fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3034 ]

[ SECRET POST #3034 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3034 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 096 secrets from Secret Submission Post #434.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I agree with the point you're making about style but you actually picked some bad comics if you want to prove there are beautiful ones out there.

Every one of those is... not good. The first one I can forgive in the "it's the intentional style" sort of way but the rest have really bad art.

I didn't pick "beautiful" comics. I picked a variety of different-looking comics. I assumed that taste and quality are different things.

I actually think the formulaic one with the squirrel girls (Sequential Art) is pretty (there's a penguin character too).

Most webcomic artists start off rough; they get better over time; and then they often let their art degenerate into weirdly stylised. You have to be able to tolerate a certain mediocrity, I think.

Well part of OP's complaint was "not liking the art" so picking art that looks a little more polished would be more advisable for recommendations. You probably could have picked a few more styles as well, as some of these aren't all that different. I mean just me looking at it, I didn't like even one of the styles you choose, and I like a lot of different art.

I have no problem with middle of the road art myself, if a story is good I can read something that is downright ugly, but I'm mainly thinking of OP saying they didn't like the art.

I'd also love to see recommendations of comics that are both pretty (or at least look somewhat professional, regardless of style) and have a good story. Because I don't often see both.

Yeah, half of those I linked are comics I'm just learning about myself. They literally were some open tabs, and they're not all favourites.

That said...

NOBODY IN COMICS IS LEONARDO. It does not work that way. If you want Old Masters, comics are never going to give you that.

One of the best comics ever is XKCD, and it's STICK FIGURES.

For pretty art, Flaky Pastry is probably about as good as it gets. It's a little bit Western animation, a little bit bande dessinée, and comes out once a week.

Not to bash on Flaky Pastry (I used to read it for a while) but it's no where near "as good as it gets" for webcomics. A lot of the comics people have recced here have better art. Oglaf has better art. O Human Star does too (although the style and coloring isn't for everyone). The Gamercat, Phoenix Requiem, OotS, Chester 5000 XYV, and a bunch of others have better art.

They're not the best I've seen but Flaky Pastry isn't either. The really gorgeous ones usually progress really, really slowly, because the artist doesn't sacrifice quality for a regular and speedy update schedule. As a result they don't usually have large followings and often die in indefinite hiatus.

Edited 2015-04-26 03:26 (UTC)

I know Oglaf, but I had never heard of The Gamercat. That's really good art! The other three are good, solid comics, too, though I disagree about them being better than Falingard.

I guess I read ugly comics. Oh, well.

I read a lot of ugly comics too. I think the story is more important to most people. Pretty art is just a bonus.

I'm not saying Falingard is bad. But you can look at his early art versus his latest art and see improvement, and he still has areas where he can get a lot better. His character poses/movement aren't that smooth/fluid--the kind of thing you only notice in an artist when they post a 2008 vs. 2014 art quality post and you see just how much better their character stances and actions look.

His biggest issue to me though, is that he doesn't seem to have an eye for color. His color selections seem fairly random, instead of mood setting or appropriately picked for contrast and compliment. It's not the worst problem, and I've seen it even on pro cartoons before. It can really bring down the "wow, nice art" factor though, even if everything else is good.

Edited 2015-04-26 04:05 (UTC)

Well, I see what you mean, but I think it's a matter of taste. To me, the other end of the scale, the two-tone style of something like Oh Human Star or Gastrophobia reads as a...cut corner? Sort of. Not bad, but very, very stylised.

It's really not though? I'm not talking about preference (I like loud, bold colors! Soft, dreamy colors. Or, I love dramatic monotones!). I'm talking about how he doesn't seem to use color to any effect at all, or with any real forethought.

The two-tone IS very stylized but it's a stylistic choice. Flaky Pastry's doesn't look a style choice; it looks like the artist doesn't know how to use color to any effect.

I think it's a different philosophy of colour design, really?

Whatever, the point is, there are a lot of webcomics out there, and if you don't like one, you might like another.

What do you mean by philosophy of color design? If someone isn't using color design, that's not a philosophy of color design (with very rare exceptions). If you look at newer Order of the Stick, it uses a similar color style (no odd monochromes, or particularly artsy color choices) but it uses the colors consciously and effectively.

Design means conscious choices, designed to do certain things for the story or at least the page. The colors in Flaky Pastry just look like they're there for the sole purpose of it being colored. That's not color design, or at least, it's color design on so amateur and basic a skill level that the issue of "well it's okay if you don't like it" doesn't even apply. We're talking about an artist lacking in one of their technical skills, not "they made a style choice I don't like".

Like Isayama (creator of Attack on Titan) has art that I like. He also doesn't have a solid grip on anatomy--his characters sometimes show up with anatomy fails like a freakishly small, poorly drawn hand. That's not about his style. That's him lacking in a technical artistic skill (anatomy).

The point isn't "move on to another comic" the point is, Isayama (and the Flaky Pastry guy) don't have an overall solid grasp of certain artistic skills and techniques. Whether you like their style, their comics, or not.

Edited 2015-04-26 05:08 (UTC)

You've been making some really good comments in this thread.

I love to talk about comics and art.

I can tell. It sounds like you draw some. Do you have any artists you particularly like?

I do draw some. I don't really have a favorite artist or someone I would point to as standing out above all the others I like. I like nature art, surrealist art, and pixel art, I like bright colors and warm images. But honestly I like all kinds of different art styles and themes, with the exception of abstract art.

For some random modern-day artists I like (because saying "I like Da Vinci" or "I like Albrecht Durer" just feels weird, everyone knows them and their skill and talent isn't really debated) there's Kurt Quilaquil, Maja Wronska, Simon Kono, Markus Vesper, William van der Merweand, and Paul Richmond (he does male cheesecake and m/m romance covers that crack me up).

Edited 2015-04-27 00:21 (UTC)

I mean, what you call "good" colour design is probably wholly irrelevant to what Falingard is trying to do. He uses colours as part of his characters' design, but he doesn't use them in the same way you're talking about.

It's not just different techniques or different skill levels, it's a whole different idea of what colour is for.

Not all artists approach a given medium the same way. Falingard seems to be intentionally going for bright high-contrast colours as a way of making the images clear and memorable. That is a legitimate function of colour design, and it serves his art pretty well.

I'm not talking about being Leonardo, I'm talking about *polish* or basically where regardless of if someone likes the style or not, it at least looks somewhat professional.

Like I don't personally like Tom Bancroft's style, and he has a few issues within that style, but he used to be a Disney animator so he has skill and you can see it in his comic: http://www.outnumberedcomic.com/?p=26

It doesn't look *perfect* but it's fine for what it is (he could probably use an inker if he wanted it painted in that style.)

I think there's a difference between recommending something like XKCD or any comic where you know they are purposely drawing in that style versus recommending something where you know the artist is trying but they are falling a bit short. That's why you'll also get more people who like a comic drawn in stick figures versus someone who put a lot of effort into their art. Sadly sometimes you're better off drawing stick figures.

Thank you, you finally linked to something you ~~like~~ respect. Interesting.

Hm. It sounds like you're an animation snob, whether you mean to be or not. Was he CalArts? Because that strip is full of generic California animation tropes. And honestly, outside of thirty-year-old Disney-inspired stuff, comics do not read that way.

You may have to get rid of your Disney biases to be able to enjoy the artform.

So from *one* comic you think I'm an animation snob who only likes the Disney style? I find that interesting when I even prefaced saying I don't like Tom Bancroft's style personally, and one of my issues is that he's TOO old school Disney.

I've read everything from manga, to western superhero, to garfield, to everything independent people have given me at conventions, etc etc. I was talking about polish, not one specific style.

OK, fine. But you were praising someone that oozes a lot of tired animation tropes.

Whether or not something is a "tired animation trope" has nothing to do with if something looks professional though, which is what I'm talking about. The most cliche and overused art can still look professional, and people can still be drawn to it just because it DOES look professional.

I'm not talking about personal preference, if I was I would have linked something else. I'm talking about being effective in the chosen style. So like if you draw super realistic, then all your anatomy and perspective needs to be right. And if you draw super cartoony, then you need to have a strong sense of design.

I think blitzwing choose a few examples I could agree with, I don't follow them but just from googling I'd say Gamercat is a great example of a polished comic.

You know what? Fine. I'm sorry that I started talking down particular webcomics, when I was trying to point to different styles of webcomics.

Different people like different things.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3034 ]

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Re: Maybe you should ask for links to ones with better art?

Thanks for the link

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Re: Thanks for the link