May 2nd, 2010
#101: The Birthday Bash
” Gives a whole new meaning to ‘Whack-A-Mole’ huh?”
Click here for the first part of this story.
Hey guys, here is a “preview” comic as new artist LTU and I get things going again. Hope everyone is doing well!
Jay
May 2nd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
WOO new BOE!
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Nothing against you, Or the new artist, But BOE will never be the same again without Alicias artwork. (some of the best i’ve ever seen in a web comic)
That being said, I am loking forward to more comics, And i know that with a bit of work, The new artist will be a great asset to BOE.
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 pm
I have missed BOE and agree with Nirron that it will never be the same without Alicia. Not sure I get this one.
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Nirron, yeah it’s going to take a while for everyone to get used to a new artist, Alicia was awesome… but I hope you give LTU a chance, he’s a good guy and is enthusiastic in his love of webcomics. =)
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Glad you’re happy about it NoRAd, I’m excited to see LTU step and put his mark on the comic. =)
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Stylistically it’s cool. ^_^ Looks a little fuzzy though, like someone needs a better scanner, I guess?
Also, who are they pretending are pinatas? And why?
May 4th, 2010 at 7:26 am
While the little darlings may indeed be full of candy, I don’t think I want any after you knock it out of them…
May 5th, 2010 at 6:37 am
Well the truth is, guys, that I’m not interested in replacing Alicia. Things will definitely not be the same without her. She’s a much better artist then I am and I can respect people who liked her work, I did. I think the best webcomic art does have to go to “Everyday Decay,” or “Goblins,” or “LFG,” as far as art quality, but Alicia had her own, wonderfully unique style we could all enjoy.
I’m not here to replace Alicia, never intended to. And things will be different, because I am different. This is actually my first stint into comicing, and I’m very grateful to Jay and everyone who reads BoE for giving me this chance. I saw BoE was in trouble and I couldn’t let it die. So thank you everyone for giving me a chance.
As a heads up, we’re going to be shaking things a little bit and introducing a few new angles to things here at BoE. Murder mysteries, blazing shovels, witches, the puppet mafia, and my aunt Ruth. Okay, maybe not the last two. my Aunt Ruth might be a little too scary for the kids.
May 5th, 2010 at 9:28 am
If I may suggest, there’s a much smoother way to connect word bubbles, and to make the part that points to the character (I don’t remember what they’re called). Inside your speech bubble, create a small white square. Then go to free transform and drag it to change the shape. If you drag it from a straight side, you can make a connecting line; if you drag it from a corner, you can make the pointer part. Then you just use stroke to put the black around it (if you merge it with the white bubble and then use stroke, it’ll go around the whole thing quite nicely).
Also, if your scanner can handle it, try scanning at a higher resolution; the scan quality really isn’t doing the artwork justice.
Sorry, it just looked like whatever method you’re using ends up looking very pixelated, and since I do have a little webcomicking experience myself, I thought I’d offer my two cents.
May 5th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Thank you so much for your advice Nienna. I’ll start on that for Monday’s comic. Also, I was curious if anyone out there has any experience with Sketchpad Pro 2010 (to give the version). I’ve heard good things about it but was interested in some hands on opinions.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:25 am
i think the problem might not just be the scanning, but the saving. jpgs don’t work so well with all the flat colors. it should probably either be saved as a gif, or just a higher quality jpg.
May 27th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I would suggest more simplicity in the new art style.
June 7th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
One of the reasons this comic is so funny is that people can relate to it. The more simple the stylization is, like Alicia’s style, the more everyone can relate to the characters. The less realism you put in the art, the more people can see themselves in it.
This is a reason I would VERY much consider loosening and simplifiying your art style, LTU. I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m just saying that this comic needs a more simplistic style. It’s what makes it so funny.