A character-driven, long format online comic that updates three times a week. Comedy! Drama! Revolutionary Communists, runaways, creative taxidermy and more.
Chapter 5: Lit, page 76.
I am trying something new, visually.
Tell me what you think.
93 thoughts on “Chapter 5: Lit, page 76.”
My vote is for against, pretty much for all the same reasons other people who have voted against. Ultimately its the artist’s decision though.
I think it’s quite a beautiful way of shading but it clashes too much with the lines. Also, one of the main things that attracted me to the art side of Templar were the bold lines and solid shading.
Although I want to add, that even if you decide to not continue to shade this way I hope you still practice with the ink washes in other art works. I think it would look wonderful in another setting! Or even in the extra sections that are at the end of the chapters…
I like it as an effect, but it gives a 2D/3D clash mostly; like cutouts standing a model background. (Or sometimes models standing in a cutout background.) If we’re voting I vote against it because your style before was AMAZING. On the other hand, I know it gets old doing the same thing over and over, and I could get to be a fan of this too.
It’s not something I’d stop reading Templar over, but it’s very visually distracting(and Flannery’s white face made me wonder for a moment if maybe some toning was forgotten). I really loved your bold, stark style before. HOWEVER I applaud you for wanting to try new things!
Okay, I just have to wonder why Mesmer says he’s an expert at “Half”? He looks pretty white, but what other race would he be?
As for the new style, I wasn’t sure about the textures at first, but it could grow with me. I say keep it up and play with it. That’s the fun of creating art. :)
Hm…*tilts head* It’s…new. Not not-good. But not..Taz…It’s not striking anymore. Each thing in the picture could jump out and I could touch it. Now it…kinda all sticks together…there’s no subconscious 3D to it…
I miss the bold-ness of the old style. The textures and light shading, they just don’t really seem to mesh well with the stark environment the story of the comic has.
I think the sharper, less finished look style works better with the more raw, up front world of Templar. There is almost zero subtlety in this world. Why make the art subtle?
I guess it shows what a Philistine I am that my first reaction was “Change? What change?” Honestly, I’m still not positive I know what it is. I guess my visual memory isn’t very good. When did the change happen, so I can compare?
If you notice the shading looks like it was penciled in. The shading before, if I remember right, was more like blocks. I don’t know when this change happened, but I’d go back a chapter to be safe to see the difference.
Me I’m not a big fan. It is okay, but as some put it it isn’t as bold as before. To me I’m not terribly worried about the shading, as long as the story sticks to being amazing I’ll be happy. :)
I liked the previous style better. I dunno, TAZ just isn’t very…. soft and delicate in my head which is kinda what I feel like the new shading is. The bold lines and in your face style seemed to fit better.
BUT! If you like this style better, you are the artist, it is your decision, it will not make me stop reading or anything so you ought to do what you like :)
I also don’t really like the new style. Mostly because I LOVE the old style. It is so crisp and just awesome. The shading looks fine on the clothes. On the hair though, the contrast between the softer/”traditional” lines and the usual bold lines feels a bit…. odd.
I don’t think it’s right for Templar. I can’t even picture what Reagan would look like with the new shading, but it just wouldn’t fit. The characters and style of TAZ are so distinctive, I feel like the artwork should be as well.
I think it’s an interesting style mix, although I have to really look to notice the difference (or switch back and forth between pages). But it seems to come at the expense of a lot of the little details, like the shoe string in Mesmer’s hair and so on, and those are one of the big things that make this comic for me; there’s always some new information to notice whenever I re-read. If you can have the details and the ink washes, then I don’t mind, but otherwise, it feels like a subtle layer of the story is missing.
Mesmer’s half right. It’s not the clothes, it’s the mismatch between being clean in body and mind, but untidy. For a class lower than mine, the gods forbid that you be untidy. A show of effort spent on appearance is required. Your clothes need to be a matched set. Your hair cannot fall free like a hippie’s. Hell, even Mesmer’s got his hair tied back.
My vote is for against, pretty much for all the same reasons other people who have voted against. Ultimately its the artist’s decision though.
I think it’s quite a beautiful way of shading but it clashes too much with the lines. Also, one of the main things that attracted me to the art side of Templar were the bold lines and solid shading.
Although I want to add, that even if you decide to not continue to shade this way I hope you still practice with the ink washes in other art works. I think it would look wonderful in another setting! Or even in the extra sections that are at the end of the chapters…
I like it as an effect, but it gives a 2D/3D clash mostly; like cutouts standing a model background. (Or sometimes models standing in a cutout background.) If we’re voting I vote against it because your style before was AMAZING. On the other hand, I know it gets old doing the same thing over and over, and I could get to be a fan of this too.
It’s not something I’d stop reading Templar over, but it’s very visually distracting(and Flannery’s white face made me wonder for a moment if maybe some toning was forgotten). I really loved your bold, stark style before. HOWEVER I applaud you for wanting to try new things!
Ohmanthatistotallyahaltertop.
Like others said, I applaud the effort and desire to try new things. It is interesting, for sure, but my preference is for the old style.
As for Mesmer — I think most people had a friend like Mesmer in their early 20s. Something about that age…
Okay, I just have to wonder why Mesmer says he’s an expert at “Half”? He looks pretty white, but what other race would he be?
As for the new style, I wasn’t sure about the textures at first, but it could grow with me. I say keep it up and play with it. That’s the fun of creating art. :)
Hm…*tilts head* It’s…new. Not not-good. But not..Taz…It’s not striking anymore. Each thing in the picture could jump out and I could touch it. Now it…kinda all sticks together…there’s no subconscious 3D to it…
Oh my god, I’m finally caught up. I love everything about this.
that little profile picture you’ve got totally goes with your statement.
I miss the bold-ness of the old style. The textures and light shading, they just don’t really seem to mesh well with the stark environment the story of the comic has.
Is there a point to this story and/or is there a plot
I think the sharper, less finished look style works better with the more raw, up front world of Templar. There is almost zero subtlety in this world. Why make the art subtle?
I guess it shows what a Philistine I am that my first reaction was “Change? What change?” Honestly, I’m still not positive I know what it is. I guess my visual memory isn’t very good. When did the change happen, so I can compare?
If you notice the shading looks like it was penciled in. The shading before, if I remember right, was more like blocks. I don’t know when this change happened, but I’d go back a chapter to be safe to see the difference.
Me I’m not a big fan. It is okay, but as some put it it isn’t as bold as before. To me I’m not terribly worried about the shading, as long as the story sticks to being amazing I’ll be happy. :)
Thanks. And Spike? It’s not you, it’s totally, totally me, I’m sure it’s different as a dozen dancing demons, I’m just not very observant.
You only have to go back one page to see the difference…
It’s interesting but looks rather flat, comparatively.
I like it better in the hair only! :)
I liked the previous style better. I dunno, TAZ just isn’t very…. soft and delicate in my head which is kinda what I feel like the new shading is. The bold lines and in your face style seemed to fit better.
BUT! If you like this style better, you are the artist, it is your decision, it will not make me stop reading or anything so you ought to do what you like :)
Nah, I like the flat cell shading better.
I also don’t really like the new style. Mostly because I LOVE the old style. It is so crisp and just awesome. The shading looks fine on the clothes. On the hair though, the contrast between the softer/”traditional” lines and the usual bold lines feels a bit…. odd.
I don’t think it’s right for Templar. I can’t even picture what Reagan would look like with the new shading, but it just wouldn’t fit. The characters and style of TAZ are so distinctive, I feel like the artwork should be as well.
Artistic experiments are all good, but the results of this one are a bit off. Too jarring! :D
I think it’s an interesting style mix, although I have to really look to notice the difference (or switch back and forth between pages). But it seems to come at the expense of a lot of the little details, like the shoe string in Mesmer’s hair and so on, and those are one of the big things that make this comic for me; there’s always some new information to notice whenever I re-read. If you can have the details and the ink washes, then I don’t mind, but otherwise, it feels like a subtle layer of the story is missing.
“Expert on half,” my ass. Mes is lighter’n his own latte. Expert on quarter, maybe. More like expert on eighth or sixteenth….
I sure hope we get some more tantalizing, cryptic clues about how the civil rights movement went down in this universe.
Mesmer’s half right. It’s not the clothes, it’s the mismatch between being clean in body and mind, but untidy. For a class lower than mine, the gods forbid that you be untidy. A show of effort spent on appearance is required. Your clothes need to be a matched set. Your hair cannot fall free like a hippie’s. Hell, even Mesmer’s got his hair tied back.