The old cookie trick - Dec. 29 2003

[Zylo]

<a href='http://www.ozyandmillie.org/2003/om20031229.html' target='_blank'>The old cookie trick</a><br><i>The effect in that second panel is one I think I overuse--the "silhouetted dramatic jagged line" effect.<br><br>Also, one thing that's always difficult to handle is dramatic height differences between characters. Llewellyn often ends up drawn crouching, or bending down, or sitting, or just plain shorter than he probably should be (as in the final panel here) to avoid my having to draw everyone else tiny to accommodate him. Also, I try to put as little dialogue above his head as possible--it's the most efficient way to arrange space. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't--I think, if I had worked at it, I could have wasted less space in the third panel.</i><br><br>When you only use black and whites, the background options are limited, so I don't fault DCS for using the silhouetted lines. Also, I never looked at a strip and noticed inconsistencies in the heights until I read about it just now. Now that I think about it, he is right--in some strips, Ozy's sitting on his tail and is small in comparison, while in others he's not too much smaller than his dad. I never notice these things at all. Then again, I'm not artistically inclined at all, so i don't really know what to look for.

[grendelwoof]

I also didn't notice the height difference at first, possibly because whenever Llewelyn is drawn next to Ms. Mudd, he's always at least a head taller than her. The background's not a big deal either. It's a lot better than what I'd do with backgrounds for my own comic(s) (ie. no background at all).

[Tavis]

This strip was also reposted on "<a href='http://www.ozyandmillie.org/2003/om20030919.html' target='_blank'>Talk Like a Pirate Day</a>". In there, Simpson also posts his self-criticism over the way he handled this particular character. I am quite glad he stuck to it, seeing as Locke is truly unique among the O&M cast.<br><br>As for his difficulty drawing Llewellyn with the others, I have myself encountered that problem trying to do that OM Matrix fanart. The wasted space was just awful, even after I tried compensating by drawing the others slightly higher that they would be if they were standing side by side. Anyway, it's a nit, and it's good that David Simpson is able to catch all those himself and see how he can improve upon it in the future.

[Burning Sheep Productions]

I'm gonna keep a pack of cookies with me for whenever the situation occurs.

[Doctor Fred]

Heh. It's kind of funny how he repeated himself there.

[Foxchild]

I always really like the way DCS uses the backgrounds in question. It's his use of them that helps to portray the energy level of the chars. If the blackness is all drippy and runny, like water or something else like that, it indicates sadness, self doubt, or just some rather unpleasant feeling all together. A circular clack background with the tiny squigles seeming to trace the circle seems to indicate a realization of something, and the quick jagged edges in whatever shape indicates various levels of strong emotions, such as anger, hyper happyness, etc. I think it helps define or re-affirm the chars personalities when thats done.