The Forge Archives

Hello,

For the first time in a while, the Trollbabe Comics page is finally fully stocked - all the previous stories, and the start of a new one.

Yup, "Dusty Musty Wisdom" is finished. Yes, Jesse, I know you hated it. I hope someone (anyone) else liked it. James Linares did great work with the art.

And this week begins with the first strip of "The Naked Helpless Sacrifice Scene," starring Retta, illustrated by Colin Theriot.

Best,
Ron

Hey now, let's not be hasty...

I didn't hate it.  I hated how it began.  Actually, I thought it was pretty cool how it ended.  You should have seen the look on my face when Tha snapped her fingers and made the ghost go away.  I thought, "Damn, why'd she throw away something so useful?"

It's what I like about the way you've portrayed Tha.  There's a rashness there that I enjoy.

Jesse

Ha! Got ya.

I like both Tha and Retta - the former is rash because she wants something, and the latter is rash because she doesn't know what she wants. They both try to do good things as they go, but their personal agendas are their real sources of conflict.

As I have discovered along the route of writing these things, anyway. At least, I hope it's visible to others at some level, regardless of the amount of humor and/or horror involved.

Best,
Ron

Colin's second strip is up for "The Naked Helpless Sacrifice Scene" story!

It's beautiful work.

Best,
Ron

Colin's strips look great! Very moody and atmospheric, which really comes out in this week's wordless strip.

I'm tempted to speculate that Rus is two-timing his patron animal, but surely that's some other malefactor in the bat hat, there.


Rod

Hi there,

Well, that's not Rus. I guess all the cultist leaders have goatees.

But Rus is certainly due for a comeback one of these days.

Best,
Ron

It's BAD GUYS.  BAD GUYS have goatees.  Can't just limit yourself to cult-leaders.  That's pigeonholing for Chrissakes!

Anyone have any feedback on the strips I'm doing?  Be honest.  First time I've tried something like this.

They make me wish I knew how to draw/paing using tones like that.  I really like it. :)


How do you do it, man?  Sheer technique I mean.

Quote from: ejhThey make me wish I knew how to draw/paing using tones like that.  I really like it. :)

How do you do it, man?  Sheer technique I mean.

Well, I start with either a white or black background depending on the lighting of the scene.  Then I put in the larger shapes with the opposite color (white on black, black on white).  That produces a "sketch" kind of.  After that, it's just about picking a light source and refining layer on top of layer on top of layer.  Typically, I'll do 50% grey first, then 25% on either side to "carve" out the shapes I want.

These are done digitally, by the way.  I have a Wacom Tablet and I draw in Photoshop.  Check out my site if you want to see more of my work.  And thanks very much for the response.  

Any criticism?  I've never made an attempt at this type of storytelling, so I'd like to know if I'm doing okay with the visual pacing and tone.

Looking good so far.

Ron's really the guy to ask about the pacing (being his comic), but it seems to me that having three strips involving the unfolding of the same situation is too much for a weekly story.

Strip One: I'm tied up by cultists
Strip Two: I'm still tied up by cultists
Strip Three: I'm beating up cultists

I would think one strip would have covered it pretty well, or probably, two, as I had to jump back to the previous two strips to figure out what was going on in the third. But that's coming from a guy who has never done comic strips, either, so "grain of salt" and all that.

Sorry guys, this story's pretty much all about being tied up by cultists and beating up cultists, not much else. All pacing and content-per-strip issues are my fault.

Working with Colin is interesting - I do very much appreciate seeing the intermediate steps of the work, and it's a good opportunity for back-and-forth about what the final version will look like. But a lot of the folks who do primarily computer-work aren't used to that, and it takes a little time to convince them that I really do know that the final version will be much more highly rendered. I love working with thumbnails, boards, and other "structure only" preliminary artwork.

For the record, the strip where Retta kicks the guy in the face has incredible "camera angle" technique from panel to panel. And that's all you, Colin.

Best,
Ron

Quote from: Ron Edwards
*snip*

But a lot of the folks who do primarily computer-work aren't used to that, and it takes a little time to convince them that I really do know that the final version will be much more highly rendered. I love working with thumbnails, boards, and other "structure only" preliminary artwork.

For the record, the strip where Retta kicks the guy in the face has incredible "camera angle" technique from panel to panel. And that's all you, Colin.

Best,
Ron

Speaking as an exclusive computer art person, I say that we aren't used to that because more often than not you'll show preliminaries to someone and they'll comment on how it's not finished.  I dunno if it's that lines that look this way would be permanent in more traditional art, so they assume you're complete, or what.  I've just gotten so tired of having to re-stress "work in progress" that I say it up-front for good measure.  

That, and my "sketches" are a a kind of graphic shorthand, and are the equivalent of doctor's signatures.  The sketch I show is about 10 steps more worked than what I eed to "mark my place" and I've gotten into the habit of prefacing that as well.

Then again, I'm also used to showing my work to average joes rather than people who commission artwork on a regular basis.  I've come to trust more in others ability to see a finished product from my preliminaries.

And thank you for the compliment on the angles.  I do try to keep a "camera" in mind for most drawings, and it comes from a combination of things.  Training, and personal preference mostly.
Marvel comics, life drawing courses, photograpy courses.  I'm not a fan of "pose" style work, so I try to make something happen in every strip.

And greyorm, not to nitpick but it's:
Strip One: I'm passing out after a battle
Strip Two: I'm passed out and dragged away by cultists
Strip Three: I wake up and discover I'm tied up by cultists in the last panel.
Strip Four: I free myself in the first panel and then kick the big bad in the face.
Strip Five: I beat up cultists and choke the Big Bad.

Retta's tied down for two panels total.  Sorry if my art wasn't clearer there.  It's explicitly panel-by-panel in Ron's script.

And I seriously like discussing my work, so please don't hesitate to chime in.  Criticism helps me get better. :)

Colin,

I have been enjoying your work in the latest Trollbabe strip.   I like the pseudo woodcut look of it.  I recall thinking that either the first or second strip was a little too uniformly dark, but I cannot double-check that because they have rotated off the site.  By far my favorite is strip no. 4, with the face kicking panel.  I agree with Ron about the angles, but I also like the way you incorporated background talk, foreground talk, story commentary (the "Holy Mackerel" line), and sound effects.  

Julie

Colin,

Definitely casting no aspersions on your technique! I agree with Ron, the viewing angles are nothing short of excellent. As to the strip numbering: sorry about that -- I haven't seen the first two strips you mentioned yet.