Sketchy Style Comics

[VermillionWorks]

Out of curiosity, what is your opinion of comics with a more sketchy art style? Like not-so-smooth, more freeform lines for lineart or even outright pencil(ish) artwork? (It may or may not have color of some sort.) Do you find this sort of art style charming/stylish or does it actually turn you away from a comic because you feel like it looks incomplete? Do you think it comes off less professional?

Or if you even have a more sketchy style comic, what do people say the most about your art?

Personally, I'd say it'd only bother me if it's so sketchy I can barely make out things, and sometimes it can even be done impressively, but I have noticed the majority of comics I check regularly don't have this look...so it kind of got me thinking about this.

[mac]

i think it would seem kinda fun : 0!! like,,, if it were sketchier (and im kinda thinkin abt crayon sketchy)) for like,,, one of those autobiographical comics,, but i cant remember if ive seen a plot driven comic w/ that kinda style,,, im sure id still read it either way tho

[Aetherwing]

I love sketchy styles! (I wish I could do it myself honestly, I like my sketches more than my lineart but they're just not clean enough D:) A sketchier style would in most cases not turn me away from a comic. I think it would depend on how it's presented, and how legible it is.

[joannekwan]

I'm fine with it as long as I can tell what's what. More importantly, with a sketchy style, the text must be legible, preferably typed or with super neat handwriting!

[Kura]

I REALLY wish I could pull of a sketchy comic... they just look so cool imo x.x but every time I try my lines are just too clean and it comes off as lazy lineart or unfinished work instead of a sketchy style x.x

But yeah, I really like artists that are able to pull it off and make it look like an awesome sketchy picture instead of a mess.

[somvi]

Can I get some examples of sketchy comics? I have a sketchy style myself but with comics, I'm trying to find a good balance between aesthetics and readability.

[Pandastrophic]

My comic is sketchy pencil lines that are fully colored.
I've recently done a readers survey and one of the questions was about what they think of the art style in the comic, I'm glad almost all the answers said they liked it in general however I got a mixed reaction when they mentioned the sketchyness, some people really liked that sometimes you can see the guidelines and it's a bit sketchy other people said that although they didn't hate it it can be annoying at times. So I guess what I managed to take away from this was that yeah they liked the sketchyness as long as it wasn't TOO sketchy, I'll be keeping it sketchy fir future episodes but I'll be taking a few more minutes to clean up just a little more.

[VermillionWorks]

While I've seen them before, and other than @Pandastrophic's mention of their comic, I don't follow any sketchy comics that immediately come to mind, so afraid I can't drop any links myself. ^^;

Anyone else wants to though, feel free to! This is a good place to show them off.

[keii4ii]

Mine is fairly sketchy!

(note, the broken grammar is intentional)

[somvi]

I feel your drawing style is actually more finished than sketchy... Maybe some stray lines here and there that could be nitpicked but I found that the hand lettering and speech bubbles in your earlier releases are what make it seem more sketchy (for me anyways). I like what you're doing here in panel 4, lineless bubble with a simple tail - seems to mesh well with the amount of color you use.

[AffectedMind]

Well I don't know if you noticed, but my comic is kind of sketchy, at least you can see that at the beggining, later the lines began to be more regular. I wanted to achieve sketchy effect, but I'm a god damn perfectionist and I can't xD
But the sketchy comics don't bother me, I think they have their own charm, especially in movement. Urban Reality was sketchy as hell, you can find it on Tapastic as well, but the author re-drawed the pages and they aren't so sketchy anymore and only one chapter is updated, after IB closed everything went to hell, maybe he will make a big comeback one day. Let's back to the topic. I think sketchy style is awesome, unless you can't see shit, then it is a bother or if the author is too lazy and don't want to bother to draw something nicer (yes I came across a comic like that).

[somvi]

It's interesting as the term "sketchy" has a wide range of interpretations...

Oh to answer your actual questions (derp) I'm biased towards sketchy, organic lines because well... it's what I do BUT in some instances where I can obviously tell it's not a deliberate choice, I tend to think the artist got lazy or was rushing to get something out the door (even though this could be far from the truth). This is the impression that I would want to avoid for myself.

[somvi]

I like what you've done to blend your loose painterly style with a kind of rough brushwork in your panel borders and speech bubbles. I think it comes together very nicely and the fonts balance well with your style.

[neonmeres]

Well I believe it can work out pretty well for certain genre of comics like fantasy and horror . The webcomic ghostblade is a good example in fantasy for this. Check it out if you if you can:

http://tapastic.com/episode/28730

The following animation is an example of how a sketching art style intensifies creepiness and mystery in my opinion:

[phen]

I really like the look of sketchy comics, too! There aren't many around! On occasion, I post little sketch comics in between my regular updates as asides.

But I do the dialogue in Photoshop out of fear that illegibility might push some people away, hah! Mess lines are all right, not messy text!

[Vikiro_Hop]

Yeah sketchy can mean a lot of things, I personally enjoy them and thought about taking on that style for future projects. I have a naturally sketchy style and without the help of digital programs clean lines would basically be impossible for me.

[jacintawibowo]

One of my favorite webcomic artists, Kate Beaton of Hark! A Vagrant sometimes draws comics entirely in a loose pencil-drawn style and in other cases it's loose inks. I found them incredibly charming and she still stands as a major influence to my work. When I showed her stuff to my less art-oriented friends, they didn't get it and thought my stuff was better because I "had color and painted" my drawings. In the art scene though, she's celebrated with full on knowledge that her style is different. I think with any art style you can get away with crude, pencil-like drawings so long as the artist learned the rules before they broke them. Any sketchy style I didn't like came from a mediocre artist still practicing gaining confident lines.

Ooh and Le Petit Prince is also a great example of a doodly style! The drawings are childish but with a lot of heart, I think.

[scythe]

My sentiments exactly.

[AnnaLandin]

It depends on the comic!

If the sketchy style suits the mood of the comic, and is still easy to read, I like it! But if the sketchiness interfers with my ease of reading, I don't like it as much.

Sketchiness, especially in autobiographical comics, can enhance the atmosphere of the story, which is nice.

[ConradComics]

My style is super smooth, super clean (super anal). So naturally, I love sketchy style, lol. I think it's because my brain is just not wired to do it.

An example of great sketchy style that comes to my mind is Attack on Titan (manga).