[96ma]

Yo I'm 96ma (pronounced kurokuma) I've been wanting to draw some comics before my comic class starts next semester-- my friend linked me to this place so here I am lmao.

I've thought up a character but I'm not really sure if he'd work for this place since I'm unfamiliar with everything here. (though I've read up a ton and got the gist of things I think...)

Meet Freckles the character:




His name's Kelly McWhite, a leprechaun born in Ireland in the early 19th century. He immigrated to America with plenty of his fellow Irishmen during the Great Potato Famine. (Not out of necessity but because traveling to States intrigued him) Since then he's lived his life drifting from place to place relying on his Leprechaun abilities for survival.

The most notable of his leprechaun powers is the ability to appear as a normal human being (at 5'6" and 180 pounds) and his extreme luck, allowing him to take otherwise extreme risks and causing them to work in his favor. Being a leprechaun he stores all of the money he earns through favors and betting in an enchanted pot.

His transient lifestyle's made him into a happy-go-lucky character teeming with self-confidence. He enjoys sharing small gifts of his ability with others but avoids going to extents that might arouse suspicion. He's kind but timid and dislikes conflicts or confrontations of any sort.

---

The main thing I'm concerned with is that his design is really simple and the characters I've seen around have had pretty unique outfits and such. While he purposely looks plain and normal to "blend in," I'm not sure if he really fits in with everybody else's characters;;

[Angie]

Looks fine to me! It's fine to have an ordinary looking character, what matters is the comics and the story.

[Red]

AWESOME. I love this so far! I don't have much to add beyond that other than I can't wait to see some intro pages!

[Rose]

He's a freaking leprechaun! Who cares if he has unique clothes? Hahah Draw some intro pages to show how he came to VOID! This is great! And welcome!

[96ma]

Thank you guys-- I was thinking about maybe adding more layers to his outfit to make it more complex, but then his arm freckles would be covered lmao

I'll post the pages here as I finish them. I haven't really made a comic and years so it's probably gonna be pretty gross o<-<

[Fed]

why can't he be leprechaun sized (aka short)? I think he'd look a lot cuter that way ^^

[96ma]

why can't he be leprechaun sized (aka short)? I think he'd look a lot cuter that way ^^

Well I think his natural form is about 4 feet tall? Not sure about weight because I have no idea on what an adult would weigh at that height lmao.

His human form is pretty short for a guy imo, but idk it could be just because I'm 6 feet myself lol

[Sinnami]

I like both the simple design and the subtle powers. I think it opens a character up to a lot of possibilities.

[William_Duel]

I would love to see a battle between this character and Casino Reasoning.  Whose luck powers would trump whose?  I am excitebike.

[Rose]

I would love to see a battle between this character and Casino Reasoning.  Whose luck powers would trump whose?  I am excitebike.

OH GOODNESS YES!

[Red]

I would love to see a battle between this character and Casino Reasoning.  Whose luck powers would trump whose?  I am excitebike.

I have changed my icon to reflect my excitement for that match up.

[Mister Kent]

I love the design *blush*, and like the subtlety. Also I concur with Red. I am pretty excitebike over Kelly too

Looking forward to intro pages!

[Minky]

I'm so glad you decided to give him a real name instead of just naming him "Freckles." LOL I am excited that you are joining with me!! I think he looks super cute even if he's an average guy--that'll give you a lot of room for creativity for when you're doing comics because you'll have to think outside the box!!

[G.Lo]

Dose eyebrows <333

I'm really digging this character! I rather like his simple wardrobe, especially the color scheme.

I wanna see comics

[96ma]

Lmao a battle of luck? I'm not even sure how that would go down. Maybe some crazy ass poker game or a falling-from-high-places competition.

I've got a good idea for his intro already, but I gotta figure out how to transfer it into a comic and have it look okay haha

Also @Minky
As I said earlier his "name" might be Kelly but he will always be Freckles in my kokoro. ;-(

[Fed]

Well I think natural form is about 4 feet tall? Not sure [...]

Like so, this kind of scale Just a suggestion mind ^^

[96ma]

Comic in which Freckles pretends to be a human pretending to be a leprechaun


Be gentle please

[Red]

SUPER. GREAT. EXCEPT .... backgrounds. Make sure to show us that you are capable of more than a super empty blue wall. This page is fine as long as you do more backgrounds in the other pages. Your art is so damn charming!!!

[Fed]

What Red said It looks supercool, and your character certainly has charm but backgrounds would do (literally) a world of difference

[seevah]

The third pannel where you see his back, i noticed he doesn't have legs.  I might be wrong tho.

[96ma]

@Red and Fed
Haha yeah I left out the backgrounds in this part because I didn't feel like it was needed here (I'm trying to keep it simple looking on purpose to make it "cuter" lmao) Though later in the comic there's a scene that I'm definitely going to have to be more detailed in depicting his surroundings for emphasis.

Also thanks Red jfaj;fa I actually draw usually with much thinner lines and more detailed characters.

@Seevah
Actually I sorta just didn't draw his legs on purpose... don't really have a  reason other than being lazy and didn't think they had to be there. Idk
If it's distracting I'll draw them in--

[Kuro]

I was looking to do a leprechaun at one point.

I think it's contradictory to have him try & tell people the reality but then be so wrapped up in trying to show some cutesy ideal when it comes to the art. Reality is often far from cute. I'd say pick one or the other.

But there's nothing cute about a lack of backgrounds or not drawing things you deem unimportant. It is just laziness. And that's no good. Put the time & thought in. If you're not invested in the world you're trying to show us, why should we be?

I'd also recommend tightening up your lines if you're going to go so thick. also the angles you're picking have no dynamic. We see everything at a profile angle & it's boring. also, the way he's facing in that second panel acts like a brick wall for the direction we're trying to read that page. had he been flipped itd point us along.

[96ma]

I disagree with the first two points. He's not actually trying to educate people about the truth on leprechauns. He doubts anybody would believe him so he's trying to be cute and charming by putting on a guise which just happens to be the truth. And with the backgrounds the reader shouldn't be invested in trying to see what the artist doesn't want them to see. (Because there's nothing else important TO see; even with minimal indicators the setting still comes across.)

However the moment an action happens that effects his environment, or it becomes significant to the story--then more detail should be put into the background. Adding a background in this part would insert unneeded details.

I don't disagree with the rest of what you said though, I'm not familiar at all with drawing the flow of a comic and neat lines are always an issue with me. I'll definitely keep those in mind when i go through this page again.

[Kuro]

not telling you to pull focus. and if you know how to lead the eye properly you'll never run into that problem.

but what you're arguing is kind of silly. backgrounds are inherently important to a story, not just when characters interact with it. just having things happen in a vacuous space is boring. and the rhing is everyone here's seemed to mention it & it seems like the lack of backgrounds,  the sheer amount of negative space is equally or more distracting than just adding a few more details. It honestly just comes off as laziness. especially after you trying to rationalize whether or not to draw your character's lower body, thinking its immaterial when it's part of the thing you're supposed to be focusing on in panel.

and I mean the other thing is,  if the character NEEDS that much focus, why frame the shots so wide? if you're so viscerally opposed to having a background, tighter shots would cut down on the amount of negative space.

[William_Duel]

You've got an interesting theory about backgrounds.  I'm going to be honest that it's not a theory I've ever really heard but please allow me to go with my counter theory at this point and I'll use some examples.  Here, let's start with one of my favorite all time scenes:

You'll notice there is only a very detailed background in the first panel.  But just looking at this page it tells us a lot about the character and his lifestyle.  He lives a very frugal lifestyle which is typical if you know the character of Spiderman.  On his wall, he's got a picture of his aunt.  None of these details stick out or are immediately visible but it creates an atmosphere and informs us a great deal about the character.  The rest of the panels don't have any sort of background but instead the 'drama' of the scene is informed by angle, panel and color. 

Now if we apply your argument here, none of that is important and those trivial details should be left out.  But that would be intensely boring.  And even if you champion your argument, your readers are only going to assume that you've done it out of laziness or simply because you can't.  Even infamous examples like Bleach, infamous for having people duke it out in empty white spaces will still have establishing shots from time to time to inform the setting. 

Even taking your minimalist philosophy into account, I'm going to ask you to take these details into account.  Those blank and empty backgrounds are not helping your argument especially that zoomed away third panel.  There is a lot of unnecessarily empty grey there.  So I'm going to reiterate and agree with Kuro, that the lack of backgrounds simply implies that you don't want to take the time or simply can't.