I love it. I love everything about it.
I love the lighting, the minimal colours, the posing, the emotion. You do not cease to amaze me.
I think it could do without the radial gradient light though. That distracts from everything else a bit, and doesn't really fit in. It's a minor thing.
Oh, and one more thing. You MAY want to learn the definition of the word 'comic' :P
Only really reviewing because
I wanted to point out that Christmas in Japanese is 'Kurisumasu'. You don't need to throw in random 't's when translating words into Japanese.
The picture itself is pretty decent. Quite dynamic. I like the way the fur has been drawn.
Considering how noticeable it is, it may have been a good idea to put a little more effort into the 'Merry Christmas', which just looks a little thrown on there. And at full view, the picture looks quite blurry. I'd suggest either rendering your paintings a little sharper, or just not offering such a high resolution view of it if you don't want to do that.
oh, thank you for the review!
haha the name was just a joke, I know how they write it, like how people says Lawl instead of Lol or something, didnt go that well aparently. x D
It was the 1st time I actually drew fur in this way.
Yeh this draw was something I made fast cause wanted to give it to a friend, hopefully explaining the 'merry christmas'.
thank you!
Yeah, pretty funny
It's a cute little vector. The light source is a little crazy, but I guess that doesn't matter so much in this kind of drawing.
The head is a little off center to the right, but that's not that noticeable.
I am not much of a fan of the brown outlines in the mouth. I think perhaps it would look better if, say, the line around the tongue was a darker red instead. Plus the text would look better a little skewed so as to look like it's actually on the shirt.
Creepy.
This picture seems to be staring at me no matter which angle I look at it, in a very disapproving manner.
I like the colouring, and the pose. The rabbit could look a little furrier around the edges, but then again I have only a vague idea of what a rabbit looks like.
The grass looks good, but like others said the ends on the left side of the picture could have been refined more. Plus there are a few blades that seem to be going against the grain and make the picture look a little strange. But then, that could be perfectly realistic. I don't know.
The bunny disapproves of your pants!
Very cool.
Very well coloured, though there are a few rough patches that may have required an extra stroke. I really like the hair.
I feel like it may have looked better if the text ran behind the character as well, because it's not as if it's legible enough to read anyway. As it is there are a few distractingly empty spots in the background.
Also, the guy reminds me of Dream from Sandman for some reason. I just thought I'd say that.
Yea I kinda was unsatisfied with the background, and youre right, its the awkward blank spaces. i'll prolly fix that sometime in the near future. thanks for the suggestion :)
Looks a little flat.
The lineart is very clean, but the whole thing looks very two dimensional. The shading is made up largely of straight lines, and I think it makes it look like the characters' bodies don't curve around at all. I'm not entirely sure if that's the reason, but that's my immediate observation. And the girl on the left's left arm seems rather strangely curved.
I've got a bit of an issue with the (girl?) on the right's pants. I guess they're supposed to be shorts, but the lack of folds makes it look more like a skirt that has a bit chopped out from the middle. And the lines at the crotch shouldn't really be as defined as that, unless the shorts are designed in a bizarrely form fitting way.
I'm not really big on the texture in the right one's wings by the way. It doesn't fit well with the simple style of the rest of the drawing. And I think it could do without the other textures that are less visible. It just takes away from the drawing.
And the (girl?) on the right appears to be bending her right arm in an impossible manner. The line at the joint is what's doing that. It should be going upwards from (her?) forearm, rather than downwards from (her?) upper arm.
I get the feeling that you don't do an underdrawing for your characters before you start working on the real linework. The girl on the left's face seems a little weirdly stretched to the right (her right) where it is being covered by hair. I feel like if you had done a sketch underneath to show what the shape of her head would be like without the hair, then it wouldn't have this problem.
I have to wonder what the two are looking at that is so interesting, but that's not really a criticism.
I like the left one's wings and aside from the hair, which looks a little overcomplicated, the character design is pretty good. The grass skirt thing looks a little strangely out of place due to its large number of lines, but it's not a big issue. I'm not sure how much of the design is you considering you're drawing someone else's characters, though, but it still looks good.
The lines around her breasts indicate that the shirt has fabric that goes underneath them, which may be the intention but I'm not sure I've ever seen a shirt like that in my life. I'm not sure if I explained that well, but the lines indicating them are a little odd.
I think you need to work on the eyes a little. They have a bit of a creepy doll look about them.
Anyway, aside from the issues I pointed out, it's very clean (aside from the wings and belt) and shows promise.
I have mixed feelings about your review. I really appreciate the criticisms, they help me learn to improve on future works. But all the same, to have 1 person point out so many flaws and mistakes in lengthy detail, it really hurts. I am not upset with you. Why would I be? You did exactly as I asked. I am just upset with myself.
Regarding flatness, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make gradients behave. I can make them, and place them, but I cannot get them to curve around and cause the illusion of form.
Regarding under/pre sketching, I did not used to but now I make it a habit to do an under sketch. Here is my traditional WIP, ( http://linainversefan.deviantart.com/#/d2p8dlh ) Mel requested that I do this traditionally so she could see my skill level. I use the same process, except normally its done on the computer to create my linework. I start with stick figures, and work my way up until I feel the characters linework is correct/looks good.
Regarding the (Girl?), like I keep telling people, its is to difficult to display femininity on someone who has no feminine parts.
Eh.
Her left eye is too far left. She looks a little like a fish. Especially coupled with a mouth that is also too far left. Or a nose that's too far right.
The way you drew her knees makes it look like she's not actually wearing pants, in some bizarre way. Like she's had all of this sewn into her skin. I don't know why you did shading on her top, but left her jeans shade-free.
That curvy line you drew below her left pinky doesn't actually exist on a hand. Hands don't work that way.
If you're going to put all of this detail into drawing the stitching of the jeans, remember that there should also be a big line going down the side of each side of each leg. In any case, I don't think I've ever seen stitching like what you drew. You can usually see the edge of the fabric far more clearly than you can see the thread.
The ear looks a little funny. Kind of like Shrek's ears.
Her hand is facing towards the viewer, but she's looking way off to the right. Wouldn't she want to be waving at the person she's looking at?
Just a personal gripe, but I can't figure out what her shoes are supposed to be. The pattern on them seem really strange, and the front looks like it has been cut off and the toes are peaking out. Like some hobo's sneakers.
Another personal gripe, but I find that the character is rather boring looking. For the main character of a webcomic she just looks so generic and unmemorable. And the name Blue is, well, pretty terrible unless there's good reason for it within the story, like a codename or something I don't know.
Obviously that's all things that can be improved, but there are good things about the drawing. I like the foreshortening of the arms. The shading on the top is pretty good, though I can't figure out why the shadow on the right side of the right breast is there, considering where the light source seems to be. The hair is done pretty well. Aside from the placement problem, the boring anime eyes look pretty okay.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
well dayum... haha really went all out. well thanks i appreciate all your specific criticism and i'll keep it all in mind
Always forget about your arts.
It always gets to the end of the weekend (well, end of Monday for me), and then I realise "Oh wait, there was that thing I was going to try and do".
I'm going to review this image one component at a time, starting with your drawings of Sabtastic's characters.
Myra: I kind of like the expression on the character. It reminds me of Alucard from Hellsing, only without the excessive shading. The top she's wearing seems like it would have to be a pretty crazy shape to have her breasts defined in the way they are in the picture. Perhaps it's the lack of shading. I like the dragon thing.
Rogue: Looks like she's about to fall over backwards, the way it seems like she's standing. But I don't know. I don't know why she's trying to do a West Side gang sign with her left hand, which is incidentally curving around at an impossible angle. Or at least a very uncomfortable one. I'm not too keen on the way the hair is drawn in a number of these pictures, with a bunch of parallel lines moving from one end to the other.
Otherwise, it's reasonably well drawn. There's a bit of a problem in that she seems to be facing several different ways in several different parts of her body, but it's not noticeable.
Kat: Wow her left arm is looooooong. A bit of a perspective issues, but it's not an easy thing to get right. There are some problems with the anatomy that I can't really find the words to describe. The more realistic cat seems to be standing on a completely different plane to the character, which looks very off.
I'm going to take this opportunity to say that I don't really like the textures used as colouring in your drawings. It just looks a little sickly.
Raven: (Wow these are some unoriginal names). It really looks like that character from Fate/Stay Night. Rin Tosaka or something like that.You say that you drew her pissed at me (what did I do? Parentheses laugh.) But her facial expression is a bit blank and emotionless. You have got her body language portraying her annoyance. Or perhaps her readiness to start a traditional poi performance. The hands could use some work.
Onto yours.
Vanity: You called her Vanity and she's looking in the mirror. That's uh... Literal... Moving on. She looks like she has her mouth open in the 'real world' part of the picture, but in the reflection it seems closed. Again the textures look a bit sickly, which is most apparent in this picture.
She has a huge giraffe neck, but people do have that in real life some times. The left shoulder seems raised in a strange way in the real character, but in the reflection it is lowered. Again, the breasts are a little strangely defined. The expression is a little blank, a little like one of those people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Rue: That girl (with a body like that, I simply cannot accept the character as 'genderless', like if I drew a guy with a massive erection and said the same of him(/her)) has got to have some back problems. Outside of the bizarre dinosaur head and the background, I quite like the colouring of the character. In some strange way, it reminds me of a Gardevoir from Pokemon. She looks a little like she'd be uncomfortable twisting that way, but whatever, it's not important. This is my favourite of the collection of 'OC's.
By the way, it's strange that people have to define a drawing as an original character. There must be way too much fan art out there.
Chary: I quite like this one as well, though I can't pronounce the name. The colouring is quite nice, but her hair looks a little like she accidentally fell on a grill. The background makes me a bit ill looking at it. Good though.
Bawdy: 'Bawdy' is not a word I would use to describe this picture. More like 'terrifying'. Ew god, her face is like a Rorshach test. I'm not a big fan of the green, but otherwise well done. But god ew.
Sorry if it seems like I accentuated the negative a bit. I have a tendency to do that. And if it seems like I wrote too much, which I did. You seem to be getting better with each drawing.
I have a lot to learn, so far your review has been the most helpful so no offense taken.
Myra, add shading and fix her boobs, got it.
Rogue, I don't see how she is "falling over", shes in a wide (offensive) stance. I also don't see how her hand is at an odd angle, I can do that same thing just fine. But yeah, I have issues when it comes to forming and detailing hair.
Kat, I was trying to challenge myself with foreshortening. So her butt and arm I probably did draw incorrectly.
Raven, fix the hands and face, understood.
Vanity, obviously the textures I used are not helping to convey material...
Rue, Rue is genderless. Rue is always naked, do you see a vagina, a "massive erection" (which Rue can do), or even nipples, NO! As stated Rue can transform and shift Rue's body to any form, within practical reason. I drew Rue in this alteration of Rue's sentient form to show what Rue generally looks like when around Vanity. The next time I draw Rue, I will do so by drawing Rue in a male-ish figure just to show that Rue is genderless.
Chary, you pronounce it as "cherry". I named my OC's as uncommonly used words that describe there personality. Vanity is another word for pride, also it has "van" up front so its similar to my name. Rue is another word for regret, which is what a person will feel when they tangle with Rue. Chary is another word for timid, Chary is very shy, she only speaks to her adopted mother and father (Vanity and Rue). Also, do you get seasick easy, cuase I happen to be very proud of my seaside BG.
Bawdy, another word for lustful. Being an Arachne she is very keen on mating with anyone, which is also sort of funny because she is as you said "terrifying".
Thanks.
A webcomic? Good luck.
First of all, I'll rate the picture itself. The style is very Saturday morning Disney, like The Weekenders or something. It looks good, and I wouldn't feel bad reading a webcomic done in that style.
The hands are drawn rather awkwardly, the character situated atop the front man's head looks like he or she (can't tell which sex it is) has stolen Droopy's ears and I'm not a big fan of the circular noses you gave a couple of the characters looking forwards, but other than those it looks fine.
I feel like the circle should be filled up more. As it stands, the picture is rather unbalanced with nothing on the left side of the circle, and everything piling upwards. It feels a bit side-heavy.
Now onto rating my first impressions of the idea of your webcomic bsed on this picture and your description.
First of all, the name 'Asinine Circus' is terrible. I would make a point of not reading anything called 'Asinine Circus'. The title doesn't flow well, and I really have no desire to read anything that would describe itself as 'asinine' (a word I've only ever used as an insult). It's definitely a bad first impression I get from that name.
The characters, again based on my first impression, seem to be quite generic for a webcomic. At a glance it would seem that you've got your typical straight man at the front there, with the wacky other male lead right behind him (not referring to the kid on his shoulders). I'm guessing these two are good friends despite the stupid things that the guy holding the Xbox controller does.
A little bit behind the two you've got your obligatory female character that keeps it from being a sausagefest. I don't know her personality, but I'm guessing that it's largely centred around her being a girl (this being the general trend in sole female characters in webcomics).
Then you've got the ridiculous non-human character that turns up in every single bloody webcomics, and that I've never liked in any single one of them. Looks like it will be another character that does crazy things and just generally annoys straight man at the front.
The kid character is a hyperactive kid that goes around being a crazy hyperactive kid. I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl so I can't really make a proper judgment on what its personality is. I'm guessing that, again, it makes life hard for straight man.
I'm not too sure of the guy at the back's place in the generic characters that are present in everything. I'm guessing he goes around complaining a lot, being sarcastic, and generally hating everything, but that's all I can think about his character.
Your description of the thing is really what makes me wary of the comic. 'Stupidity, absurdity, pop culture refereces (sic) and down right asinine behaviour' are attributes of almost every uncreative webcomic out there. And almost every webcomic out there that follows that description is terrible. There are so many bad webcomics that just follow the mold of having stupid characters be stupid for no reason, and having a straight man decry their behaviour.
I'm guessing that that guy in the front there is your author avatar? Is he going to be the one expressing your views on things the most? I don't know.
This is all pointless guess work of course, but those are my initial impressions of your little advertisement, and it goes to show exactly how quickly people like me can make up their minds about things.
Hi Ageis,
Thanks so much for your indepth review of the picture.
I guess i would like to address some of the points you have made. This style is a little of a departure from my nomal style and in the hopes of easy reproduction and sequentials drawings... a side effect would be the simplistic hands and noses that you see. I guess this will happen only as long as i am getting adjusted to simplifying my drawing style.
The name "Asinine Circus" comes from the initials of me, the artist and the writer. It was originally taken from a pet project we made called "asinine creed" named much the same way but was a mockery of the assassins creed game. It held a bit of a sentimental value and most people don't even know what asinine means.
haha - you are right about the drawing been one sided... in the original sketch there was another character that i wasn't happy with the design off so i excluded her from it. I was going to fill in that space with the tittle of the comic but the logo is still being sorted out.
You are right, the guy at the front is based on me... he is used in order bring together all the other characters. And you are right about most of the roles the characters play. The girl though is not the only female in the comic... just the only one I was happy with the design off, he role isn't actually to be "the girl" just a source of fear for the other characters she's the strongest emotionally, physically and keeps all the other characters inline with out an ounce of sexuality or feminitity... i guess a "mother type" of character.
The non human character, he isn't used so much as to make the character's life hard, just give someone that the hyper active kid can interact with who is a silent contrast to his very talkative nature... and a very transparent effort to get female readers since he seems to be a favorite with ladies.
The hyperactive kid is male though afeminite and his sister, the girl is protective of him like a lioness with a cub. essentially he gets in trouble, she picks up the pieces and cleans up the mess... sometimes through violence and force. Wich allows the kid to get away with more mischief.
The guy in the back is as you said a complainer, but also plays the straightman in amongst all the craziness. I guess i have used alot of archtypes but that is what people relate to, but as they say the devil is in the details....
each character is tackled a little different than in the web-comics i read and have traits that would make them lovable (i hope).
Okay i totally agree with you with comics having people been stupid for no reason and having 1 guy comment about how everyone else is stupid... i hate that and is something that i will try to stay away from. every character is crazy in their own way so even when complaining about the other person's craziness they will be involved in a stupid act themselves.
thanks for your interest, i do hope not to dissapoint in my future endeveours.... but i do understand that my taste and comic might not be for everyone.
When you fall, get right back up.
Age 32, Male
New Zealand
Joined on 6/18/09
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