I’m gonna repeat what it says in the hovertext, I may retcon the shading on this strip if I get time after midterms. I don’t like to do the “compliment fishing” thing if I catch myself at it, but.. bleck, dunno why I thought this shading style was a good idea.
On a better note, I got some adorable Fan Art yesterday Courtesy of Jade Griffin, artist and co-author of Shards:
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<3 Thanks Jade!
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Gonna go ahead and contradict you there, Dave…really like the new shading. It’s fairly clear that it’s some quick gradients, but it really adds life and vibrancy, both to the backgrounds and the characters themselves.
It does sort of jump out at you, though…I’m no artist, but I might recommend toning it down a little. The depth of color is fine, but the physical width of the gradients is a little jarring.
Just my two cents.
I agree with you Dave. Personally, I’m not digging the shading at all.
Like scowdich said it really jumps out, and since it’s some linear gradiants it doesn’t look natural on many parts, like the shading on the back of their heads on panels 4 and 5, and making the entire building darker on panels 1 and 4.
Adding shading was a good idea, but I’m not sure what you did here really works. Seems a bit off.
On the subject of today’s fanart, it’s quite fantastic. I wish I could sketch like that! ><
Awww, thanks! I realized I was the only one who didn’t do a front view of Selkie. I did one measley fan art pic a few months ago. Selkie (the comic, not just the girl) deserves more:)
You’ve put the gradient on top of the other art. It’s altering the colors sometimes when it’s not necessary or even desired.
But, regardless, awesome as always and I’m looking forward to seeing Selkie at the dinner table with Todd and the grandparents.
The shading is abrupt, that’s why it looks awkward.
I agree with Selkie, fish tails a no good to eat, but they are useful. When I was in Holland pickled herring were a common snack food. They were gutted and headless but still had the tail. People would tilt their heads back and hold the herring buy the tail and lower the fish into there mouths one bite at a time. Also, the flesh near the tail in most fish has no bones so it is safe for kids and good for people who are not used to picking out bones with their teeth. Selkies physiology probably makes fish bones a non issue for her though.
I’m not a big fan of the shading, either, I thought the previous style was nice. And I can’t comment on dinner because I despise fish and cheese curds, and I’m not a big fan of hot dogs 😛
Dave> Will we be seeing her pukes then? LOL. As for the shading, I actually don’t use a gradient. I select the whole area and either use a soft brush with a 40% or so opacity or really define it with a hard brush at full opacity. I rarely use the pencil to shade and only use gradient for metal and the like these days. Hope that helps. Gonna ask you about your inking and scanning soon. That’s what I have trouble getting: crisp images.
Usually I scan in pencils as is. I do the inking in Photoshop. I scan in at 300 DPI and ink with the Pencil tool at a 3 pt size. I find that inking with the pencil tool makes it easier to get clean color flats with the paint bucket, and after resizing the resolution down to 72DPI the outlines lose the jaggedness of the pixelated pencil tool but keep the sharpness of being jet black. I used to use a 9pt size pencil to ink in the early phases of the comic, but I found a smaller pencil tool size made details easier, like with expressions.
awesome:) Thanks!
I definitely dislike the current style of shading– It is FAR too stark, almost looks like everyone is precisely half-in and half-out of a light source. If it has a more gentle flow, and didn’t cover as much space, it might look a fair bit nicer with the same method.
Hmmm… Not to sound rude or anything, but personally I think Selkie looks better with her old hair style.
Also, the new shading style used in this strip looks great.
Dave, I agree with you – I don’t like the shading. I think Selkie’s hair here is super cute though!
Yeah, I have to agree about the shading. I actually thought it was a scanning mistake at first, to be honest.
Selkie’s French braid came out so adorable! Good job with that :).
Yay telling the grandparents she’s carnivorous! Also yay for experimenting with the comic. Regardless of the results, I appreciate it when artists try new things to see what sticks. I approve!
Granddaddy sure likes his curds.
Also, the shading looks strange. But I agree with Aita. Experimenting is good!
dislike this shading, may be ny screen but it looks like it makes some of Todd’s hair green. Kudos for trying new things though.
As for the fan art, wow. I’d say it captures Selkie the best of any I’ve seen yet. In fact I’d go so far as to say should the day come when you want to bring in a guest artist for a strip or two this would be the person to call
Woo! Thanks for the compliment! I am blushing!
Now go read my comic! LOL
Yeah, I’m not crazy about the new shading either. I don’t think it’s necessarily the gradient, but rather how much of the character is shaded. Actually, till I saw your comment, I thought there was something going wrong with my monitor! LOL. I think the problem is just how far the shading extends across your characters … in the previous couple of comics (#83 & #84) for example, your shaded the characters, but only a small strip to highlight them a bit … in this the shading is covering almost half of their faces. It doesn’t look right.
Jade Griffin; Your sketches are excellent! I love the expressions you chose, especially that mischevious chuckle in #2 (at least, that’s how it looked to me …). I took a brief look at your comic (the prolog comics) … I’m intrigued and will be checking you out more when I have time. … … Er, I’ll be checking your COMIC out more when I have time …
Oh, that would be great! We love Dave’s work but having our own fans rocks, too! Thanks:):) Yes, she is having a “squee” moment, as Dave put it. He loved that one, too!
As always I love this comic. However, the shading is a bit abrupt, I have to agree…and no offense at all, but I like Selkie’s old hair style. The French braid is too severe for her features. But since it’s Grandma playing with it, I suppose that’s the kind of experimentation you’d get…
The fan art is good. I especially like top right, mischievous glee. I hope she get a chance to use that expression in the comic.
So those are her ears. Too bad, I preferred some of the fanart’s ideas for ’em. But hey, your character.
Just sayin, but I find this shading makes it look like the light is coming from the floor. 😛
Love the comic.
Don’t care for the shading, I like your style better flat.
Liked Selkie’s original hairstyle better; though I think a shortish straight bob, parted on her left side would look good.
Jade Griffin – you definitely have talent.
the kinda sad thing is that the anatomy sketch even says ‘Recessed auditory organs, no external ears’ Most likely for the same reason most aquatic animals have them: Less Drag and therefore able to move around faster.