The Dreadful -- Chapter 3

[Melfice]

Re: Manga style:

... that was inspired by manga? *shrugs*
I mean, I can kinda see it, but it was YOUR style, as far as I'm concerned.

But I like this too! =D

[MSperoni]

Thanks

I don't like being so dismissive about what fans think. After all, this comic was originally conceived with the much appreciated help of many current NPFers. It's just this is different. This new art style is MY thing and I'm very passionate about it.

When I originally came up with the idea to shift the style I wasn't sure. I thought I'd see what people thought, but the more I did it the more I really took to it, almost like this was how I was meant to draw it all along.

I was surprised how fast I was able to shift. Someone said earlier that they thought it was a new artist working on it? That's a pretty good compliment really.

I guess I'm going out of my way to try to "sell it" again.. I said I wouldn't do that :P

[Michael Morris]

It's ok. Everybody's a critic.

In that vein, maybe take the horn size down a little? When it was magna style the horns being big worked, here not so much. Even allowing for foreshadowing they look as big as Boozeloaf's in panel 1. And in an attempt to kill a few dozen catgirls I'll point out that in every mammalian species with horns the females have much smaller horns than the males (if they have any at all). So unless the guys of her species are packing the Dodge Ram curls, they are a bit much. I would think her horns being about the same size as her eyes would be more balanced.

Speaking of her eyes - you're either doing a western animation style or you aren't and her eyes are still anime-ishly big and styled. Not as big as they were, but big enough to throw the face balance off. Take them down a hair, open they should be about as big as when she was squinting in the last panel. Add the nictating membrane details on the closeups. You started doing that panel 4 but left it down to a dot.

The lips are fine, but the main reason they are floating is there is no cheekbone definition and nose definition remains as minimal as ever. This isn't a concern on distance poses (panel 3) but close ups are bothersome. Shading would help this problem enormously, but I don't know how to solve it in the 2 tone format.

Panel 4 is the best panel of 62 mainly because it addresses most of these issues. Eyes are smaller because of the squint, nose definition is the strongest in that drawing and the lips as a result feel connected to the face and unforced.

What are those black stripes on her face? I'm still wondering that and after the shift it bothers me more.

Overall I like what you are doing though, and I hope you take this post as intended, encouragement to continue in the direction you want to go and some ideas on how to do that.

[MSperoni]

Well I'm on page 75 right now so it might be a little too late to go about dissecting page 62 to this degree :P I'll take it all into consideration though? Maybe?....*runs*

I'm pretty settled in with the style now, and have been working out whatever kinks there are in it on my own.

The black stripes on her face are ..uhh.. I dunno. Tattoos? Birthmarks? Naruto-esque Whisker Thingies?

[SaltyKracka]

Just a thought, but perhaps most of the reason I find the art shift odd (besides lips) is that it seems to take Kit from perhaps late teens in appearance (and mannerisms) all the way through to at least mid-twenties, and it's kind of hard to deal with at first.

[TDK]

Yeah, I agree with the above. Kit seems much too mature now. I pictured her as being quite little, not with womanly bust and such.

I do like the faces you're doing now, however.

I understand the need for artistic growth, but honestly, I personally liked the old style better. It seemed quite fitting.

Perhaps I'll grow accustomed, though. Dunno.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Lord-of-Filing

The new Catwoman and Red Hood comics and the outcry they generated should give you a clue. Google it.

The specific issues present in those is two-fold.

1. They aren't particularly well-written. At least, the Red Hood isn't based on my sources.

2. The turned female characters into porn star props meant as nothing more than wankfodder for an intended fanbase of horny teenagers. This is problematic both because it is sexist, but also because it's fucking stupid and ruins the comic's enjoyability for those of us who don't want that.

The problem with those is not, "This art looks all the same!" After all, Speroni was doing the anime/manga art style. While he certainly made it his own, it was just as much "More of the same" as this is visually. He does a good job of making his own style stand out here, and while I was fond of the original art style, they're both great in their own ways.

[Sam I am]

I just registered today, to say that I liked the old art style better.

Also, the horns don't seem that much bigger to me. They're just in front of the hair now, and the face is a bit thinner.

[Mr.Bookworm]

the liiiiips

Every second of every panel is like being punched in the balls for all of eternity.

...but no, anyway, I'll get used to it. I think it's just a little jarring, like almost every art shift in every comic ever. I had a mental picture of Kit looking like she could reasonably pass as a high schooler (which is kind of a easten/western style thing), and now she looks quite a bit older.

I do think the horns look better in the last panel than in the others, though, where they look a little smaller and broader.

The black stripes on her face are ..uhh.. I dunno. Tattoos? Birthmarks? Naruto-esque Whisker Thingies?

More animes Matt is completely ripping off! =P

Though even before the art shift, they immediately brought Ah My Goddess to my mind.

[Nikose Tyris]

...Maybe the 'new look' is just Kat's reaction to alcohol?

It's not an unprecedented thing to happen in comics!

I'll just, like, cross my fingers on that one I guess.