Poor Marigold. Last one to get the news.
The close-up shot of Theo’s bushy eyebrows in the last strip made me want to play with the idea. So I am gonna try a new character design element: actual eyebrows!
Also, the discussion in the last strip’s comments about torso-gills versus neck-gills made me wonder what Selkie would look like with neck-gills. Here’s what I came up with:
I think I’ll stick with the torso-gills!
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Yeah, torso-gills are definitely better :).
Secret Director Commentary? Yes/No?
Couldn’t think of a commentary! 🙁
Aww :(. Oh well. I was asking because the words “Secret Director Commentary” were showing up, and when there isn’t one it’s usually just the issue number that shows up.
Ya, I typed in the words “Secret Director Commentary”, then drew a blank and left it as is. XD
So … drew a blank? As in blank tile in “Scrabble” … so we can insert whatever we want? Let’s see … “there once was a girl from Nantucket …” hmmm … never mind.
well you could of did the different version of neck gills by making them look like that weird slit’s or something ………>>…….jejejejejej I’m soo going to try a look of selkie like that
oh by the way Toad in selkie version is really hot may I have him?
Well he IS single…
…………..hats good enough for me -gets a net- its husband catch time!
…………..that’s good enough for me -gets a net- its husband catch time!
sorry Todd
I swear I keep adding this comic to my favourites… but it just keeps on disappearing D:
Good call on the gills ;P
Gotta say though… I liked the thinner eyebrows on Selkie… she’s young, so they really shouldn’t be too grown in/dark anyway.
Personally, all things considered, I think you could easily get away with Selkie not having eyebrows. Considering her species and all, it makes sense for her to have as little hair as possible, and the eyebrows on her just makes her look weird. The eyebrows on Todd are okay though.
for a second I read that as ‘glow in the dark’ lol
Ha ha, glow in the dark eye brows… well, I suppose it could work as an adaptation to dimly lit underwater environments. XD
Or, you could have a bio-luminecent in the eyes, or just great night vision. I know I had this weird thing happen once. I was at the optomitrist and some kind of light flickered in my eye. Scared the crap out of the doc and I still have it happen every once in a while.
Love how the art progresses as the characters do, so much fun.
Also, I love that selkie likes the wet dress. Her running off, with her long-toed-socks is entirely too cute~
Now I’m getting suspicious that he didn’t tell her the truth. You have yet to say what exactly he said except for the “cat eyes” line in the previous strip. This could lead to some interesting scenarios if I’m right.
Neck gills, no. Looks like she’s wearing Elizabethan ruffs.
Perhaps if you greatly elongated Selkie’s neck?
Could Theo say anything we’re not privy to? We were at the orphanage for Todd’s briefing.
Tod’s eyebrows make his face look different! I liked him the old way.
Poor Marigold haha. She’ll get used to the idea though.
It looks like you had waayyyyy too much fun drawing those gills, lol.
I did! I have a sound effect that pops in my head everytime I look at the upper right that makes me laugh quite noticeably.
Actual eyebrows, no way!! Lol, they’ll do great Dave.
Eww…good call on the torso gills. The neck ones…not doin’ it for me.
What, the CAT EYES thing? Or, like, the thing about Selkie being inhuman?
>_< -is confused-
Hey, I’ve heard conversations something like this before…
I have to say, I think you’re doing a really good job with the character reactions. 😀 They seem like very realistic reactions for the situation, with everyone trying not to make a big deal out of it, but having trouble accepting it anyway.
I’d comment on the art, but my skills only go about as far as stick figures, so I don’t think I’m qualified :D. I would like to say that I think their hands are looking much more natural already, and then I’ll stop babbling nervously.
Thanks! I am neurotic about the hands. XD
If you do neck gills you end up all Waterworld. And we don’t want that. Thinking Selkie could be related to Kevin Costner would totally ruin things for me. 🙂
Actually, the gils behind the ears thing was anatomically correct in Waterworld. It would be a lot easier for Selkie to breathe this was as it would apply oxygen directly to the head and not be constantly constrained by clothing. Granted Kevin Costner’s appearance in the movie made it less enjoyable, it still got one neat science thing right. As for having them on the neck instead, I’d stick with the awkward torso gils instead. Design wise it flattens out the facial features with an odd stretching effect.
Here’s my prediction:
I think that, since Marigold never SPECIFICALLY says what Theodore told her, I think that it’s going to be something TOTALLY different than what Todd thinks it is.
Hope I’m right. That could be lead to some pretty funny comics in the near future. Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. XD
Well, Todd did say “If he told you WHAT I THINK HE TOLD YOU, it’s true”
Agree – neck gills not working for me. In fact, I don’t think they’d work for any aquatic humanoid. The torso gills make a LOT more sense. A creature that breathes water and grows as large as us would need fairly large gills to extract enough oxygen from the water. For example, a small fish (say a trout) that only grows to a foot or so, can get by with a single gill slit on each side of it’s head just behind the jaw. But they’re relatively small and have a moderately slow metabolism. Then look at something the size of, oh say a good-sized shark. Generally 4 or more gill slits that are much larger than the trout’s … they have to be in order to extract the oxygen required by a larger organism.
When aquatic humanoids are shown with gill slits, I always think to myself they’re too small to extract enough O2. Then there is also the problem of where did all the neck muscles go??? Hmmm? Our heads are relatively heavy and need a fair bit of muscle to support them. You put gills there, there’s darned little room left for muscles. Your head would flop around like Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington’s. Especially as one’s head would, it would seem, be the part of your body meeting the most hydrodynamic resistence as you swam.
No, I’ve ALWAYS thought the torso (sides or back) would be a MUCH better place for one’s gills to be if one was a gill-endowed humanoid. Probably the sides as it would be a little easier to protect them in a scrap.
Actually, bony fish like trout and groupers have more than one set of gills, they’re just covered. Cartilaginous fishes like Sharks and rays do not have this covering.
All of that, plus this: if an aquatic humanoid has neck gills, why would they need an upper torso?
Ah … I stand corrected! 🙂
I think the eyebrows look great! Especially on Todd. Selkie’s maybe a little thinner or something since she’s a youngin’.
I really love how the art progresses throughout this comic, can’t wait to see you get even better~
I just relized how all of this happened in one day, man what a day i would be ouuuuutttt
I just found this comic recently (about Monday?) and it’s just about the cutest comic that’s made it’s way to my favorites. Ever. Seriously, your comic pretty much made my week.
Unrelated to that, but between the recent alternate universe issue and now the neck-gills sketch, I’m reminded of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTHn2tHhcI
I’ve seen that! It’s great! I kinda thought of this when I drew the sketch. XD
Just discovered this webcomic – very impressed!
I can’t remember; is tgis Monday or Thursday’s update? I’m loving the story! More frequent updates, pretty please? 😛
Hey, first time commenting. I read Selkie a lot since I first sort of stumbled upon it through Eerie Cuties. Very much like Selkie, it’s so sweet and Selkie is a real doll.
Just thought I’d comment on the eyebrow thing. Looks great on the humans, but I dunno if it generally works for Selkie, no? I mean… she’s a… fish… like… creature. … Yeah…
I mean, hair for her itself is a little odd, but that’s excusable, I mean, a bald Selkie? No one wants that, I’m sure. … I wonder what a bald Selkie would look like… Err…
Anyways, keep up the good work on the comic, I check all the time on it to see if anything new has been posted; even if I know it’s not an update day lol
Oh by the way. Fanart, how does one go about submitting some? I got bored, grabbed a pen and some notebook paper and did a sketch… thing.
It’s utter crap, I can’t draw hands even if my bloody life depends on it and I made Selkie far too hippy… hippie? Her hips aren’t correct for a child of her age. I suppose I can pretend she’s older… … meh.
Sorry for the double post…
Glad you’re liking the comic! If you have fan art, my email address is located in a link below the comics, and above the links section.
As for “bald Selkie”, I imagine that the baldness plus no external ears would make her look like the “grey aliens” you see on posters and cartoons.
The image of selkie with neck-gills appears to have disappeared.