May 2012
21 posts
Aaah ok, thanks for letting me know!
There you go!
My blog is about professional work that is done to show the most sex appeal while fudging/ignoring basic rules of anatomy. I’m not going to complain about a bad drawing as much if the picture is not intended as “heylookomgsexy”. Heck, I look at the art I did in the Gargoyles comics: it was pre-life drawing classes… and I didn’t know what the heck I was doing with legs and pelvises, let me tell you.
Almost any artist’s first published comic is going to be inferior to their present work and most learn to draw better as they gain more experience and knowledge. My work today is far superior to what I’ve done in the past. I take amateur artists the same way. Everyone has a starting point, and everyone is learning and getting better at their skill regardless of publication status. That said, I will not critique amateur art in this blog. Like I said earlier, this is about pro work. And not about all pro work, it’s about pro work that goes out of anatomy’s way to objectify/sexualize women. And I’m hoping what I do with this blog will be an encouragement to amateurs as well as professionals to be aware of why they are making the choices they are in their drawings of women.
Now, if anyone is interested in receiving a constructive critique from me, be it a general commentary or a redlining of their work to make a drawing better, I am open to offering it, provided I’m not too busy with work and deadlines. These critiques are private for the person who requests them.
The blogs that carp on amateurs are petty and discouraging, and pretty much the best possible way for people who are just learning to give up and decide never to draw again. And that’s a damn shame, because today’s beginner might be next decade’s Alex Ross or Amanda Connor.
I’ll have to remake it as a new blog post.
Actually, some people seem to be able to reblog asks. I’m not sure I understand how that seems to be accessible only to some people and not others. tumblr, Y U SO CONFOOZIN?
Comic book recommendation. Right.
Okay, first and foremost, I don’t read that many comic books. I’m way too busy, and I tend to read graphic novels a lot more. One of the reasons I love Free Comic Book Day, aside from getting to draw sketches and meeting tons of people, is that I can discover a whole bunch of new stories and characters I previously didn’t know about or at least follow.
I’m keen on anything Mouse Guard by David Petersen, I love everything about it. It’s a single person’s effort so the books are slow to come, but they are so worth it. The stories are collected in graphic novels, and they are gorgeous. I loved the FCBD stories for that.
I get the Young Justice comics because they follow the TV series which I love, and hey, it’s done by people I know so I may have a teeny bit of a bias. ;)
Y the Last Man is also very good, and honestly, I like pretty much everything I’ve read from Brian K. Vaughan, and Pia Guerra is good, too. I want to get my hands on his new endeavour Saga, with artist Fiona Staples. I read the first Fables book and at some point I’ll have to read the rest. I catch glimpses of the work Gail Simone is doing and I should really get my butt into a comic store to buy it because it sounds FUN.
What else? I enjoy reading G-Man with my boys; I like YA graphic novels. I’m a big fan of Faith Erin Hicks’ bibliography, and not just because she’s a friend. I’m reading webcomics, too: Namesake I adore, and Gunnerkrigg Court, among many others. Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic by Rich Morris (and heck, every comic he does, he’s prolific) are great stories told in a sketchy style that works really well.
I’m mentioning those because there’s far more on offer than the regular cast of capes and tights, and several webcomics do get collected in print books which I love to have and look through.
You know, I’ve discovered some comics by listening to podcasts. Watchtower Radio is one, and I recently found 3 Chicks Review Comics which is how I know to look for Saga. Listen to back episodes, it might give you ideas of what’s good to read, and what you should stay away from.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for reading and for the compliments! I’m glad you’re enjoying what I do.
About amateur artists: my blog is about professional work that is done to show the most sex appeal while fudging/ignoring basic rules of anatomy. I’m not going to complain about a bad drawing as much if the picture is not intended as “heylookomgsexy”. Heck, I look at the art I did in the Gargoyles comics: it was pre-life drawing classes… and I didn’t know what the heck I was doing with legs and pelvises, let me tell you.
Almost any artist’s first published comic is going to be inferior to their present work and most learn to draw better as they gain more experience and knowledge. My work today is far superior to what I’ve done in the past. I take amateur artists the same way. Everyone has a starting point, and everyone is learning and getting better at their skill regardless of publication status. That said, I will not critique amateur art in this blog. Like I said earlier, this is about pro work. And not about all pro work, it’s about pro work that goes out of anatomy’s way to objectify/sexualize women. And I’m hoping what I do with this blog will be an encouragement to amateurs as well as professionals to be aware of why they are making the choices they are in their drawings of women.
Now, if anyone is interested is receiving a constructive critique from me, be it a general commentary or a redlining of their work to make a drawing better, I am open to offering it, provided I’m not too busy with work and deadlines. These critiques are private for the person who requests them.
The blogs that carp on amateurs are petty and discouraging, and pretty much the best possible way for people who are just learning to give up and decide never to draw again. And that’s a damn shame, because today’s beginner might be next decade’s Alex Ross or Amanda Connor.
*LOL*
And also willing to sacrifice a few spines to satisfy their greediness. ;)
You’re welcome! And thanks for noting the importance of storytelling in comics. Keep buying the comics that do it right, and the market will eventually adapt to fill the demand!
I’ve been really busy in April with the April Drawing Challenge (which was great, by the way, lots of participation and awesome art!), with commissions, and with a few comic projects, so I haven’t spent much time looking for comics to fix. Do you guys have any suggestions? I’ll gladly take them! Just use the “submit your own edits” link on the right to send me a picture with commentary.
Or, if you have edits of your own, please submit those, too! I always like to feature other people’s interpretation of how things should have been drawn, because no one has the Ultimate True Answer. We just each have a “well, you could try this to make it better” opinion.
An example of that showed up a couple of weeks ago (or was it more? I forget) in Eschergirls where the Rogue and Gambit pinup was fixed and posted by 4 different artists, and we all had our own version of the way they should be fixed. All of them were better than the original, all of them kept a part of the illustration and got rid of others, and none of them were the same. I think this is awesome, because it shows that there are so many ways to make things better than they are in this industry.
So please, submit pictures to fix, and submit fixed pictures. Thanks so much!
Oh that’s priceless!
I think you should get different male friends, dear. If they can’t take it when it happens to their “type” of characters, why should we take it when it happens to ours? Anyways, keep pointing out when you think it’s wrong, because shutting up about it won’t fix the problem, and eventually you will also have friends who blame you for ruining comics for them and make them look for stories illustrated by artists who are great storytellers instead of pinup assemblers.
Thanks for the encouragement!
You guys!
I sincerely did not expect the five replies I got in my asks after I posted my reply. Instead of answering them all individually because some could get the same answer over and over, I decided to do it in one post.
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Okay, first of all, thanks for the support on the excuse of “style”. astrail pretty much sums up what the Style post is about, and I know Liefeld’s name is flung around as the prime example of Bad Anatomy In Comics (even orobasart, in his “respect” for the art, disses it) but this is not what the blog’s about. It is about how we can make things better in comics, and showing by example.
So please, guys, no insults, no character attacks on posters who don’t agree, the “fined” thing may have simply been a typo, as the “e” is just above the “d” on the keyboard. His approach was rude but that’s no reason to insult his beliefs.
Like I said, the guy’s entitled to his opinion, he may not like my art and that’s his choice and his taste. I merely pointed out that he, like the others who’ve used the same argument before him, are using a flawed argument.
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I didn’t take issue about his critique of my art. He can say whatever he wants about it, and I would be pretty damn hypocritical if I thought MY art was beyond critique! Heck, I know several of my corrections are not as good as if I’d done an original drawing from scratch. What I’m taking issue with is that his statement boiled down to “you shouldn’t do your blog and your corrections because it’s wrong”. I take issue with being told what I can’t comment on or blog about, which is why I said, if he doesn’t like it he can just change the channel.
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And thank YOU for the vote of support! I’m glad you like what I’m doing. See, I’m very well aware that not everyone will like what I do or draw or work on. I’ve had a friend “rant” at me for ruining comics for them because all they see now is the bad anatomy and twisted up posing. I’ve had people commenting here after a correction I made that I got it wrong, and they were absolutely right, which led me to fixing the art and the commentary. I’ve even had someone a while back telling me they were using my anatomy and posing tips to draw their male characters better! How awesome is that?
The thing is, no one can please everyone. I’m aware of that. I’m tackling a subject that is minor compared to other issues of intolerance and bigotry, but it’s one I feel strongly about and I know I can make a difference by addressing it due to my skills and experience. And hey, if I make some people uncomfortable with what I’m saying or drawing or fixing, I guess it means I’m not just preaching to the choir, am I?
And that’s why I’ll keep at it.
pffffffff this is hard for me to say, because I’m not a writer. I’m a woman and as such I can talk from the point of view of a woman, and writing a man’s perspective and thinking would be difficult for me.
Instead, I’ll point you in the direction of my good friend Rob St.Martin, who’s an accomplished novelist whose main characters are almost ALWAYS women, and he writes them wonderfully. As a woman, I can identify with several of them, I recognise some of my girlfriends in others, and his books are a lot of fun in any case. For a good male perspective on writing a woman, I’ll say he’s your guy.
From Rob:
Thanks, Karine!
I could give you the story about how in high school I was the nice guy friend that all the girls came to for advice, and how listening to their problems let me see the world through their eyes, and so the answer to your question is talk to women and see how they would react in similar situations, but that’s a quick fix solution and doesn’t really address the issue.
Without knowing more about your character or plot, it’s difficult to be specific with tips and suggestions, so I’ll generalize: stop writing about a lead heroine. If you’re thinking about her as the lead heroine, that’s all she’ll be. Write about a person, first. Everyone’s had personal issues they’ve had to struggle with. Everyone deals with their issues differently. By focussing on your character as a person first, you can round them out with all the whys and whens and hows that make a person. The character’s gender may have everything to do with the how and why they overcome their problem, but I believe it will resonate with more readers if you focus less on her gender and more on who she is as a person.
R!
You’re entitled to your opinion; however, you stating your opinion won’t stop me from doing what I do, because for the most part, the message I’m sharing is being heard, and what you’re pretty much saying boils down to the excuse of “style matters, structure doesn’t”.
If you think it’s disrespectful, you’re free to not read my blog.
basementtroll submitted:
Not only am I an expert shopper of demon king book covers, I can also draw.
The original:
What’s happening:
What I think should be happening:
What she should be wearing:
You get so many bonus points for the Hazmat suit joke. :D
So many bonus points indeed. Much laughs from my end. :D