[faffabout]

Yo.

This is my first post.
Just made my character on void tonight.
JoeNeary is my cousin and I am staying round his tonight. This is what i've done.

This is a trial character im putting out there for people to see.

UPDATE: Done a Design Sheet!



Here is my comic...






Easy Now - faffabout!

[Mister Kent]

Welcome! That last panel is a adorable! Let's see some more

[faffabout]

Easy now!!

Thank you, much appreciated. Please feel free to criticise. I'm completely new to comic format and composition. If I'm being a noob- tell me.

I finished the next two pages lastnight. Il put it up soon.i just woke up.

Thanks again

Faffabout

[faffabout]

faffabout

[TINMAN]

Cool style, very touchy-feely. I can see some shared influences between you and your cuzzo. You should look into Dave Crosland's work- has this sort of markery textured traditional vibe. http://www.hiredmeat.com/meatwork.htm

I like the character, and the cobbled together from office-supplies feel but  some of the paneling is a little unclear- does the passer-by donate the sleeping bag to him or does he have a magic cup that steals whatever he needs? I expect with some layout help and some formula development to achieve consistency with your controlled-chaos- you'll be a fine comicker.

Welcome aboard, any friend of Neary's is a friend of mine.

[Rose]

Very interesting style you got there... I'm intrigued. I'd like to see some explanation about this character, however, because at this point I have no idea what's going on... well, maybe I have an idea of what's going on, I just don't understand why. Is there a reason your character is green, or is that just a stylistic choice? Is he clinically insane, or just extremely weird? Did he just wet himself, or did he have some sort of orgasmic reaction to being in a sleeping bag?

[faffabout]

Hi. Thanks muchly for the feedback.
crozlands drawings are nice.

The passerby with the brogues was holding an unused sleeping bag. It just so happens that faffabout lout was lying there on the street to recieve it.
Faffabout lout is about 2 steps behind the rest of the world. So when this guy approaches him holding the orange bundle, he hasn't really got a clue who he is, what he is doing there or what the bundle is for.
The final drawing is just showing him being content with chilling in his new sleeping bag. I'm going for the before and after effect.

Thanks again for the constructive criticism

faffabout

[faffabout]

at this point I have no idea what's going on... well, maybe I have an idea of what's going on, I just don't understand why?

That's kind of the whole point, my character hasn't got a clue what's going on either.
The green is more of a stylistic choice. This is representative of his lifestyle. As green can often portray sickness.
It was intended for him to piss himself, but he didn't have a clue what was going on, so it is just as likely that faffabout lout did have an orgasmic reaction.

Do you think the vagueness works? I'm trying to show life from lout's perspective, so life is a bit of a blur. I'm trying to let you as the reader take what you want from the pictures and little dialogue I have.
Thanks for the comment.

faffabout

[William_Duel]

I find this really interesting.  Personally I'd like to see less of the sketchiness and some defined lines/edges because it looks like unfinished work to me.  The sketchiness seems less about definition and more about filling space.  I like the vagueness because I feel it represents more our own views about the homeless.  I work near a homeless shelter so sometimes you come across confusing and rambling people who might make you feel ill at ease.  I'm not sure if you've succeeded in portraying lout's mindset as like I said, it feels like our own approach to it.  His actions are confusing, his thoughts and actions unclear and he's obviously unwell.  I'd hesitate to approach a guy like that in reality.  So I feel like this could be a very interesting topic to explore. 

[EyeAmPhibian]

This comic is so rubbish...

[faffabout]

The sketchiness seems less about definition and more about filling space.

Yer cool, i see what you're saying. Do you mean the anatomy lines of the character, or the background, or just the general scribble i do? I think this is my sort of style when i sketch anyway. But on the other hand i think me using byro gives it a very regimented line structure, which could be seen as stale.

I'm going to steal some of Joe's nib pens to see if i can get better line variation.

I really liked the last bit where you said how we place our own views on the homeless. This is the vibe I'm going for. Although we think Lout is having a shit time, his priorities are totally different to ours. As you can see in the first two pages, he gets absolutely buzzing from receiving a sleeping bag.

Thanks for your brain.

faffabout

[William_Duel]

The scribble stands out more to me on the character.  See look here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19476646/How-to-Draw-Comics-the-Marvel-Way
I'm sure many of us have seen this book at some point in our lives.  I want you to skip down to page 49.  Now they advocate scribbling as a form of advanced sketching and it looks to me like you're going for something similar.  But notice how the scribbles are curved with the body or flowing with the cape, they fill in but they give at least some sense of depth and curve.  I think if you develop it in a certain direction, you can get away with implying depth and flow in this way.

[faffabout]

Ah okay.  Thanks for that. Il take that on board. I believe I've been told off for my scribberling in the past. Its great that you've shown a solution to this problem.


Faffabout

[faffabout]

Just taken on the challenge of cutting out the scribbly sketchiness. Thanks for the advice. Thought I'd put the stages up so you guys get a better view of how I did it, forgot to take a picture of just the scribbly sketch that i did originally but oh well...







-faffabout

[Puzzlething]

  You should totally check out Egon Shiele and Alberto Giacometti if your not already familiar with them. Dudes did stuff with scribbliness that makes me swoon. You could also try practicing with contour line drawings. I've done it so much, but I'm having trouble describing it, so hopefully someone corrects me if I mess up trying to explain it.

    The idea is to slowly follow the outer form of the object slowly, only dipping into interior lines rarely, and attempting to keep the line as continuous as possible. It's about describing form and mass in subtle ways, and resisting the urge get too much into details. There are lots of great examples around, in fact Shiele did some really amazing ones that are floating around.