So... You're better than everyone else?
Read the comic here: http://syacartoonist.com/
Check out Hugo Junstrand's DeviantArt page here: http://hugge93.deviantart.com/
Check out more music from Daniel Zobonis here: https://soundcloud.com/daniel-zobonis
I've never heard of this comic before a month ago, but within the past month, I think I've read 3 terrible reviews about it, lol. (But I've read a little bit of it and I enjoyed it, shh).
ReplyDeleteIt was always a bad webcomic, but it seems to have gotten even worse ever since Dobson started drawing his avatar as a Care Bear.
DeleteThe whole Care Bear thing reminds me of that old TV/movie gag where someone is about to be beaten up and they immediately put on a pair of glasses and says "You wouldn't hit a guy in glasses, would you?" How narcissistic and misguided do you have to be to take a long hiatus from a comic and the only realization you can come up with is "Nope, the art, writing, and my general attitude are just fine. But if I retool my self-insert character as a stuffed animal instead of a slightly more attractive version of myself, maybe people will like me more."
DeleteIf he attended art school, I understand the distaste towards anime/manga style. All of my professors hated this style, telling us students it locks up your ability to learn to learn new techniques-and I have to admit, in my case it was true.
ReplyDeleteAs a student I insisted I was an expert at manga, when all I knew was how to draw eyes, hair, and clothes-I knew nothing about how to draw an underlying structure, keeping body parts proportionate, create believable, functional backgrounds, or control a page's overall composition and balance. My professors insisted I stop drawing in 'Manga' style, because it distracted me from learning these techniques. But I was convinced I was an expert, they just hated Manga, and ignored them for an embarrassingly long time. When I finally let go of 'drawing only manga', I also finally let go of my stubbornness and pride. I started to grow and develop as a true artist.
I still like manga, but I cringe when young artists say it's all they want to draw. If they're like me at all, what they're really saying is 'I only want to draw what I like, and not learn anything else.'
It's understandable, but it's also true for any art style. But Preston (and those art teachers too) are making a blanket statement about an entire medium based purely on a symptom, not the underlying disease of hubris and inflexibility. The only thing that sets those teachers apart from Preston is that they've at least learned from their mistakes instead of whining non-stop about it and acting like they're doomed to draw the poor man's Ranma 1/2 forever.
DeleteWhy does the anime/manga style gets such bad rep? I think it can be done poorly and well, just like any other style of drawing. Drawing GOOD manga art requires just as much skill and practise than any other. But this is just my oppinion.
DeleteManga can look great when a creator practices a lot and tries to improve. Problems occur when a creator half-asses their work and defensively says, "You just hate manga" or "It's my style" when someone doesn't like it enough. Manga gets a bad rep sometimes because manga illustrators are more likely to use this excuse than Western-style illustrators.
DeleteIf I had a dime for every time someone dismisses legitimate criticism by saying "It's my style....." hoo boy.
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