Hello, and welcome to Chapter 2! 😀 Todd’s apartment (and Selkie’s, now) has been spruced up a bit since we last saw it. I have been working on doing more backgrounds with Chapter 2, seeing as most of Chapter 1 took place in a formless monotone void. XD
Speaking of art improvements, I have something to share with you all. I am always looking for new ideas that may make the comic look better, or allow me to work faster. So, here’s a quick doodle I made to try a non-outlined coloring style. What’cha think?
There is also another Fan Art update today, courtesy of Masterweaver! First is a recreation of Selkie within the video game Spore:
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The second piece from Masterweaver is an interesting look at speculations regarding Selkie’s physiology. It contains a little nudity (scientific/clinical nudity, nothing inappropriate) so for workplace safety reasons I am going to link it instead of showing the image directly. I apologize for the paranoia.
The Physiology of Selkie Smith
And lastly, Masterweaver arranged a play-date between Selkie and their own character, Selphie:
-SelkieandSelphie.gif)
Thank you for the Fan Art, Masterweaver. ^^
One final piece of news! Since this is Halloween weekend coming up, it would be a good idea if you all came back on Sunday for a special Halloween bonus drawing. No pressure. 😀 Happy Halloween, everyone!
-Physiology-of-Selkie-Smith.gif){kind=link}
Discussion (44) ¬
Yay! New chapter! I must say, the use of emoticons in Selkie’s speech bubble was completely unnecessary. But awesome.
The style you gave us the doodle for is cute, or that was just the image. Hard to tell.
As for the fan art, the anatomical piece was very interesting, and I do hope certain parts of it are wrong, especially as some of it isn’t biologically advantageous. Then again, her gills seem to act more like a crabs than a fish’s, though I admit I haven’t looked at how a lungfish and similar species breath. As for the navel thing, that really depends. If Selkie’s species have live, placental births, than there should be a naval somewhere (Amusing if it were on the back), but fish have all types of birth, so it’s hard to tell.
Oh, and Todd? Selkie’s care book is based on observation. Have fun with puberty, which may or may not be at the same time as ours.
I think I’ve rambled enough…
Great comic, great fan art, can’t wait for the Treat. Keep up the wonderful work.
Actually, I did have a mudskipper in mind when I did the design. Selkie seems to only need a coating of water on her gills to keep from “drying out”…
Lungs are, essentially, rolled up gills. I’m not exactly sure what the environmental difference is, but I think gills could be used in open air; mostly I think it would be oxygen poisoning that killed the fish, as there’s a higher oxygen-to-other substance ratio in air than water. As Selkie’s not a fish, exactly, but has functional limbs, she’s probably adapted to live near and in rivers, probably close to sea tributaries.
I think you should start taking a poll on every page: “Which panel is Selkie cutest in?” For this one, I give a resounding “SEVEN!”
I second this notion heartily!
Todd, I reccommend a loft bed. Or a princess canopy. 🙂
Geez I love this comic. Makes my day.
Oh noes…..Selkie Squeees like a “Fangirl”!
You say that like it’s a bad thing. Her personality is quirky enough that even if she went into full fangirl mode, I’m pretty sure she’d still be awesome.
Besides, it adds to the cuteness factor. ^_^
“A whole room to myself?” Now why do I get an Annie vibe from that?
Todd appears not to host a lot of parties. A TV and a couch in the living room, and that’s it… I wonder if Selkie’s going to convince him to get a console.
I can’t tell, does Selkie have new shoes here?
I like the no-outline look.
Your art keeps getting better quite steadily! I’m excited to see how fantastic it will look in a year or so! <3
An outstanding success on this one. And I have to agree that panel 7 is the best, she looks so cute and eager. I just cant wait to see how the rooms decorated or if she still needs to go get furniture.
Wait! We could have an art contest on how her room is designed!
This was freakin’ adorable. I gets my own rooms! Weee! lol. I had a similar reaction when enough of my older siblings moved out that I got my own room while growing up. (with 9 of us.. Space was tight! 1 bathroom, 3 bedrooms for us kids.. yeah)
I have to say, I don’t fully agree with the possible anatomy of the fan art (the spore was adorable) With the nose slits and the way she mimics human anatomy already she likely doesn’t have gills, or if she does they would very likely be located more towards the spine than the sides that can be obstructed too much by arms. Since there are none visible on her neck currently she could have hidden ones. I know that in the womb we all have gills, and those are on our necks under the jawline.
Ah, Lacewing, while I do admire your artworks, I must respectfully indicate that the author himself has confirmed that Selkie has gills, and that they are located on her abdominal area.
selkiecomic.comSelkie’s gills were mentioned in a secondary update here.
Masterweaver’s fan art has inspired me to do my own canon anatomy drawing for Selkie’s species. Is that something you’d all like to see?
$answer = (TRUE ^ 1000);
// hell yes!
Forgot to mention earlier, I know what ya mean about the tight spaces. I had to share a room until I was eleven. XD
sure anatomy is interesting. though I still personally think gils on the abdomen is a bad spot, since arms can block them and would be like holding your nose and mouth closed.. very uncomfortable.
LOL had once point were there was all of the kids home, PLUS my older sister’s kids.. One had two and the other 1 it was nuts! We had people sleeping in the livingroom!
lol, when I was little I had to share my room with two of my brothers. We had one bunk bed and a single bed in the small room. I actually liked having the bottom bunk since I could use a staple gun and lock sheets to the bed to make a private room for myself. I’d set up one of the little tv’s near the end on a chair and it was like a private movie theatre. Hated it though when my brothers would throw junk at the blankets to annoy me.
I think the worst we did was the year my parents had to put all 4 girls in one room– one set of bunkbeds and two cribs. There was barely enough floor space to walk! When we moved the next year and I got my own room, even though it was tiny, I reacted about the same as Selkie!
How on Earth do you make shark like eyes and razor sharp fangs so dang cute?!
Awww! She is so cute! It’s a good thing when a young girl finds home and happiness and a room all to herself. Thanks for making me smile today Selkie. i needed it.
Hello there, it has been a while since I have commented but I have been reading along and eagerly awaiting updates. As far as the non-outline coloring style, I like it a lot. It looks good :]
Also, I think I saw that you were planning on doing your own anatomy drawing and asking what we would like to see and I would like to see her bone structure and organ systems…maybe even a bit of musculature?
I’ve rambled enough, but thank you for the great comic. I look forward to reading more.
I think the no outline look has real potential, however I wonder how you will address the speach bubbles, it would look funny if they were the only thing outlined, and as you have pointed out you use a lot of white backgrounds.
As always I continue to enjoy! Thanks.
Selphie… as in cephalopod? I like it! Also, initially when I looked at the last panel I thought Selkie was saying; “I’m FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ^_^ “, which would’ve been fairly awesome too.
Excited to be getting into chapter 2. I like the non-outlined look in general so I’d be happy to see it here.
happy squealing Selkie made me squeal :p
I love the no outline look! Keep up the good work.
Wow! The physiology is certainly impressive. A tail! Not to self when drawing more fan art! I always like to see the detail behind the method of one’s “madness” 🙂 Thanks for this look! It explains a lot. I especially like the explanations of the feet. Oh, and being blue-green colorblind can be very difficult to deal with.
I would like to clarify that the physiology study is fan art from Masterweaver regarding some of his speculations. It is not mine. Although I am strongly considering working on one of my own now.
I appreciate your appreciation though. Hey Dave, feel free to use my work as a jump-off or reference, I don’t mind!
No, wait, that sounded arrogant…
Durn internet tone.
That reaction in the last panel is the exact reaction Jade and I got from our 2 year old daughter when she looked in her room for her birthday.
We had put about 50 balloons in her room…she just stared at the room for like 30 seconds until this big smile started to creep up on her face.
Freakin priceless.
In regards to the last panel: PROMOTIONS
Also, in regards to the non-outlined style, I find it to be a bit more relaxed and artistic than the bold outlining version.
Just wanted to let you know what a great “slice of life” story you have here. Keep up the great work….your comic is on my morning to check list….Thanks again
Is that a family picture beside the front door? I don’t wan’t to read too much into things, but I wonder if that is a picture of Todd as a kid with his parents in that photo.
Guess what, guess what, guess what! There’s a TvTropes page for Selkie now! Go check it out and WikiMagic it! http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Selkie
Oh awesome!! Yay!
I dunno what Wikimagic is? ??
WikiMagic is where you create an article with the bare bones, leave it for a while, come back, and other people have added lots of information!
I love this quirky little comic 🙂 its a great pallet cleanser. I just wish the updates were more frequent but thats alright. Another thing is the art… Its not bad and its definitely getting better but it just takes be out of the story when I see a hand that looks backwards or a eyes that don’t line up. The fan art by the way is so great! I think my favorite is where Selkie is probably in her twenties and has a few piercings and her dad is old and wrinkly with a beard! It was great and looked amazing! I hope the comic can actually go that long! 😀 Keep up the great work and i hope you found my comment constructive not offensive!
i love the no-outline look! selkie is so adorable in that picture!
Have to say that while the no outline look is interesting I really prefer the way you’ve been drawing the comic. I’m not saying I wouldn’t still read it but I think the outlined style actually allows for more expressive images. Looking at the no outline style made me think of some of the online “coloring pages” my kids have done. It’s all click and this section is filled in one color. I know that’s probably not how you colored it but that’s how it comes across to me.
I like the no outline look, but I also like the usual style, as well. It’s whatever you want to go with, really!
Also, do I see what I think I see in–what I assume is–a family portrait hanging upon the wall to the left of the door?
Just my personal opinion, but I don’t think selkie would have “exposed” gills like an axotl or salamander. They would seem far too easy to dry out to permit a semi-aquatic existence.
“Closet phobia” is an amazingly fitting term for freaking out in small places, like inside a closet