...okay, this is odd.

And, no, this isn't me trolling for compliments on my artwork

I've just noticed that I, well, don't get a whole lot of comments on my two art threads on the drawing board.

That's 'cause your art sucks my inner voice likes to say

But (and this is the really odd part) there are tons of views on those threads - and they increase quickly whenever I post something new.

So. Obviously it isn't that people don't like the work, otherwise they'd never even look at it.

I don't know what any of this means I just felt like pontificating...

Oh, and Linda, in case you don't ever look at it, I posted a Barbara Gordon as Batgirl sketch last night in the Ian's Sketches thread - just thought you might like to have a look

...

That's it. Please go on about your day

I look at 'em, but I can't come up with enough original ways to say "Good job, mate!".

I'll try to do better, but honestly, since I can't draw worth a tinker's damn, I find it hard to tell someone else if they didn't do something right.

Great post, Ian! Best one yet. REALLY well written!

Everyone's a comedian.

I have to agree with Carr. I feel stupid after awhile saying over and over - "Another good one, Ian!" Truth is, I don't want to sound insincere. I like what you do, I've commented a few times here and over at DeviantArt.

So, as long as you don't take it as me just running my fingers, I'll continue to tell you that you're doing good!!

You're facing two problems, neither of which are your fault.

One, as Matt and Dave said it's difficult to find new and interesting ways of complimenting an artist's creations whilst continuing to sound sincere and enthusiastic. Even "you totally rock" (and you do totally rock, incidentally) sounds less and less impactful the more times it's said. Rather than sounding disingenuous a lot of people will simply say nothing at all. (But these are the same people who'll happily ~ albeit silently! ~ plunk down good money for your creations when they're published. It all works out in the end.)

Two, there's a generalised fear of your possible responses (yes, even to compliments) because they've been shat on by too many other people in your profession who have minimal social skills, poor communication skills, limited reasoning skills, a warped sense of ethics, no sense of aesthetics, and can't really use computers anyway. So I suggest you give out candy until visitors to the Drawing Board understand that you're one of the good guys.

I'd be happy to!!

Tell ya what - a free signed comic book that I coloured to any and all IMWAN members who show up at the Manitoba Comic Con!!


...whadyameanyoualllivenowherenearManitoba?

Hrm. Gonna have to think about this one

And I do hope I've got better social skills than most of the folks you are all thinking of!


...boobies...hee hee :yay:

I have to echo that.
Especially the candy part!

But seriously, your stuff IS VERY good!
And I kinda feel the same way when it comes to giving compliments. While I may like the work, I feel like I might be sounding to "parrot-y" (like the way it is at another place).

BUT if you are anything like me, you like to hear/read a compliment when you do something really cool (and when you don't the paranoia creeps in......well, it does in my case, maybe not everyone else's).
So, rest assured, I may not say it, but you do good work! (would to God I had 1/10th the ability!)

Naw, I should just be happy that so many people are checking the posts out.

And I am, actually

...oh, and, yes, on the sketches, people's heads do tend to be too small. It's a sickness of mine. I really should look into fixing that...

Maybe it's just all in your head?

...are you saying my head is too small for my body?

I do occasional music reviewing over at GarageBand.com, where you can listen to and write text reviews for various singles that acts have entered in the site's ongoing song contests. And I've gotten a fair few responses back from acts thanking me for my reviews -- not so much that they were positive reviews, cos they're sometimes not -- but just for making them lengthy and (I hope) reasoned and thoughtful, with specific examples of why I liked or didn't like something, things I might have done differently, etc.

When I look at a lot of the reviews others have posted there, I can see why bands might be hungry for honest constructive criticism. You get lots of "I don't know what this is, sounds like Beck, he sucks" or "Dude this is great" or the dreaded "Meh". The GB system's interesting though, cos it allows bands to review their reviewers, therefore those guys posting useless or trollish comments eventually get scored as low-rated reviewers. And, you know, does that ever show 'em.

But I bet all you DIY comics guys have it extra hard. Everyone grows up listening to pop music, and it only takes a few moments' thought to express why you may or may not like some silly song. But even though I've been reading comics my whole life, I have no idea what makes 'em good, what makes 'em bad... I can evaluate a story, I think, but feel nigh-illiterate when it comes to trying to appreciate things like panel layout, light and shadow, uh... see, I'm so ill-informed I can't even name the things I don't know jack about!

So anyway, yeah I agree that's gotta be a factor in why more folks don't offer responses to the Drawing Board posts and iPOP stuff, even when they read and enjoy them. Therefore the answer is simple: you guys gotta make stuff that's not so hard to talk about. Like, draw a nice bunch of flowers. Or a pretty butterfly...

..how about a pretty butterfly being clobbered by a bunch of flowers?

Actually, that brings me to a point on BATTLEWITCH (remember, new updates every Friday!! ). I was wondering if anybody was going to be complaining (or at least noting) the rather dry panel layout of the pages.

I'm doing a very specific thing with that - I'm keeping to a mostly-horizontal look for the panels (the only 'real' vertical panels are actually splash pages), and I'm doing that because of the nature of webcomics. I don't want the reader to have to scroll down to read dialogue, then scroll back up to read the dialogue or captions that respond to that.

Form follows function as it were.

Which makes it very interesting to do the layouts - very much a wide-screen movie feel.

I'm also breaking with the current tradition of using splash pages and huge panels for action. I prefer putting in most of the action in a sequence of small panels, so the action becomes something of a blur. Gene Colan (in his interview on the Daredevil DVD set) talks about making action scenes somewhat abstract because, in a real fight, that is how you percieve action as happening. I've always agreed with that idea.

Hehehehehehe

I'll add this also. I don't know how much critique folk really want on their stuff. Now, I'm not a pro by any means, but I think I've got a pretty good eye for design, layout, form, etc. The problem I've run into on other forums, even forums that promote themselves as "post your stuff for people to comment on" sites, I've gotten -told- that I was being too harsh. The one place where I really open up is http://www.penciljack.com . People say much worse/harsh things than I do, and I always try to be very constructive with what I say.

I kinda see you as a pro, Ian, and in truth, I don't have really much to add to what you do. I usually take your posts as "This is what I've been up to." as opposed to "what do you guys think?"

But I understand the want/need for feedback. Personally, I'll take any and all feedback. I really feel great when people like what I'm up to and say it looks good. But I also want to know if what I'm doing works or doesn't.

Me too

Guys, you may sound stupid to yourselves saying "I like it" or "that's good" or "keep up the good work" over and over again, but without that, we just don't know if anyone cares.

I have an IMWAN 4 written story completely done and have completely pencilled and inked and am in the midst of coloring another drawn story and I really don't know if I should post either one because no one is saying anything.

Ya know, I probably am more posting this stuff with the idea of showing what I'm up to rather than looking for critiques (or praise or whatever ) - I guess I just also like discussing techniques, theory, yadda yadda yadda

I dunno. I really wasn't doing this (this thread) to get more 'praise' replies or anything, just more making an observation

But, then, as James says, it is also good to get feedback once in a while, just to show that people are looking at your stuff

I understand that and appreciate that for sure. I find myself there as well.

It's like Uncle Rodney always said:
"Everybody just wants -'One of these'! "

Ian -

While I'm not a professional comic book guy (although i did have a "Single Page" printed in Cerebus Bi-Weekly way back in 1991 or 1992, and I do have a web-comic), I am a professional illustrator. Truthfully, my paid-for illustration work is much more polished and professional than my webcomic, but that's because my clients have come to expect a specific look. Anyway, I've learned long ago that the majority of the time, you'll mostly hear feedback on your work when it isn't up to snuff - when someone doesn't like it.

Now, while I wouldn't dare criticize a professional in his own area of the comic field (you won't find me knocking your colors, or John Byrne's pencils, for instance), I do feel comfortable giving a critique when that person heads into their non-professional areas. JB's 3d work, for instance - I find it garish and very poorly lit, and I said so, at one point way back in the day.

Your illustration work? Looks pretty good, but it seems that there is a tendency for your character's heads to get sorta squished somewhere along the way. I've seen this effect on a lot of my student's work - they begin with the details, rather than establishing all their proportions with loose construction/gesture. I wonder if you're getting caught up in an illustrative "forest for the trees" situtation.

I'm sure you're already aware of this tendency in your own work...just wanted to give you some feedback that isn't "Dood - yer awesome!"