Welcome back! When I set out to do this scene my fear was that at two pages a week it was going to feel extremely long because only a little bit happens on each page. The action moves fast, but the story slows down. So far it seems to be going well though, either that or you guys are really good sports.
I thought I would answer this email I got from Benjamin for the benefit of anyone else interested. Benjamin asks:
…I was wondering if you really recommend getting a book on figure drawing. I don’t have a book now dedicated just to figure drawing, but was wondering if I should. TenNapel seems to recommend practice more than anything else. Anyhow, I was wondering if there are really enough things in the book that it is worth buying. I mean, from what you showed it seems that the basic idea is to draw the body as a bunch of basic shapes first, then fill in the detailes of the shape, and then further details. This as opposed to drawing every curve around the outside perfectly. I have been trying to do this more, and it seems to be working. This way I don’t worry too much about getting every line right, as it is more of about getting the general shape first. Is this all his books are about, or is the other useful stuff in them that make them worth getting?
You should definitely study the masters, at least a couple of them. To just practice the body will help, but what you are doing as you learn to draw the body is to draw simplified versions of the parts and learning how it fits into space. Many greater artists before you have studied this to death and we have the benefit of their hard work. There is no reason not to take advantage of it. You also run the risk of getting stuck in bad habits if you are not checking your work against better work. Besides all that, you aren’t just learning to draw the body, you are learning how to make black and white lines represent a body. That in itself take a lot of studying and you are better off building your own technique off of the work of masters and not trying to invent your own method out of thin air. Is it possible to do it without studying? Sure, but probably a heck of a lot more work. You want to get to telling stories you need to get your figures down, and the quickest way there is to study the work of guys like Bridgman, and I guarantee Doug would tell you the same.
Did you know that sports records set in the Olympics long ago are now regularly reached by high school athletes today? How is this possible, are high schoolers today really that much more athletic? No, what they have done is they have built off of the training and techniques handed down over generations. Short cuts, efficiencies and methods that have helped each generation tighten up and build on what the previous generation could do. Humble yourself before the masters and respect what they built for you. When you engage in studying their work, you not only benefit, but you take part in that great generational building up of technique. You become part of the legacy and you not only benefit from the footwork of your chosen master, but you also benefit from all those who he studied and who those before him studied. To ignore that is the definition of arrogance. I’m not accusing you of being arrogant, only saying that disregarding the work of masters like Bridgman would be an arrogant move. Those works are a great gift to use wanna-be artists. Don’t take them for granted!
In other new, I did an interview over at FlightPath. Part two goes up on Thursday. Also, !Blog did a cool write up as well as BizzaroCentral. Big thanks to everyone who is promoting and sharing Bearmageddon!
Ethan
It just gets better and better! That bear is going through hell. First, it gets a handful of puke to the face. Then it gets an axe to the eye followed by a mouth full of busted teeth before it finally meets its demise.
What happened to the puke on the bear’s face, anyway?
The blood washed it off.
Ah, yes. I’ll allow it!
no you totally caught our color fail! It’s going to be a challenge keeping up with all the mud, blood, scratches and other messes our heroes encounter but we’ll do our best. Puke has been added to the bear’s face.
“Puke has been added to the bear’s face.” Now there’s a sentence I never thought I would read.
I was willing to let it slide but its good that you made the correction. People are going to remember that bear had a handful of puke thrown in its face. People remember puke…
Ethan, on that note how come your blog does not mention the SOPA/PIPA protest? Not that that’s a bad thing of course, if u have a paticular reason that’s fine by me but everywhere else i look (I read other webcomics) there ranges from a blog space to a sign to a TOTAL PROTEST SHUTDOWN so just wondering…
I honestly just don’t think about getting political here. I didn’t have a firm position because I don’t have a detailed understanding of the bills so I didn’t weigh in.
SOPA/PIPA is a jackhammer approach to media piracy when a screwdriver would be much more appropriate. It is not effective and gives corporate interests too much power to smash things they don’t like.
That’s the summary I got, anyways.
if sopa passed, they could shut down the axe cop site for the chuck norris reference. it should not be supported.
rrruh…
I wonder how many Dickinson Killdeers we are going to see walking around comic con this year?
I’ve been reading this comic from the start and thought I should comment, this comic does cheer up the work day twice a week! being in the UK it comes on line at 17:00 so a nice bit of bear action goes down nicely, nice balance of story and axe-to-face-gore, and this scene goes to show that even in the midst of bear battle there is a place for good manners!
I see Killdeer has been reading axe cop.
I still advocate Operation Beowulf, in which he de-limbs bears with his (inavoidable pun) bare hands.
*unavoidable
I’ll respect his right to bear arms.
I’m just hoping Kildeer doesn’t totally steal the show from all the characters that we have gotten nicely built up and developed from the beginning. I find the concept of his character amusing, but it will really seem like a massive shift in the tone of this comic if a charicature of a character like Kildeer ends up taking front and center…
I have a feeling this won’t be the case. Ethan’s admitted previous storyboards with DK as the main focus didn’t work out well. I can see him more of an influential father type figure (when he’s not in berserker bear-killer mode): teaching through example what it’s really like to live “in the woods,” and showing all of them, though I’m thinking of Nigel and Joel specifically, that life is tough and your problems will follow you no matter where you try to run.
Killdeer is actually a cannibal. He is about to eat Joel and all of his friends after he saves them from bears. The 40 page character buildup was just a joke and was actually just an introduction of our main character, Dickinson Killdeer, the bear warrior.
I’m more than a little bit disappointed the (assumed) bear decapitation was off-panel. Although I’m sure more bloody action is to follow.
Also, where is the bear he just killed? It was just in front of him. Perhaps he moved it WITH HIS MIND.
That Bear is behind and to Joel’s right (our left).
Hmmm, for a moment there I thought the bear might take an arrow to the knee… *runs away quickly*
could someone PLEASE explain that meme-ish thing cause i don’t get it…
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-took-an-arrow-in-the-knee
Ethan – don’t worry about pace. I read Goblins webcomic, and I love it, even though I’m pretty sure the plot hasn’t changed significantly for the last couple of years…
I come here for occasional revelation / surprise, and colourful graphics / characters
ah…thanks!
i mean ah…thanks! on this guy not that one :p
Also, there’s something hilarious about Gog’s expression in the third to last panel.
Wow, that image of a bloodied bear with no teeth is so well done that I actually feel sad for it. Kudos, sir.
From that day forward he was known as “Axe Joel”.
“One day at the scene of a mauling, Joel found the perfect woodcutter’s axe. From that day forth, he became Axe Joel. ‘I need a partner now.'”
You do know you’ll never get away from Axe Cop, don’t you, Ethan? : )
Maybe that should read, “… he became Axe Joel. ‘This thing weighs a ton!'”
Andrea: “My name is environmentalist cop!!”
Axe Joel: “Sign up here, we have a gang of bears to kill”
…
evironmentalist cop got bear blood on her “I feel strange…”
the bear blood unexpectedly transformed environmentalist cop into a crazed bear soldier!!
Somebody needs to make that, even if you just photoshop Axe Cop
#1 a little bit.
Why do I get the feeling Dickinson isn’t going to get the praise he deserves from the people he’s saving?
Give the people some credit! Sure, there may be one person or so who would have rather given his/her life to feed a bear, but I am pretty sure that most of them were there just to save trees.
Will see.
People are so selfish. Picking bears over trees just because trees can’t eat them…YET.
Needs *more* bear blood!
I love that Killdeer has a boy scout kerchief/bandana thing. it adds so much!
Also, am I the only one here who, after Dickinson’s entrance into the storyline + that blog on him feels little to no sympathy for the other characters *cough…peons…cough*?
Yeah action sucks up panel space like nobody’s business.. it makes you REALLY wish you were doing animation, doesn’t it?
but then animation usually doesn’t have the budget for constant action scenes.. i think Prequel has a nice mix, where they use little flash toons once in a while, but otherwise simple dialogue and slow-paced travel is handled a panel at a time.
So Dickinson Killdeer can speak coherent sentences. THis is getting more and more awesome.
For Benjamin and others in need of figure drawing books, books by Andrew Loomis are online at http://alexhays.com/loomis/
I like the two per week tho I sometimes miss a day so I can read the new pages in one sitting 🙂
yeah there you go, Loomis rocks.
Thanks!
IS SAD BECAUSE BEARS ARE REALLY KIND FUN LOVING HONEY EATING CREATURES THIS COMIC PORTRAYS THEM IN A CLICHÉ AND FRANKLY OFFENSIVE ROLE. IN THE 21ST CENTURY IT IS SADDENING THAT WE CANNOT LIVE SIDE BY SIDE WITH OUR URSINE COMPATRIOTS.
Wait a minute, are you serious?
i doubt it
As a professional artist, I absolutely loved your journal today. SO TRUE. Glad you answered that letter publicly for people.
I hate it when young artists run around using “SELF TAUGHT” like it means they’re suddenly better. Teaching yourself with no resources means you’re more likely to learn things incorrectly, and means you’re more likely to learn slower, or prevent yourself from reaching your limit. You don’t have to go to art school, but you still teach yourself through the masters and through trying to get ahold of any resource you can.
Yeah, sorry.
I didn’t mean to come off as already being good,
I just didn’t know if a book would really help.
Just noticed that Dickinson is wearing a Boy Scouts neckerchief. Interesting…
One of the things I love about Ethan’s comics is that with the right quantity and application, axes solve all problems.
is the mountain man wearing a boy scout neckercheif?
Just a some little comments. People are talking about the puke on bear’s face but no one has noticed the placement of the arrow on the bow and the hand grasping the arrow. It seems it would be painful and inaccurate when letting fly the arrow. That aside, nice panel and facial expression.
Nuit, Patch and John Fei all noticed the neckerchief. It isn’t Boyscout. It’s Webelos, which were blue kerchiefs. Webelos are the Middle School to Boy Scout’s High School. I believe the age range for Webelos is 8 to 12?
In any case, Dickinson Killdeer obviously was a kid who got lost in the woods and grew up to be the Lord of Beasts, ala Tarzan. I win.
So Andrea got bear blood on her.
…
Axe Joel and Bear Hippy.
Thanks, Ethan!
Really enjoying the comic now! (I love the action scenes!)
I was just thinking after seeing that you hadn’t responded via email,
and then I thought, “I wonder if he answered it over at the comic.”
What a nice surprise! I really appreciate the advice, and plan on getting a book this week.
Thank you,
-Benjamin
If the bear got Gog puke on him, he might have become Gogglebear.
Ethan, two things about panel 7: 1) Isn’t the shaft supposed to rest on the opposite side of the bow? 2) I don’t believe the shaft is supposed to fire through/under the thumb like a cue stick either.
Nitpicking aside, completely digging Bearmageddon!
When you are that tough, you shoot a bow how you want!