Art/character evolution thread

rd_inks 2017-11-24 23:10:26 UTC #1

I did one of these on ComicFury a while back and it was so awesome to see everyone's improvement/character changes over time. I was digging through some old pics to find a reference for something in an upcoming chapter, and saw old pics of this Ch 1 villain:

The left is from May this year when I had real trouble drawing my own characters, while the right is from an update a few weeks ago (Oct/November)! For one thing, his chin game's been elevated to another level

So let me see how your characters/art style have changed over time, Tapas users! I'm excited to see what you've all got in store

rd_inks -

dawgofdawgness 2017-11-24 23:24:31 UTC #2

I haven't even been making my comic for a year yet, but I did notice a slight improvement in my drawings
Frances from episode 1:

Frances from the latest episode:

As you can see, her head isn't the size of the moon anymore and I made her a little chubbier since I had no clue how to draw chubby characters when I began and she was originally going to be really small and thick.

As for Azzi, this was her in the earlier episodes:

Later on:

I made her a little pointier and broadened her shoulders a bit since she has a more masculine build than the rest of the female characters.
Same with her, the head is slowly shrinking, thank god. Also now for some reason the characters have flat heads? My art style just evolved strangely

jpnakashima 2017-11-24 23:35:29 UTC #3

I simply love this kind of threads! I love to compare the character evolution from manga or creator owned comics.

I'm currently writing a series, so I don't draw, but my lovely partner do and he's certainly showing evolution.
While on Tapas we're still in Strip #3, we're actually finishing Strip #26 right now, so while this is not online for the moment, it will be in the many weeks to come.

The first one is from when we started, back in 2014/2015. It's from our first strip and he was drawing at a tablet.
Then he got sick of it and decided to draw pen and paper style. The second panel is from this ''era'', still 2015.
Then we stopped for the longest time, but returned earlier this year. The third one is from the first strip he did when we came back. He returned to the tablet and the years had done some good to him.
Last one is from our last strip and I like it a lot! You can see how his coloring style also evolved and it's been a joy!

(this is the series btw, surprise marketing hihi https://tapas.io/series/maxiboy-en)

jpnakashima 2017-11-24 23:37:50 UTC #4

I know this is not the thread for this but I'm loving Leftovers so much!! Aaahh! I love Frances' expression in your fourth example haha

VikiKuli 2017-11-24 23:39:41 UTC #5

Well, here's Merc in one of the first pages of Wednesday7 and then there's Merc in one of the newer ones. I guess a difference is that he's become a bit more lanky, with a narrower face and such, in addition to being paler (but that's more story based.) Oh and his hair has become progressively lighter, but that's my bad in consistency ^^'''

VibrantFox 2017-11-25 00:33:22 UTC #6

I've been uploading comics on Tapas for about 3 years now and I think the change in my art has been drastic This is how my main character/persona looked in the very first episode all the way back in 2014

Around 2015 I finally stopped drawing bobble heads and started shortening the stretched out necks

2016

and the latest update from this year

dawgofdawgness 2017-11-25 01:09:56 UTC #7

Thanks so much!! I really love your support, it gives me motivation to actually work on Leftovers haha

ReroOnyx 2017-11-25 01:45:41 UTC #8

It's from two different things but here's something I did a long time ago around 2010. Back in the days where I did everything with glorious MS Paint. Needless to say its not the best thing I've ever done but I was just starting and stubbornly kept drawing. Again two different characters but I hope the idea of "art improvement" still shows.

Later on, I would start doing this above. Frankly there's a major improvement here but still pretty much a huge ball of flaw. The worst part is that this one is probably barely a year old if that much. However I had started to use photoshop more and gotten a hang of it. Unfortunately I wasn't using Lazy Nezumi at the time and my shading,texturing and overall anatomy was still off. It was a big step but I still had a long way to go.

And here's one of my more recent pages (again different series altogether) in the year 2017. After I had long since been using Photoshop and Lazy Nezumi along with some other aspects to help me out.Times and effort makes big changes I'd say. I still have a few hiccups here and there though but its far better than what I was doing in 2010.

gh0stcr33p 2017-11-25 01:53:23 UTC #9

well honestly she doesn't even look like the same person anymore now

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hotsubsandwich 2017-11-25 02:33:19 UTC #10

I love these kinds of threads! seeing characters from their beginnings to now is always awesome. I started hosting my comic on my personal website in May. This is the first time you see my main character, Paris.

And here’s the first time you see broody alien, Cash

And this is the two of them now!

I especially like Paris’ expressions in this update

spadesart 2017-11-25 05:44:52 UTC #11

hmm
heres some spire characters

rd_inks 2017-11-25 09:29:29 UTC #12

I posted this thread just before hitting bed and it's been awesome to wake up to these replies - keep up all the good work guys! Everyone's art is getting so much better I can see how you've all improved in terms of giving your characters more form/depth/expressiveness as well as trying new poses etc.

I found one more art evolution from my instagram for another main character:

2015 on the top left, 2016 on the bottom left and a 2017 promotional image on the right

Oh and here's a link to my series while we're at it!

akemikae 2017-11-25 11:52:31 UTC #13

ALRIGHT, SO FIRST OF ALL. The first picture was drawn a little over a year ago, then the pictures proceed with age from there at varying degrees. (I tried to choose sections that changed a lot, but were similar enough to compare to.) His hair never stops getting longer, and no, it's not the pass of time. xD It was just his character design changing.
This is page 1 and then page 19. LOOK AT THE HAIR GOOOOOOO.

These are all from various cover arts (and a speed coloring, which is the furthest right)

Same outfit, but I never intended on doing this as a comparison, I just noticed it after the fact. These 2 pics have about 6 months in between them.

And the bottom right is from my most recent page.

I'm pretty satisfied with his design now, so hopefully he stays the same for a while. But wow, what a journey it's been!!

punkarsenic 2017-11-25 12:00:30 UTC #14

for cath, and then a more recent pic since i made that graphic:

cath hasnt really changed a lot, but balor...

i also wanna make her like, less human too. widen the nose bridge and accentuate the teeth.

Damatris 2017-11-25 12:09:20 UTC #15

I loooove threads like this! It's so cool seeing everyone's progress.

Nidi, my protagonist shows the change best. I love how his hair suddenly switched from black to brown. It suits him better. And while it doesn't show here, he also got a lot shorter. :'D

Emevsa 2017-11-25 15:25:08 UTC #16

This is the same character one year apart. The eyes have become narrower and the face longer. I don't like the hair in 2017 but that's because I wasn't married to her hairstyle. I think the only thing that's really stayed the same is the eyebrows.

SteamTK 2017-11-25 17:00:53 UTC #17

Let's see. I first started Symphony Knights in 2015, though I'd done a bunch of sketches before starting.

Two years later, you can imagine I've gone through a little growth.

Wumbl 2017-11-25 21:32:08 UTC #18

OKAY so in terms of pages for Flirting With Death here's page 16

vs. page 48

My style of inking has changed, and I've gotten much more consistent and thoughtful with my shading.

In terms of characters, Neptune has changed the most. Here's an old pic of her and then a new one...

ashriott 2017-11-26 11:03:32 UTC #19

I've just re-uploaded a redrawn version Malleus Maleficarum Chapter 2, so this thread is good timing! I can't remember the year I drew the initial version, but I'm glad there's a noticeable improvement in the art.

Since I drew volume 1 in the span of a couple years, my characters literally have more than five variations haha..... It doesn't help that I've gone back to redraw pages in no particular order.... Orz

Chopythes 2017-11-26 12:05:51 UTC #20

Well... I gotta say. On of the main characters for Heritage has gone through some pretty severe changes xD
Some images hasn't been released to the internet yet, hence the small~ish screenshots xD

From 2008 to just last month:

My style has changed too, one part of me thinks it's a good thing, another thinks it's a bad one xD I kind of enjoyed my old style?

(And also: This is the comic I've been re-booting 3-4 times but I'm FINALLY satisfied with everything <3 And I've already made 100 pages!!)