Sword of Heaven

Author notes

Track Eight, Page 2

Blackmoon

on July 4, 2008

So. So so so. Let's see.
FUN FACT: When I was typing in the dialogue for that last panel, Blue Oyster Cult's "R.U. Ready 2 Rock?" started playing. *nod* Completely true.
Qingting is kind of a talkative son of a bitch, isn't he?

So, earlier, I had a brief discussion with the amazingly talented alexds1 of deviantart, where my non-TnK artwork is. I had never talked to her before, but I admire her work, and she seemed "accessible" enough that I thought I might ask her opinion of my work here.
The criticism was harsh, but largely justified- in any case, I'd like to ask YOUR opinions on some of her points.
1) The font; the font, she claims, may be a little difficult to read. Personally, I see no problem with it, but then, I use this font a LOT, so I may just be acclimated.
2) The shading; the jet-black high-contrast stuff, while distinctive, makes things look as though there's a constant, blinding ambient light. I'm inclined to agree, but I think it's sort of a "signature" technique.
3) Backgrounds; too busy?
4) Textures/tones; I may be using too many. I'm (clearly) trying to cut down on this, with a newly-adopted "keep it simple, stupid" policy.
and 5) Color; the erratic use of color may be jarring to some readers, and it was suggested I either go with grayscale or full-color. I'm not too sure either way, honestly.

Anyway, I'd like to hear YOUR opinions on this. I may be doing some experimentation in fixing these problems and trying new techniques, and these experiments will likely end up on my deviantart account. In any case, this may postpone next week's comic for a while, but that depends on how productive I am.
'Til next time, folks- keep on rockin'.