! I didn't know you weren't doing this stuff, or I would've suggested it sooner!!

[maiteoida.livejournal.com]

I-I've been drawing the body! For a few years now! Don't hurt me! D: I've at least become perspective enough to do that! But it hadn't even gotten to the point where I changed poses to make them more familiar with--I never even considered doing other sorts of poses because I think I didn't want to think about it.

Anyway! I going to do all of this for Chapter 2 so it'll be much better, I swear.

Haha, I feel so embarrassed now. But also, much better.

[charmwitch.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it doesn't feel like the whole body is there, it may be due to how you draw clothing, though. It's very... floppish, if that makes sense. It doesn't fall on the body like it normally should sometimes. There are times I feel the clothing has no weight on the body, and since that covers up the biggest portion of your drawings for the most part, it's very easy to get lost on where your proportions are.

Something else that seems difficult is keeping on model. Even in comics, you have to think about that! :O How spaced the eyes are, the face, the height of characters. It can be difficult when everything is calculated together.

Don't be embarrassed, it's better to know and change than to not be told and continue to be the same.