How will I know if an Art style is good or bad?

[AsFoxger]

Hello people, noob user here:

Yeah, this is one of these "I'm new here, I'm going to do a comic because reasons, blah blah blah" threads that everybody loves reading.

I'm going to do a comedy webcomic. What's the problem? My art style. I cannot decide if I can go with a previous one I made, the one I'm working with right now... or with stickmen. I don't know.

I'm aware that there are genres that require a specific art style so both of them are suitable for each other. For example, I'm making another comic, which is an action/adventure one, so it must be obvious that I shouldn't use stickmen, but realist drawings.

I'll post here some of the drawings so you have a better idea for the probably future project I'm working on.

This is the drawing style I'm using for my action-adventure comic

This is the drawing style I was using for another comic I was making (caution, very bad art style)

This is the art style I've just made as a test for my next comedy comic, this one is preferred IMHO

The third pic is the one I'm willing to use, but hey, since I'm not a fortune teller I should ask you for advice. From my point of view, it's a bit complicated, since everyone will recognize you for your drawing style in comedy drawings.

If everything fails, well, I'll choose to do the comic with my artwork improving little by little. We're not perfect.

Oh, and before you ask, I use Medibang, and the last thing I learned is about the lineart and color layers.
EDIT: the second link was made by using Photoshop CS6. I don't use that anymore for drawings, just for editing.

Hope this helps you to help me.

Take care!

[kazukitakamura126]

The picture is a great style for you action-adventure comic but, you could use some perspective to give the art more depth. The second artstyle looks somewhat off putting because the characters and the environments look to square. the third style is somewhat reminiscent of the second style but looks more refined. Adding more circular shapes to build the character makes all the different.

[sarrowsmith10]

I think for a comedy type, gag a day, type comic (like cyanide and happiness), you should use whatever style is easiest and fastest to do while maintaining quality and reproducibility. If that's stick figures, roll with it. If your jokes and plot are good, then it doesn't matter as much.

[AsFoxger]

@kazukitakamura126 Perspective is what I need, but to use that you need also a concept my drawing teacher used to tell me, that is "space view". Dimensional view, in a nutshell. The first link picture you've seen is just a cover, but it is true that it should be better (for example, the redhead's face looks like Forrest Gump, she should be prettier).

I'm still a noob at this. Could you please explain to me what do you mean with "circular shapes"? Thank you.

@sarrowsmith10 I don't plan to write a gag-a-day per se -my life demands attention for school related issues. And I'm not good with jokes, but things happens in the cooking school I'm studying in and I want to draw these situations.

And well, I COULD draw stickmen like C&H, but my current (3rd link) drawing style is better than stickmen.

[thomassayle]

what program do you use?

[jonufele]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[jasgrove82]

hmmm there is a difference between your own unique style like a dr seuss or gary Larson and badly drawn. even badly drawn can become your style like a jack Kirby with certain pictures. I SAY KEEP IMPROVING

[Marshminator]

And well, I COULD draw stickmen like C&H, but my current (3rd link) drawing style is better than stickmen.

First, in regards to your original post, I would love to see a serious action/adventure comic with stick figures.

Second, I echo what @sarrowsmith10 said about doing what's fastest and easiest for you to create. Really, go with what is natural to you. If your school and personal life requires a lot of time and attention, why not go for something you can draw quickly and efficiently? Don't be sloppy with it of course, but yes be efficient.

And in regards to the quote above: a style standing alone doesn't make it better than another. I could talk about this for a really, really long time, but it boils down to this...
Ren and Stimpy, Cyanide and Happiness, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Crayon Shin Chan, Attack on Titan -- they all have VASTLY different styles (I'm referencing animation because I'm an animation student, but you can find this style diversity in Tapastic as well) but those styles work for the story they are telling.

Just saying it's a comedy or slice of life isn't enough to determine what the style should be. The tone, mood, conflicts in your writing (comedy still has conflicts) all help to guide what the style should be.

But I'll stop at that, because at this point I'm just babbling. Hopefully some of what I said is at least food for thought.

[Starfestival]

Do you enjoy drawing it or do you like the way it looks? That's how I see it.

[UrMom]

None of those really seem like styles, a style is something that comes with understanding what it is you're drawing, you can't stylize a human without knowing enough human anatomy to stylize it. I don't understand where you're trying to get at (long day at work) but I guess you can say you will know your "style" is bad when you don't have a basic understanding of what you're drawing, if you're happy with the drawings you've posted than more power to you though, I'd personally prefer to see stick figures.

Good luck with your comic(s).

[Sanz]

to me all three styles are pretty cute, but as you go along each style will improve more and more. I use to draw anime style, then started with western...and then they morphed together...so now i don't know what it is...but i like it and i'm sticking with it till it changes again...and over time as you practice and keep drawing that just sort of naturally happens.

[AsFoxger]

@thomassayle Nowdays Medibang Paint Pro for drawing and Photoshop CS6 for montaging comics (words, panels...).

@jonufele I won't lie. I thought it was a good idea posting this thread, since there're all professionals here. Right?

jasgrove82 I'm on it with my action-adventure comic!

Marshminator I tried to make one at least six years ago. Didn't end well. That's one of the reasons I created this thread. I know we all gotta be efficient, yet I'm always afraid that people might not like it for my art-style. (Damn, even every comic I posted in Reddit was downvoted to hell)

There are several more reasons, but I won't say them for now.

Starfestival I enjoy drawing, but success is always based on how other people will see you. So it's up to me to do a good art-style and wait and see what happens.

Bloomer Well, I know how to draw arms, legs, heads, necks... I kinda know the basic stuff when it comes to drawing like the 3rd image link I posted. However, I lack of two very important things: perspective and drawing boobs.

That's it, I have no idea how to draw boobs, and a few friends of mine sent me several tutorial links. I draw them, but every time I do is different to the point I don't even know if I'm improving or worsening. I guess that's my real challenge, since there are more female characters than male characters in my action-adventure comic.

I just gotta do it right and forget about stick figures because I'm afraid that if I do that, I might worsen my drawing skills. And thanks.

christinaeliz Really? I don't think the second pic link is cute -damn, I used the circle tool to draw the boobs in the fourth panel. >_<

When I was a kid, every time I was going to do a new comic, I used to ask myself a question: "Will my art style change as I'm drawing this?" and with that, I used to think to keep my art-style totally intact. I was wrong and a few years ago I realized that everything is evolving by simply watching a few webcomics, their last pages and their first pages.

I was so wrong. I kept drawing these same stick figures like an idiot for years, so so wrong I was. And now I'm realizing how important is improving my art style.

---

Okay, I considered making a comic in this site with my third art style (the second one is out of question) but I still have a few questions about webcomics. However they are very different from the perspective of art style. I might soon post another thread.

[kazukitakamura126]

What I meant by "circular shapes" is how you construct a character's anatomy, I'm sure YouTube may help explain it better than I can.

[shazzbaa]

When I was a kid, every time I was going to do a new comic, I used to ask myself a question: "Will my art style change as I'm drawing this?" and with that, I used to think to keep my art-style totally intact. I was wrong and a few years ago I realized that everything is evolving by simply watching a few webcomics, their last pages and their first pages.
[...] And now I'm realizing how important is improving my art style.

Here's the thing -- back when I did a comic in a simpler style, that art style definitely did improve over the four years I ran it. But at no point was that because I sat there going "I MUST REFINE THE ART STYLE TO FIT THE FEELING I WANT FOR THIS COMIC!" I didn't put much thought into the style at all. The very first comic was just drawn in a simple way that was easy to draw quickly, and every page after that, I just wanted my jokes to come across.

The slight shift in art style didn't come because I had some revelation, like "ah! This is a better style, I'm going to improve it in this way!" -- It was just that if I drew something and didn't like how it looked, I would try to change it and make it better. If I needed a character to look really exasperated, I would work hard on making the expression and body language look as exasperated as possible, so the joke would be as funny as possible. If a drawing came out a little different from normal but I liked how it looked, I would start drawing things that way. That's how style shifts!

So, I don't think you need to CAREFULLY PICK A STYLE and THEN YOU'RE LOCKED IN or anything like that. Draw in a way that's comfortable to you, and where you like how it looks, and the good parts of the style will develop naturally. That's how you get a good style -- not something you choose carefully before you ever begin, (unless you have a LOT of experience as an artist drawing in different styles) -- it's something that comes out of you trying to make your drawings the best that you can.

[UrMom]

Well, I know how to draw arms, legs, heads, necks... I kinda know the basic stuff when it comes to drawing like the 3rd image link I posted. However, I lack of two very important things: perspective and drawing boobs.

Lol, what I mean by basic human anatomy is an understanding of muscles, proportions, bone structure.



Not so much "an arm is cylindrical" or "a head is egg shaped" middle school level stuff you start off with, I said before that you didn't have a style because it's clear that you don't have enough of an understanding of what you're trying to stylize to do it in a way that's practical yet, despite their generic and overly skinny looking females Disney is a good example of knowing anatomy with the use of stylization.

Sorry, I know you're just having fun, and I don't mean to make you feel bad if I did.
On another note, if you want to learn perspective, go out and do some life sketches of where you live, or your house, or look up some good urban photography on the net. As much as people hate Tumblr, it actually has some pretty great blogs focused on geographical and urban photography, not only are they good for perspective and proportion help but they're good sources to practice shading. I don't have a whole lot of stuff on it, but here you go.
Here's a perspective tut for you
Here's something on one point perspective
Here's something on five point perspective

Don't have anything on boobs though, sorry dude you'll just have to add that to learning to draw chicks. Also sorry if you didn't want to read a rant, I'm a little too nerdy about this stuff so I tend to get carried away. <_<'

[Vikiro_Hop]

To add on to @Bloomer suggestion I can't advocate this page enough. Pinterest Character Design I basically go around here and steal all the best bits that I wan't to incorporate in my drawings. The anatomy tutorials are pretty intuitive and I'd recommend perusing some of the fashion bits if you are stuck drawing the same t shirt and jeans like me.

Style is subjective and subject to change have fun!

[UrMom]

@Vikiro_Hop To add onto your add, here's a couple more character design, and style stuff. Lol


Brought to you by heysawbones.