Gold said: Is there any way, would you have the time to present the 4 Dwarf Token Outline-Examples, on a screenshot where they are Tokens on a Color Map background, and have some Roll20 bars and Nameplate visible, and the view is zoomed-out to something like 40% ? Thus the tokens would appear quite small and the key is, are they recognizable? Do they stand out enough? Granted different GM's have different methods (whether the bars are showing or not, whether nameplate is showing or not, and whether the GM uses 100% view or 10% view), I would just suggest turning on the Token options and zooming to a middle amount, for real-situation testing. If I was going to vote for A, B, C, or D, I'd want to test it first in Roll20 on a color map zoomed out. Compared to the white background on the forum and 1:1 size presentation here, I can guess the one I like best here but might feel different on-map. Excellent idea! I did just that (well, the zoom-slider was set to my usual level when testing visibility but that is about half-ish anyway). I used Badgers Autumn forest pack as the background to test: and to make some sort of "worse case test" I also tried using the same awesome 25x25 art piece in Badgers pack on a small 4x4 area (making the background more busy than it was intended): They are arranged A B *newline* C D *newline* _ F (ernando) ;) I have already gotten some very awesome feedback, and I'm very close to making the choice on were to go from here, but if anyone want to pitch in now that this is up, please do! :) Besides, I do have some "homework", from this thread and PMs, that I want to take a look at before I start on the next pack proper. ^^ Fernando D. said: Definitely not B! A. looks like what you are using right now. I'm personally not a fan of the outline, but it sounds like other people are so maybe you should stick with it :) D. is what I would pick from above but it needs a little work. Line weight in inking is about adding weight to the drawing and help with the lighting. In the example above I like the thicker line weight on the bottom of his left leg and the inside of his right leg but no on the top/left side of his right leg; I think you should get rid of it altogether there. If the light is coming from the upper left, the thicker lines should tend to be towards the lower right edges where the shadows would be deeper; does that make sense? Here's a quick paint-over as an example of what I mean: Haha, yes. "Not B" seem to be the one thing people agree about so far ;) Nice example! ^^ As you can se I added it to the test above, and I hope you are ok with me saying that it doesn't feel quite the same as the others so if I did a "litteral" change based on the example it would feel a bit inconsistent with my other work (the conflict between the will to experiment/improve, and the will to stay consistent strikes again!). You probably didn't mean for me to "copy" your example anyway, but rather take away some learnings regarding line weight and for that it is a great example :) Badger said: On outlines: I give you no answers, only homework. Comic book homework. Choose a style, perfect that style, and don't apologize for your choice. Draw a thousand things, and learn from every one of them. Your work will change by the "end". Learn from that change. Every choice has value; do you want a more flat, graphic feel? Or more punchy curves? Do you like flatter colors and lines? Do you prefer soft airbrushing? Chose what you love and ignore the people that won't ever love your style. (I'm a painter. I like saturated colors. That will never change. People who want realistic, desautrated landscapes won't be as drawn to my or Fernando's work. Thats Fine! I'm not going to try to emulate Gabe because I'm not him and he's not me. That's the best part of the marketplace! We can even make campaigns with moods that "flow" from one to another!!!) Simple doesn't mean easy, and graphic doesn't mean simple. Don't underestimate yourself or feel bound or bounded by style choices. But do try to find something consistent to sell. Stark, heavy outlines will have an almost "sticker" feel. They'll make you work to define depth, shape, and form, as we discussed in a PM. (Think about that forearm I illustrated.) But where you nail it, like that sweet harpie wing, you create a graphic, memorable, archetypal form that can be read from practically space. Yay for comic-homework! And thank you for the nice words and encouragement :) I hope it doesn't come of as if I dislike my style-choices or are going to change "who I am" when asking for feedback. From my point of view: every time I create something just for me (like recreational sketching or a silly warm-up doodle) what-ever I feel like there and then is a go. But if I plan to exhibit, sell or use my art in a bigger context, I want others to like it as well (if nothing else I want pay-off for the extra time spent making it available ;) ). If I can make something more people like without sacrificing what I like, or learn how to make what I like better, then it's a huge win. :) Hopefully my internal logic makes sense to others as well ^^ And being readable from space sounds awesome :D
