Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC NOVEL

[backstept]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

why is Luigi in #4?

even though #1 is clean and crisp, it has absolutely no soul. the backgrounds are monochrome for crying out loud

I'm rooting for #2 all the way, man
that one has ACTION, good composition, color etc

3 looks like it was done by a high school manga fan during study hall

4 has great color but the halftone gimmick kills it, along with awkward poses

5 has the best lettering

 

[Canadave]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

I voted one, but the more I think about it, the more I think I should have gone with two. It's just much more interesting, and the lettering is significantly improved over the first.

 

[JRS]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

I think in overall the Sample 2 is the best. It has nice colours and plenty of action
The Sample 1 for me is stiff and the colours are way too washed away for a comic book.
If you dont want to pic one artist, you can always pick two and ask if they could work togheter somehow..or you can have half the issues( if you have many that is..) drawn by one artist and second patch by the second one...

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

why is Luigi in #4?

even though #1 is clean and crisp, it has absolutely no soul. the backgrounds are monochrome for crying out loud

I'm rooting for #2 all the way, man
that one has ACTION, good composition, color etc

3 looks like it was done by a high school manga fan during study hall

4 has great color but the halftone gimmick kills it, along with awkward poses

5 has the best lettering

Thanks for the notes...and this Luigi...that was something the artist put in on his own as an injoke I guess.

And yeah 2 does have a lot going for it.

And 3...was done by a 21 year old French Canadian girl and it was like pulling teeth to get her to finish the sample. I'm not surprised no votes for it.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

I'm going with option one with a bullet point. The lettering is really hard on the eyes, as RJDiogenes pointed out. The artwork looks good, though.

 

[Jadzia]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

1. looks bland and ordinary. I don't like the frames overhanging the edge of the page like that. Writing is too bold and compact making it unpleasant to read. (is the font Impress BT? ) The images themselves don't really do anything for me. All in all, it's not pulling me in to read it. 3/5

2. is poor use of space. The speech bubbles look weird with the red rings. The two main characters we can't see their faces. I don't like that. The drawings are quite rough and sketchy too. Again, I'm not pulled into reading it. 2/5

3. this one is amateur. It looks like it was hacked together in ms word. The text doesn't fit the bubbles well. 1/5

4. Old fashioned style. I like the bold frames and the colours. Speech bubbles are nice. But overall, it does look dated and stuffy. 3.5/5

5. I like this one the most. I like the colours, and the use of background and foreground images. I like the bold frames. the rectangular speech bubbles with easy readable text and the limited use of drop shadows. The drawing quality could be better eg, better faces. 4/5

 

[Roger Wilco]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

I like the 2nd one, #4 is interesting but odd and I'm not impressed with any of the others (#5 is probably the second best one though).

And good luck!

 

[think]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

i vote for three mixed with five and some scribbles in there as well that is what a friend of mine is working on manga plus the scribble effect. but five and three would work together.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

FWIW i went with #1.

 

[Mistral]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

1-very clean but poor posing choices, everyone feels like they are "facing the camera" and it lacks any fire, any heart, if you will.

2-Very much "Inner Kirby" and Steve Ditko in flavor, the composition is good and the action moves. With this style there won't be any introspective facial close-ups as the artist uses action lines outside the border to convey intense emotion. If that works for you-go with this artist.

3-Mmm, must have had a little extra time in study hall...

4-not a realistic enough portrayal for the material. Good for spoofs and parodies but if you want the story taken seriously by the reader this won't work.

5-They all look like advertising cut-outs. There isn't any real dimension to the figures. Sad, because this artist has the best imaging and proportions for the subject matter.

I voted 2. But if I had a hand in the choosing process, I'd choose to find some other artists. There are better out there. Check my PM reply.

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

1-very clean but poor posing choices, everyone feels like they are "facing the camera" and it lacks any fire, any heart, if you will.

2-Very much "Inner Kirby" and Steve Ditko in flavor, the composition is good and the action moves. With this style there won't be any introspective facial close-ups as the artist uses action lines outside the border to convey intense emotion. If that works for you-go with this artist.

3-Mmm, must have had a little extra time in study hall...

4-not a realistic enough portrayal for the material. Good for spoofs and parodies but if you want the story taken seriously by the reader this won't work.

5-They all look like advertising cut-outs. There isn't any real dimension to the figures. Sad, because this artist has the best imaging and proportions for the subject matter.

I voted 2. But if I had a hand in the choosing process, I'd choose to find some other artists. There are better out there. Check my PM reply.

Thanks for the insights as you were a big supporter of the concept when I came out with it. Interesting take on #5 but I do see what you are saying re: the cut out nature.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

The first one is definitely the cleanest and closest to looking professional. That said, I don't like that type of artwork. It's a little soulless, and everyone looks like a model. It's getting to be more common for artists to draw people like they do a thousand crunches a day, then paint on their clothes, but it gets a little boring to me. Unless the characters' perfection plays into the story somehow, I just don't care for it. If it were a movie, it'd be a little too "Hollywood," if that makes sense. It's even a little weird that the women all have the same cleavage and bit of bra showing.

I'm being a little too harsh on it, as the artist clearly has skill, but he or she needs to focus on a bit more than well-rendered anatomy.

I like the second sample, with its inking and watercolor look, but those word bubbles are terrible. There's no reason to have perfectly round word bubbles for anything other than a short word, gasp, etc. Even then, it's better off avoided. The text is also placed within the word bubbles strangely. I'm not sure what program he or she is using to create them, but I prefer to do it in Illustrator, though you can do decent ones in Photoshop. The artist can probably find a decent tutorial online for their preferred program.

I don't really care for the rest. They're a little fan art-ish to me. And come to think of it, none of them have really good lettering, which is odd, because it's kind of the easiest part these days.

That's my two cents, anyway.

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

The first one is definitely the cleanest and closest to looking professional. That said, I don't like that type of artwork. It's a little soulless, and everyone looks like a model. It's getting to be more common for artists to draw people like they do a thousand crunches a day, then paint on their clothes, but it gets a little boring to me. Unless the characters' perfection plays into the story somehow, I just don't care for it. If it were a movie, it'd be a little too "Hollywood," if that makes sense. It's even a little weird that the women all have the same cleavage and bit of bra showing.

.

Thank you Spiff. I shared your concerns when I first got Sample 1. I thought "The artist must be use to drawing superheros...and these are basically just regular people-bionic arm non withstanding.

And the Bra thing...I thought that was weired as well and not in my script notes.

Much appreciat the input!

 

[AstroSmurf]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

But if I had a hand in the choosing process, I'd choose to find some other artists. There are better out there. Check my PM reply.

I feel the same way but I didn't feel comfortable saying it before. Now that someone else has opened the can worms... None of them really feel right to me. Elements of each one work but each sample on its own lacks flavor. I like the drawing in one, the composition in two and the colors in three.

The most important thing (at least for me) about a graphic novel is how the renders enhance the story. The panels are usually cinematic and emote to the reader much more than the dialog and what is happening. It must also suggest pacing, tone and the emotion of the scene. For example, remember what I said about #1 where he is ripping off the door? It should have been drawn with the "camera" looking up at the character from ground level with the door over his head, the other characters posed small and almost silhouetted in the background. This would have enhanced his actions, looked exciting and made the door's obliteration more important. It would have also enhanced what the two female characters said in the next panels. The dialog should also have been dropped to another panel or an inset box of the character's face. I would have also bridged the first box and the action box with a panel showing his hands finding a purchase on the door. I would have followed with a reaction shot from the female character before the other explained about his new arms. And my reasoning... you have set up the action, show the action and then explain the action. None of that was done here.

With this kind of work, the artist and writer are basically creating a movie on paper and you have to imply peril or excitement or seriousness or whimsy with color, lighting, composition and angles. Another example is how the panels are layed-out in relation with each other. I recently saw a very fast paced fight scene drawn in a set of nesting panels. The smallest box showed the main character's face with gritted teeth, the second larger box highlighted his fist, the rest showed the follow through and the initial impact. The last box, which filled the page, was the bad guy being slung backwards toward the "camera" from the impact. It really sold the scene in a way that played up the hero's anger and the result of that anger without using a lot of space to explain what was going on. The nesting panels also worked to graphically portray the speed of the action and the BIG impact at the end.

I guess what I am trying to say is this, drawing this kind of thing is all about nuance and telling a story. It isn't just about drawing pretty pictures. I would try to find someone who could do that... and has some knowledge of cinema. (And if I wasn't so completely covered up right now I would offer to do some samples for you myself. Unfortunately I barely have time to do my own housework these days. )

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

Well I voted 1 because it looked cleanest. I also got 17 yr old Son's input on this and he concured ~ maybe breasts are attractive?

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

But if I had a hand in the choosing process, I'd choose to find some other artists. There are better out there. Check my PM reply.

I feel the same way but I didn't feel comfortable saying it before. Now that someone else has opened the can worms... None of them really feel right to me. Elements of each one work but each sample on its own lacks flavor. I like the drawing in one, the composition in two and the colors in three.

The most important thing (at least for me) about a graphic novel is how the renders enhance the story. The panels are usually cinematic and emote to the reader much more than the dialog and what is happening. It must also suggest pacing, tone and the emotion of the scene. For example, remember what I said about #1 where he is ripping off the door? It should have been drawn with the "camera" looking up at the character from ground level with the door over his head, the other characters posed small and almost silhouetted in the background. This would have enhanced his actions, looked exciting and made the door's obliteration more important. It would have also enhanced what the two female characters said in the next panels. The dialog should also have been dropped to another panel or an inset box of the character's face. I would have also bridged the first box and the action box with a panel showing his hands finding a purchase on the door. I would have followed with a reaction shot from the female character before the other explained about his new arms. And my reasoning... you have set up the action, show the action and then explain the action. None of that was done here.

With this kind of work, the artist and writer are basically creating a movie on paper and you have to imply peril or excitement or seriousness or whimsy with color, lighting, composition and angles. Another example is how the panels are layed-out in relation with each other. I recently saw a very fast paced fight scene drawn in a set of nesting panels. The smallest box showed the main character's face with gritted teeth, the second larger box highlighted his fist, the rest showed the follow through and the initial impact. The last box, which filled the page, was the bad guy being slung backwards toward the "camera" from the impact. It really sold the scene in a way that played up the hero's anger and the result of that anger without using a lot of space to explain what was going on. The nesting panels also worked to graphically portray the speed of the action and the BIG impact at the end.

I guess what I am trying to say is this, drawing this kind of thing is all about nuance and telling a story. It isn't just about drawing pretty pictures. I would try to find someone who could do that... and has some knowledge of cinema. (And if I wasn't so completely covered up right now I would offer to do some samples for you myself. Unfortunately I barely have time to do my own housework these days. )

Thank you for some perspective that I didn't have. It's been a process just doing these samples..but I'm trying my best to do this right since it's a big project for me and will cost a pretty penny to produce. I do appreciate your insights and will take them to heart.

 

[Canadave]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

I've got to chime in and agree with both Mistral and AstroSmurf. They all felt a little off, to one degree or another, to me. The fact that I liked one and two a little more than the rest notwithstanding, I'd look for some other artists to submit samples if I was you. In truly great graphic novels, the art should mesh seamlessly with the tone and style of the story, and I don't feel any of these fit what I know of your story.

Just for a couple of off-the-top-of-my-head examples, take Watchmen versus V for Vendetta. Both were written by Allan Moore, but differ considerably in the art. Watchmen has a very classic superhero look—colourful, with clean lines and clear action—though with a bit of an edge, which fits the story's nature as a dark satire of the traditional superhero mythos. V, on the other hand, has very muted art, with far fewer colours and murkier lines. Again, it fits the highly ambiguous nature of the story: the art isn't definitive, because the morality of the characters isn't either.

So that's what I think you need to decide: what is your writing trying to say, and how can the art best convey that message or tone? Find someone who understands what it is you're trying to do, and is able to work with you to achieve that goal.

 

[Mike Farley]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

The figure work in sample 1 is the strongest but the storytelling and shot framing is weak. There's a lot of dead space in most of the panels. Plus the angles chosen are not very dramatic. The panel where the Major rips the door off the hinges should be bursting with energy, but it just kind of sits there due to the angle chosen. Also the panel progression in those first three panels is muddled. I shouldn't have to think about which panel to read next. It should be obvious.

Sample 2 has good story telling and a nice sense of motion and energy to it. The figure work isn't as strong as in #1, but imo the layout and energy outweigh that.

I don't really think the other three samples should even be in the running. None of them are ready for prime time.

And, quite frankly, the lettering on ALL of the samples needs a lot of work. Lettering is an artform just like penciling or inking or coloring. Choosing the right font, balloon placement, picking how much belongs in each balloon....all of these contribute to making the lettering on organic part of the panel, and not just a pasted-on afterthought. Yeah, I'm a bit of a lettering snob ...but bad, amateurish lettering is going to pull me right out of the book every tiime.

So in answer to your question, I'd go with sample #2. Overall I think his storytelling and energy will serve your OGN better than the technically better, but flat and lifeless work in sample #1.

And I'd find myself a REAL letterer.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

^^ I wonder what Tom Orzechowski is up to these days.

The most important thing (at least for me) about a graphic novel is how the renders enhance the story. The panels are usually cinematic and emote to the reader much more than the dialog and what is happening. It must also suggest pacing, tone and the emotion of the scene. For example, remember what I said about #1 where he is ripping off the door? It should have been drawn with the "camera" looking up at the character from ground level with the door over his head, the other characters posed small and almost silhouetted in the background. This would have enhanced his actions, looked exciting and made the door's obliteration more important. It would have also enhanced what the two female characters said in the next panels. The dialog should also have been dropped to another panel or an inset box of the character's face. I would have also bridged the first box and the action box with a panel showing his hands finding a purchase on the door. I would have followed with a reaction shot from the female character before the other explained about his new arms. And my reasoning... you have set up the action, show the action and then explain the action. None of that was done here.

With this kind of work, the artist and writer are basically creating a movie on paper and you have to imply peril or excitement or seriousness or whimsy with color, lighting, composition and angles. Another example is how the panels are layed-out in relation with each other. I recently saw a very fast paced fight scene drawn in a set of nesting panels. The smallest box showed the main character's face with gritted teeth, the second larger box highlighted his fist, the rest showed the follow through and the initial impact. The last box, which filled the page, was the bad guy being slung backwards toward the "camera" from the impact. It really sold the scene in a way that played up the hero's anger and the result of that anger without using a lot of space to explain what was going on. The nesting panels also worked to graphically portray the speed of the action and the BIG impact at the end.

I guess what I am trying to say is this, drawing this kind of thing is all about nuance and telling a story. It isn't just about drawing pretty pictures. I would try to find someone who could do that... and has some knowledge of cinema. (And if I wasn't so completely covered up right now I would offer to do some samples for you myself. Unfortunately I barely have time to do my own housework these days. )

This is an excellent description of storytelling in sequential art, a talent (or skill) that most contemporary comic artists lack. Between that and the fashion for minimalist writing (and the ridiculous prejudice against thought balloons), following the story becomes a chore.

 

[AstroSmurf]

Re: Poll: Need opinions on best ARTWORK to select artist for GRAPHIC N

^ I don't get the prejudice against thought balloons either. A graphic novel or comic book works as a nice bridge between a novel and a movie. It can mix and match narrative devices and get away with it. And I have to say that some of the Batman comics would have been so much less without his "film noir" thought bubble narratives going as he swept through the roof tops of Gothum. Have you noticed that the "narrative box" is also starting to disappear. Instead of getting a little back-story at the start of a chapter or book, they are just leaping into the story. Half the time I don't even know where the characters are anymore.

But this is not just a comic/graphic novel issue. The finer nuances and tricks of storytelling are fading away. As an art form, we are becoming sloppy and stagnant. Instead of a beginning, middle and an end, we are treated to a beginning, mediocre meandering middle and intellectually bankrupt yet undecipherable end. And writer's don't want to commit to a point to their stories anymore either. They just want to focus on a few cool bits or ideas and then throw in some filler to bridge the gaps. And what they don't know is that without a point their work makes no real meaningful connection to the audience and is mentally tossed aside in a week's time when the flash wears off. I refer to most stories, novels, scripts these days as McWriting, Fast Food Storytelling. Will they be remembered in ten years? Not likely. Will the work be taught in schools in fifty years? Hell no. Maybe it is time for another Renaissance.