Crackpot fanart theories and Wraithfall

[mutecornett]

devildoll kindly scanned Wraithfall, so I downloaded it out of curiosity and uh. SGA tie-in comic, how is it that you trace so obviously and yet Teyla looks like a Korean girl with her hair bleached to a brassy red in that second panel of the first page, and Rodney looks freaky and utterly unlike himself?

Comments

[mutecornett]

(It's also odd that he isn't just tracing their faces. He's tracing their bodies too--Rodney on the second panel of this page is obviously, obviously traced--which just seems BIZARRE to me.)

However, I will also give him leeway for the fact that unlike comics like Batman or Superman or anything not actually ever played by an actor first (i.e. Buffy, SGA, etc.), we not only have a predefined notion of they way they move, stand, act, think, and look but they are supposed to move, stand, act, think, and look like that. It's canon, it's the way we know them.

Yeah, you can totally see bits of his own style coming out with the original characters, and I think having to draw actors that we as fans already know so well is cramping his style.

The specific problem with Wraithfall's tracing (and the problem with a lot of tracing) is partly, I think, that he's choosing the wrong parts to trace into the art. I was complaining about the awful little broken lines, especially on Elizabeth's face in the last panel of the last page, but I mean, Paul

I can't even make this comment make sense to ME.

[shala]

I haven't looked at the comic itself yet, but. Um. I looked at the Avatar Press site and there are pictures where they all look TOTALLY DIFFERENT from picture to picture (one with Teyla almost made me cry) and also one of the possible covers is a photo of Ronon, except they've spelled it Ronan and also this is supposed to be during the first season. I AM SO CONFUSED

Re: I can't even make this comment make sense to ME.

[mutecornett]

I looked at the Avatar Press site and there are pictures where they all look TOTALLY DIFFERENT from picture to picture (one with Teyla almost made me cry) and also one of the possible covers is a photo of Ronon, except they've spelled it Ronan and also this is supposed to be during the first season. I AM SO CONFUSED.You know what totally baffles me? How in the wraparound, JOHN'S TAC VEST POCKETS ARE STILL AROUND HIS WAIST, EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO TAC VEST ANYMORE. I wish someone would explain this. Do the pockets come off? Why is it still around his waist? Or is it just bizarre

[crysothemis]

Oh, yes, yes, I totally agree with your main point. If you're going for a realistic style, you have less leeway, and it is more vital that the reference pic capture the "essence" of the character, the shared mental image. (Which of course isn't all shared, but it's the task of the artist to find the details that invoke that mental image in others.)

And I don't think you're talking out of your ass at all. I think the tracing was inconsistently sloppy. Some of the caps were well chosen, some not. And the coloring is pretty bad. But I agree they got John better than anyone else, which surprises me.

I've been thinking about what makes a likeness work, and it's really complicated. But I do think you're on to something, here.

[mutecornett]

I think you're totally right about the "essence" and the details that invoke that mental image in other people. It seems like it's also related to caricature and noticing the important parts of people's faces, though honestly I have no idea--I'm just fumbling around here.

I do wonder why John ended up being recognizable most of the time. Maybe certain of his features are so striking that as long as you have his asymmetrical eyes and nose, the general face shape, and the hair, he'll work? Do you find that he's the easiest to get a good likeness of?

(And, haha, re: the tac vest blunder, it's such a surreal mistake to make! Maybe they thought it was a utility belt, like Batman's or something.)

[crysothemis]

I can't do caricature at all, so it's a mystery to me. But it's clear that some characteristics of features are essential to the likeness. And blindly tracing can't capture this at all.

In my experience, oddly enough, John's is the hardest resemblance to capture. Maybe the artist studied him more? Dunno. I've just always had more trouble with him than any other SGA character.

(That must be it. And the artist must have done the cover first, without actually looking at the uniform/tac vest very closely. I'll take it as a reminder that it really does help to know what you're drawing. I mean, you can draw light and shadow without understanding shape and form, but it's dangerous.)

[mutecornett]

But it's clear that some characteristics of features are essential to the likeness. And blindly tracing can't capture this at all.

Yes, yes, I think you're totally right here. ♥ (And we may never solve the mystery of why the artist does a comparatively decent job on John, but it doesn't matter much, eh.)

[stereowire]

You know, I still think at least half of the problem with that comic is the coloring. With just the inking, it's a slightly simplified, high-contrast black and white kind of style, nothing brilliant but still decently competent. But then they went in and used all this sloppy airbrushed shading that obscured or changed the finer points of all the characters' facial features. But that seems to be the style du jour for American comics? I don't know, I just think, man, when you're already blocking in all these heavy black shadows in the inking, why don't you just leave well enough alone?

there just aren't a lot of fanartists, so I can sort of see people being indulgentSee, that's one of the things that confused me when I first started poking around in SGA fandom. It was all icons, wallpapers, more icons, the occasional manip, hey here's some icons! and I was going "but where is the FANART." I mean, everyone and their little sister draws fanart in anime fandoms, but-- I don't know, it's less intimidating if the source material is already

[mutecornett]

The bad airbrush shading and coloring is horrifically fashionable in superhero comics. It can be done well (J. H. Williams usually does a great job), but it looks like one of those things in superhero comics where It's Just What's Done--I don't know the origins but I think it must have started with Rob Liefeld's era because in the 80's it was all flat, too-bright coloring. I think people are turning towards more of a cel-shading style these days, but whatever the style, color makes for more sales unless you're indie, so. Yeah. (It was definitely the coloring job that made for the freaky eyes.)

There just aren't a lot of fanartists, so I can sort of see people being indulgent.

I should fix that, because there *are*--the iconmakers, manippers, etc--but I can't figure out what to call *us*, besides maybe traditional artists. (I was trying to make an icon for pentapus the other day and FAILED MISERABLY. I've gone through dozens of icon tutorials at this point and have a reasonable idea of what to do to get nice colors, but the imaginative

[stereowire]

I'm beginning to think the "haha look I'm holding a can of spray paint between my toes" airbrushing style is superhero comics' version of the sparkly, flower-petal-infested screentones in shoujo manga. I say this in the most affectionate way possible, naturally

[mutecornett]

Hee, I'm holding a can of spray paint between my toes! You know, it's so weird, because both indie comics and regular illustrators have been making huge leaps in CG painting so that it's not all airbrushing anymore, and yet comics artists seem to really love the style, I don't know. But, yes, ahhhh, sparkly screentones

[crysothemis]

Oh, and did you notice where the tracing led to a truly ridiculous gaffe on the cover?

Sheppard has his vest pockets, but no vest! Now there's a trick...