C2Comics Blog

So of course I’ve been thinking about characters.  And I’ve been thinking about art.  By random chance – googling for something completely different – I came across this (old) entry/article on characterization through art. It’s quite interesting – and I don’t think just because I do enjoy Mello and Near as characters, it’s quite informative.

Of course, the worst thing about this is…I’m always saying, “oh, I bet other people would have known this already”….but I think I was actively subscribing to this person’s writing when they were written.  Did I just ignore these writings, or just completely forget about them?  Euuurg.

Hmm, been a while since the last post – boo.  Failing my “post once a week” goal, aren’t I?

The last volume of Fullmetal Alchemist has just come out – how sad that it’s over.  This morning, though, I realized the major reason why FMA resonates so much with me – and this goes back to my last post – FMA is the only thing I can recall having watched/read where all the characters’ actions make sense.  Now, I might not agree with all the actions and responses, but they all make sense, and it’s taken a while for me to realize how important that is.  Admittedly I’m not a film/tv/literature buff, so I may not have a huge breadth of reference – maybe there’s a ton of stuff out there like that – but it seems that while all of the media I keep in viewing/reading rotation does make an attempt at creating strong characters (if it doesn’t even make an attempt, it get’s tossed out) it does not hesitate to change these characters to suit the plot.  As much as I enjoy current shows like Sherlock, Dexter, and Breaking Bad, and even old shows like the X-Files, the L-Word, and Buffy, they all drive me crazy at some point for having people behave out of character just to drive home a plot…this goes for comics, as well.  Working with characterization it’s interesting to note just how important the characters – not the plot – become in a storyline.  Just like last post, I’m sure these are things writers have realized a long long time ago and I’m just getting it now.  As a child I never did enjoy the book reports that made you explain why you liked something – at the time I just knew I liked them or didn’t.  …Hmm.  If my life were a game this is probably the point at which I’d re-roll.

ANYWAY.  This winter I decided to enroll in an oil-painting class.  First class was this Friday – the actual content is the topic for another post, I think – but during the class I realized how rusty my art skills were.  The instructor spoke about angles, proportions, and tones….things that rang bells, but I hadn’t used for about five years.  Eurg.  I’m working on some comics, but I need to brush up my actual skills.  So I did a tonal study this weekend in pencil.  I realize all the components weren’t correct but I think I got my main goal – tones.  ….Contrast is a big problem, oh no, I need to work on that.  …also elimination of lines….hmm.  ah well.  New Year’s resolution….do more serious sketches XD