Feedback from HiroOdan

This is the best (as of March 3, 2014) piece of feedback I've had since I started the comic, submitted January 20, 2014, by HiroOdan through the comment board:

HiroOdan said:

You would like some feed back? *Insert evil laughter here.* Well for starters your comic is a rather low resolution. It feels like you are using some form of basic Paint program similar to M.S. Paint. It's a start. As you expand your digital art skills I would suggest programs to use like GIMP 2.0.

The higher your PPI( Pixels Per Inch) the bigger your image in size is; and the higher quality it is. Just by increasing your PPI and the pixel size of your image like 300px Wide and 1200px Tall to 3000px Wide and 12000 Tall would allow you to use a thicker brush while drawing your comic. This will also allow you to have smoother lines.

A little something about Layers(If you didn't already know). A Layer allows you to draw from a bottom to top style. Let's say you draw your comic 100% digitally. You can first sketch the comic on the lowest layer(I would suggest drawing it in a different color than your final image.) After sketching the comic and getting it to what you would like it to look like, you then create a new layer over that layer to what is called inking. Once you ink your layer, you can either paint on top of the ink, or by creating another layer underneath the comic, you can color below the inked layer to give a more smooth look to your comic.

A thing to be wary of while using GIMP 2.0 is the brush tool. If you use this it will turn the edge of the brush partially transparent and if you try coloring by use of the bucket tool your image would come out funny looking. I would suggest using the pencil tool if you want to color this way. If you color underneath the ink than you can fill the transparent portion without it looking funny.

Wow. I didn't mean to come off as a teacher, but I would like you to turn in your homework now. :3

I hope some or all of this helps you out. The biggest feedback I can give to you is just keep going forward with your art and comic. Right now it's a bit difficult to read on my computer due to the smaller size. I love what you are doing and I can't wait to see more of your artistic progress. :)

My response (five days later):

@HiroOdan: Thank you! :)

I'll see what I can do. I'm willing to change the comic's style quite a bit if I find that it helps it (pretty much the only thing that I absolutely won't change even if the art style gets hyperrealistic (VERY unlikely) is that you don't see the characters' eyes).

As for the low resolution, that's very true. The panels are 154x149 pixels including the borders. Part of the reason is that yes, I'm using Paint (100% digitally), and that I kind of like the ability to do changes by pixel. But yeah, it does make things a little trickier sometimes, and increasing the resolution is something I might try soon. We'll see. :)

I really appreciate your feedback, and I'll keep it in mind. Thank you again! :)

This piece of feedback is really useful (and an excellent example of constructive criticism), and I'm working towards using at least some of the tips in it. (I'm a procastinator, though.)